Spring 2011

P r o f i l e s C e l e b r a t i n g t h e C r e a t i v e S p i r i t

RESONANCEL a u r i e r F a c u l t y o f M u s i c N e w s l e t t e r

i n s i d e >

Leading by example Meet the Dean of the Faculty of Music

Celebrate 100 years inspiring lives of leadership and purpose.

I am happy to welcome you to the latest issue of our Faculty of Music Newsletter. One of my priorities is to make certain that the Faculty stays in close touch with our alumni and the wider musical community. This year, especially, as we mark Laurier’s centennial, we celebrate the achievements of our students, graduates and faculty. To cultivate a committed and engaged citizenry – that is one of Laurier’s goals in the coming years. If the Faculty of Music is any indication, we’re well on our way to achieving that goal. Outreach and engagement remain cornerstones of our commitment to the region, province, country, and beyond.

As you will read, the altruism of our students is alive and well and is particularly well-reflected in ventures abroad. I’m also intrigued by connections between our graduates and current students; Liz Eccleston taking over for a year from Erin Brophey at the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra is a perfect example. I hope Liz enjoys Thunder Bay as much as my wife and I did back in the 1990s. The upcoming visits to our Faculty of world class guest artists, and the national and international nominations and awards accorded our own world-class faculty and graduates, speak loudly and clearly of our successes.

A new master class program, enhanced opportunities for our wind, brass and percussion students, more peer-mentoring for students, some new faculty hires, and some important curricular reforms are all part of our ongoing commitment to provide our students with the best possible musical education.

I hope you’ll enjoy reading about the Faculty of Music’s activities and achievements as we look forward to the year ahead. Please accept my best wishes for a terrific 2011.

Glen Carruthers

Centennial events at Laurier 3

Spontaneous directions: 4 sacred spaces + the road well-travelled

Read all about it: Making music, making news 6

Take two success + multi-tasking: life imitates art 8

Success in the blink of an eye 9 Music Therapy grads are part of a winning team

Events at Laurier 10

Living the dream: The Manfred and Penny Conrad Institute for Music Therapy Research 11

Instinct + interest: Rob Asselstine is making the 12 grade in a lifelong career

Staff recordings 14

Faculty profiles 14

Alumni profiles 15

International accolades: Laurier faculty and 17 graduates continue to represent at music awards

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ReSonance is published annually by the Faculty of Music, Wilfrid Laurier University, 75 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3C5.

Opinions expressed in ReSonance do not necessarily reflect those of the editor or the University’s administration.

To contact the editor, e-mail Sunil Kuruvilla, Faculty of Music <skuruvil@wlu.ca>, fax: (519) 747-9129Please e-mail address changes or alumni information to <22mualum@wlu.ca>.

Designed by Dawn Wharnsby, Communications, Public Affairs and Marketing (CPAM), Wilfrid Laurier University.

Correction To Err is HumanIn the last issue of ReSonance, Beverly Hershey was misidentified as a co-author of an article (“Remembering the past, Building for the future”) about WLU’s Alumni Choir.

cont

ents

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The Faculty of Music Choirs and WLU Symphony Orchestras presented Claudio Monteverdi’s Vespers in February at St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church in Kitchener.

In addition, Kerry Roebuck’s winning composition in the Wilfrid Laurier University’s Centennial Fanfare Competition was premiered at the event. The Montreal resident was in attendance, receiving his award from WLU President Dr. Max Blouw.

Opera Laurier presented Mozart’s Magic Flute at Laurier’s Waterloo Campus (Theatre Auditorium) on March 4, 5 and 6, and at Laurier’s Brantford Campus (Sanderson Centre) on March 11, 2011.

ReSonance is published annually by the Faculty of Music, Wilfrid Laurier University, 75 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3C5.

Opinions expressed in ReSonance do not necessarily reflect those of the editor or the University’s administration.

To contact the editor, e-mail Sunil Kuruvilla, Faculty of Music <skuruvil@wlu.ca>, fax: (519) 747-9129Please e-mail address changes or alumni information to <22mualum@wlu.ca>.

Designed by Dawn Wharnsby, Communications, Public Affairs and Marketing (CPAM), Wilfrid Laurier University.

1911-2011 | Wilfrid Laurier University

MWM Distinguished Artist Series

Canada Superstar Soprano Karina Gauvin came to campus earlier this year. She performed in concert on Friday, February 4 and then conducted a masterclass the next day. Both events which were free and open to the public, were part of the MWM Distinguished Artist Series.

Gauvin has impressed audiences and critics the world over with her luscious timbre, profound musicality and wide vocal range. The Globe and Mail calls her “one of the dream sopranos of our time,” who in turn is “distinctive, sophisticated, deeply intuitive, a questioning and fearless artist.” Her repertoire ranges from the music of Johann Sebastian Bach to Luciano Berio and she has sung with many major orchestras including the Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Toronto Symphony, as well as period instrument groups like Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Musica Antiqua Köln, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Les Violons du Roy, and Accademia Bizantina.

A prolific recording artist with more than twenty releases to her credit, Gauvin has been nominated consistently for the Juno Award, and twice for the Grammy, over the past decade. She won the Juno in 2001 and 2003 with Handel’s Silete Venti / Apollo e Daphne and Mozart’s Requiem with Les Violons du Roy, respectively. Her collection of French art songs with pianist Marc-André Hamelin, titled Fête Galante, received the 2000 Opus award for Best Vocal Recording and was selected as Chamber Music America’s Recording of the Year. Operas Tolomeo, Alcina and Ezio with Alan Curtis and Complesso Barocco. In 2009, she was again nominated for a Grammy for her recording of Jean-Baptiste Lully’s Psyché on the cpo label.

MWM Financial Group, an integrated financial consulting service based in Kitchener, first sponsored the Distinguished Artist Series in 2008. Their multi-year commitment to Laurier’s Faculty of Music enables world-renowned artists to share their passion for musical excellence through master classes and public performances.

Centennial Events

Correction To Err is HumanIn the last issue of ReSonance, Beverly Hershey was misidentified as a co-author of an article (“Remembering the past, Building for the future”) about WLU’s Alumni Choir.

W.A. MozartThe Magic Flute

Opera Laurier presents

Directed by Michael CavanaghConducted by Leslie De’Ath

Sung in German with dialogue in English

A new, innovative production

March 11,2011 | 8 p.m.Sanderson Centre | Brantford, OntarioAdults $20, Seniors and Students $10

Visual concept of poster by Stephanie Yelovich

As part of Wilfrid Laurier University’s Centennial Celebrations, the Faculty of Music presented two winter events:

Photos from both events can been seen on the back cover of ReSonance.

Last August, Dr. Glen Carruthers, Dean of the Faculty of Music, and his wife Heather were in a restaurant in China. Unable to read the menu or converse with the waiters, Carruthers was touched by the patience and respect he was shown. Eventually, despite the communication challenges, the visitors were able to place an order. The food that arrived was a delicious surprise.

“The situation was very exciting,” Carruthers says. “I love spontaneity, when things go in directions not expected. That said, we need - to quote Trudeau - ‘to achieve a balance between reason and passion.”

Having left his home province of Manitoba, where he served as Dean of Music at Brandon University (prior to that he founded the music department at Lakehead University), to become Dean of Music at WLU, Carruthers sees Laurier as another adventure. Six months on the job, he has been learning the new terrain,

he says, through consultation and processing.

“When one works at a university, you’re surrounded by intelligent people, and it would be folly not to listen to those around you.”

Once information has been gathered, Carruthers says his job is to make a decision that’s framed intelligently, noting someone else might act differ-ently in the same situation. “Ultimately, my responsibility is to help those around me–students, faculty, staff– do their best work. The Dean’s role is to move things forward so that the talk ends and the action begins.”

According to Carruthers, the biggest challenge facing the Faculty of Music is to ensure that its programs remain rel-evant to students and to the community. “Meeting the changing demands will require some degree of curricular reform if we are to maintain the musical and academic integrity on which we’ve

staked our enviable reputation,” he says. “Everything is in a constant state of flux, and the flux is more robust than it has ever been. Post-secondary institutions need to be proactive, anticipating the needs of their students....You have to be careful that your assumptions are true. But there are enduring values that need to inform everything we do.”

Carruthers found his professional path when a boyhood friend introduced him to classical music. By the time he entered grade nine, he wanted to be a musicologist. “I’m not sure I knew what that meant entirely, but I knew that it meant I could talk and write about music, and I’ve been fortunate enough to do that.” His current research involves post-secondary music teaching and learning, music and democracy– particularly as reflected in the life, philosophies, and works of pianist/com-poser Percy Grainger, and musical performance as aural historiography.

