Faculty & Instructors

• Brock cello instructor to take stage for Music@Noon

  Monday, October 15, 2018 | By Brock University

  

  Cellist Gordon Cleland will perform on stage for the RBC Foundation Music@Noon series on Oct. 16 at the Cairns Recital Hall of the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre

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  (From The Brock News, Monday, Oct. 15)

  The 2018-19 RBC Foundation Music@Noon series continues with its second performance of the season on Tuesday, Oct. 16.

  Generously sponsored by the RBC Foundation and hosted by the Department of Music, the free concert series performance will feature Brock cello instructor Gordon Cleland. All are invited to attend the recital, taking place in the Cairns Recital Hall of the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre in downtown St. Catharines.

  Currently performing with the Niagara Symphony as the principal cellist, Cleland has also performed as a soloist for the Debut Series in Montreal as well as across North America.

  Music@Noon takes place at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre most Tuesdays at noon during the academic year.

  For more information on upcoming performances, please visit ExperienceBU.

  Tags: Department of Music, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, Gordon Cleland, music@noon, rbc foundation
  Categories: Current Students, Events, Faculty & Instructors, News, RBC Foundation Music @ Noon Series

• RBC Foundation Music@Noon recital series returns for another season

  Thursday, September 27, 2018 | By Brock University

  

  Flutist Patricia Dydnansky is the first performer in the 2018-19 RBC Foundation Music@Noon Series, opening on Oct. 2 at noon at the Cairns Recital Hall of the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre in downtown St. Catharines.
  

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  (From The Brock News, Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2018 | by Jaquelyn Bezaire)

  The popular RBC Foundation Music@Noon series is returning this fall with another stellar lineup of free recitals in downtown St. Catharines, beginning Oct 2.

  Generously sponsored by the RBC Foundation, and hosted by the Department of Music, the series features noon-hour performances by faculty, guests and music students that take place at the Cairns Recital Hall of the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre most Tuesdays throughout the year.

  The 2018-19 season will open with a performance by Brock’s own flute instructor, Patricia Dydnansky.

  Currently performing with the Niagara Symphony Orchestra as the Second Flute and Piccolo, Dydnansky has also performed with the Shaw Festival Orchestra, the Stratford Festival Orchestra and the Hamilton Philharmonic. A veteran performer in the Music@Noon series, Dydnansky said patrons can look forward to hearing repertoire from around the world in her recital.

  “This program includes music by composers inspired by the Native American flute and Japanese shakuhachi, a set of Celtic tunes on my new Windward Irish flute, and a delightful set of short dances for piccolo inspired by British folk songs,” Dydnansky said. “Ibert’s gorgeous Pièce pour Flûte Seule is on the bill, as well as pieces by the Baroque composers Telemann and Marais, both displaying the ability of a solo instrument to play polyphonically.”

  The series will continue with performances by Music faculty members Gordon Cleland, Zoltan Kalman, Tim Phelan, Karin Di Bella and Devon Fornelli, and conclude with student performances at the end of each semester.

  Music Chair Matthew Royal said this allows students studying at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts (MIWSFPA) to watch their instructors perform on stage before having the opportunity to perform in a professional environment themselves later on in the year.

  “We are so grateful for our generous sponsors, the RBC Foundation, that allow us to host these concerts every year,” he said. “They provide a great opportunity for students to learn all that’s involved in performing in a professional-level recital, and for our talented faculty and students to showcase the hard work they have put into their performances with the local community.”

  A line-up of talented guest performances will also round out the programming this year, including Maltese-Canadian flutist Rebecca Hall, who will perform with Brock pianist Karin Di Bella on Jan. 8.  The performers first connected over their shared interest in the work of Jack Behrens, a Canadian composer, and will be continuing to work together after their early 2019 show.

  On Jan. 29, percussionist Devon Fornelli will perform with pianist John Sherwood. Fornelli, a percussion instructor at Brock, has a wide range of experience performing as a soloist, an orchestral percussionist and as a chamber instrumentalist, and Sherwood, the piano tuner at Brock, is listed as being among the top jazz pianists in Ontario.

