News

  • Music Ed Plus Chamber Music Ensembles

    Thursday, March 16, 2017 | By

    Chamber Music Ensembles students on stage

    Friday, April 7, 2017 from 12pm-3pm. “Music in the Hallway”

    The performance will feature a five-piece jazz ensemble, coached by Zoltan Kalman, performing jazz standards and old favorites. In addition, there will be a flute, vocal and piano ensemble who will be singing and playing a more classically-oriented program, coached by Colin Maier.

    The Music Ed Plus co-curricular program – a specialized Experience Plus program – is currently in its fourth year of operation and looks forward to showcasing the musical talents of its chamber music ensembles. These concerts are part of their mandate for community engagement in both the Brock community as well as for the general public in the Niagara Region.

    Event address:
    Dr. Charles A. Sankey Chamber (hallway outside)
    Located in A block of MacKenzie Chown Complex
    Brock University
    www.brocku.ca/blogs/campus-map/

    Free community event

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    Categories: Events, Music Ed Plus Chamber Music Ensembles

  • RBC Foundation Music@Noon – April 4

    Thursday, March 16, 2017 | By

    2 guitarists sitting in chairs playing

    Our Tuesday Music@Noon series is generously sponsored by the RBC Foundation. This free concert series takes places most Tuesdays at noon throughout the academic year. Held in the acoustically excellent Cairns Recital Hall, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, our Music@Noon series provides ample opportunities for artists to display their creativity.

    April 4, 2017: Piano & guitar students

     

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    Categories: Events, RBC Foundation Music @ Noon Series

  • Brock University Choirs and Brock Music Alumni – Finale

    Thursday, March 16, 2017 | By

    Brock University Choirs and Brock Music Alumni – Finale poster

    Brock University Choirs and Music Alumni join conductor Harris Loewen in his farewell concert, “Finale”

    Saturday, April 1, 2017 marks the end of Dr. Harris Loewen’s career as conductor of the Brock University Choirs with a festive concert appropriately titled “Finale!”  The current men’s, women’s and mixed choirs will be joined on stage by 50 Music alumni, the Walker String Quartet and other guest artists to celebrate his 30 years of choral music-making at Brock University.

    The Department of Music invites all Music alumni and former choristers to attend this musical event, held in Cairns Recital Hall, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre.   Additional activities for alumni are planned for the weekend, including social events and tours of the new Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts building.

    Joining the choirs and Music alumni on stage will be the recently established Walker String Quartet (WSQ), along with guest artists Fil Stasiak (double bass) and Devon Fornelli (percussion). The WSQ is a professional ensemble completing its first year as quartet-in-residence with the Department of Music.

    The concert program will feature a variety of repertoire, opening with Vivaldi’s “Magnificat,” which Loewen first performed with the choirs in his debut concert at Brock University in the fall of 1987.  Several new works written by colleague Dr. Matthew Royal will also receive their premiere performance.  This continues the tradition that Loewen has established throughout his career, in both concerts and recordings, as a champion of choral music by Niagara composers.

    Loewen has also been active as a community choral conductor throughout Southern Ontario, founding both the Niagara Vocal Ensemble (1991-2011) and Avanti Chamber Singers (2006) locally.  With these ensembles he has recorded five albums in the “Voices of Niagara” CD series, documenting the choral works of area composers.  He has also been active as a baritone soloist, performing in both classical and jazz styles, as well as an arranger, choral composer and choral clinician. Several of his choral arrangements and original works are now being published by Cypress Choral Music.

    Loewen states, “I have been privileged with an extremely rewarding career at Brock University.  I have enjoyed my students, had good collegial relations, and fulfilling opportunities to serve the university and community.  Most of all, I have loved the experience of making music, whether as a choral conductor, singer, clinician or composer.  I really can’t imagine having done anything else! ”

    The Viva Voce! Choral Series, presented by the Department of Music, is a key part of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts’ mandate in building connections between the community and Brock University.

    Join us for this choral celebration on Saturday, April 1 at 7:30 p.m., held at Cairns Recital Hall, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, 250 St. Paul St., St. Catharines. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for seniors and students, and $5 for the eyeGo program. They are available from the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre Box Office: 905.688.0722 or Long Distance Toll Free: 1.855.515.0722; online: firstontariopac.ca.