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spontaneous directions

inspiring l ives of leadership and purpose

sacred spaces + the road well-travelled

The Dean’s role is to move things forward so that the talk ends and the act ion begins.

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I t ry to create some space around the decis ions I make,

and biking and walking are a great way of sort ing through ideas.

Dr. Glen Carruthers

In the 1930s, Grainger was Dean of Music at New York University, and made the trip from his home in White Plains to downtown New York, by bicycle. Carruthers also bikes to work for the mental, not just physical, exercise.

“I try to create some space around the decisions I make, and biking and walking are a great way of sorting through ideas,” Carruthers says.

At home, Carruthers enjoys novels, his favourite Crime and Punishment, which he has read more than a dozen times, and stays close to music, primarily through playing. “I’ve always felt my connection to music was the piano. It’s an indulgence for me in that it allows me to clear my mind, and while it’s escapist in so far that it allows me to escape my administrative responsibilities, it is not escapist in the

sense that I’m venturing into a world less complex. On the contrary - I don’t use the word ‘sacred’ often, but time with the piano is sacred to me.”

As a teenager, Carruthers started collecting autographs, mostly of 19th and 20th century pianists. Now, he has more than 100 in his collection, and remembers the context for most of them, including the day’s weather, even. He describes the practice in poetic terms, unaware perhaps of the parallel between the personal and professional: “I feel a certain trust is established. An autograph is put into my hands and it becomes something I’m expected to take care of,” he says. “I think it’s amazing the way in which ideas and people and works of art endure, carried from one generation to the next.”

sacred spaces + the road well-travelled

Centennial Events

Laurier began as a religious institution,

established by the Canada Synod and Synod

of Central Canada of the Lutheran Church

in 1911. In 1924, it became Waterloo College,

and in 1964, Waterloo Lutheran University.

In 1973, the institution became known as

Wilfrid Laurier University.

• The 21st Century Pianist Showcase Series began in February. Seven Faculty of Music piano students, guided by Dr. Heather Taves, are improvising and composing their own music using piano with electronic music. Throughout the term, they performed in various venues including Maxwell’s House of Music in Waterloo and the Maureen Forrester Recital Hall. More details can be found on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/ pages/21st-Century-Pianists-Showcase/152028594843938

• Our own Kimberly Barber was featured in an ad that is part of Laurier’s Centennial Celebration national campaign. Designed by Scott Thornley + Company (STC), a Toronto-based advertising agency and photographed by John Beebe, the ad is running in prominent publications such as The Globe and Mail, the Waterloo Region Record, and The Brantford Expositor. The campaign features members of the Laurier community presented in the context of ‘Inspiring Lives’ – a theme which is part and parcel of the university’s overarching institutional proposition: Inspiring lives of leadership and purpose.

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R e A D A L L A B O U T I T

Making music, making news

A Laurier recommendation, connection leads to musical tourLast spring, pianist Janelle Timmermans (BMus 2nd year) toured China with cellist Cameron Crozman for a three week, five concert tour.

Professor Anya Alexyev, who teaches Timmermans, recommended the young pianist to an even younger Crozman when she learned that the 14-year old, who takes private lessons with Laurier cello professor Paul Pulford, was looking for a pianist to accompany him in China. Turned out the two already knew each other as Crozman, from London, Ontario, and Timmermans, from St. Thomas, had performed together years before in an ensemble.Timmermans and Crozman went to China with their families, the trip arranged by Huihuang Entertainment (an agency based in China that has also co-ordinated tours of that country for Laurier’s Pendrecki String Quartet) after officials there heard a recording by Crozman.Billed as “The Talbot Duo”, Crozman’s and Timmermans’ concert program in China ran close to 90 minutes. “It was very educational, discovering how another culture organizes concerts differently than ours. I hope to go back again,” Timmermans says.Like Crozman, Timmermans realized success early as she was invited to participate in the Musicians’ Mentoring Program for Young Accompanists at Canada’s National Ballet School at age 14, the youngest person to ever be included. A devotee of chamber music, Timmermans has continued accompanying at music festivals and at Laurier, and would like to do a master’s degree in collaborative piano once she finishes her undergraduate program because she enjoys ensemble performance more than solo. “We’ll see where it takes me,” she says.

Talented and ExuberantAllan Keith (BMus, 3rd Year) doesn’t know what he wants to do when he graduates, his uncertainty due, not to a lack of vision, but to an abundance of talent and interests. In November, he was pianist, musical director, and production assistant for a concert in his hometown of Goderich that drew 450 people and raised more than $5,000 for Haiti and Pakistan relief efforts. The concert featured a 15-member community orchestra, a 12-member community choir, a rock band, and two soloists. The summer before he began his studies at Laurier, he orchestrated, musi-cally and administratively, a concert in Goderich for an audience of 350 to thank that community for encouraging his talents as he grew up. Keith’s combination of musical ability and business smarts has led him to Laurier’s comprehensive music program with a business administration option whose required courses in accounting, finance, marketing, business communication, organization and functions, feed his curiosity and prepare him for future careers.“I know that getting some knowledge in business will help me should I become involved in the music industry,” he says.Outside of the classroom, Keith is a student ambassador with Laurier’s Liaison Department,

sharing his experiences at WLU with prospective students. (“I tell them I came to Laurier because it was a great place to study and it was a great place to explore because I have diverse areas of interest,” he says).He is also a volunteer with a staggering number of organizations—He has been a member of Waterloo Mayor Brenda Halloran’s student advisory council, and regularly gives presentations at Laurier’s Student Leadership Centre. He was on house council his first year in residence and was a member of the music association’s executive his first two years at Laurier. Keith’s desire to help others was formed years ago. In high school, he was a student representative on the municipal school board, and was on the provincial advisory council of Students Against Impaired Driving.“I’m not doing these extra things to get a job, though I do believe volunteering will help me develop skills that I will use in a career. But the main reason I assist people is because I believe it’s just human nature to want to help people and I believe in the concept of good karma,” he says. continued next page >

The following keyboard students are doing interesting work inside and outside of music, be it touring China for a string of performances or volunteering

internationally. “It doesn’t surprise me,” Dr. Glen Carruthers, Dean of Music, says. “I’m intensely proud of our students. They’re fine musicians and

fine people who are engaged in the world around them in remarkable ways. They see education as a process, not as a product, one that unfolds inside

and outside of the classroom, and inside and outside of the University. Our students are committed to making a difference however that might be defined.”

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Moment by momentKeyboardist Erik Scheele (BMus, 3rd Year) is already putting his study of composition and improvisation to use professionally. Early last year, he joined a team of 12 to create music for the webcomic Homestuck which is part of MS Paint Adventures—two CDs of music related to the series have also been released. Scheele got the gig after Homestuck’s Boston-based designer discovered the Laurier student’s work on a fan music thread of the series. “I got brought in as part of a rejuvenation effort,” Scheele says. Homestuck, is a sprawling, apocalyptic story, consisting of almost 100 characters. The series was created in 2009 and is expected to run until 2012. “We’re at about Act Five scene Two, and I think there’s going to be about Seven Acts in total,” Scheele says.The composers for the series work independently, collaborating occasionally by remixing each other’s compositions. “We all work at our own speed,” Scheele says. “If something someone else has done inspires us, we can remix it.”A native of Illinois, Scheele says he came to WLU because parents and friends told him he should go to a Canadian university, many recommending Laurier specifically. Still in Illinois, his immediate family is involved in an after-school musical theatre program. Scheele’s mother has suggested he write music for it. It’s a possibility, but Scheele says he may remain in Canada following Laurier.When pressed as to what he sees himself doing in the future, Scheele tentatively mentions composing, and that he is currently writing something for orchestra. “I suppose I should be thinking about what happens [post-Laurier] but I’m just concentrating on the music at the moment,” the composition/improvisation major says. His work can be heard in Laurier’s 21st Century Composers Series which starts in February.

Choosing MusicHeidi Wall comes from a family of musicians but her undergraduate major was not predetermined. Rather, her study of music was a choice made after much thought, and her steps post graduation will also be measured, her conviction and self-awareness built on musical talent and beliefs about the meaning of music. When she was a child, Wall took to piano naturally, and began taking lessons with her mother, a music teacher. Upon graduating from high school, Wall chose to study Theology. As she started to miss the piano, Wall received an email from Laurier piano professor Anya Alexeyev who had taught Wall privately during high school.“She asked me if I was sure that I wanted to give up the piano,” she says. The confluence of Wall’s longing and Alexeyev’s question drove the Kitchener native to Laurier, back into piano study with Alexeyev. Four years later, Wall has won a number of awards— last year, she placed first in her division at the Canadian Music Competition. Also last year, as a member of the Schweigen Piano Trio, she received the Penderecki String Quartet Chamber Music Award. Now, a few weeks away from her grad recital, Wall is practicing her repertoire of Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in B-Minor, Laurier

composition professor Glenn Buhr’s Foxnocturne, and Liszt’s Sonata in B-Minor from Book 1 of the Well Tempered Clavier.

