Articles from:May 2019

• Brock Chamber Choir and Women’s Choir holding auditions for upcoming season

  Friday, May 31, 2019 | By sackles

  

  Brock’s Women’s Choir (pictured above) is holding auditions for its second season this summer. Photo courtesy of Julie Hoff.
  

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  Brock’s Chamber Choir and Women’s choir are looking for new voices for the upcoming 2019/2020 season!

  Both the Chamber Choir and Women’s Choir are open by audition to all Brock students, and the Women’s Choir is also open to community members.

  Singers can opt to take choir for credit, but are not required.

  HOW TO AUDITION

  Auditions will begin in August.

  Click here to access the audition sign-up sheet and schedule an audition time.
  *Please arrive at your audition early to complete an audition form.

  Previous singing experience and the ability to read music is required.

  All singers accepted into the choir are expected to attend all rehearsals and performances throughout the year. Dates for the entire year will be posted before the end of August, prior to your audition.

  Auditions will be 10 minutes in length and will include the following:

  1. Vocal range check
  2. Listen and sing-back
  3. Sight-singing
  4. Rhythm-reading and clap-back
  5. Singing of Shenandoah (click on the link for a pdf of the music)

  If you are accepted into one of the choirs, you are invited to register for the course (if you wish to receive credit). Permission to register will be granted after the auditions are completed.

  Rehearsals begin the week of September 10, 2019

  Rehearsal times:

  CHAMBER CHOIR: Rehearsals Tuesdays and Thursdays, 3 to 4:20 p.m.

  WOMEN’S CHOIR: Rehearsals Thursday evenings, 6 to 8:45 p.m.

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  For more information about opportunities and the audition process please contact Rachel Rensink-Hoff, Conductor, at [email protected]  or the Department at [email protected].

  Learn more about the Brock choirs.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

  Tags: Chamber Choir, Department of Music, Rachel Rensink-Hoff, sing at brock, Women's Choir
  Categories: Announcements, Current Students, Faculty & Instructors, Future Students

• Brock students embrace partnership with French music festival

  Wednesday, May 22, 2019 | By sackles

  

  First-year Brock Music student Cassandra Sullivan, right, learns the mechanics of performing opera in French with the guidance of Suzanne Leclerc, an arts teacher at École élémentaire LaMarsh in Niagara Falls. Leclerc led one of the numerous workshops in the Monde le Son Festival that took place at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts May 13 to 15.
  

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  (From The Brock News, May 16, 2019 | By: Sarah Ackles)

  Brock University students got to offer some musical insight and even take in a lesson or two during a recent French festival held at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts.

  For the first time in its four-year history, the annual Monde le Son Festival, or World Sound Festival, was hosted at the MIWSFPA by French school board Conseil scolaire Viamonde.

  The event drew about 200 elementary and secondary school francophone students from across Ontario to participate in workshops from Monday, May 13 to Wednesday, May 15. Students learned how to play instruments, sing in different vocal styles, compose music and perform in front of live audiences in several performances held at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre (PAC).

  Brock Music students were invited to participate in the workshops and to observe the different strategies teachers had for leading the sessions.

  Brock Recruitment and Liaison Officer Madison Roca said she jumped on the opportunity to host the festival when the board initially suggested it last year.

  “It was a great chance to welcome new students to our campus and expose them to the possibility of pursuing the arts beyond high school, while also building a meaningful relationship with a new school board and supporting their initiative,” she said.

  Event organizers said the MIWSFPA seemed a fitting choice for the event after the decision was made to move the festival from its former home in the Greater Toronto Area. Students interested in music were attracted to the downtown arts school’s music facilities and close proximity to the PAC, and embraced the opportunity to enjoy a taste of the university experience while staying in Brock’s Earp Residence.

  “I liked the idea of joining a post-secondary institution to give the kids that experience and to also entice them to do further studies after they graduate from secondary school,” said Jeffrey Hughes, Viamonde’s Director of Educational Services. “It was a winning combination.”

  Mark Nouhra, the board’s Cultural Co-ordinator, said the opportunity to foster interaction between current Brock students and Viamonde’s younger learners was also a plus.

  “Knowing we could have some Brock students talk to and interact with our students, to see how things really happen here in a university music environment, was a priceless experience,” he said.

  First-year Brock Music student Cassandra Sullivan said participating in the festival’s workshops meant hands-on learning experience applicable to her future career path.

  With the goal of one day working as a vocal teacher and choir director, she said that “observing how teachers are teaching and what strategies they are using to engage with the young people was really useful for me.”

  Sullivan also felt the festival was an opportunity to embrace and celebrate her francophone roots.

  “I’ve had the opportunity to learn music and to learn French, but I haven’t had a lot of opportunities to learn music in French,” she said. “I really appreciated the opportunity to learn that new vocabulary and to combine my two favourite subjects.”

  Tags: Department of Music, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, MIWSFPA, music
  Categories: Events, Future Students, Special Events