    For more information contact:
    Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts
    T: 905-688-5550, x4765 | E: miwsfpa@brocku.ca | W: brocku.ca/miwsfpa

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    Categories: Events, Media Releases, News, Viva Voce Choral Series

  • Encore! Professional Concert Series presents: Anagnoson & Kinton, piano duo

    Tuesday, February 14, 2017 | By

    Anagnoson & Kinton piano duo

    March 10, 2017 at 7:30 pm
    Partridge Hall, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, 250 St. Paul St., St. Catharines

    Recognized as one of the world’s finest piano duos, their performances are repeatedly met with critical acclaim across North America, Europe, China, and Russia. Respected scholars and performers, Anagnoson & Kinton’s musicianship defines the art of true ensemble playing.

    “…an outstanding two-piano recital with formidable precision and panache”  – The New York Times

    Video teaser: http://bit.ly/28Lxxvz

    Tickets: $25† adults; $20† seniors/students; $10† child (14 and under); $5† eyeGo program
    †Applicable fees and taxes are extra.
    Order tickets from the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre Box Office: 905.688.0722 or Toll Free: 1.855.515.0722; online: firstontariopac.ca

     

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    Categories: Encore! Professional Concert Series, Events

  • Music Ed Plus Chamber Music Ensembles

    Tuesday, February 14, 2017 | By

    Chamber Music Ensembles students on stage

    Wednesday, March 8, 2017 at 8pm. Cairns Recital Hall, FirstOntario Performing Arts Center, St. Catharines, ON.

    The performance will feature a five-piece jazz ensemble, coached by Zoltan Kalman, performing jazz standards and old favorites. In addition, there will be a flute, vocal and piano ensemble who will be singing and playing a more classically-oriented program, coached by Colin Maier.

    The Music Ed Plus co-curricular program – a specialized Experience Plus program – is currently in its fourth year of operation and looks forward to showcasing the musical talents of its chamber music ensembles. These concerts are part of their mandate for community engagement in both the Brock community as well as for the general public in the Niagara Region.

    Event address:
    250 St. Paul St.
    St. Catharines, ON.
    www.firstontariopac.ca

    Free community event

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    Categories: Events, Music Ed Plus Chamber Music Ensembles

  • RBC Foundation Music@Noon – March 28

    Friday, February 10, 2017 | By

    6 musicians standing by piano holding instruments

    RBC Foundation Music@Noon
    Our Tuesday Music@Noon series is generously sponsored by the RBC Foundation. This free concert series takes places most Tuesdays at noon throughout the academic year. Held in the acoustically excellent Cairns Recital Hall, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, our Music@Noon series provides ample opportunities for artists to display their creativity.

    Performing: Voice Students

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    Categories: Events, RBC Foundation Music @ Noon Series

  • RBC Foundation Music@Noon – March 21

    Friday, February 10, 2017 | By

    6 musicians standing by piano holding instruments

    RBC Foundation Music@Noon
    Our Tuesday Music@Noon series is generously sponsored by the RBC Foundation. This free concert series takes places most Tuesdays at noon throughout the academic year. Held in the acoustically excellent Cairns Recital Hall, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, our Music@Noon series provides ample opportunities for artists to display their creativity.

    Performing: Instrumental students

    Tags: , , , , , ,
    Categories: Events, RBC Foundation Music @ Noon Series

  • RBC Foundation Music@Noon – March 14

    Friday, February 10, 2017 | By

    6 musicians standing by piano holding instruments

    RBC Foundation Music@Noon
    Our Tuesday Music@Noon series is generously sponsored by the RBC Foundation. This free concert series takes places most Tuesdays at noon throughout the academic year. Held in the acoustically excellent Cairns Recital Hall, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, our Music@Noon series provides ample opportunities for artists to display their creativity.

    Performing: Piano & guitar students

    Tags: , , , , ,
    Categories: Events, RBC Foundation Music @ Noon Series

  • RBC Foundation Music@Noon – March 7

    Friday, February 10, 2017 | By

    walker string quartet outside

    RBC Foundation Music@Noon
    Our Tuesday Music@Noon series is generously sponsored by the RBC Foundation. This free concert series takes places most Tuesdays at noon throughout the academic year. Held in the acoustically excellent Cairns Recital Hall, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, our Music@Noon series provides ample opportunities for artists to display their creativity.

    Performing: Walker String Quartet: Vera Alekseeva and Anna Hughes, violins, Andrée Simard, viola, & Gordon Cleland, cello

    The Walker String Quartet (WSQ) is the Department of Music’s quartet in residence. The group gives prominence to the department through public performance and working with students in high school string programs to share in the joy of music and promote Brock’s music program.