Most of Wall’s work at Laurier has been related to solo piano performance; she expects to continue in that direction, not to make a name for herself as a performer but to participate in something grander.

“Music addresses questions that are hard to articulate in language,” Walls says. “I feel that I’ve found my voice at the piano by studying at Laurier. By working with Anya, I’ve been able to synchronize my playing abilities with saying something meaningful. I’m not sure yet where I’ll be next year, but I know I will continue to study music in private lessons and in a community of artists who appreciate the importance and complexities of music— the process of transitioning between the learning and the submitting stages of engaging in a piece of music is a wonderfully creative one.”

This February, as part of a provincial effort called “Alternative Reading Week” he will be one of 21 from Laurier going to a community in Guatemala for nine days of infrastructure development, repairing roofs, painting buildings, and building a playground.“I’m doing this now because I know next year’s reading week I won’t be able to—I’ll be busy looking for a job,” he says.What industry that job will be in remains a mystery, albeit a rich one. “I might enter a grad program or get into arts administration or something in music

or event planning or something in the food industry or I could start my own music studio or I might get into clothing design because I have an interest in fashion,” he says.Keith lists the possibilities confidently but without arrogance, reflecting the joy he’s had following his curiosity. Wherever he ends up, whatever he’s doing, he will be successful. As his studio instructor, Dr. Heather Taves, says of her student: “He’s pretty amazing.”

Talented and Exuberant continued from previous page >

If something someone else has done inspires us, we can remix it.

Erik Scheele (BMus, 3rd year)

, ArtistiBobby does an amazing job portraying James Cagney. It’s great to see a grad of the Laurier music program have so much success as an actor, singer and dancer. It’s even more impressive to know that he wrote several of the songs and conceived the book, as well.

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f o l l o W u P S u C C E S S >

After completing Laurier, Creighton began performing in shows both in New York and in regional theatre, working two seasons with New York City Opera and playing Goody King in the original North American tour of Fame. He was also part of the original Lion King company in Toronto and then in Los Angeles. In recent years, he has appeared on Broadway, playing prominent roles in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Little Mermaid, Lion King, and Chicago, and he has done episodic work on television’s Law and Order and Life On Mars.

In 2002, Creighton invited award-winning, Los Angeles-based playwright Peter Colley to see his performance in Lion King. Afterward, the transplanted Canadian actor told the transplanted Canadian writer about his long-simmering project: a musical about legendary actor James Cagney. Colley was immediately intrigued, so much so he started working with Creighton on the book of the musical. In Spring 2009, their show finally debuted at Florida Stage, breaking box office records as it sold out its entire six-week run.

Alex Mustakas, Artistic Director of the Drayton Festival, brought Cagney to his theatre last summer, impressed with the story and having been impressed with Creighton since he first took the stage at Drayton years before. The show then had a two week run in Grand Bend.

Cagney: The Musical requires 4 male and 2 female actors, everyone playing multiple roles except for Creighton who plays Cagney throughout, and an orchestra of five musicians.

“The goal is that if you know Cagney, the show will be nostalgic, and that if you don’t know about him, you’ll be wowed by who he was,” Creighton says. “Cagney wasn’t

just a talented song and dance man. He was an amazing humanitarian, donating his time and money to causes that were unpopular at the time. But he was driven by a sense of justice, always standing up for the little guy.”

Laurier percussion instructor Dave Wiffen played in the pit for both Ontario productions and became a fan of the show and its creator.

“Bobby does an amazing job portraying James Cagney. It’s great to see a grad of the Laurier music program have so much success as an actor, singer and dancer. It’s even more impressive to know that he wrote several of the songs and conceived the book, as well,” Wiffen says. “Bobby enlisted the help of Chris McGovern, an excellent composer/arranger to help him with the songs and to orchestrate. The score is quite effective without being overly difficult to execute. He made good use of the instruments he chose to write for and wisely kept the orchestra small. There were also no unusual percussion instruments written into the score and no synthesizer parts either. Very economical in both senses of the word.”

The show has won Florida’s 2010 Carbonell Award for “Best New Work” and Creighton is now working to get the show a commercial production in New York City—Prospects for such look good. Still, sitting in a coffee shop last summer in Waterloo on the morning of a performance day in Drayton, Creighton spoke more about where the show has come than where it is going: “I was in all three shows Drayton put on in its inaugural season. Now, to be back here performing in the Festival’s 20th anniversary season, is pretty special, particularly given that it’s this show.”

–Dave Wif fen

take two success + multi-tasking: life imitates art

For 15 years, Robert Creighton, based in New York,

had talked to his family in Waterloo about his dream project.

Last summer, parents and siblings saw it realized a short

drive from home. The Laurier voice grad, has been enjoying

critical acclaim as a stage and screen actor for almost two

decades. After studying with Professor David Falk in WLU’s

voice performance program, Creighton went to the prestigious

American Academy of the Dramatic Arts whose program is

structured competitively, students having to be invited back

to study each year of their program—First year, Creighton was

one of more than 200 students in his class; by second year,

the class was down to sixty-four in the second year and then

he was just one of 18 in the Academy’s graduate company.

Between school years at AADA Creighton returned to perform

in shows at the Drayton Festival Theatre in Ontario, during

that theatre’s inaugural and second season.

inspiring l ives of leadership and purpose

Robert Creighton

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Alumni Profile

w w w . w l u . c a / m u s i c

MUSIC THeRAPY GRADS ARe PART OF A WINNING TeAM

success + multi-tasking: life imitates art

In 2003, the VMI was created at that institution to allow kids with motor disabilities to play music. essentially VMI is music software that can be installed on a PC. With a webcam, users get a live picture that they can animate further by drawing virtual shapes of various colours that is then assigned an instrument sound and tone—the colour shape activated by motion as slight as eye blink (For a demonstration, see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oI5Ia-x8I58).

“The reactivity of the icons can be customized. For instance, we can make it less sensitive or more sensitive depending on the user’s needs. For example, we may have to consider the needs of a child with cerebral palsy whose spastic movements may be causing the icons to fire musical tones. We can make the instrument less immediately responsive by reducing the sensitivity thereby ensuring the music produced is from an intentional movement” Lamont says. “The VMI can adapt to the child instead of making the child adapt to the instrument.”

Over the years many different teams of students, clinicians, and engineers have contributed to its development and clinical evaluation. The universality of music makes the VMI popular with many populations and its developers have been determined that it also be accessible to all— In Australia, occupational therapists have been using the device with seniors. Lamont has noted the potential benefits for able-bodied children, including those with Autism and Fragile X Syndrome, despite the development of the music software with the more physically involved child in mind. Another research project in early 2010 will examine how physically involved children with no consistent movement can develop contingency awareness or the concept of cause and effect by using the instrument.

“Holland Bloorview is a wonderful institution to work for and our research institute is on-site” Lamont says. “If ever I have a problem or question dedicated engineers team members are right there to help and understand potential modifications for the next version.”

The da Vinci Awards is a prestigious international forum recognizing the latest developments and research in adaptive and assistive technologies that enable equal access and opportunity for all people, regardless of ability. Nominations were received this year from across the U.S, Canada, United Kingdom, France and Denmark. The awards ceremony was held at the Henry ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan in September, and Lamont attended with VMI development team members Dr.Tom Chau, Pierre Duez and eric Wan.

“It is an incredible honor for our team to be recognized amongst such a blue-chip cast of innovators, all whom have pioneered technologies that inevitably allow people with disabilities to participate more fully in life. We are thrilled to have won,” says Chau. The lead on the project, he is one of the country’s top biomedical engineers, and was recently named one of the top 25 Canadians in a list complied by CTV, Cyberpresse, and The Globe and Mail.

Lamont says that the VMI and Holland Bloorview have also benefited from the expertise found at Laurier—a 2005 study done in collaboration with Dr. Heidi Ahonen and the Manfred and Penny Conrad Institute in Music Therapy Research (CIMTR) aided in the evaluation of the instrument. Laurier Music Therapy undergraduate and graduate students interned at the hospital steadily since 2004.

“The da Vinci Award is a team victory, but the ones who win the most are the kids, ultimately,” she says.

Matthew Downing, age 11, is a music therapy client at Holland Bloorview with Cerebral Palsy who has benefitted enormously from the VMI.

