Articles from:March 2019

  • Support for Days for Girls bursting at the seams at MIWSFPA

    Friday, March 15, 2019 | By

    More than a dozen participants came out to Brock’s Days for Girls event held as part of Alternative Reading Week. The team worked to create hygiene kits to send to young women around the world to help them continue their educational journey.

    (From The Brock News, March 14, 2019 | By: Brielle Kaminsky)

    More than a dozen Brock students (including Brock Music student Brielle Kaminsky, pictured front row, second from left) employees and community partners came together on Feb. 21 to support Days for Girls, an initiative introduced to the University community through Alternative Reading Week programming.

    Held at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts in downtown St. Catharines, the event had participants sewing sustainable menstrual hygiene kits to be sent to young women and girls around the world. Days for Girls, a global movement, prepares and distributes the kits to females who would otherwise miss school during their monthly periods.

    Volunteers at the Brock event spent the day cutting, ironing, sewing, surging and marking. Brock’s next Days for Girls event will be held Friday, March 15. Details will be available in the near future on ExperienceBU.

    Tags: , , , , , ,
    Categories: Current Students, Future Students, News

  • Brock Music grad creating change one song at a time

    Thursday, March 14, 2019 | By

    Music grad Danny Lamb (BA ’12) has been using his Music degree to create positive change locally and internationally.

    (From The Brock News, March 14, 2019 | By: Jaquelyn Bezaire)

    When Danny Lamb began singing lessons as a child, he never could have predicted the role music would play in his life.

    Whether he’s travelling the world raising money for charity or contributing to initiatives in Niagara, the Brock alumnus and singer-songwriter now uses his Music degree to create positive social change and give back to aspiring artists in need.

    One year after graduating, Lamb (BA ’12) embarked on his first major international tour to raise funds and awareness for hydrocephalus and spina bifida.

    Diagnosed with the conditions himself at age three, Lamb created the A Song, A City tour in collaboration with the International Federation of Hydrocephalus.

    He travelled to five cities in Europe and, quite literally, wrote one song per city to promote the benefits of music therapy for those living with the conditions.

    The initial tour ended in Izmir, Turkey, in 2013, where Lamb co-facilitated a music workshop called P.U.S.H (People United For Spina Bifida) and co-wrote a song with a group of young people who live with spina bifida and hydrocephalus.

    Since then A Song, A City has turned into a successful social enterprise and continues to support similar initiatives today.

    Lamb’s most recent venture took place this past summer, when his band, Danny Lamb and the Association, set out on a six-city fundraising tour to send a child to ME to WE Take Action Camp.

    The Bethany, Ont., leadership camp gives children from ages nine to 18 the opportunity to make a difference in their communities.

    Lamb, who spent many summers working there as an ambassador and workshop facilitator, wanted to provide a child in need with the chance to take part in the unique experience.

    “The whole idea snowballed from a single song really,” he said, explaining the tour began after facilitating a workshop for a group of particularly inspiring youth from Trinidad and Tobago.

    Lamb wrote a song about the experience, called Army of Love.

    With the support of ME to WE, he then translated the song’s message of hope and desire to make the world a better place into the Army of Love tour.

    The tour started in Windsor and made subsequent stops in St. Catharines, Ottawa, Montreal and North Bay, before concluding in Halifax.

    In each city, as the band played Army of Love, the audience was asked to toss donations into the body of an old, beaten-up guitar. Lamb also auctioned off a different guitar — this one donated by friend Adriana Cinapri on behalf of Hydrocephalus Canada — to raise the additional funds needed to send 13-year-old Indya Kennedy to Take Action Camp.

    As the initiative’s beneficiary, the young visual artist attended the camp last summer, where she discovered a passion for women’s rights.

    “I wanted the grant to go towards a young person who is passionate about using their music or art to create positive change in their community and who potentially would not have been able to go to camp without the support,” explained Lamb. “Indya, among so many incredible young folks who applied, jumped out at me.”

    Lamb said the initiative would not have been possible “without the support of the local champions, partners and businesses who see music and the arts as having an impact locally and globally.”

    “It worked out better than I could’ve imagined.”

    Now, after a whirlwind couple years, Lamb is back living in Niagara. He said he is honoured to be part of a supportive community that encourages musicians to achieve their goals.

    “I love the community that I’ve grown up in and it’s given me a really good sense of what community is,” he said. “There are so many people in the world who are searching for a sense of community and trying to find what community really means. That’s a privilege I’ve always had, wherever the world takes me.”

    Lamb also noted that Brock instructors Deborah Linton and Lesley Kingham, were “huge champions” in helping him earn his Music degree and achieving all that he has today.

    The young musician has no plans of resting on his past achievements and slowing down anytime soon.

    “I think too much; I have way too many ideas,” he said with a chuckle.

    With plans to release new music and another tour in the works, Lamb hopes to keep using his music to create change — both in Niagara and around the world.

    Tags: , , , , ,
    Categories: Alumni, News

  • Figure drawing class visited by professional dancer

    Wednesday, March 13, 2019 | By

    On Thursday, March 7, Visual Arts students in instructor Candace Couse’s Figure Drawing course welcomed Brock instructor and professional dancer Heryka Miranda Pellecer (pictured) into their studio at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts. While Pellecer danced and moved around the studio, the students focused on capturing her body in motion in paper and engaging in experimental drawing. The course has welcomed a variety of alternative models this semester (including therapy dog Tequilla), to allow students a wide variety of subjects as their honed their skills.

