Articles tagged with: Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts

Brock’s new Women’s Choir preparing for inaugural concert

Friday, November 23, 2018 | By Brock University

The Brock University Choirs rehearse for their upcoming performance on Saturday, Dec. 1 at 7:30 p.m. in Cairns Recital Hall of the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre.

(From The Brock News, Friday November 23, 2018 | By: Jaquelyn Bezaire)

Brock University’s new Women’s Choir is joining forces with the established Chamber Choir to perform its first concert next month.

Assistant Professor Rachel Rensink-Hoff will lead the Brock Choirs in Concert performance on Saturday, Dec. 1 at 7:30 p.m. It will take place at the Cairns Recital Hall of the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre in downtown St. Catharines.

The concert is part of the Department of Music’s Viva Voce! Choral Series, which begins its season Saturday, Nov. 24 with a performance by the Avanti Chamber Singers. The Women’s Choir and Chamber Choir are each comprised of about 30 members from Brock University and the wider Niagara community.

Rensink-Hoff believes the concert provides a great opportunity to bridge the gap between students and the community and showcase the breadth of talented singers from the region as a whole.

“It’s a neat dynamic as the students get to know the community members and vice versa,” she said. “I’ve been trying to encourage interaction between the singers during breaks so that it feels as comfortable as possible and the singers can bond with each other.”

The choirs will be joined on stage by the Walker String Quartet, which will also perform some solo pieces during the concert.

The Brock Choirs in Concert performance will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 1 at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre.

Tickets for the concert are $15 for adults and $10 for seniors and students. There is also a $5 option available for eyeGo program members. Tickets are available through the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre (PAC) Box Office at 905-688-0722 or on the PAC website.

The next performance in the Viva Voce! Choral Series will take place on Feb. 23 featuring the Avanti Chamber Singers. For more details on upcoming concerts, visit the Department of Music website.

Tags: Brock University Choirs, Department of Music, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, MIWSFPA, Rachel Rinsing-Hoff, Viva Voce Choral
Categories: Current Students, Events, Faculty & Instructors, News, Viva Voce Choral Series
Brock’s String Orchestra and Wind Ensemble kick off holiday season with tributes to music legends

Tuesday, November 20, 2018 | By Brock University

Brock University’s Wind Ensemble will perform its Tribute to the Legends concert on Tuesday, Dec. 4 at 7:30 p.m. in Partridge Hall of the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre.

(From The Brock News, Friday November 16, 2018 | By: Sarah Moore)

Brock University’s String Orchestra and Wind Ensemble will bring captivating melodies from legendary composers to the stage in their first performances of the season.

As part of the Brock University Music Department’s instrumental series, the Orchestra’s Simply Strings concert will take place Wednesday, Nov. 28 in the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre’s Cairns Recital Hall. The Ensemble will perform its Tribute to the Legends recital on Tuesday, Dec. 4 in Partridge Hall.

The String Orchestra brings musicians from the University together with members of the community to perform standard masterworks and lesser-known gems of the string repertoire. It was added to the ensemble roster of the Brock University Choirs and Brock University Wind Ensemble in September 2017 to provide a place for university and community string players to perform together and share their talents.

Led by conductor George Cleland, the String Orchestra will perform Mozart’s Adagio and Fugue, Warlock’s Capriol Suite, Sibelius’ Canzonetta, Op. 62a and Britten’s Simple Symphony at the Nov. 28 concert.

Under the baton of conductor Zoltan Kalman, the University Wind Ensemble features the talents of 64 musicians drawn from Brock University, community members and Niagara region high schools. Musicians from the Hamilton Symphony on the Bay and Niagara Symphony will also join in the concert on Dec. 4.

The program will feature works of the past and present, including Bernstein: Three Dance Episodes, Gillingham: Galactic Empires, Grainger: Lincolnshire Posy, Bourgeois: Trombone Concerto, Barker: Cole Porter on Broadway, Bennett: Symphonic Songs and Bourgeois: Trombone Concerto.

