News

• Radio documentary by STAC prof goes national

  Friday, December 09, 2016 | By Brock University

  

  (Source: The Brock News, Friday, December 09, 2016)

  A Brock Radio program about francophone women in Niagara has been selected for national distribution, and will be heard next week on stations across Canada.

  CFBU 103.7 FM host Catherine Parayre — an associate professor in Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures, as well as in Studies in Arts and Culture  —  produced the 28-minute segment for the national broadcast celebrating Rendez-vous de la Francophonie, an annual celebration of Canada’s membership in the Francophonie, which promotes the French language and its cultural expressions. The 2017 celebration takes place March 6-27 in communities across Canada.

  Parayre’s documentary has already aired on CFBU, and can be heard online at www.cfbu.ca/listen.php

  The program introduces listeners to five francophone women in Niagara whom Parayre interviewed last autumn:

  • Lucie Huot speaks about the historic presence of francophones in Niagara.
  • Fété Ngira-Batware Kimpiobi and Nafée Faigou, both from the Association of Francophone Immigrant Women of Niagara (SOFIFRAN) speak about their immigration to Canada, what they have left in their native countries and what they like in Niagara.
  • Rachel Hélène Amran, an artist from Montréal, shares her efforts for a successful integration as a francophone artist.
  • Clamenç Prades relates her experiences since she first arrived from Austria.

  For a list of national stations carrying the broadcast next week, go to http://www.ncra.ca/rvf

  La Francophonie is an international organization representing countries and regions where French is the first or customary language and/or where a significant proportion of the population are Francophones and/or where there is a notable affiliation with French culture. Canada is one of its 57 member states.  The head of the organization is former Canadian Governor General, Michaëlle Jean.

  The project is funded by La Fondation canadienne pour le dialogue des cultures, and in partnership with the NCRA through Canadian Heritage.

  Tags: Brock News, Catherine Parayre, CFBU 103.7 FM, Rendez-vous de la Francophonie
  Categories: Faculty & Instructors, News

• Plan your future now! Ontario Universities’ Fair is September 23-25, 2016

  Sunday, September 18, 2016 | By Brock University

  Plan your future now! If you’re thinking about attending Brock University and any of the four programs of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, don’t miss the Ontario Universities’ Fair!

  The OUF is September 23-25, 2016, at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and admission is free.

  You can talk personally with students, professors and senior university reps, get answers about programs, admission requirements, student life and much more. Don’t miss out on the largest educational fair in Canada!

  Check out the Facebook event page or go to the Ontario Universities’ Fair website.

  Tags: future students, Ontario, Ontario Universities' Fair, OUF, Toronto
  Categories: Future Students, News

• Visa and STAC students exhibit in Austria

  Tuesday, April 26, 2016 | By Brock University

  Students in the Brock University Intermediate Painting and Interpretive and Critical Writing in the Arts courses, under the tutelage of Professors Catherine Parayre and Shawn Serfas, have mounted an exhibition at the University of Innsbruck, Austria.

  Visual Appropriations and Rewritings
  June 1 – 30, 2016
  University of Innsbruck, Austria
  Click here for more information.

  Tags: Austria, Catherine Parayre, Exhibition, Intermediate Painting, Interpretive and Critical Writing in the Arts, Shawn Serfas, University of Innsbruck, Visual Appropriations and Rewritings
  Categories: Events, News, STAC Courses

• Art is in the City

  Thursday, September 03, 2015 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE
  R00125
  2 September 2015
  Brock University — Communications & Public Affairs

  Art is in the City

  As Brock University’s Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts opens a new era in its new urban setting, it is launching a performance series to celebrate the bond between the community and the new arts centre of excellence in downtown St. Catharines.

  The series Imagining the City – part of the Walker Cultural Leaders Program, 2015/16 – consists of performances, exhibitions, concerts and conferences, all themed around ideas of the urban, and the relationship between the City and the University.

  “Our goal is to invite the community to engage with us in a series of celebratory events, 40 or more, that run the course of the academic year,” said Derek Knight, MIWSFPA Director. “Formal or improvised, these activities will take place in our dynamic new building and in venues across the City, from the café to the concert hall, the theatre to the gallery, the outdoor environs to the street itself. What a wonderfully immersive way to bridge between our communities and to strengthen our ties.”