    Quartet members include Music instructors Vera Alekseeva (first violin), Andrée Simard (viola), and Gordon Cleland (cello), along with second violinist Anna Hughes who hails from Guelph. All members of the WSQ are also regular players in the Niagara Symphony Orchestra.

    WSQ workshops with secondary school students over a number of weeks, developing closer ties between the schools and Brock while working together towards a public performance.

    “With this high-level ensemble we are able to bring a new energy to our performing presence in the region, on top of the vital work they are able to do in high schools with students, giving them a sampling of what Brock has to offer,” explains department chair Professor Karin Di Bella.

    “Prospective students will have the experience of having worked with their future teachers, and once they are at Brock they know they will receive the very best instruction possible.”

    In 2016 members of the quartet worked with music students from Laura Secord and Sir Winston Churchill Secondary Schools. At both schools the quartet performed a short program of standard repertoire, talked about Brock and its music programs, and distributed music parts to the students to work on in their classes. A number of weeks later, the quartet returned to the schools and held sectional workshops with the students to work on their parts.

    Finally on November 25, 2016, the high school students came downtown for a day of workshops and tours at the Marilyn I. Walker School of the Fine and Performing Arts, followed by a combined rehearsal and short public performance in Cairns Recital Hall. The gathered audience was appreciative, and the initiative forged closer ties between the two schools and the Department.

    The WSQ also held a similar event with Ridley College students, with a performance by the quartet, combined rehearsals, and a public performance.

    Concert performances are another important aspect of the quartet’s activities. In November, paired with strategic timing of the invitational workshop, the WSQ performed as part of the Department of Music’s Encore! Professional Concert Series in Partridge Hall at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre.

    The WSQ was formed in 2016 through funds from the Walker Cultural Leaders Series endowment. The series brings leading performers, artists, practitioners and academics to the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts.

    Discussions are underway to build on this success for the 2017-18 season, when the quartet will expand their activities further afield into the Hamilton/Burlington region.

    The Walker String Quartet’s performance takes place on Tuesday, March 7th from 12 noon to 12:50 pm in Cairns Recital Hall, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre. This is a free community event!

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    Categories: Events, RBC Foundation Music @ Noon Series

  • The Avanti Chamber Singers host “Light and Dark,” a cross-border choral exchange with the Harmonia Singers of Buffalo, N.Y.

    Thursday, January 19, 2017 | By

    sun rays through storm clouds

    On Saturday, February 18, 2017, the Avanti Chamber Singers will host the Harmonia Singers of Buffalo, N.Y. in a first-time joint concert for these two respected chamber choirs. The evening program features a captivating variety of choral repertoire on the theme of “Light and Dark,” including classical works as well as popular songs.

    The concert concludes with a nod to Black History Month. Robert Pacillo, conductor of the Harmonia Singers, will lead the combined choirs in Moses Hogan’s arrangement of “Walk Together Children.” Avanti’s conductor, Harris Loewen, will lead the ensembles in a premiere performance of his own “On My Way to Canada,” a new setting of abolitionist Joshua McCarter Simpson’s 19th century poem.

    This program also includes 19th century works by Brahms and Dvořák, as well as 20th century pieces by Houston Bright (Stars are with the Voyager), Canadian composer Stephen Chatman (On the Beach at Night), Lloyd Pfautsch (Stars). Rounding out the performances are choral arrangements from the Great American Songbook, including Hoagy Carmichael’s “Star Dust.”

    Harmonia Singers, founded by conductor Pacillo in 2005, is a semi-professional ensemble based in Buffalo, N.Y. They are active in presenting concerts and educational workshops in New York state, but have also made several forays across the border, previously performing in Niagara-on-the-Lake as part of Music Niagara’s concert line-up.

    The Viva Voce Choral Series, presented by the Department of Music, is a key part of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts’ mandate in building connections between the community and Brock University.

    Join us for an evening of superb music on Saturday, February 18 at 7:30 p.m., held at Covenant Christian Reformed Church, 278 Parnell, St. Catharines. Admission at the door is $25 for adults; $20 for seniors & students; $5 for the eyeGo program for high school students. A $5 discount is available for advance tickets (excluding eyeGO) and can be purchased at two St. Catharines locations: BookSmart (Scott & Vine Plaza) and Thorold Music (Glendale Avenue).

    For more information contact: Marie Balsom
    Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts
    T: 905-688-5550, ext. 4765 | E: mbalsom@brocku.ca | W: www.brocku.ca/miwsfpa

     

     

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    Categories: Events, Media Releases, News, Viva Voce Choral Series

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