Kalman said the ensemble is thrilled to pay tribute to some of the world’s most influential composers in the state-of-the-art Partridge Hall.

“We’re going to perform a diverse repertoire of timeless classics and easy-listening charts that will surely leave our audience breathless,” he said. “The evening also includes a brilliant trombone concerto, featuring our very own, supremely talented Alyssa Shanghavi.”

Such performances from the Department of Music are a key part of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts’ mandate of building connections between the community and the breadth of talent and creativity at Brock.

The conductors said their ensembles serve as cultural ambassadors of the Niagara region and encouraged, “faithful audience members and other music lovers to come out and experience these concerts.”

Tickets are on sale now for both performances.

Simply Strings takes place on Wednesday, Nov. 28 at 7:30 p.m. in Cairns Recital Hall. Tickets are $12 general admission and $5 for children 14 and under, as well as high school students through the eyeGo program. Complimentary tickets are available to current Brock students with valid student ID.

Tribute to the Legends takes place Tuesday, Dec. 4 at 7:30 p.m. in Partridge Hall. Tickets are $12 for general admission and $5 for high school students through the eyeGo program. Complimentary tickets are available to current Brock students with valid student ID.

All tickets can be purchased through the FirstOntario PAC Box Office.

Tags: Brock Univeristy String Orchestra, Brock University Wind Ensemble, Department of Music, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, George Cleland, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, MIWSFPA, Zoltan Kalman
Categories: Current Students, Events, Faculty & Instructors, News, The University String Orchestra, The University Wind Ensemble
Students wrap up Music@Noon series for the semester

Friday, November 16, 2018 | By Brock University

Music student Divya Iyer was one of four performers for the first student performance of the year on Oct. 30. The next group of students will perform on Nov. 20 at Cairns Recital Hall.

(From The Brock News, Friday Nov. 16, 2018 | By: Jaquelyn Bezaire)

Over the past two months, professors and senior music students in Brock’s Department of Music performed on stage as part of the RBC Foundation Music@Noon Recital Series. Now, in the final three performances of the semester, first-year music students will have the chance to showcase their talents on stage, as well.

The next concert in the series will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 20 in the Cairns Recital Hall of the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre. Vocal, guitar and piano students will perform.

Brock’s instrumental students will then perform on Nov. 27 and piano students will follow with a recital on Dec. 4. Music@Noon will return in the new year with a performance on Jan. 8 featuring flutist Rebecca Hall and Brock Professor and pianist Karin Di Bella.

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

For more information about the Music@Noon Recital Series, please visit the Music@Noon website.

Tags: Department of Music, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, MIWSFPA, music@noon, rbc foundation, students
Categories: Current Students, Events, News, RBC Foundation Music @ Noon Series
Avanti Chamber Singers to commemorate the Christmas Truce at first concert of the season

Thursday, November 15, 2018 | By Brock University

The Avanti Chamber Singers are led by conductor Rachel Rensink-Hoff during rehearsal for their upcoming performance Saturday, Nov. 24 at St. Thomas’ Anglican Church in St. Catharines.

(From The Brock News, Wednesday November 14, 2018 | By: Jaquelyn Bezaire)

On Christmas Day, 1914, French, British and German soldiers along the Western Front laid down their weapons, emerged from the trenches and joined in song to celebrate the season. Now referred to as the Christmas Truce, the unofficial ceasefire was a symbolic moment of peace and humanity amid the violence of the First World War.

To mark the 100th anniversary of the 1918 armistice, conductor Rachel Rensink-Hoff will lead the Avanti Chamber Singers in a performance to remember the truce on Saturday, Nov. 24 at St. Thomas’ Anglican Church in St. Catharines. This marks the first performance of the season for Brock’s choir in residence.