  Royal encourages both students and those from around the community to come and experience the talented musicians that Brock University has to offer.

  The Music@Noon Recital series is generously sponsored by the RBC Foundation and will run most Tuesdays at noon throughout the academic year. The concerts are performed in the Cairns Recital Hall at FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre. This is a free event that is open to the public.

  For more details about future performances, please visit brocku.ca/miwsfpa/music/concerts

  2018-19 RBC Foundation Music@Noon Series:

  Oct. 2: Patricia Dydnansky (flute)
  Oct. 16: Gordon Cleland (cello)
  Oct. 23: Zoltan Kalman (clarinet) and Gary Forbes (piano)
  Oct. 30: Piano, vocal and instrument students
  Nov. 6: Tim Phelan (guitar)
  Nov. 20: Voice, guitar and piano students
  Nov. 27: Instrumental students
  Dec. 4: Piano students
  Jan. 8: Rebecca Hall (flute) and Karin Di Bella (piano)
  Jan. 29: Devon Fornelli (percussion) and John Sherwood (piano)
  Feb. 5: Voice, guitar and piano students
  Feb. 12: Instrumental students
  Feb. 26: Karin Di Bella (piano)
  March 5: Walker String Quartet: Vera Alekseeva and Anna Hughes (violins), Faith Lau (viola) and Gordon Cleland (cello)
  March 12: Piano students
  March 19: Instrumental students
  March 26: Voice, guitar and piano students
  April 2: Piano students

  Tags: FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, matthew royal, music@noon, Patricia Dydnansky, rbc foundation, RBC Foundation Music@Noon
  Categories: Current Students, Events, Faculty & Instructors, News, RBC Foundation Music @ Noon Series

• Recital series to showcase student talent

  Thursday, March 01, 2018 | By dtemprile

  

  Second-year violinist Jessica Tigchelaar takes centre stage at the Concordia Seminary Chapel on Friday, March 2 at 7:30 p.m.

  The stage is set for the stars of Brock’s Department of Music to shine.

  Student talent will be highlighted during a month-long recital series that begins Friday, March 2.

  The inaugural performance will feature violinist Jessica Tigchelaar, a second-year student, accompanied by Luis Molina on the piano. The show will take place at the Concordia Seminary Chapel on campus, where half of the recitals will take place. The remaining shows will happen at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre in downtown St. Catharines.

  

  Fourth-year pianist Luis Molina accompanies Jessica Tigchelaar on stage Friday, March 2. Molina then has his own solo performance Monday, April 2 at 7:30 p.m. in the Cairns Recital Hall of the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre.

  The series will feature Brock’s most talented performers, who enrol in recital courses for credit following a rigorous audition process.

  Details for the following performances are available at the respective links:

  •   Friday, March 2: Jessica Tigchelaar and Luis Molina
  •   Monday, March 5: Rebecca Heathcote and Karen Lam 
  •   Friday, March 9: Alyssa Shanghavi and Gary Forbes
  •   Monday, March 19: Ryan Baxter
  •   Saturday, March 24: Jesse Luciani
  •   Sunday, March 25: Eric Godfree
  •   Monday, March 26: William Sadler and Lesley Kingham
  •   Monday, April 2: Luis Molina

  Tags: Brock University, cairns recital hall, concert, Concordia Seminary Chapel, Department of Music, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, Instrumental Students, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, Student Solo Recitals
  Categories: Current Students, Events, Faculty & Instructors, Student Solo Recitals

• The Viva Voce! Choral Series welcomes back the Avanti Chamber Singers

  Wednesday, February 14, 2018 | By dtemprile

  

  The Avanti Chamber Singers performing under the conduction of Rachel Rensink-Hoff from a previous Viva Voce! Choral Series concert in 2017.

  

  Special guests, The Walker String Quartet, joins the Avanti Chamber Singers at the St. Thomas Anglican Church on Saturday Feb. 17. Pictured from left to right is Anna Hughes (2nd violin), Faith Lau (viola), Gordon Cleland (cello) and Vera Alexeeva (1st violin).