  Knight said events will build on the creativity and vision of faculty, students and the professional talents of many sister organizations and collaborators. “The idea that the city is a crucible for creative interaction and collective reflection, is a powerful concept and demonstration of the arts at their most compelling,” he said.

  The series will be dynamic and original and appeal to a variety of people, whether they are fans of theatre, musical performances, exhibitions or discussions.

  Imagining the City will bring Brock, the downtown and the greater Niagara community face-to-face with leading arts professionals and educators, with events occurring at the MIWSFPA, Rodman Hall, and venues within the developing creative arts hub of St. Paul Street.

  “At this crucial moment in the revival of our downtown the vitality of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts is manifest in programs such as the Walker Cultural Leader Series,” Knight said.

  The series will consist of more than 40 wide-ranging events, including:

  • performances of First Nations writer Marvin Francis’ epic poem City Treaty, adapted for the St. Catharines setting (September);
  • a Guitar Extravaganza concert featuring faculty, alumni and aficionados of the classical guitar in the local community (November);
  • Confluence, a walking project and virtual reconstruction by acclaimed artist Elizabeth Chitty offering the student community and public an opportunity to explore the environs beyond our new building (January);
  • a collaboration between the Shaw Festival and the Department of Dramatic Arts on a staged reading of George Bernard Shaw’s play Major Barbara, entitled Major Barbara/Major Predictions(February);
  • a concert by the Department of Music’s Wind Ensemble in St. Catharines’ Market Square (March).

  The full program can be found here. Stay connected on social media by following @miwsfpa and #itc.

  All events for Imagining the City are free, and open to the public (the only exception being Poor by Essential Collective Theatre, co-presented by FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre with production assistance by DART).

  For more information or to arrange interviews: Marie Balsom, Communications Coordinator, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, Brock University mbalsom@brocku.ca, 905.688.5550 x4765

  – 30 –

  Tags: 15 artists' common, Art is in the City, downtown St. Catharines, Imagining the City, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, performance series, walker cultural leader series
  Categories: Media Releases, News

• DART, MUSI and MARS present in Toronto at PLS (Poculi Ludique Societas) Festival of Medieval Theatre

  Wednesday, June 10, 2015 | By Brock University

  COLLEAGUES, STUDENTS, FRIENDS & FAMILY, If you were in Toronto in early June you were fortunate to see a performance of:

  Visitatio Sepulchri
  (the Visit to the Sepulchre)

  A 12th-CENTURY EASTER MUSIC DRAMA
  acting version transcribed and translated
  by W. L. Smoldon from the ‘Fleury Playbook’

  A collaboration between:
  Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies,
  Department of Dramatic Arts, Department of Music

  Part of the PLS (Poculi Ludique Societas) Festival of Medieval Theatre.

  When: Saturday, June 6, 7 p.m.
  Sunday, June 7, 2:30 p.m.
  Where: Trinity College Chapel University of Toronto,  6 Hoskin Avenue

  Music Director: Dr. Brian Power, Department of Music
  Stage Director: Professor Virginia Reh, Department of Dramatic Arts

  

  The company of Visitatio Sepulchri in the Trinity College Chapel. Photograph by Mrs. Chin Tso.

  Tags: Brian Power, Dramatic Arts, easter, medieval and renaissance studies, music, PLS Festival of Musical Theatre, Poculi Ludique Societas, Toronto, Trinity College Chapel, University of Toronto, Virginia Reh, visitatio sepulchri
  Categories: Alumni, Announcements, Current Students, Faculty & Instructors, Future Students, News

• Transportation Options for Students travelling from the MIWSFPA Downtown and Main Campuses

  Wednesday, March 04, 2015 | By Brock University

  Change is coming, and we are very excited!

  This spring we will begin preparing our new facility at 198 St. Paul in downtown St. Catharines. If you are new to St. Catharines, or are thinking about possible changes to parking and transportation because you will be attending classes at the downtown location, take a look at this information sheet we prepared for the Spring 2015 Open House.