“The VMI is amazing because it allows children with limited mobility and poor motor skills to play any instrument,” says his mother, Joanne Downing. “Music is such an important motivator for all children and especially for children with disabilities with limited mobility like my son Matthew. The VMI allows him to play without boundaries.”

For more information on the VMI or how you can purchase a copy, contact Andrea lamont at (416) 425-6220, ext. 3646 or

alamont@hollandbloorview.ca.

The universality of music makes the VMI popular with many populations and its developers have been determined that it also be accessible to all .

essential ly VMI is

music software that

can be instal led on

a PC. With a webcam,

users get a l ive picture

that they can animate

further by drawing

virtual shapes of

various colours that

is then assigned an

instrument sound and

tone—the colour shape

act ivated by motion

as s l ight as eye bl ink.

Music Therapist Andrea lamont (BMT ’99, MMT ’04) is part of a team at Holland Bloorview

Kids Rehabilitation Hospital that received the prestigious international da Vinci Award

for Accessibility and universal Design for its invention of the Virtual Music Instrument (VMI).

The da Vinci Award is a team victory, but the ones who win the most are the kids, ultimately.

Music Therapist, Andrea Lamont

success in the blink of an eye

Photo: www.hollandbloorview.ca

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Brit David owen Norris, dubbed ‘the most interesting pianist in the world’ by The Globe and Mail, came to campus in November on the invitation of his friend, faculty member leslie De’Ath, for a public lecture/demonstration on Mendelssohn’s Songs Without Words.

Both performances of Laurier’s annual opera Excerpts, showcasing the Faculty of Music’s voice students, were sold out and the production also toured to York University for an evening performance.

Indian Classical Music Vocalist Veena Sahasrabuddhe came to Laurier in October to conduct a lecture/demonstration and participate in a concert, her visit sponsored by the School of Business & Economics and the Faculty of Music. The events were part of, and coincided with, the start of the 9th Annual Daniel Pearl World Music Days, an international network of concerts that remembers the Wall Street Journal reporter who was killed in Pakistan in 2002. Daniel Pearl World Music Days have grown to include the participation of more than 4,900 performances in 102 countries.

Dr. lee Willingham, director of the Laurier Centre for Music in the Community (LCMC), says Laurier’s music faculty and students were eager to meet Sahasrabuddhe: “As a school that emphasizes music from the Western European tradition, it was an absolute thrill to welcome Veena Sahasrabuddhe and her colleagues to Laurier. She gave our students a first-hand, once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

Events at Laurier

In celebration of the 9th Annual Daniel Pearl World Music Days

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laurier welcomes a world-renowned maestro as guest conductor and mentor

This past November, Laurier hosted the Art of Conducting Symposium that brought conductors ranging in age and experience to campus for a full-day workshop with maestro Timothy Reynish who remained in Waterloo for the week that followed to work with various ensembles. He also guest conducted a Laurier Wind Orchestra concert.

More information about the event can be found on page 16 in our story about Laurier Alum Josh Manuel and Sarah Joy.

Indian Classical Music Vocalist Veena Sahasrabuddhe came to Laurier in October to conduct a lecture/demonstration and participate in a concert, her visit sponsored by the School of Business & Economics and the Faculty of Music. The events were part of, and coincided with, the start of the 9th Annual Daniel Pearl World Music Days, an international network of concerts that remembers the Wall Street Journal reporter who was killed in Pakistan in 2002. Daniel Pearl World Music Days have grown to include the participation of more than 4,900 performances in 102 countries.

Dr. lee Willingham, director of the Laurier Centre for Music in the Community (LCMC), says Laurier’s music faculty and students were eager to meet Sahasrabuddhe: “As a school that emphasizes music from the Western European tradition, it was an absolute thrill to welcome Veena Sahasrabuddhe and her colleagues to Laurier. She gave our students a first-hand, once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

In celebration of the 9th Annual Daniel Pearl World Music Days

Last spring, Wilfrid Laurier University proudly unveiled the newly named Manfred and Penny Conrad Institute for Music Therapy Research (CIMTR), in recognition of the Conrads’ $1 million gift to the Faculty of Music. Theirs is the largest individual donation ever given to the Faculty, and it will be used to support the research and therapeutic work done within Laurier’s international music therapy research institute, established in 2003, and to create an annual scholarship for a Laurier graduate student in music therapy.

The Conrads’ gift reflects their support of music therapy. Dr. Heidi Ahonen, Director of CIMTR, says that Laurier President Max Blouw and Dean of Music Charles Morrison introduced her to the philanthropists at a meeting in spring 2009, and that she was immediately struck by the Conrads’ curiosity and passion. “They asked about my research and dreams. I told them how we can see the positive effects of music on those who have suffered trauma, and yet we don’t have the money for EEG and MRI studies, for example, to prove what we know. They asked me lots of questions, including how much money it would take to do the studies that I dreamed of doing. I told them a million dollars.”

Meetings between the Conrads, Blouw, Morrison, and members of the University’s Development staff followed, resulting in the gift.

“The Conrads’ donation will now fund research into Alzheimer’s patients, studying how music can actually rewire the brain. That’s just one example of what the Conrads’ gift now makes possible. There are so many exciting projects. We now have a way of proving what we know to be true,” Ahonen says.

Currently, the work conducted within CIMTR also helps those suffering from Parkinson’s disease, promotes healing for victims of trauma and abuse, assists those with developmental, behavioural, mental health and communication challenges, and helps patients requiring critical or palliative care.

“This remarkable $1-million gift from Manfred and Penny Conrad to support the music therapy research institute will ensure Laurier is at the forefront of music therapy research in Canada and around the world,” said Morrison. “This historic donation promises to help so many people as Laurier researchers continue to better understand the therapeutic powers of music.”

At the naming ceremony, Penny Conrad also spoke of her 2009 meeting with Ahonen, impressing the audience with her knowledge of music therapy, and revealing that her gift to the institute is, indeed, thoughtful.

“I tell my students you need four things for research: vision, passion, wisdom, and money,” Ahonen says. “I’ve been doing my work for 23 years, with the first three ingredients, but never the fourth. Until now. Because of the Conrads, My colleagues and I, and our students, will have the money we need to do our work.”

They asked me about my research and dreams.

I told them how we can see the positive effects

of music on those who have suffered trauma,

and yet we don’t have the money for eeG and

MRI studies, for example to prove what we know.

The Manfred and Penny Conrad Institute for Music Therapy Research

There are so many exciting projects.

We now have a way of proving

what we know to be true.

Dr. Heidi Ahonen, Director of CIMTR, on her first meeting with Manfred and Penny Conrad

inspiring l ives of leadership and purpose

on t

he s

ame

wav

elen

gth

Originally from Wallaceburg, Ontario, Asselstine came to Laurier in the early seventies to study music, raised on the sounds from nearby Detroit. “At home I was like a lot of kids – I had (many) proverbial Garage Bands and we played wherever and whenever we were allowed or invited, but while I did study music privately, I didn’t have much formal in-school training as there was no music program at my high school. Fortunately for me Dr. Walter Kemp (Chairman of the then Department of Music at Waterloo Lutheran University) allowed me to attend WLU and he didn’t make me conform. He told me to follow my instincts and interests, but always make sure that I learn the ‘rules’ so that I would know which ones I was breaking.”

Asselstine’s student compositions were often unconventional but always sound. “When I would write a Fugue as part of a weekly assignment, the theory would be correct but it didn’t always sound like a “Classical” composition—I’d use

harmonies I’d learned from listening to the music of Motown, the Beatles, Elton John and The Band and often experiment with my own harmonies.” he says.

Co-op programs didn’t yet exist at Laurier, but while at WLU Asselstine did work in the music business as he studied, finding a part-time job at The (multi Juno Award winning) Mercey Brothers Recording Studio in Elmira, playing piano in the studio on jingles, demos and records. Because he studied orchestration, Asselstine also frequently arranged and produced other peoples’ records there as well and in 1982 was fortunate enough to have his work nominated in every category of the Canadian Country Music Awards. When he graduated, Asselstine continued working at the Studio, writing more than 300 jingles and playing various genres of music. Eventually, the studio closed. Also at that time, Asselstine

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ThE FIRST gRAduATE of the Music Faculty’s Composition degree program

(his years overlapping the shift from Waterloo Lutheran to Wilfrid Laurier university),

Rob Asselstine has been creating musicals and concert shows since the early 2000’s,

counting his own rock-symphonic work FRANKENSTEIN and the perennial Musical Theatre

hits Nunsense and Forever Plaid amongst his productions. his latest production, World Rock

Symphony Orchestra—Britain Rocks, is a sing-along Symphonic Classic Rock concert show

that features a cast of six amazing lead singers (the line-up includes former cast members

of The Trans Siberian Orchestra, Broadway’s The Civil War and Jesus Christ Superstar and the

TV Reality show Rockstar INXS and more), an incredible band including former members of

Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention and Nellie Furtado’s touring band, a Juno and grammy

winning gospel Chorale and Orchestra. Also known as “WRSO”, the World Rock Symphony

Orchestra toured southern Ontario last year, with stops at Niagara’s Fallsview Casino Resort,

Kitchener’s Memorial Auditorium, London’s John Labatt Centre, and Oshawa’s

general Motors’ Centre along the way.

f o l l o W u P S u C C E S S >

instinct + interest

I try to imagine I am an audience member when I’m putting together a concert show. If I’m going to sit there for almost two hours, I ask myself, ‘what’s going to make me happy?’ Rob Asselstine (BMus ’76) says, explaining how he puts a show together.

