Friends and

Alumni Newsletter 2008-2009

_______________Friends and Alumni Newsletter 2008-2009______________

Alumni Reunion! The 2007–2008 year sped by at such a pace it’s hard to believe that we’re already in full gear getting ready for 2008-2009. And this summer…well, we may yet find it, hiding, water-logged under a garden rock. But any real evidence of it has been hard to come by. The surest sign of a new year dawning at the School of Music is the announcement of this season’s Music at Memorial concert series and I think that you’ll find the series especially exciting this year!

We didn’t have to search hard for a season title once we lined up all the concerts. The “theme” sang itself out to us: Alumni Reunion! Now before those of you who are alumni get too excited with visions of long lost hijinks that escaped Don Cook’s only occasionally blinking eye, we don’t have one of those “you-haven’t-changed-a-bit” weekends planned (though it might be a good idea). What we do have planned is a concert series that celebrates the professional achievements of a good many of our very exceptional alumni. So if you’re nearby this season or are inspired to come nearby, plan to spend a memorable evening with us in the year ahead listening to what the likes of Tommy Yee (BMU 1995), Chris Anstey (BMU 2004), Layla Roberts (BMU 2001), Kellie Walsh (BMU, BME 1996, MM 2004) and Sean Rice (BMU 2005) are up to. Or drop by for any of a number of great concerts by faculty artists, guest visitors, and student ensembles. Details are inside our season brochure or on the ever up-to-date www.mun.ca/music/concerts.

Of course our alumni don’t need the stage of the D. F. Cook Recital Hall to shine their musical lights. This has been a big year for MUN alumni in all kinds of ways. A few highlights that came to our attention are enough to make us really proud. Take Mark Bonnell (BMU, BME, 1984), for example, just a few months ago named to the Prime Minister’s Award for Teaching Excellence in recognition of his remarkable achievements in twenty-one years as the music man at Eric G. Lambert School in Churchill Falls, Labrador. Or Mike Snelgrove, (BMU, BME 1987, MM 2004), teacher, trumpeter, conductor, passing-fair-Sinatra-imitator who adds award-winning composer to his list of accomplishments after taking top prize in this year’s international composition competition for Toronto’s Hannaford Street Silver Band.

Or how about that Tamara Fifield (BMU 2008)? Absolutely our favourite Maria – no problem! Out of the hundreds to strut their stuff for Andrew Lloyd Webber in CBC’s reality show casting the Sound of Music, Tamara sang her way to the nation’s affections, getting eliminated only when the Maria’s were winnowed down to the final five. Making a come-back (at least in a geographic sense,

her career has been on fire since the get-go) is Susan LeMessurier Quinn (BMU 1997) who is returning to St. John’s to establish her practice as a Registered Music Therapist and bring the benefit of her professional experience to her home town. And hats off and a tip of the baton to Marty MacDonald (BMU 1999) recently named Associate Conductor at Symphony Nova Scotia. We predict podium gold for this rising star. Big news on the competition circuit comes from Lady Cove Women’s Choir which took first prize at the invitational Bela Bartok International Choral Competition in Debrecen Hungary. We followed the play by play action on Lady Cove’s travel blog www.ladycove.ca, right up to the exciting moment of the announcement of their first place finish over the favoured Hungarian choir. Not even the Olympics seem as exciting. And what a year this has been for Kellie Walsh’s choir which is made up of so many MUN Music grads. They took their second first prize finish in the CBC Choral Competition this spring, this time in the contemporary category. And finally – and for the first time – we get to boast about MUN Music grads with a new set of initials after their names. Earlier this year Janice Tulk and Judith Klassen became the first two graduates of our new Ph.D. program in Ethnomusicology. Janice defended her thesis “Our Strength is Ourselves”: Identity, Status, and Cultural Revitalization Among the Mi’kmaq in Newfoundland to be the first out the gate with MUN Music’s first doctorate. Judith’s Encoding Song: Faithful Defiance in Mexican Mennonite Music Making followed only a few weeks later. (For full details and dissertation abstracts see the MMaP July Newsletter at www.mun.ca/mmap/newsletter/july2008.pdf But in the most important sense, it was a photo finish as both

theses were awarded with the elusive “with distinction” notation – the University’s highest recognition of merit for doctoral students. A pretty auspicious beginning for a pretty impressive program! For the Record

Another place MUN musicians are proving themselves these days is on the tiny silver disc. A spate of CD releases and new CD projects by faculty and alumni alike have got our ears at attention. Primed for fall release on the American label