  Tags: 15 artists' common, canada hair cloth building, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, transportation, transportation options
  Categories: Announcements, Current Students, Future Students, News

• Rodman Hall Art Centre wins at OAAG awards

  Thursday, November 06, 2014 | By Brock University

  

  (Source: The Brock News, Thursday, November 6, 2014. Photo: Installation view – Jimmy Limit – “Recent Advancements”)

  Brock University’s Rodman Hall Art Centre was recognized with two prestigious prizes this week at the 37th annual Ontario Association of Art Galleries (OAAG) Awards, presented at the Gladstone Hotel in Toronto Nov. 5.

  Twenty-eight public art galleries in 19 cities across Ontario were nominated for awards.

  Communities represented in the visual art nominations this year included Barrie, Cambridge, Chatham-Kent, Hamilton, Kingston, Kitchener, Kleinburg, London, Mississauga, Oakville, Oshawa, Ottawa, Owen Sound, St. Catharines, Sarnia, Toronto, Waterloo, Whitby, and Windsor.

  The OAAG Awards are annual, province-wide, juried art gallery awards of artistic merit and excellence.

  They recognize the new exhibitions, publications, programs and community partnerships that have been commissioned by and produced by Ontario’s public art galleries over the previous year.

  Jimmy Limit: Recent Advancements, curated by Marcie Bronson, was recognized as Exhibition of the Year, Monographic.

  In her acceptance speech, Bronson noted that this exhibition was St. Catharines-based Limit’s first public art gallery showing.

  The award citation noted the curator and artist as well as the Rodman Hall installation team, including Danny Custodio, Matthew Tegel and Jesse Harris.

  Inspired by commercial photography practices and the design of industrial supply catalogues and weekly flyers, Jimmy Limit builds and photographs simple constructions of hardware store goods and fruits.

  Selecting his varied subjects for their aesthetic interest rather than function, he engages them from a strictly formal standpoint.

  Through photographs and installations, Limit engages layers of reflection on past and present photography traditions to explore the relationship between an object and its image in a consideration of how desire is created and sold.

  The exhibition catalogue Milutin Gubash – co-published by Rodman Hall Art Centre, Carleton University Art Gallery, Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, Southern Alberta Art Gallery and Musée d’art de Joliette – received an Honourable Mention in the category of Art Publication of the Year.

  Serbian-born artist Milutin Gubash has developed a diverse practice focused on the investigation of his own personal, social and cultural identity.

  This first monograph examines the overlap of history, humour and authenticity found in his multifaceted practice.

  Often cast as the lead alongside his family and friends, Gubash employs narrative to blur the boundaries between real, lived lives and the people who we wish we were.

  Produced to accompany a multi-venue 10-year survey of Gubash’s work, the publication includes original essays and complete photographic documentation. Milutin Gubash lives and works in Montreal.

  Stuart Reid, director/curator of Rodman Hall Art Centre, said the awards are important recognition from peers.

  “They mean a great deal to our institution,” he said. ” We are very proud of the excellent program of contemporary art exhibitions that Rodman Hall produces for the Brock community and the people of Niagara.”

  Tags: Jimmy Limit, Ontario Association of Art Galleries, OOAG, OOAG Awards, Rodman Hall Art Centre
  Categories: Announcements, In the Media, News

• The Avanti Chamber Singers celebrate the release of their new CD “Beauty is Before Me” with their concert Viva La Musica!

  Saturday, November 01, 2014 | By Brock University

  Saturday, November 15, 2014, marks the release of the Avanti Chamber Singers’ third CD “Beauty is Before Me,” the fifth installment in the “Voices of Niagara” CD series, featuring works by local composers.

  The release will occur in conjunction with the Avanti Chamber Singers’ (ACS) season-opening concert, Viva La Musica! Presenting compositions from 1600 to the present day, this concert is a celebration of the joy and power of music. Rising Toronto oboist Aidan Dugan will perform as the featured guest artist.

  The CD is a collaborative project by ACS, Brock University’s student choirs, and the former Niagara Vocal Ensemble, all conducted by Harris Loewen. The sequence of works on the album flows through a variety of themes: the beauty of nature, the patron saint of music (St. Cecilia), the War of 1812, elegiac reflections, and a group of spirituals.