    Tags: , , , ,
    Categories: News

  • Student performances to wrap Music@Noon season

    Monday, March 11, 2019 | By

    Voice student Marcus Tranquilli (right) performed last semester with professional accompanist Gary Forbes as part of the RBC Foundation Music@Noon Recital Series in the Recital Hall of the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre.

    (From The Brock News, March 8, 2019)

    It’s time once again for Brock University Music students to take over the stage as part of the Music@Noon Recital Series.

    For the next five weeks, guests will hear performances by voice, guitar, piano and instrumental students.

    The next performance of the series, which features piano students, will take place Tuesday, March 12 in the Recital Hall of the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, and will be followed by additional student performances on consecutive Tuesdays.

    Instrumental students will perform March 19, followed by voice, guitar and piano students March 26, and piano students April 2.

    Brock’s instrumental students will close out the season on April 9. This performance was rescheduled from Feb. 12 due to inclement weather.

    Thanks to the generous donation of the RBC Foundation, Music@Noon is a free one-hour concert that occurs most Tuesdays at noon during the academic year. All are invited to join the Department of Music in the Recital Hall of the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre in downtown St. Catharines.

    For more information on upcoming concerts, please visit the Department of Music Website.

    Tags: , , , ,
    Categories: Current Students, Events, News

  • MIWSFPA host to roughly 60 high school arts teachers

    Wednesday, March 06, 2019 | By

    Visual Arts teachers were led through an Indigenous art workshop led by Brian Kon.

    On Feb. 15, the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts hosted more than 60 Dramatic Arts, Music and Visual Arts teachers from the District School Board of Niagara (DSBN).

    Organized by Recruitment and Liaison Officer, Madison Roca, and NCDSB Arts Consultant, Teri Cristelli, the teachers were led through various workshops as part of their professional development day.

    “Many of the teachers had said it was the best professional development day they’d ever had,” said Cristelli.

    Among the different workshops were two visual arts workshops, the first on Indigenous art led by guest Brian Kon, followed by a session led by Visual Arts Assistant Professor Amy Friend on cyanotypes.

    There was also a Dramatic Arts workshop led by Dramatic Arts Chair Joe Norris and music workshop led by guest Kevin Hamlin from Yamaha Canada, held in the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre.

    Tags: , , , , , ,
    Categories: Events, News

  • Brock alumna returns to speak with VISA students

    Wednesday, March 06, 2019 | By

    Brock alumna, Natalie Hunter, spent the afternoon with VISA 4F06 students as they discussed their upcoming exhibitions. Back row from left: Teresa Badgley, Amber Williams, Shawn Serfas, Sarah Martin
     Front row from left: Gianna Aceto, Emma Hutchison-Hounsell, Cynthia Richards, Natalie Hunter

    On Feb. 7, Brock Visual Arts students in the VISA 4F06 Honours course were visited by Brock alumna Natalie Hunter (BA ’11) to discuss their upcoming exhibitions that begin in March. Hunter and the students discussed the pieces they are working on and how to move forward in order to create a cohesive exhibition. During each student’s session, they received a small piece of translucent film that Hunter used in her exhibition, Staring into the Sun, which is currently on view at Rodman Hall Art Centre.

    During her time at Brock, Hunter was part of the VISA 4F06 Honours course, where students work all year to put together an exhibition in Rodman Hall. Staring into the Sun features photo-based sculptures and installations that explore the relationship between memory and physical space. The exhibition runs until April 28.

    At the Bottom of Everything, the first of two Visual Arts Honours exhibitions, runs from March 23 to April 7, with the opening reception on Friday, March 22 at 7 p.m. at Rodman Hall.

    The second exhibition runs from April 13 to 28, with the opening reception on Friday, April 12 at 7 p.m. at Rodman Hall. More details to come.

    Tags: , , , , ,
    Categories: Alumni, Current Students, Events, News

  • String quartet returning to the Music@Noon stage

    Friday, March 01, 2019 | By

    The Walker String Quartet performed last season as part of the RBC Foundation Music@Noon Recital Series and will return to the stage March 5.

    (From The Brock News, March 1, 2019)

    The final faculty and guest recital of the Music@Noon season will feature the Walker String Quartet.

    The group will take to the Recital Hall stage in the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre in downtown St. Catharines on Tuesday, March 5.

    The Department of Music’s quartet in residence works with local students in high school string programs to share their love for music while promoting Brock’s Music program.

    The quartet will play Brahms’s String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 51, No. 2, one of the milestones of the romantic string quartet repertoire.

    Formed in 2016, the Walker String Quartet is now comprised of violinists Vera Alekseeva and Anna Hughes, violist Faith Lau and cellist Gordon Cleland.

    Music@Noon is a free one-hour recital series that occurs most Tuesdays at noon during the academic year. The Department of Music invites all staff, faculty, students and those from the community to attend.

    For more information on upcoming performances, visit the Department of Music’s website.

    Tags: , , , ,
    Categories: Department/Centre News, Events, News

1 2