News

  • Student completes music degree started 18 years ago in Mexico

    Mexico’s Luis Gerardo Molina will graduate from Brock Friday with a degree in Music.

    (from The Brock News,  Tuesday, June 05, 2018 | by )

    For 20 years, Luis Gerardo Molina worked his way up the corporate ladder of a growing computer software firm in his home country of Mexico.

    After high school, he had made what he viewed as a responsible decision to choose a stable career in technology over a fragile one as a classical pianist, but his love of music kept pulling at him like a magnet.

    Eventually, he gave in, and on Friday, June 8, at the age of 48, his career change will be official when he graduates from Brock University with a degree in Music.

    “It means everything,” said Molina. “That was a dream that I always wanted to make happen and I really struggled to get it.”

    Born into a family of talented musicians, Molina grew up around choirs and instruments, and by the age of six it was obvious he had a gift. At nine, he started working with a piano teacher and for eight years he attended a specialized school of music that turned his hobby into a craft.

    “I finished my high school and I had that dilemma many people face — should I devote my life to music? Is that a safe path for the rest of my life?” Molina said. “I decided to follow an alternative career. I always really liked the maths, so I decided to choose engineering.”

    A literal flip of a coin at the age of 17 made Molina choose computer engineering over civil engineering, and that set in motion a software career that lasted 20 years.

    But while his career progressed to the point of becoming a manager, so did his ongoing love of music. Having never truly given up his dream of being a professional pianist, Molina went back to the University of the Americas part time in 2000, completing two years of a four-year degree before realizing the workload wasn’t sustainable.

    Luis Molina’s music career has taken him to competitions and performances around the world.

    “It was just too much,” he said.

    But an invitation to an international piano competition in Paris in 2003 ramped up his duelling interests. After beating out nearly 100 competitors from 35 countries to win the contest, he was invited to more international performances and competitions, leading to the production of his first album of live recordings.

    “I got very good support from the company I was working for. The owner was a kind guy who was also involved in music and he always felt proud to tell them he had an employee with this background in competition and music,” said Molina, who traveled to the U.S., Germany, Russia, Poland and elsewhere over the years.

    “After doing all that, I decided the music is calling me more and more,” he said. “The company I was working for was growing and every day it was getting more complicated to do both things together.”

    Finally in 2015, the door opened to make music his full-time endeavour. He was hired as a pianist with a philharmonic orchestra in Mexico and went back to university for his third year of music school.

    Then, in 2017, a trip to Canada to visit friends in Niagara led to another big change.

    “I loved the Niagara region so I thought, if I’m going for my passion in music, I found the perfect place to do it,” he said.

    A tour of Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts and a meeting with Associate Professor of Music Karin Di Bella confirmed that Brock was where Molina would finish his degree.

    “I fell in love with what I found here. And now that I’m almost done, I feel very lucky to have had this great opportunity in this great country and at this great University,” he said.

    Di Bella called Molina “the real deal.”

    “He possesses a rare combination of drive, discipline, musical maturity, technical facility, innate musicality and a true flair for performance,” she said. “Despite his many accomplishments, he is very humble and always eager to learn, making him a true joy to work with.”

    After graduating Friday in the final day of Brock’s Spring Convocation, Molina will move on to do his master’s in musical literature and performance at Western University.

    From there, a PhD and potentially a teaching career are in his sights.

    “I’ve been performing for more than 30 years and I want to continue doing that, but I’d like to share my perspectives and teach others,” he said.

    Molina credits his wife, Marcela Lagunas Burgos, herself a talented musician who plays the cello, as playing a major role in his career success.

    “We’re definitely on the same frequency. She has supported me with everything and all the decisions.”

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    Categories: Announcements, Current Students, Future Students, In the Media, News

  • Brock calendar packed with high school events

    Port Colborne High School students were taken on a tour of campus Tuesday, May 8.

    (excerpted from: Brock News Tuesday, May 08, 2018 | by 

    Now that Winter Term has come to an end, it’s high season for high school students on campus.

    Brock has been buzzing with activity over the past two weeks, with secondary students from across Niagara and the GTA taking tours, listening to presentations, participating in lab demonstrations and getting a taste for life on campus.