  The Avanti Chamber Singers come back “With Strings Attached” for another round with Brock’s Viva Voce! Choral Series. This time around they’re bringing special guests, The Walker String Quartet!

  This concert will feature Ola Gjeilo’s Dark Night of the Soul, Eric Whitacre’s Hebrew Love Songs and Telemann’s Laudate Jehovam, with other works of love and longing by Lassus, Pearsall, Hassler and contemporary composers Laura Hawley, John Butler, Jared Tomlinson and Jonathan Quick.

  The Chamber Singers will bring their signature sound to the St. Thomas Anglican Church, 99 Ontario Street in St. Catharines, Saturday, Feb. 17 at 7:30 p.m. The group is conducted by their Artistic Director, Rachel Rensink-Hoff, who is also Director of Choral Activities and Assistant Professor of Music Education at Brock University.

  Advance tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for seniors and students, and $5 under the eyeGo program. They can be purchased at Thorold Music, 289 Glendale Ave., and Booksmart, 350 Scott St., or online.

  Tickets at the door will be $25 for adults, $20 for seniors and students, and $5 under the eyeGo program.

  Visit the Department of Music’s Concert Series page for more information.

  Tags: Avanti Chamber Singers, Brock University, concert, Dr. Rachel Rensink-Hoff, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, music, St. Thomas Anglican Church, Viva Voce Choral Series, Viva Voce!, Walker String Quartet, With Strings Attached
  Categories: Events, Faculty & Instructors, Viva Voce Choral Series

• Music@Noon returns for the 2018 season!

  Saturday, January 20, 2018 | By dvivian

  

  Trumpeter Timothy White, and pianist Lesley Kingham perform on Tuesday Jan. 23 at noon in the Cairns Recital Hall. 

  The RBC Foundation Music@Noon Recital Series returns for the 2018 winter semester on Tuesday, Jan. 23 at noon, with a concert featuring Brock instructors organist Lesley Kingham and trumpeter Timothy White.

  Kingham is a professional accompanist with a number of appointments around the Niagara region. These include accompanying professional soloists, the Brock Choirs, Avanti Chamber Singers, and numerous Brock instrumental and vocal students.

  White has played in the Hamilton Philharmonic, Symphony Nova Scotia, and the Niagara Symphony. He also performs throughout southern Ontario as a soloist, freelance trumpeter, and clinician, and with his quintet, the Rondeau Brass.

  This series continues Tuesdays at noon during the academic year in the Cairns Recital Hall of the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre. Keep updated with this semester’s Music@Noon dates through ExperienceBU.

  Tags: FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, Lesley Kingham, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, music@noon, rbc foundation, Timothy White
  Categories: Announcements, Faculty & Instructors, RBC Foundation Music @ Noon Series

• The Department of Music on stage!

  Monday, November 06, 2017 | By dtemprile

  

  Pictured above is a previous season performance of the Guitar Extravaganza (top), The Walker Quartet (left to right: Anna Hughes (2^nd violin), Faith Lau (viola), Gordon Cleland (cello) and Vera Alexeeva (1^st violin)), and pianist Dr. Karin Di Bella (bottom right).

  This weekend the Department of Music is presenting two spectacular concerts that will surely be among the highlights of the fall season.

  On Friday Nov. 10, as part of the Walker Cultural Leader Series, Encore! Professional Concert Series presents: The Walker Quartet with faculty pianist Karin Di Bella. The Walker Cultural Leader Series was generously founded by Marilyn I. Walker.

  Now in its second season, the Department of Music’s resident Walker String Quartet and Karin Di Bella present a program of two of the most iconic works in the string quintet repertoire, the Piano Quintets by Schumann in E-flat Major and Shostakovich in G Minor.

  This concert takes place on Friday Nov. 10, 2017 in the Partridge Concert Hall at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, starting at 7:30 pm. For more information, please visit the Department concert events webpage and the ExperienceBU page.

  Then on Saturday Nov. 11 as part of our continuing celebration of Canada’s 150 year of Confederation, the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre is once again the venue for the ever-popular Guitar Extravangaza III including a special Canada 150 performance of Carpe Noctem.