Titled And on Earth, Peace, the concert will include Remembrance Day tributes, popular songs from the time of the First World War and classic Christmas carols. Songs will be performed in English, German and French, and the audience will be invited to sing along to carols that soldiers would have sung.

“The moving story of the Christmas Truce was fitting inspiration for our first performance of the season,” said Rensink-Hoff, Assistant Professor of Music in the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts. “As we look back to Remembrance Day and forward to the holiday season, we will join together in song — just as those soldiers did more than 100 years ago.”

Many differing stories about the Christmas Truce have been shared. Even today, it is still unclear exactly what happened on Christmas Day all those years ago.

The most commonly shared account is that soldiers all sang carols together in celebration on Christmas Eve before emerging to wish their enemies a Merry Christmas the next day. After the soldiers ceased fire, they met to exchange small gifts and souvenirs.

The Avanti Chamber Singers is comprised of 30 musicians from around the Niagara region.

Rensink-Hoff said she works with different individuals every year, and hopes to showcase the hard work and talent of this year’s choir at the opening concert.

“The challenge with a new choir is gelling together as a group — not just musically, but interpersonally,” she said. “This is now my second season with Avanti and it makes a big difference when you know people more closely because it helps all of us feel that we are in this together.”

Accompanying the Avanti Chamber Singers will be pianist and organist Lesley Kingham and guest trumpeter Timothy White.

And on Earth, Peace takes place Saturday, Nov. 24 at 7:30 p.m. Advanced tickets are available through the Avanti Singers website, at Thorold Music and Booksmart, or from choir members for $20 for adults and seniors. Tickets at the door are $25 for adults and $20 for seniors. A $5 ticket is available for students and eyeGo program members.

The Avanti Chamber Singers will also be performing on Feb. 23 and April 27 at St. Thomas’ Anglican Church.

Rensink-Hoff is also the conductor for the Brock University Choirs, which includes both the chamber choir and the new women’s choir. Their first performance will take place Dec. 1.

For more information about upcoming choral performances, visit the Brock University Music website.

Tags: Avanti Chamber Singers, Christmas Truce, Department of Music, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, MIWSFPA, Rachel Rensink-Hoff, St. Thomas Anglican Church
Categories: Events, Faculty & Instructors, Media Releases, News, Viva Voce Choral Series
Award-winning pianist returns to Brock for Walker Cultural Leaders Series

Thursday, November 08, 2018 | By Brock University

Award-winning Canadian concert pianist David Jalbert will give a recital Friday, Nov. 16 as part of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts’ 2018 performance season.

(From The Brock News, Wednesday Nov. 7 | By: Sarah Moore)

Renowned Canadian concert pianist David Jalbert is returning to St. Catharines Friday, Nov. 16 as the next performer in the Walker Cultural Leaders Series.

The performance will also open this year’s Encore! Professional Concert Series, hosted by the Department of Music at Brock’s Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts (MIWSFPA).

Jalbert, who performs regularly as a soloist and recitalist across North America and Europe, last came to Brock as part of the MIWSFPA’s 2013 performance season.

A national and international prize-winner, he has won five Opus Awards, was nominated for three Juno Awards and was the 2007 laureate of the prestigious Virginia Parker Prize of the Canada Council for the Arts.

Music Department Chair Matthew Royal said the accomplished performer will be a highlight to the School’s 2018 event season, both for the public and music students alike.

“We are delighted to have David Jalbert return to Brock to give a master class to our piano students, and to perform a solo piano recital,” he said. “He is a superbly expressive pianist whose musicality and intelligence are supported by a flawless technique.”

Jalbert will perform in Partridge Hall of the FirstOntario Performing Art Centre, where attendees will be treated to a program of solo piano works by Bach, Schumann, Liszt and Fauré. The recital will conclude with a performance of Prokofiev’s monumental Sonata No. 7, Op. 83, in B flat major.

“The highlight of this concert will, I believe, be the Prokofiev 7th Piano Sonata,” Royal noted. “This is one of those pieces that all pianists worth their salt must conquer at some point in their careers. I predict it will be a ‘tour de force.’”