    That jam-packed lineup continues this week, with the addition of the popular Scientifically Yours event May 10 and 11, and the Ontario Classics Conference May 10 to 12.

    “For many high school students, University campuses can seem very intimidating at first,” said Jamie Mandigo, Brock’s Vice-Provost, Enrolment Management and International. “Some have never set foot on a University campus while others may be the first in their family to apply and attend University. Providing students with a welcoming first impression of Brock is critical to reassuring them that they will have a positive student experience during their time with us.”

    Included in the many high school events that have happened recently or are scheduled to take place on campus this week are:

    • April 27 — Stamford Collegiate performed at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts (MIWSFPA) as part of In the Soil Arts Festival.
    • May 5 — The Department of Dramatic Arts held its invitational and weekend tours for high school students.
    • May 7 — About 500 students from the District School Board of Niagara rehearsed at the MIWSFPA for Music Monday, before performing at the Meridian Centre that evening.
    • May 8 — About 60 Grade 10 and 11 students from Thorold High School, Eastdale Secondary School and Port Colborne High School visited for campus tours, presentations and a Dramatic Arts activity with Professor Joe Norris and his improv students; The Grade 9 drama students from Holy Cross Catholic Secondary School performed their original self-produced children’s play in the Marilyn I. Walker Theatre for elementary and secondary school students of the NCDSB.
    • May 9 — Niagara Catholic District School Board students will be rehearsing and participating in workshops at the MIWSFPA for Music Day before performing at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre in downtown St. Catharines.
    • May 10 — The Grade 9 drama students from Holy Cross Catholic Secondary School performed their original self-produced children’s play in the Marilyn I. Walker Theatre for elementary and secondary school students of the NCDSB;

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    Categories: Events, Future Students, In the Media, News

  • New for 2018: the Marilyn I. Walker Textile Art Award

    Beginning in 2018 the Executive of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts will be awarding the Marilyn I. Walker Textile Art Award.

    This award will be made to an undergraduate student who is graduating from the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts (MIWSFPA), Brock University; who is awarded, by vote of the Executive Committee of the MIWSPFA, the top prize for a piece of textile art produced and submitted by said student.

    As the award must be granted to a student for the purposes of his or her continuing education and or development, students must also submit an expression of their intention to continue this education and or development.

    For the purposes of this award, textile art is defined as a work of art that utilizes any and all forms of textiles, either natural or man-made, and in any form of original artistic expression.

    For the purposes of this award, continuing education or development is defined as any form of post graduate education and development which the student may wish to pursue whether at a college, university, by way of apprenticeship at a technical institute or at a research facility.

    For more information about Marilyn I. Walker see: brocku.ca/miwsfpa/marilyn-i-walker

    We thank Marilyn I. Walker and her estate for the legacy of her generosity.

    See the article about the first recipient of the new award, Victoria Reid (Bachelor of Arts (Honours), Studio Art, with First-Class Standing, 2018).

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    Categories: Announcements, Current Students, Future Students, News

  • Choral season to wrap with final show

    The Avanti Chamber Singers, under the direction of Rachel Rensink-Hoff, will close out the 2017-18 Department of Music season on Saturday, April 28 at St. Thomas Anglican Church.

    The curtain will close on Brock’s 2017-18 Music season with a final performance by the Avanti Chamber Singers.

    Boundless, the last concert of the academic year, will be presented by the Department of Music and the Avanti Chamber Singers on Saturday, April 28 beginning at 7:30 p.m. at St. Thomas Anglican Church, 99 Ontario St., St. Catharines.

    The show features celestial-inspired music, exploring the harmony and mystery of the universe with a range of primarily 21st-century works.

    The program includes pieces such as Gloria Patri by Urmas Sisask, And Einstein Said by Trent Worthington, Stars by Eriks Ešenvalds, and the centerpiece of the program, Lux Aeterna by Morten Lauridsen.

    The Avanti Chamber Singers is a mixed chamber choir comprised of experienced choral singers from across the Niagara region. The group performs under the direction of Artistic Director Rachel Rensink-Hoff, who is also conductor of the Brock University choirs, Director of Choral Activities and Assistant Professor of Music Education at Brock University.

    “It has been a wonderful year,” she said when describing the choral and concert season as a whole. “We are seeing more and more people from the local community coming to our concerts, which is so exciting and motivating for our performers.”