Rob Asselstine & WLU

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became a father for the first time, and moved into broadcast sales where he remained for 21 years. Asselstine’s success in creating and producing shows is made that much sweeter because until only about 10 years ago, his daughters hadn’t seen their father perform live or heard any of his work. Now, they see his shows, right along side the rest of the audience.

“I consider my return to a music career a second chance,” Asselstine says. “My goal now is to simply have fun the rest of my life. I do that by crafting the music that I love into my concert shows.” The current show, World Rock Symphony Orchestra—Britain Rocks, reflects Asselstine’s love for the combination of Classic Rock music and the sounds and textures of a conventional orchestra, which he first discovered as a teen when he heard Procol Harum’s performance of Conquistador with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra.

When creating a new show, Asselstine says the task takes approximately six

months from initial idea to finished product. He creates and oversees all aspects of the production, from the writing of its script, to designing its look, and then casting it with experienced talent—Bette Midler’s former music director and the Stage Manager for Broadway’s Lion King are some of the many veterans with whom Asselstine works.

“I’ve had the good fortune of being able to take each show I’ve done to a larger audience. It’s so gratifying to hear people tell you they’ve enjoyed what you’ve done. When you see a person in the front row wearing a t-shirt for the show, or you speak with someone who has seen the production five times— it’s wonderful.”

Asselstine resides in Kitchener but spends more time away than at home. Currently, he is developing more than five new shows, each featuring a different era and style of music. With six long-run concert shows playing at Fallsview

Casino Resort (Niagara Falls, Ontario) throughout this year and a likely tour for both World Rock Symphony Orchestra and Frankenstein, 2011 is shaping up to be a busy year for him; he hopes to premiere his next show, Rock and Soul which is heavy on R&B, in 2012.

Asselstine’s future projects pay tribute to the past. And he does the same. “My years at Lutheran and at Laurier, really shaped the rest of my life, changing everything, I grew up in a town where music was only really available as private lessons. It was when I came to Waterloo in September of 1972 that I was, for the first time, able to immerse myself totally in music.” he says. “I’m lucky that I can continue that immersion now. What kept me going those years I was in broadcasting was the belief that I was still a musician at my core.”

To learn more about Asselstine’s work, visit: www.worldrocksymphonyrochestra.com

and www.rgaproductions.com My years at lutheran and at laurier , real ly shaped the rest of my l i fe, changing everything.. .

I was for the f i rst t ime, able to immerse myself total ly in music. – Rob Asse ls t ine

making the grade in a lifelong career

inspiring l ives of leadership and purpose

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Faculty of Music staff member Kathryn Ladano, has released Open, a new CD featuring bass clarinet and electronics.

The recording funded by the Region of Waterloo Arts fund, is Ladano’s first CD, and the bass clarinettist realized the project with the assistance of a number of musicians who have Laurier roots: Jason White, Tomas Bouda, Richard Burrows, and Joe Ryan. Ladano’s brother, Michael Ladano, also performs on the recording, providing vocals on ‘evil Kirk,’ a song inspired by the bass clarinet that sounded on episodes of the original Star Trek whenever a crew member was about to be killed.

This whimsical final track reveals Ladano’s love of the show, and the tracks that precede it on the CD are also personal. ‘Ladano’ was composed by Veronica Tapia, Ladano’s grad school colleague, and ‘The Taste of Time Still Lingers,’ composed by Ladano, is a five-movement autobiography charting different aspects of her life. ‘Artoxinovix’ by Dan DiMaggio, was published several years ago, dedicated to Ladano. As well, about half the music on the CD was created in the moment, reflecting Ladano’s interest in improvisation.

“One piece is overtly biographical, but the improvisation really defines me, also. And even the Star Trek piece is a part of me. I suppose if you take music out, I’m definitely a nerd, and that comes out in the CD, as well,” Ladano says.

She calls the CD, (recorded in Laurier’s Keffer Chapel and Aird Building, and Kitchener’s Chestnut Music Hall) ‘avant-garde,’ but Ladano says that classification doesn’t fit snugly.

“I use that term because it’s a catch-all for anything that’s modern but isn’t necessarily classical. Improvisational arrangements are common to Jazz but if you listen to the recording, there’s not much common ground with that genre of music,” she says. “I think the CD is titled accurately, because it defies categorization. I’m leaving it open to listeners just as it was left open to the musicians as they improvised on the CD.”

The CD can be purchased on iTunes or from Ladano’s website: www.kathrynladano.com.

Open to interpretation

Staff Recordings

I’m determined

to formalize

discussions

and practice

of how and why

we create into

my teaching

as it gives

people something

to carry forward

and to work

towards.

– K imber ly Barber

Kathryn Ladano’s Recording of a Lifetime

Unfamiliar territoriesKimberly Barber was on sabbatical last year, returning to the classroom this past September.

Despite a busy schedule of concerts, four in PeI alone, and critically acclaimed stage work,

such as Calgary Opera’s Little Women, it was private work more than public performance

that made Barber’s time away significant.

Faculty Profiles

THe PROGReSS OF THe STUDeNTS WAS ASTONISHING.

PHYSICAL ADJUSTMeNTS LeD TO BReAKTHROUGHS.

Barber worked with noted Laurier alum and internationally acclaimed vocal coach Carol Isaac on her first Czech operas, and participated in lib lab, a new work development program hosted by Tapestry New Opera that brought playwrights and composers together to create new operas, neither project linked to a specific production.

“Usually, what spurs me is someone hires me to do a role and then I work on it,” Barber says. “Yet so often what is really inspiring for an artist is to explore process purely for its own sake without the expectation of producing or displaying something at the end.”

For Barber, the exploration into how she and others create music also took her to the unfamiliar. In the spring, she was involved in two back-to-back intensive workshops hosted by Opera Nuova, one of a cadre of faculty working with over 50 singers aged 19 to 30 something– several Laurier voice students attended including Stephanie Yelovich, Krysta Mellon, lindsay Reinholt, Alexandra Beley and Kate Applin. The atmosphere was powerful with each singer taking responsibility for his or her talent while also working as a team. Alexander Technique was part of the curriculum, addressing topics such as postural alignment and how to think holistically of the body as an instrument. “The progress of the students was astonishing. Physical adjustments led to breakthroughs.” Barber says.

The students and some members of faculty also participated in a class called Creative Process. “everyone shared thoughts through-out and it got very emotional to the point that some people couldn’t speak. Some people were weeping because they were able to access and achieve something they’d been working on for years,” Barber says. “The experience renewed my joy in singing and my own personal practice. I’ve always aspired to do in my studio at Laurier what we did last spring, superficially touching on many of these topics, but I’m determined to formalize discussions and practice of how and why we create into my teaching as it gives people something to carry forward and something to work towards.”

Barber is also determined to hold on to her new understanding of practice as play rather than work. “Usually, singers think of practice as something tedious. Throughout my sabbatical, I thought about my own relationship to practice, and have come to realize that it’s the most important part of a performer’s day. Be it 20 minutes of working on breathing, one hour spent on vocalizing, or hours at a time investigating new repertoire, I’m reminding my students as well as myself that we should avoid the parameters that are imposed when we think of what practice should be.”

Improvisational arrangements are common to Jazz but if you l isten to the recording, there’s not much common ground with that genre of music.

– K a t h r y n L a d a n o

Photo: Martin LePage

“There’s a constant need to integrate practice with theory” Dr. Carolyn Arnason says, explaining how the conferences she attended in the past year enhanced both her clinical work and her view of where Canadian Music Therapy has come and should go.

In May, the music therapy professor was one of only two Canadians to attend the 8th European Music Therapy Congress in Cadiz, Spain which attracted more than 500 delegates. Various theories in music therapy were discussed there and Arnason was reminded how the music therapy is highly regarded in Europe, in part because of its close affiliation with psychotherapy.

