Almonte will be home to a new music studio this September! BD Finch Music is a new family-run music studio located at 64 Mill Street in Almonte offering violin and cello lessons starting this September. The studio space will also host musical performances and recitals, some of which will be fundraisers for the Almonte General Hospital Fairview Manor Foundation. In fact, BD Finch will be donating 10% of profits to the Lanark County Food Bank and the Hospital Foundation.
BD Finch Music will offer high quality music instruction from a foundation built on decades of professional performance and teaching experience. The instructors have a strong belief in the benefits of group lessons, so their students will attend weekly in-person private lessons together with one monthly group lesson. All lessons will take place at 64 Mill Street where students will be guided by an in-person instructor along with additional support at times from online Montreal-based teachers who will join live once a month.
The owners, Sandra and Chris Van Barr, are Almonte residents and the previous founders/owners of Kin Vineyards in Carp. Sandra is the main instructor and has a background as a professional cellist, a high school teacher/department head in Toronto, Kawartha and Ottawa, a conductor, and a cello teacher with the Ottawa Youth Orchestra Academy and Ottawa’s amazing OrKidstra. Growing up in Kinburn, the three Van Barr kids (who are now adults — Finley, Charlotte, and Bennett) pursued Bachelor of Music Degrees at McGill and Queens Universities, with further studies underway here and overseas. Charlotte and Bennett, who will be instructors at the studio, are award-winning string players who have combined performance experience with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Ottawa Symphony, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Classique de Montréal, the National Youth Orchestra of Canada and many others. Charlotte and Bennett also grew up heavily involved in the Ottawa Valley fiddle and stepdance community, winning competitions on the biggest stages including the Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Competition and the Canadian Open Fiddle competition.
Together, the instructors have considerable expertise and a deep love for classical music as well as fiddle music. Chris (i.e., the other Van Barr), is a board member of OrKidstra and former board member of the Ottawa Youth Orchestra Academy, the Almonte General Hospital, and Gowling WLG where he works (he also plays guitar and loves a fiddle jam).
Upcoming Events
The first BD Finch Music AGH fundraising event — and the BD Finch Music Grand Opening — will take place at 64 Mill Street on Sunday, July 19 at 2pm. This inaugural event will feature 19-year-old Bennett Van Barr on violin with Ruby Jin as collaborative pianist. On this program, Bennett will perform violin works by Mozart, Prokofiev and Sibelius. Bennett studies on scholarship at McGill with the OSM concertmaster Andrew Wan and is currently studying with the National Arts Centre Orchestra’s mentorship program.
BD Finch’s second event is scheduled for Tuesday, July 21 at 7pm, and will feature the Montreal-based Hensel String Quartet who will perform works by Mendelssohn and Haydn. The Hensel Quartet formed in 2024 and was selected as the only Canadian-based Junior quartet in the upcoming International String Quartet Academy in Montreal (MISQA). Admission will be by donation at the door for both concerts. Doors will open approximately 15 minutes before start time for each concert, but arrive early to join the queue for a great seat! Find more information at bdfinchmusic.ca.