    Looking forward to the 2018-19 Music season, there will be new choral opportunities for students and the community. The Brock choirs are being restructured to feature two ensembles: a mixed chamber choir and a women’s choir. Both are open by audition to all Brock University students, staff and faculty. New for this year, the women’s choir will also be open to the wider Niagara community “in hopes that it will function as a bridge between Brock’s music program and the wider singing community here in St. Catharines,” Rensink-Hoff said.

    Women’s choir rehearsals will be on Thursday evenings from 6 to 8:45 p.m. in the Cairns Recital Hall of the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre. Interested singers from the community are encouraged to contact Rensink-Hoff by email at rrensinkhoff@brocku.ca for an audition.

    Advance tickets for the last choral concert of the season are $20 for adults, $15 for seniors and $5 for students and under the eyeGo program. They can be purchased at Thorold Music, 289 Glendale Ave.; Booksmart, 350 Vine St.; online through Eventbrite; or through members of the Avanti Chamber Singers.

    Tickets will also be sold at the door for an additional $5.

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    Categories: Announcements, Events, Special Events, Viva Voce Choral Series

  • Music@Noon season to end on high note

    Sherry Yu is one of six pianists who will perform in the last Music@Noon concert of the 2017-18 season on Tuesday, April 3.

    The curtain will close next week on this season’s RBC Foundation Music@Noon Recital Series.

    The final performance of the 2017-18 season takes place Tuesday, April 3, with first- and second-year Bachelor of Music piano students taking the stage at Cairns Recital Hall.

    Short videos of this season’s Music@Noon performances are available on the Department of Music Instagram page.

    The free recital series will return to the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre in late September.

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    Categories: Announcements, Current Students, Events, News, RBC Foundation Music @ Noon Series

  • Recital series to showcase student talent

    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.

    Luis Molina solo recital

    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:

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    Categories: Current Students, Events, Faculty & Instructors, Student Solo Recitals

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

    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.

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    Categories: Events, Faculty & Instructors, Viva Voce Choral Series

  • Jane Bunnett visits St. Catharines!

    The Department of Music presents Encore! Professional Concert Series

    CUBAN RHAPSODY

    with Jane Bunnett and friends.

    Friday, Feb. 9, 2018 , 7:30 p.m.
    Partridge Hall, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre,
    250 St. Paul St., St. Catharines

    Jane Bunnett looks back and presents some of the most elegant music from Cuba’s rich musical history. Performing music from the beginning of the 20th century until the present, this evening explores the rarely heard European influences in Cuban music by great composers such as Lecuona, Valdes Cervantes, etc., melding European classical styles with Jazz and Afro Cuban Rhythms.

    Tickets: $28.50† adults; $22.50† seniors/students;
    $12.50† child (14 and under); $5* eyeGo program.
    General Admission.
    † Includes the $2.50 FOPAC Cultural Capital Improvement Fund (CCIF);
    other applicable fees and taxes are extra. *No CCIF applied; other applicable
    fees and taxes are extra.

    Order tickets from the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre
    Box Office: 905-688-0722; 1-855-515-0722; firstontariopac.ca

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    Categories: Announcements, Encore! Professional Concert Series

  • Music@Noon returns for the 2018 season!

    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.

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    Categories: Announcements, Faculty & Instructors, RBC Foundation Music @ Noon Series

  • Music presents the first Choral Concert for 2018!

    Avanti Chamber Singers

    Rachel Rensink-Hoff, Artistic Director
    Lesley Kingham, Pianist
    Guest Artists: Walker String Quartet

    With Strings Attached

    Featuring Ola Gjeilo’s Dark Night of the Soul & Eric Whitacre’s Hebrew Love Songs, with other works of love and longing by Lassus, Telemann, Pearsall, Dan Forrest, Laura Hawley and Jonathan Quick.

    Saturday, February 17 7:30 pm
    St. Thomas Anglican Church, 99 Ontario St., St. Catharines, ON

    Take advantage of a $5 ticket discount by purchasing tickets in advance from a choir member. avantichambersingers.com

    for more information about this concert on Saturday February 17, 2018

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    Categories: Announcements, Current Students, Viva Voce Choral Series