Arnason returned home from Spain, staying just a day, then went to the 36th Conference of the Canadian Association for Music Therapy in Halifax to present a paper with Laurier graduate student Joel Kroeker on Improvising Beyond Genre– Toward Transparency: The Personal Cultural Context of Music Therapy. “The creative power of improvisation extends to social justice. The collaborative nature of improvisation can change the world,” she says. “Collaborative work always takes a little more time and effort, but when it works, it’s wonderful.”

Drawing on her work in the clinic and in the classroom, Arnason also examined the concept of “musical transparency” in the paper, discussing how one needs to reveal the authentic self when interacting with a client or a student for the relationship to work, but the challenge remains how much do you disclose?

Her paper references Dr. Irvin Yalom’s research on transparency in group psychotherapy in which he states that therapists must share more of themselves than they have traditionally. “But what happens when you add music?” Arnason asks. “Yalom is working in verbal psychotherapy. Creating music is different than speaking and there’s also the complexity of intermingling emotions in the fluid medium of music improvisation. Her paper and future

research will continue exploring the intersections that occur in the clinic, in the classroom, and between performance and therapy contexts.

Arnason’s other scholarly activity included attending the International Society for Improvised Music conference in Santa Cruz where she co-presented a paper on the therapeutic practice of crossing stylistic boundaries with clients. The themes of this conference were uncovering new social paradigms within spontaneous musical creativity and rebuilding global community through the arts.

She is also completing Level three of the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music (GIM) at Capilano University. Her clients come to GIM sessions to work on issues such as depression, anxiety, grief, family relationships, and spiritual growth. Arnason is amazed at what GIM has brought to her work as a performing improviser and music therapist. “Your music and imagery experiences can both challenge and nurture who you are and who you wish to become. There is real potential for gaining new perspectives on life issues, and for feeling empowered enough to approach them with renewed energy,” she says. “GIM as a music-centred psychotherapy can provide personal and musical development for music therapists to help them cope with the demands of health care settings.”

Music therapists in Canada continue lobbying for government funding to equal that received by other health professions, but Arnason says progress is occurring because of graduate education and the 2007 Psychotherapy Act. Laurier’s music therapy graduate program has been sending students into the field for almost a decade who now advocate for the profession. Music therapy in Ontario will become a regulated profession with the establishment of the College of Registered Psychotherapists and Registered Mental Health Therapists of Ontario. She doesn’t mention that advances are also occurring because research like hers brings people together to answer big questions related to health and wellness.

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Laurier music alumnus John Estacio (BMus ‘89) is one of only three composers to receive commissions and a residency with the National Arts Centre (NAC) in Ottawa, a prestigious award valued at $75,000.

Estacio will create three new music works for the NAC Orchestra over the next five years, and will teach students during the NAC’s annual Summer Music Institute.

The NAC grants the NAC Award to three prominent Canadian contemporary composers to ensure that Canadian repertoire takes centre stage. Estacio is one of Canada’s most frequently performed and broadcasted composers, and has served as Composer in Residence for the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, the Calgary Philharmonic, the Calgary Opera and Pro Coro Canada.

Estacio’s CD Frenergy, the Music of John Estacio, earned him two Juno nominations and a Western Canadian Music Award. His soundtrack for the film The Secret of the Nutcracker received an Alberta Motion Picture Industries Association Award. His most recent opera, Frobisher, premiered in Calgary and Banff in 2007, and his first opera, Filumena, has been remounted five times and was filmed for television.

Having recently completed a cantata for chorus and orchestra, and a sinfonietta for the Victoria Symphony, Estacio has also written for the Vancouver Symphony, the Toronto Symphony, l’Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, and the CBC Radio Orchestra. His works have been performed by numerous Canadian and international orchestras, and his frequent performances earned him the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada’s Concert Music Award in 2004, 2005 and 2007.

To learn more about Estacio, visit his website: www.johnestacio.com.

Well composed for success Award-winning alumni chosen for music commissions and residency

Alumni Profile

Integrated approachesp+rtahcetoircye

There is real potential for gaining new perspectives on life issues, and for feeling empowered enough to approach them with renewed energy. – Dr. Carolyn Arnason

Graduating students Josh Manuel and Sara Joy come from the same place and seem to be headed in the same direction. From Sarnia, neither knowing of the other until meeting at Laurier, each wants to be in a graduate conducting program come September, and on the podium professionally following that.

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Alumni Profiles

Each has built an impressive conducting resume in a short amount of time but when Manuel and Joy entered university, neither thought about a career in conducting. Manuel started first-year wanting to study music therapy. He switched to performance but soon got bored. He switched into Music Education, and last year, when he took a conducting course with Dr. Jessica Kun, suddenly found his calling. Joy’s conversion to conducting was similarly dramatic. The performance major also studied with Kun, and was immedi-ately fascinated. “Last year, I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do after my degree. I thought I’d do a master’s in choral music but then I took the conducting course. I love the emotional connection you make with an ensemble as you make music. As a clarinet player, I usually just focused on getting the notes right. Now, I’m looking at all of the music….Once I discovered conducting, I realized it was what I was supposed to do.

Kun describes Manuel and Joy similarly, saying each is incredibly intelligent and motivated. “To conduct cannot be taught. You either have it or you don’t. Joshua has it,” she says. “Sara has the talent and drive to become a leader in musical theatre pits in the top halls. Her musicianship is incredible and she will raise the bar for how music is delivered to audiences of musical theater. I will buy a ticket to any show she is conducting. These two have what it takes and can certainly move on.”

In November, the Art of Conducting Symposium drew more than 50 conductors ranging in age and experience to Waterloo for a full-day workshop with maestro Timothy Reynish. Manuel and Joy began organizing the event last summer, the months between school years, jammed with activity related to conducting.

Last May, Manuel attended a training program at the California Conducting Institute that brought 16 conductors together from around the world. The only Canadian there, Manuel was also the younger participant as the others were either in graduate programs or with professional orchestras. He financed the trip out of his own pocket and some money came from a university grant. When asked what he learned from the experience that included podium time in front of the Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra, Manuel utters an “Oh man,” and then pauses to order his thoughts. “My whole philosophy shifted. A conductor isn’t there for technical reasons but to unify sound and to provide a context, encouraging musicians to play what they already see on the page,” he says.

Last summer, Joy worked in musical theatre with companies in Sarnia and Stratford, loving the experience as she calls herself “a theatre junkie.” This January, she did more of the same, directing the Laurier Musical Theatre production of College: The Musical, a story set in a first-year residence.

Also this academic year, Joy and Manuel guest conducted a Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony family concert, working with children on a program called “Percussion Power”.

They have also been working as assistant conductors of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Youth Orchestra, and as co-conductors of Kitchener-Waterloo New Horizon’s Wind Ensemble which is made up of retired adults whose playing experience varies. “Working with this group of musicians has been wonderful. They’re fabulous,” Manuel says.

dynamic duo Josh Manuel

& Sara Joy

inspiring l ives of leadership and purpose

conducting the right energy

My whole phi losophy shifted. A conductor isn’t there for technical reasons but to unify sound and to provide a context, encouraging musicians to play what they already see on the page. – Josh Manuel

I love the emotional connection you make with an ensemble as you make music... Once I discovered conducting, I realized it was what I was supposed to do. – Sarah Joy

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Grammy Award Nomination

Piano Professor leslie De’Ath and Carol Bauman are part of a recording that has been nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Classical Small Ensemble category. Laurier alum Noel Edison (BMus ‘85), conducted the elora Festival Singers on a CD of eric Whiteacre’s Choral Music, released on the Naxos label. De’Ath and Bauman performed on the recording with the choir.

“We are well aware that what we do in the Faculty of Music meets the highest international standards. We’re confident of that but to have our efforts recognized is important to us,” says Dr. Glen Carruthers, Dean of the Faculty of Music. “From my standpoint, it’s not tremendously important whether someone wins a prize of not— in fact, I wish there was a little less of that in music. But at the same time, that this project has been recognized in this way is cause for great celebration.”

The Grammy Awards ceremony was held on February 13, 2011. For more information on the recording please visit: http://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.559677

JuNo Award Recognition

The Penderecki String Quartet, resident at Laurier, was involved in three recordings that garnered JUNO recognition.

• CanadianharpistCarolineLeonardelli’sCD El Dorardo was nominated for Classical Album of the Year; the Penderecki String Quartet joins her on the title track which was composed by Marjan Mozetich.