Tickets are available by contacting the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre Box Office at 905-688-0722 or firstontariopac.ca

Tickets are $29 for adults, $23 for seniors and students and $13 for children 14 and under. Special $5 tickets are also available through the eyeGo program.

The Walker Cultural Leaders Series brings leading artists, performers, practitioners and academics to Brock’s MIWSFPA.

The sessions celebrate professional achievement, artistic endeavour and the indelible role of culture in society. The education program is generously funded by Marilyn I. Walker.

Tags: David Jalbert, Department of Music, Encore! Professional Concert Series, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, matthew royal, MIWSFPA, Walker Cultural Leaders Series
Categories: Encore! Professional Concert Series, Events, News
Active attacker info sessions to be held at MIWSFPA Nov. 8 & Nov. 14

Wednesday, November 07, 2018 | By Brock University
(From The Brock News, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018)

Would you know what to do if there was an active threat or shooter on campus?

It’s a scenario most people could never imagine happening at Brock University, but one that Campus Security wants to ensure the community is prepared for.

Campus Security at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts (MIWSFPA) will be holding two information sessions for staff, instructors, faculty and students of the School this month to discuss emergency preparedness in an active attacker situation.

Rick Fraser, Brock’s Manager, Emergency Management and Life Safety, will be presenting material on the active attacker protocol that has been adopted at the University during these sessions.

The information and training sessions will take place in MWS 156 on:
- Thursday, Nov. 8 from 8 to 9 a.m.
- Wednesday, Nov. 14 from 1 to 2 p.m.
No registration is required, but the sessions are currently limited to those who study or work at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, due to space limitations.

For more information on the MIWSFPA sessions, contact Rick Tollar, Supervisor, Campus Security Services, at 905-688-5550 x 6399.

Information on the active attacker protocol adopted at Brock University is available on the Campus Security website.
Tags: campus security, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, MIWSFPA
Categories: Announcements, Current Students, Faculty & Instructors, News
Sounds of clarinet and piano to fill Music@Noon stage

Friday, October 19, 2018 | By Brock University

Clarinetist Zoltan Kalman will perform Tuesday, Oct. 23 as part of the RBC Foundation Music@Noon Recital Series.

(From The Brock News, Friday Oct. 19)

Pianist Gary Forbes.

Clarinetist Zoltan Kalman and pianist Gary Forbes will combine their sounds for the next RBC Foundation Music@Noon Recital Series performance on Tuesday, Oct. 23.

The show, which include works by composers Aaron Copland, Johannes Brahms and Luigi Bassi, is part of the free weekly concert series hosted by the Department of Music and generously sponsored by the RBC Foundation.

Kalman performs as principal clarinetist for both the Niagara Symphony and Symphony Hamilton, and also acts as the conductor for the University Wind Ensemble at Brock University.

Along with his work at Brock University as Staff Accompanist, Forbes is a freelance collaborative pianist, Director of Music at St. Cuthbert’s Anglican Church and founder of the Reverberations Concert Series.

Kalman and Forbes are among many talented musicians who will grace the Music@Noon stage throughout the academic year. Performances in the concert series take place most Tuesdays at noon in Cairns Recital Hall of the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre in downtown St. Catharines.

For more information about upcoming performances please visit the Music@Noon web page.

Tags: Department of Music, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, Gary Forbes, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, MIWSFPA, music@noon, rbc foundation, Zoltan Kalman
Categories: Current Students, Events, Faculty & Instructors, News, RBC Foundation Music @ Noon Series
Sabina’s Splendid Brain opens at MIWSFPA Sept. 14

Thursday, September 06, 2018 | By Brock University

Cellist Grace Snippe (BMus ’16), left, and Danielle Wilson bring the story of 20th century psychoanalyst Sabina Spielrein to life in Sabina’s Splendid Brain. The performance opens on Sept. 14 at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts. (Photo by George Enns.)