  Brock University’s annual celebration of the guitar commences at 7:30 pm on Saturday Nov. 11 in the Cairns Recital Hall.  An orchestra of 60 guitars comprised of Brock students, local amateurs and professionals will be directed by Brock University Guitar Instructor, Timothy Phelan. Special guest soloists include Matthew McAllister (Scotland) and Emma Rush (Canada).  The concert features a tribute to the late Warren Stirtzinger with George Kane (USA) and James Bryan McCollum (Canada), music composed by Timothy Phelan and the World Premiere of Carpe Noctem – a six-movement work written especially for this occasion by Niagara composer Floyd Turner.  For more information, please visit the Department concert events webpage and the ExperienceBU page.

  Tickets for both events can be ordered from the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre Box Office (905.688.0722) or from their website.

  Tags: Brock University, cairns recital hall, Canada 150, Encore! Professional Concert Series, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, FOPAC, Guitar Extravaganza, Karin Di Bella, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, MIWSFPA, Piano, Walker Cultural Leader Series, Walker String Quartet
  Categories: Encore! Professional Concert Series, Events, Faculty & Instructors, Special Events

• Percussion Improv at the MIWSFPA

  Friday, September 22, 2017 | By dtemprile

  

  Join us for an outdoor improv performance!

  Percussionist Devon Fornelli will converse in real time with the city soundscape using traditional instruments and found materials.

  Mr. Fornelli has extensive experience as a soloist, an orchestral percussionist, and as a chamber instrumentalist. His range of talent covers all the diverse areas of percussion and drums from the orchestral percussion section to contemporary art music, and most traditions in-between. This is his third improv performance in the Raceway that runs adjacent to the MIWSFPA.

  The performance will take place in the Lancaster, Brooks & Welch LLP Pathway, between the MIWSFPA and FOPAC.

  In case of rain, the performance will be relocated to the MIWSFPA lobby.

  Tags: concerts & shows, Devon Fornelli, Festivals, FOPAC, free, MIWSFPA, music, Niagara community events, Outdoors, Recreation, Social
  Categories: Events, Faculty & Instructors, Special Events

• Brock University welcomes Dr. Rachel Rensink-Hoff!

  Tuesday, July 04, 2017 | By dvivian

  

  Brock University welcomes Dr. Rachel Rensink-Hoff to the Department of Music at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine & Performing Arts.

  Dr. Rachel Rensink-Hoff is the newly appointed Director of Choral Activities and Assistant Professor of Music Education at Brock University. She has also been named Artistic Director of the Niagara-based Avanti Chamber Singers.

  Former conductor of the McMaster University Choir and founder of the McMaster Women’s Choir, Dr. Rensink-Hoff completed her Doctorate and Master of Music degree at Western University, pursuing additional studies at the Eastman School of Music Conducting Institute, the Voice Care Network of St. John’s University, Minnesota, and the University of Toronto. She has engaged in master-classes under conductors Helmuth Rilling, Joseph Flummerfelt, Anton Armstrong, Dale Warland and the late Sir David Willcocks.

  Vice-President of Programming for Choral Canada, Rachel Rensink-Hoff is the 2014 winner of the prestigious Leslie Bell Prize for Choral Conducting awarded by the Ontario Arts Council. In 2015, her McMaster Women’s Choir was awarded first prize in the National Choral Competition for Amateur Choirs of the CBC and Choral Canada. That same year she was nominated for the Excellence in Teaching Award at McMaster University.

  She publishes regularly in the Choral Journal of the American Choral Directors’ Association as well as in Choral Canada’s Anacrusis and The Canadian Music Educator. Rachel works frequently as guest conductor, adjudicator, conference presenter and workshop clinician. Current engagements include a session on Canadian and American women choral composers at the 2017 national conference of the American Choral Directors’ Association in Minneapolis, Minnesota and a presentation on Canadian choral music at the 2017 World Symposium on Choral Music in Barcelona, Spain. She also looks forward to serving as guest conductor of this year’s 2017 Nova Scotia Provincial Youth Choir.