• Twootherselectionsonadiscdevotedentirely to Mozetich’s music, Lament in the Trampled Garden, garnered nominations for Best Classical Composition of the Year, winning a JUNO Award for the title track. The Penderecki String Quartet performs on both pieces.

WLU grad leonard Enns (BMus ‘72) was also nominated for a JUNO Award in the Classical Composition of the Year category for his work “Nocturne”, which appears on the DaCapo Chamber Choir’s second release, Shadowland.

Aaron lightsone (BMusTh ‘97, MMT ‘04) and his band Jaffa Road were nominated for a JUNO Award in the World Music Album of the Year category for the CD Sunplace. The recording also featured Laurier Music grad Dr. Sundar Viswanathan (BMus ‘89) on saxophone.

few wins 2010 Touring Artist of the Year Award

Trumpet instructor Guy few received the 2010 Touring Artist of the Year Award from the Canadian Arts Presenting Association/ l’Association Canadienne des organismes artistiques (CAPCOA). Fittingly, he was unable to attend the award reception in Ottawa because he was prepping for a concert in Sarnia the next day.

International accolades LAURIeR FACULTY AND GRADUATeS CONTINUe TO RePReSeNT AT MUSIC AWARDS

I love the emotional connection you make with an ensemble as you make music... Once I discovered conducting, I realized it was what I was supposed to do. – Sarah Joy

, Artisti

f o l l o W u P S u C C E S S >

Eccleston is in the final stages of doctoral studies in oboe performance at the University of Cincinnati College- Conservatory of Music (CCM), where she also obtained a master’s degree. Her primary teachers there have been Dr. Mark Ostoich and Dwight Parry of the Cincinnati Symphony. During her graduate studies, she has actively freelanced in the Cincinnati area, and held the position of Section Oboe/English Horn with the Richmond Symphony in Richmond, Indiana. As well, she has toured extensively: In 2004 and 2007, she travelled Canada twice with the National Youth Orchestra of Canada. In 2006, she went to Italy for a five-week residency with the Opera Theatre and Music Festival at Lucca, which included orchestra concerts and opera productions in Tuscany and Naples, and in 2008, she was part of the Yale-China Music Exchange, touring China for a month of performances.

Eccleston says studying in the States has been invaluable for her development. “My first year in Cincinnati, I was surrounded by many players that were better than me, but I spent all my spare time in the reed room and practice room and kept progressing, also investing in a recording device. By the time I got to the second year of my master’s, I felt I had really progressed.”

Others noticed her progress as well, as in that second year of her master’s, Eccleston started working in the CCM Admissions Office and with the oboe class as a graduate assistant.

Like Eccleston, Brophey describes her experiences in grad school as tough but formative—At Carnegie Mellon, she studied with Dr.Cynthia Koledo deAlmeida for two years, being there on September 11, 2001, which she says affected her. “It was an intense time to be living in the United States, and I’m still processing the impact on me. I know I went into a hole for two years and just focused on my work.”

In 2002, immediately following her graduation from Carnegie-Mellon, Brophey got the position with the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra which allows its musicians to take a sabbatical every seven seasons. Brophey calls her stint in Saskatoon a wonderful opportunity, and says that she is excited for Eccleston’s opportunity to play in Thunder Bay because of what time there has done for her. “In Thunder Bay, I’ve been able to play in an orchestra day after day which has sharpened my ensemble skills and my intuition, making me a better musician. I’ve learned how to get the music in my ears and fingers really quickly. The rapidity from practicing a piece initially to performing it publicly—sometimes it’s just a week— has been the biggest leap from school to a professional orchestra.”

The success these Laurier grads enjoy now is in large part due to hard work, but destiny also played a role. In grade seven, Brophey languished in music class, hating the clarinet. She decided to switch to the oboe, knowing nothing about the instrument. “I liked the word. But there weren’t any in North Bay, the place where I grew up. I ended up using the babysitting money I made to rent one from Toronto. The first time I ever saw an oboe was when it arrived in the mail.”

parallel careers timing is everything

Elizabeth Eccleston started studying music

at Laurier a few months after Erin Brophey

completed her studies here. That pattern of one

arriving as the other is leaving continues as eccleston

has been appointed section oboe and english horn

with the Thunder Bay Symphony for the

2010-11 season, taking over for Brophey who has

left that orchestra for one year to join the Saskatoon

Symphony. Their resumes reveal a further parallel

as their successful careers have been built on a

foundation of university training, each going to

graduate school in the States.

inspiring l ives of leadership and purpose

Elizabeth Eccleston & Erin Brophy

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I saw players better than me, but I spent my spare time in the reed room and practice room and kept progressing..

– e l i z a b e t h e c c l e s t o n

Erin Brophey Elizabeth Eccleston

Composing AND conducting success:2010 Barrie Cabena Music Scholarship awarded to laurier alum

Wendell David Glick (BMUS ’08) received the 2010 Barrie Cabena Music Scholarship. The award was created by the Waterloo-Wellington Centre of the Royal Canadian College of Organists to honour Barrie Cabena, Professor emeritus at Laurier, Canadian composer, organist, and educator, and to assist deserving students in the formal study of organ, church music and/or composition at the post-secondary school level. Adjudicators eric Dewdney, elizabeth Hackett, David Hall, Jan Overduin, and Barrie Cabena, received applications from across the country.

Originally from Pennsylvania, Glick studied composition at Laurier with Dr. Glenn Buhr primarily but credits all in that department with preparing him for graduate school, saying, “I am absolutely thrilled with what my undergrad experience at Laurier gave me.”

Recently, completing the master of composition program at the University of Toronto where he studied with Christos Hatzis, Alexander Rapoport, and Chan Ka Nin, Glick commenced doctoral studies in composition at the University of Western Ontario (UWO) in the fall of 2010 and is currently studying with Peter Paul Koprowski. His work extends from a cappella choral writing and works for vocal and instrumental chamber ensemble to orchestral and electroacoustic composition.

Glick hasn’t yet determined what style direction his compositions will take at Western but history suggests that it will differ from what he has done to date.

“When I started, my work was very conservative, affected by the hymn tradition, based in vocals and chorals music,” he says. “I’m still influenced by the choral but I’ve also become interested in free tonal music.”

In the second and third years of his doctoral work, Glick will embark on a several directed research projects, and he hopes to explore church music locally, such as the Mennonite tradition with which he’s familiar, and internationally—The Taize community in France is an ecumenical brotherhood whose music is at times minimalistic and at other times not so.

“I’m compelled by their music,” he says. “At times, it reflects the work of Philip Glass and at other times, Bach.”

Glick’s talent in composing is matched by one in choral conducting which he started while still a teenager. He continues working with youth and adult choirs, and would like to “conduct in parallel with my composition work, my entire career,” he says. “I want to focus my life in one area so that I can learn, but I also don’t want to be defined solely as a composer.”

An ordained youth pastor, living in Waterloo with his wife Janelle and their young sons Lucas and Dante, Glick says he is determined to live with spontaneity and adventure. “My family is a high priority for me—My wife and my young children. I want to be a dad who knows his sons.”

Information on the Barrie Cabena Music Scholarship is available through the RCCO website at www.rcco.ca, or from Professor Jan Overduin at joverdui@wlu.ca.

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Like Brophey, Eccleston was the only oboe student in her hometown when she started in elementary school. In her final years of high school, the native of Kamloops used to travel to Vancouver every couple months to study with a member of the Vancouver Symphony.

Now, when her schedule permits, Eccleston still takes lessons from Jim Mason, her oboe instructor when she went to Laurier. “He’s a wonderful mentor,” she says. “During my second through fourth years at Laurier, he helped me get gigs with Orchestra London and the Windsor Symphony. In fact, I got more professional experiences while a student in southern Ontario than I did in Cincinnati.”

Mason is also responsible for Eccleston’s present position in Thunder Bay. At the start of last summer, she had a lesson with him. Later, when Brophey told him she was going to be in Saskatoon for a year, he mentioned that Eccleston would be a solid replacement for her in Thunder Bay.

“He made a few phone calls. Erin called me. They put my name in the hat, and shortly after I submitted a recording for the audition as all applicants were required to do so,” Eccleston says.

Mason speaks proudly of both students, remembering that he saw then what makes them successful now. “Both Erin Brophey and Liz Eccleston were the type of student that every teacher wants to have. When they were here at Laurier they were driven, focused and worked very hard. Also, they loved what they were doing. That aspect of their time here is an immeasurable advantage to achieving success as a musician.”

In Thunder Bay, I’ve been able to play day in and day out which has sharpened my skills and intuition, making me better.

– e r i n B r o p h e y

I am absolutely thrilled with what my undergrad experience at Laurier gave me.