Centaur, pianist and former School of Music director, Maureen Volk sets her focus on works by Schubert and Debussy, featuring many of the best loved short pieces by these two great colourists of the piano. Also soon to be on the shelves are new releases by guitarist Sylvie Proulx focusing on Contemporary Canadian masterworks, soprano Caroline Schiller’s similarly themed Voyage to Canada and Duo Concertante’s fifth CD, a compilation of sizzling encores, many in arrangements from the virtuosic Cliff Crawley. The darker hues of jazz colours are much in evidence in Pat Boyle’s newest release, Still No Word. For his second solo CD Pat is joined by a galaxy of Canadian jazz all-starts, including Bill Brennan, Mike Murley, and Mike Downes. For something completely different – and completely delightful, check out Darlene Graham’s newly released Everybody Dance, a full-length release of Darlene’s distinctive brand of dance-rock for kids. You can catch up with Darlene at http://cdbaby.com/cd/darlenegraham. The Research Centre for the Study of Music, Media and Place is responsible for a growing list of remarkable

CD releases with its Back on Track series. New to the series this year is Saturday Night Jamboree, a collection of live to air tracks from the legendary CBC radio program of the 1960s. Like It’s Time for Another One and the Newfoundland and Labrador Folklore -- A Sampler – the series first two releases – Saturday Night Jamboree is a collection of carefully remastered performances accompanied by a comprehensive documentation booklet. Full information on the series is available on the MMaP web site a www.mun.ca/music/mmap. Watch for upcoming new releases this Fall including Welta’q – “It Sounds Good”: Historic Recordings of the Mi’kmaq produced by Janice Tulk and Bellows & Bows: Historic Recordings of Traditional Canadian Fiddle and Accordion Music produced by fiddler/scholar Sherry Johnston. A Blast of Brass No doubt about it. When first Ken Knowles and then Don Buell took their retirements two and three years ago it was the end of an era. Of MUN’s original triumvirate in brass only Professor Kjellrun Hestekin remained bell up. And seeing a brassy new future presented no small challenges. But any worries can be packed in an old euphonium case; the future of brass at MUN is as bright as the shine on a brand new tuba.

Karen Bulmer was our first great addition and many of you will already know her for the extraordinary job she’s done with the low brass studio during the last two years. Karen Bulmer started playing the tuba on a whim when she was 16 and is now gaining a national reputation as a tuba soloist, chamber

musician, and pedagogue. She has a special interest in contemporary music and, in particular, repertoire that

challenges the player to experiment with new ways of creating sound on the tuba. In 2003, as a way of introducing the tuba to new audiences, Karen created one-woman show, Girl Meets Tuba, which combines music and storytelling. She has performed Girl Meets Tuba at Fringe Festivals in Winnipeg and London, ON, as well as at the Toronto Music Garden. Her radio piece Joined at the Lip, about her on-again off-again love affair with the tuba, aired to popular and critical acclaim on both CBC Radio’s Outfront and NPR’s Performance Today. Recently, Karen was one of an international roster of 50 presenters from a variety of disciplines invited to speak and perform at the prestigious ideaCity’07 conference in Toronto. Born and raised in London, ON, Karen completed her Bachelor of Musical Arts at the University of Western Ontario in 1994. After receiving a Chalmers Performing Arts Training Grant from the Ontario Arts Council, she moved to the United States to continue her studies. Karen received Doctor of Musical Arts from Yale University in May 2005. Prior to coming to MUN in September 2006 she held faculty positions at the University of Western Ontario, the University of Windsor, and the University of Prince Edward Island. Karen is active as both a clinician and adjudicator and is on the faculty of the National Music Camp of Canada. With the low end of brass covered we began a search in earnest for a high brass professor and though it took longer than we had hoped, it was worth the wait. This September Aaron Hodgson joins the School of Music as assistant professor of trumpet. Aaron is an accomplished solo, chamber and orchestral musician, receiving praise for his “outstanding lyrical

trumpet playing” (Hartford Courant). Among his many orchestral performances include appearances under the batons of Sir Neville Marriner and Helmuth Rilling. Most recently played the principal trumpet chair with Yale Collegium and Schola Cantorum musicians for a recording of Bach’s Magnificat. Committed to expanding the capabilities of the trumpet, Aaron has premiered works by composers Joan Panetti and Eric Nathan, and he includes several contemporary Canadian works in his repertoire. Aaron was born in Hay River, Northwest Territories, and after several years in Alaska his family eventually settled in Vancouver, BC. He holds a Bachelor of Music from the University of Western Ontario, and has since earned a Master of Musical Arts from the Yale School of Music. Aaron’s major teachers include Allan Dean, Shawn Spicer and Erik Schultz.

Karen and Aaron have some pretty big shoes to place theirs alongside because the constant in our brass saga remains Professor Kjellrun Hestekin. Kjellrun, as all of you will know, was one of the original three faculty appointments to the School of Music in 1975.