  Tags: Choir, choral, Dr. Rachel Rensink-Hoff
  Categories: Announcements, Faculty & Instructors, News, Viva Voce Choral Series

• Singing to National Success!

  Monday, June 26, 2017 | By dvivian

  

  Dr. Brian Power is seen here (wearing a red bow tie, centre-right) singing with Pax Christi Chorale at the Christmas concert for 2016.

  Dr. Brian Power, Associate Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, Professor in the Department of Music and tenor in the Pax Christi Chorale (Toronto) sung to national success when the Pax CC Chamber Choir won first place in the chamber choir category of the 2017 CBC Choral Competition, announced Sunday.

  Says Dr. Power, “Some of Canada’s finest choirs participated in this event. The competition was stiff and the rules were strict, so we’re feeling quite satisfied with the result.”

  The biannual National Competition for Canadian Amateur Choirs  is ‎a project of Choral Canada  in partnership with the CBC and the Canada Council. A treasured Canadian choral tradition, the National Competition for Canadian Amateur Choirs inspires choirs to strive for excellence, provides visibility for amateur choirs of all ages, and encourages the creation and performance of Canadian works. The Competition is open to all Canadian amateur choirs and attracts diverse participants from coast to coast. The finalists and winners are selected by a national jury of esteemed Canadian choral conductors. Each choir that enters the Competition must perform an original Canadian piece and prizes are given for the Best Performance of a Canadian Work and the Best Performance of a Canadian Contemporary Work. Cash prizes are awarded for the top performances in each category. The national jury may also award special accolades to outstanding choirs. Seventy choirs from across the country participated in the 2017 competition.

  Pax Christi Chorale is known for presenting dramatic choral masterpieces, performing with passion, conviction and heart. Past Artistic Director Stephanie Martin’s imaginative programming engages audiences with dramatic story-telling through oratorio and rarely-heard masterworks. Since its inception in 1987, the choir has grown to over 100 singers, and has performed ambitious works including the North American première of Parry’s 1888 oratorio Judith and Elgar’s masterpiece The Kingdom at Koerner Hall, Berlioz’s L’enfance du Christ, and Britten’s Saint Nicolas. The Pax Chamber Choir also participated in R. Murray Schafer’s monumental 1000-performer extravaganza Apocalypsis at the 2015 Luminato Festival. Martin’s final concert, capping 20 years at the helm of Pax Christi, took place in April, 2017: the Canadian première of Elgar’s The Apostles. Stephanie Martin is an Associate Professor in the Department of Music of the Faculty of Arts at York University.

  The intense recording project by the Pax Christi Chorale was prepared by Stephanie Martin over a period of many months and submitted to the jury in March, 2017. The winning entry featured “How sweet the moonlight sleeps” (text from Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice), a new work by emerging Toronto-based composer Jared Tomlinson. Recordings made by the Pax Christi Chorale for the 2017 competition can be heard on their Soundcloud channel. Winners were announced on CBC Radio 2’s Choral Concert on June 25th, 2017.  Choral Concert, hosted by Katherine Duncan, presents great choral music from the Renaissance to the present day, sung by the top choirs from Canada and around the world.

  BRAVO! To Dr. Brian Power and the Pax Christi Chorale!

  prepared with material supplied by Choral Canada, Pax Christi Chorale  and CBC Radio 2.

  Tags: Brian Power, CBC Choral Competition, Choral Canada, Pax Christi Chorale
  Categories: Faculty & Instructors, In the Media, News

• Brock Music instructor nominated for St. Catharines Arts Award

  Tuesday, April 18, 2017 | By Nikki Prudden

  

  The Department of Music is proud to announce that Gordon Cleland has been nominated for the Emerging Artist award at this year’s St. Catharines Arts Awards! Gordon teaches cello here at the MIWSFPA, and plays principle cello with the Niagara Symphony, as well as working with the Niagara Youth Orchestra.

  More information can be found at this news entry on the main MIWSFPA website. Congratulations, Gordon! Good luck!

  Tags: Emerging Artist award, Gordon Cleland, St. Catharines Arts Awards
  Categories: Announcements, Faculty & Instructors, News