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Alumni Profiles

Mentorship provides the perfect pairing for success and achievement

Discovering the piano in a school classroom at the age of eight, Nichole Robertson (BMus ‘98, BMth ’98), immediately wanted to take lessons. Now, she teaches children how to play the instrument, making it fun, but demanding that they study with a seriousness similar to her own.

Since 2000, Robertson has been a piano teacher at the Beckett School of Music in Kitchener; she currently teaches 63 students aged 4 to 18, covering Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) curriculum from beginner to grade 10. “This is the job I sought since I was in grade nine—I wanted to be a piano teacher from then on,” she says.

When asked what the best part of her job is, Robertson can’t answer, saying there are too many great aspects to pick just one. But she easily describes the job’s greatest challenge, one shared by piano teachers everywhere: “Getting my students to practice.” They must be listening to her. Each year a number of her students enter the Kiwanis Music Festival, many winning prizes. Even more impressive, 99% of her students get over 80% when writing a RCM exam. “I love seeing the results my students achieve, but they’re all pretty fantastic,” she says.

Blind since birth, Robertson teaches a number of students with special needs. “At times in my life, people have underestimated me, and I’m not going to do that with my students. I’m going to push them,” Robertson says. “My students with special needs are just like my other students. They’re proud when they participate in festivals and do what their brothers and sisters are doing.”

Robertson regards Music of Faculty instructor Terry Kroetsch as a mentor, saying his Music Skills class was easy to go to even though it was held at 8:30 in the morning. “He’s brilliant. He knows how to educate and inspire his students,

and his interest in pedagogy was always interesting to me….His class improved my Braille reading (of music) so that I could play complex preludes and fugues.”

Robertson’s own experience drives her efforts now. She is planning to teach a training course in Braille for music teachers. “Children that are blind can’t complete a university degree unless they’re literate—Finding places where you can learn music Braille is very difficult.”

Four years ago, Robertson started a one-week summer music camp in Brantford which brings about 25 students (aged 10 to 18) together from across Ontario. Eight teachers are involved, including Robertson who is the camp’s Musical Director, with the week culminating in a music festival.

Years ago, Robertson got a fortune cookie whose message read: “Great teachers are great students.” She didn’t need a Chinese dinner to inspire her as she has always been concerned about maturing as a teacher, In 2000, she received her ARCT Diploma; she continues to take piano lessons to maintain her skills, and in June 2009, she won a silver medal from the RCM for obtaining the highest mark in Ontario for that organization’s intermediate piano pedagogy exam. Currently, Robertson is studying with Kroetsch to prep for the senior piano pedagogy final.

“Terry has always shared new ideas and new music with me, passing on what he knows and learns,” Robertson says. “It was never hard to practice for him. I want to be the same kind of teacher to my students.”

At times in my life, people have underestimated me, and I’m not going to do that with my students. I’m going to push them.

– N i c h o l e R o b e r t s o n o n h e r l i f e a s a t e a c h e r

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Alumni Profiles

He’s brill iant. He knows how to educate and inspire his students... His class improved my Braille reading of music so that I could play complex preludes and fugues.

– N i c h o l e R o b e r t s o n o n i n s t r u c t o r a n d m e n t o r Te r r y K r o e t s c h

inspiring l ives of leadership and purpose

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laurier grad published in prestigious online journal for Music Therapists

Laurier Music Therapy grad Naoko Matsumura-McKee (BMT ’08, MMT’10) was published last year in the prestigious on-line journal Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy.

Her article, “Finding power and privilege as a violinist and music therapist” examined how critical self-reflection, a practice common in Social Work, is in part shaped by personal history, social location, attitudes and values related to diversity and difference. Using her experiences as a music therapist, Matsumura-McKee writes how the concept of critical self-reflection can be applied to Music Therapy.

The paper grew out of a social work course assignment she had during her graduate work at Laurier. She says that in music therapy practice power relationships aren’t obvious until a problem arises. “But we need to be more aware of how they play out between clients and practitioners.”

Matsumura-McKee’s undergraduate years at Laurier gave her practical skills, teaching her how to be a clinician, and the masters music therapy program allowed her to explore issues in the discipline more deeply, at a theoretical level.

A music therapist at Winnipeg’s Motivating Sounds Music Therapy Services, Matsumura-McKee works with 20 individual clients—children and adults—and seven school groups. Last year, she presented a research paper at a Canadian Association for Music Therapy conference on the therapeutic applications of the violin in music therapy practice.

She says that her current research and writing emerges from her experiences as a clinician. “Sometimes questions arise at work and the existing music therapy literature doesn’t have the answers. I try to formulate my own thoughts in writing.”

The desire to learn and to teach may also drive Matsumura-McKee to doctoral work in a few years. “Right now, I think I need to gain more real-life experiences as a clinician,” she says. “I’d like to do a PhD in about five years which will give me a greater voice when advocating that Music Therapy be widely recognized as a health care profession. I came to Canada as an international student—My long range goal is to return to Japan to study how Music Therapy is accepted there.”

Alumni Profiles

Performing double duty: A lifetime perscription for personal success

After growing up with years of piano lessons, Robertson started singing his last year of high school when his mother heard him singing along to soundtrack of The Sound of Music. She ran into the room asking if she had heard correctly, amazed that he was the one who had been singing.

“From there, music just took over,” Robertson says. He remembers studying voice performance at Laurier with David falk, other professors also influencing him. “You haven’t lived until les De’Ath has played on the piano, accompanying you,” he says of the Laurier piano professor. In second year, Robertson won the edward Johnston competition. The next year, he attended a guest masterclass with Sherrill Milnes. Afterward, the famous baritone told Robertson he had a great voice and to keep working hard because he’d be rewarded. In his final year at Laurier, Robertson got a role in Opera Hamilton’s production of The Magic Flute. Following graduation, he auditioned for the Canadian Opera Company’s Young ensemble and the San Francisco Opera’s Merola program, making it to the final round for each, receiving high praise at each place—one adjudicator raving “That was great, Mr. Robertson, the best I’ve heard today—You have everything it takes to be a great singer.” Another told him, “You’re probably one of the best tenors in Canada.” Incredibly, despite the wonderful praise, Robertson didn’t get call backs.

Robertson’s break came while auditioning for the Toronto production of Showboat. He sang something in high C and those adjudicating offered him a role in the touring production of Phantom of the Opera. He performed in the Vancouver tour for six months and then the show transferred to Toronto, running for two years until Livent, the show’s production company, was beset with legal problems.

Shortly thereafter, he was offered and took a role in the musical Cats staged in Germany, performing in eight shows a week for almost two years, until that show’s producer went bankrupt.

His professional experiences have given Robertson a mature perspective on the performing arts. At the time he auditioned for Phantom, he was offered a one-year contract with a small opera house in Austria. Instead of pursuing a career in opera, he chose musical theatre. “Musicals are about the performance. Operas are about the voice. Also, musicals are great because you sing so much but opera, there’s so much time between performances, there’s room for panic,” Robertson says jokingly but then becomes serious. “Perhaps I made the wrong decision, but I don’t have any regrets.”

In 2005, Robertson went to teacher’s college and now teaches instrumental and vocal music at a senior public school in the Durham District. Still, every year, he keeps returning to the idea of going to medical school.

“I wasn’t ready to be a doctor 20 years ago, but I want to be one now,” Robertson says. “I would love to be a general practi-tioner because of the one-on-one connection and the trust that’s developed between doctor and patient. I’m not trying to sound altruistic, but I think in medicine, you’re actually able to make a difference in someone’s life.”

To that end, he has applied to McMaster University’s Medical School. If he is unsuccessful first time round, he won’t be deterred.

His voice still mesmerizes those who hear him sing, but Robertson values music for the lessons it has given him.

“If I find out from Mac I need more science courses or I need to upgrade in certain areas, I’ll do it. Music has taught me you have to go through hoops when pursuing something you love, giving all that you can.”

As a teenager, he signed Christmas cards “Dr. Kelly Robertson.” Now, the Laurier voice grad is hoping to realize his dream of becoming a doctor after detouring from the path to that career during successful bouts of singing and teaching.

I wasn’t ready to be a doctor 20 years ago, but I would love to be one now.

– Ke l l y R o b e r t s o n

L a u r i e r F a c u l t y o f M u s i c N e w s l e t t e r

Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to:Faculty of MusicWilfrid Laurier University75 University Avenue WestWaterloo, Ontario N2L 3C5

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INtROdUCINg the gRAdUAtINg CLAss OF 2014

Wilfrid Laurier University | Faculty of Music

Centennial Events

Claudio MonTeveRDI

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Photos: Mallory O’Brien (CPAM)

Photos: sandra Muir (CPAM)