(From The Brock News, Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2018 | by Sarah Moore)

While Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung have become synonymous with psychoanalysis, the name Sabina Spielrein might leave you drawing a blank.

The Stolen Theatre Collective hopes to change that by bringing the rarely told story of the Russian-Jewish psychoanalyst to life in a new production at Brock beginning next week.

Sabina’s Splendid Brain, which opens Sept. 14 at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts (MIWSFPA), chronicles the life of the tenacious and passionate Spielrein as she struggles through the circumstances of her family, her education and her therapy, the professional barriers facing women and wartime anti-Semitism.

Spielrein was often known in relation to her famous colleagues: first as a patient, then as a lover of Jung, and later as a student and friend of Freud. As a psychoanalyst in her own right, however, she moved beyond them both to become one of the great thinkers in 20th century psychology.

Her work was all but wiped from the history books due to Joseph Stalin’s repression of intellectuals and the Nazi invasion of her hometown of Rostov-on-Don, where she and her daughters were killed. Her diaries were recently discovered, however, and her publications were re-examined to reveal the profound impact that her work had on her teachers and peers.

“Sabina had to fight for her voice,” said Brock Associate Theatre Professor Gyllian Raby, the production’s Director. “She walks the boundary between genius and delusion, and this production invites the audience to experience her journey from a screaming teenager with spittle in her hair to the woman who wowed Freud’s intellectual Vienna Circle.”

Scripted by Carol Sinclair, Sabina’s Splendid Brain is rendered on stage in sets by Nigel Scott, projections by Karyn McCallum and lighting by James McCoy (BA ’14), and features performances by Brock Assistant Theatre Professor Danielle Wilson and cellist Grace Snippe (BMus ’16).

“This is a project that fully explores the interdisciplinarity between the arts that was the founding dream of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts,” said Wilson, who is also the co-founder and co-artistic director of Stolen Theatre Collective. “Music, theatre and philosophy are a natural trio in this story of how psychoanalysis helped shape modern consciousness.”

Fides Krucker, a Canadian interpreter, vocalist, opera singer and teacher, collaborated on the interdisciplinary production with Stolen Theatre. Her innovative vocal techniques and interdisciplinary work will be further highlighted later this month as part of the Walker Cultural Leaders Series on Wednesday, Sept. 19 at the MIWSFPA.

Sabina’s Splendid Brain opens with back-to-back weekend performances Sept. 14, 15, 20, 21 and 22, all beginning at 7:30 p.m. Additional matinee performances will take place on Sept. 16 and 23 at 2 p.m.

All performances are held at the Marilyn I. Walker Theatre in the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, located at 15 Artists’ Common in St. Catharines.

Tickets are pay-what-you-can-afford ($10, $25, $40 and $55) and can only be purchased in advance through the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre box office.

Limited paid parking is available on-site, but city parking is available within close proximity to the venue.

For more information on the production, please contact info@stolentheatrecollective.ca

Tags: danielle wilson, department of dramatic arts, Department of Music, fides krucker, grace snippe, gyllian raby, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, sabinas splendid brain, stolen theatre collective
Categories: Alumni, Announcements, Events, News
Student completes music degree started 18 years ago in Mexico

Thursday, June 07, 2018 | By dvivian

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

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

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.”

Tags: Department of Music, faculty of humanities, Karin Di Bella, Luis Gerardo Molina, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, spring convocation
Categories: Announcements, Current Students, Future Students, In the Media, News
Choral season to wrap with final show

Wednesday, April 25, 2018 | By dtemprile

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.

Tags: Avanti Chamber Singers, Boundless, Brock University, Choir, choral, concert, Department of Music, Dr. Rachel Rensink-Hoff, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, MIWSFPA, The Brock News, Viva Voce Choral Series, Viva Voce!
Categories: Announcements, Events, Special Events, Viva Voce Choral Series