Her studio (which originally included tuba as well as French horn) has produced some of MUN’s most successful alumni, but equally she’s had a shaping hand in the education of every single student to pass through the school through her role in delivering the theory curriculum. For her remarkable achievement in that respect, she was awarded the President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching in 2005. Partly in celebration of our new brass beginnings and definitely because it promises to be the experience of a lifetime for all who participate, the School is remounting its legendary brass tour of the Moravian coast of Labrador this Fall. First run in 1977 with a brass quintet

under the guidance of the then freshman prof, Kjellrun Hestekin, the 2008 version will be led by Karen Bulmer and feature the entire brass ensemble. Travelling by bush plane and coastal steamer, the brass ensemble will visit Nain, Hopedale, Makkovik, Northwest River and Happy Valley/Goose Bay this September providing clinics concerts and workshops in schools. But a highlight of each community visit will be an evening concert in the community Moravian church which will mix concert brass repertoire with a selection of Moravian hymns and anthems from the repertoire that was played by the Inuit brass bands in these communities from the early 1800s to the close of the twentieth century. Instruments of Success

Brass instruments are not the only ones in our sights these days. 2007 - 2008 saw the School acquire two more prestige instruments that will provide extraordinary opportunities for MUN music students to refine their craft. Longtime friend of music at Memorial,

Mrs. Helen MacLeod presented the School with the funds to acquire a second prestige quality violin this year. Now named the Helen Martin MacLeod Heinecke Violin, this exquisite instrument was awarded in competition to third year violin performance major Gordon Stockwell for use during the 2007 - 2008 academic year. The instrument made its public debut at last October’s Affinity Newfoundland dinner at the Chateau Laurier in Ottawa with Helen and her family present to hear the first fruits of her generosity. MUN violin majors now have the chance at developing their skills on one of two extraordinary instruments including Helen’s and the David Peters 1919 Pilat Violin acquired in 2003. A whole lot of students, faculty, guest artists and especially music lovers are benefitting from another major acquisition made possible by a generous donation this year. Thanks to a bequest from the estate of the late Mrs. Rita Love, the school was able to acquire an exceptional piano for the D. F. Cook Recital Hall. This 1925 vintage, nine-foot New York Steinway D has a remarkable provenance. Part of Steinway’s legendary concert fleet of instruments, ferried out for recitals by the top artists of the day, the instrument was retired into the private collection of Don Stephenson, the dean of Canadian piano technicians who rehabilitated and maintained it until last year. Don, who has a Newfoundland connection and has worked with MUN piano faculty Tim Steeves and Maureen Volk, enquired about the possibility of our interest in this extraordinary instrument. The timing was perfect: Mrs. Love’s bequest and matching support from the University made it possible for us to purchase this exceptional instrument. You can hear its unbelievably rich array of colours at the hands of the many fine pianists who will be part of the Music at Memorial concert series this year.

On the Podium – Strike up the Band!

The winds of change are not restricted to the brass department. This fall we also are thrilled to announce the appointment of Dr Denise Grant as MUN’s new Associate Professor of instrumental conducting. Denise Grant has earned respect and praise

nationally and internationally as a conductor and educator of great musical depth and artistic sensitivity. She has guest-conducted ensembles across Canada, the Pacific Northwest, and Southeast Asia, and in 2004 she was the Music Director for the National Youth Band of Canada. A native of Nova Scotia, Denise earned her doctorate in music education and studied conducting under Craig Kirchhoff at the University of Minnesota. She has also worked with noted conductors in intensive workshops and audited the Tanglewood Music Center Conducting Fellow Program. She has held conducting positions at the University of Toronto, University of Regina, Portland State University in Oregon and most recently, at Wilfrid Laurier University. During her tenure, she founded the University of Toronto and University of Regina Wind Band Teaching and Conducting Symposiums, served as co-founding editor of the Canadian Band Association journal, Canadian Winds, premiered many new works for wind ensemble, and sought to create awareness of Canadian repertoire through the Canadian Wind Band Repertoire Project. She is a strong advocate for the creation and performance of new music and of supporting Canadian and women composers. Ensembles under her direction have been lauded for artistic performances grounded in the composer’s intent. In addition to her duties on the podium for Concert

Band, Denise Grant will play a major role in spiriting our M.Mus. program in instrumental conducting. With her established career as an adjudicator and clinician, we know that MUN’s gain will also be a significant gain to the entire community of instrumental music for the province and for Atlantic Canada. The World is Coming to MUN

Have you seen that representation of the globe with New-foundland and Labrador right at the centre? Its prophesy seems to be coming true. The world is coming to MUN. The first invasion just passed through a few weeks ago as we hosted the third biennial North Atlantic Fiddle

Convention. Under the theme “Crossing Over” NAFCO 2008 welcomed hundreds of fiddlers and fiddle scholars from every nation around the North Atlantic rim and far beyond. For its first ever meeting in North America, NAFCO laid on a “times” that no one will soon forget. Five evening concerts, seventy-two workshops, more than 50 conference papers and countless unforgettable fiddle encounters made this event one of the most exciting in St. John’s storied history of welcoming the musicians of the world. The brain child of School of Music, adjunct professor Anna Guigné with strategic support provided by the Centre for the Study of Music, Media and Place, NAFCO 2008 was an unbridled success thanks in considerable measure to the engagement of the traditional music community in the province. NAFCO 2008 also served as a welcome mat warm-up for the 2011 world convention of the International Conference for Traditional Music. ICTM is the

UNESCO-sponsored organization which brings together research, advocacy and policy development on traditional music around the world. With over 90 member nations and upwards of 500 delegates at its biennial conventions, an ICTM convention is a veritable global village of world music. The 2011 meeting in St. John’s will mark only the second time ICTM has met in Canada in its 60 year history. Sandwiched between the 2009 meeting in Durban, South Africa, and the 2013 meeting in Shanghai, China, the 2011 meeting dovetails with Festival 500’s Phenomenon of Singing symposium, running from July 13-19, 2011. While the themes for the 2011 meeting have not yet been determined, it is anticipated that several will resonate with issues that are relevant to Atlantic Canadian communities, possibly including port cultures, acoustic ecology, and Atlantic roots/routes. Stay tuned for updates (http://www.mun.ca/mmap/about/) on this exciting encounter with world music in Newfoundland and Labrador! Report Card Time Last year’s newsletter mentioned the period review the School was about to undertake. Academic Program Reviews visit each unit at the University on a cycle of five to seven years. They provide opportunities for self- and peer-assessment and the kinds of strengths/weaknesses and opportunities/challenges analysis that any vibrant organization needs to undergo. Our fall was consumed with preparing the review’s self-study and early this spring we were visited by a team drawn from university music administrators from across the country, as well as senior colleagues from MUN. Earlier this summer, the report card came in and we feel it does give us some bragging rights we don’t mind exercising. The report concludes:

The message from all constituents with whom the panel met was consistent and vigorous: the School of Music is an influence and a leader in Newfoundland and Labrador culture

and economic well-being, as well as a resource for the community. The panel heard that the roots of music-making, understanding music and its role in culture, and music appreciation are inextricably embedded in the people and the culture of the province. The panel recognizes that the links that the School of Music forges with the community have benefits to the school as well as to the university as a whole. In addition, the relationship benefits the province. In conclusion, the panel suggests Memorial’s School of Music may be unique in Canada for its fit with the province’s cultural priorities and command of community support. . . . Combined with the high quality of its programs, the School is exemplary in its contribution to the supporting pillars of the Strategic Plan for Memorial. We trust that it will maintain this distinction.

There are a lot of details to back up this high praise. Registrations at the School have increased almost 60% across seven years. We have successfully inaugurated three new streams of graduate programs with combined enrolments approaching 40 students at the masters and doctoral levels. Faculty research and creative activity – measured by dissemination impacts and research funding generated has increased 300% and we’ve created one of the most dynamic outreach programs in the country. (Those of you who want all the details will find the documents at www.mun.ca/music/apr)

But the review is not just about feeling good, it’s also about looking ahead and charting new directions. In that regards the process does not disappoint since we are moving from it with exciting new ideas about curricular change, about new and better ways to prepare our students to meet the world and the workforce and about opportunities we need to seize to enhance our relationship with alumni and friends. In the months ahead we’ll be shaping some of those ideas into action plans, plans we hope to share with you in the near future. Building for the Future The successes the School has enjoyed in recent years have been your successes as much as ours. On almost every front; from scholarships, to outreach, to graduate studies, to recruitment, we’ve been buoyed by alumni and friends whose encouragement and financial support has contributed significantly to the success of each initiative. As we look ahead again, we see yet more opportunity. The School of Music has been identified as a campaign goal in the forthcoming capital campaign. Our campaign objective of completing the expansion begun with Petro-Canada Hall that will eventually equip us with double the current number of studios and practice rooms, dedicated facilities for percussion and opera, a technology centre and new facilities for graduate studies and research, is ambitious. But we’ve enjoyed great partnership across a lot of ambitious plans in recent years and we’re certain that with your continued support we can achieve our goals.

____________________________Contact Us____________________+_______ School of Music Phone (709) 737-7486 Memorial University of Newfoundland Fax (709) 737-2666 St. John’s, NL A1C 5S7 Email music@mun.ca

For the latest information and concert listings please visit our website at www.mun.ca/music