  The occasion also marks the re-release of the first two CDs in the series, recorded by the Niagara Vocal Ensemble, an all-women’s ensemble that was active in the Niagara Region between 1991 and 2011. All CDs are available through ACS and the Department of Music at Brock University.

  As with all five recordings in the “Voices of Niagara” CD series, the music on every track is written or arranged by composers with a Niagara connection, most recorded for the first time. Composers represented on this latest recording include Penny Blake, John Butler, the famous Nathaniel Dett (1882-1943), Erik Gero, Brock professors Peter Landey and Harris Loewen, Gail Poulsen, folk singer Stan Rogers, Matthew Tran-Adams, and Ronald Tremain (1923-98), Brock’s first Professor of Music.

  The concert opens with a rousing fanfare written especially for the occasion, based on the familiar round “Viva La Musica.” The program includes works by the great Renaissance composers, Jacob Handl and Orlandus Lassus, as well as a variety of more modern pieces. Canadian composers (e.g. Stephen Chatman, Eleanor Daley, Ruth Watson Henderson) are well represented, and the concert also provides samples of works from the latest CD. Oboist Aidan Dugan will perform lyrical pieces by familiar 19th century composers Felix Mendelssohn and Robert Schumann.

  Conductor Harris Loewen states, “This latest album marks an exciting milestone in this multi-choir CD project that has been developed and released to the public over the last few years. I’m so extremely grateful for the fine and energetic musicianship that all the singers and instrumentalists have contributed in both concert and recording. It’s a truly wonderful choral legacy for the region.”

  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.

  Come and enjoy this choral celebration and CD release on Saturday, November 15 at 7:30 p.m., held at St. Barnabas Anglican Church, 31 Queenston Street, 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, Communications
  Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts
  T: 905-688-5550, ext. 4765 | E: mbalsom@brocku.ca | W: brocku.ca/miwsfpa

  Tags: Avanti Chamber Singers, Beauty is Before Me, Harris Loewen, music, St. Barnabas Anglican Church, Viva La Musica, Viva Voce Choral Series, Viva Voce!, Voices of Niagara
  Categories: Announcements, Events, Media Releases, News

• ‘The Changing Face of Theatre Criticism in the Digital Age,’ A remarkable two-day colloquium with international reach, part of the Walker Cultural Leader Series for 2013-14

  Wednesday, February 19, 2014 | By Brock University

  

  In photo: Jill Dolan

  Listening to theatre companies, they’ve never needed theatre critics more. Listening to them after a bad review, they’ve also never resented them more. This strange dance of mutual need has been going on since the first time someone recited dialogue on stage, and someone in the next day’s paper wrote “it doth sucked, verily.” But what of that relationship today? Do critics matter? Can anyone with a blog call themselves a theatre critic? Are critics there to serve theatre companies or readers? (John Law)

  See the complete article by John Law in the Niagara Falls Review about his upcoming participation in the two-day colloquium ‘The Changing Face of Theatre Criticism in the Digital Age‘ organized by Professor Karen Fricker of the Department of Dramatic Arts on the occasion of the special visit by Jill Dolan, Annan Professor in English, Professor of Theater in the Lewis Center for the Arts, Director, Program in Gender and Sexuality Studies, at Princeton University, noted theatre blogger (thefeministspectator.com) and a Walker Cultural Leader for 2013-14.  Special guests J. Kelly Nestruck of The Globe and Mail and Richard Ouzounian of the Toronto Star will join local guests and luminaries including cultural leaders like Jackie Maxwell, artistic director of the Shaw Festival, and Steve Solski, director of the St. Catharines Centre for the Performing Arts.

  The two day program begins this Friday morning with the public lecture, “Moving the Body Politic: How Feminism and Theatre Inspire Social Re-imaginings” by Professor Jill Dolan.  The lecture is presented in association with the Department of Dramatic Arts and the Centre for Women’s and Gender Studies.

  For a complete list of participants and more information please see the Brock News Article, the Department of Dramatic Arts and the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts web pages.

  Come join us! There is no charge to attend and engage in what will surely be a remarkable exchange of ideas and opinions in this “blossoming” cultural scene of Niagara (Professor Karen Fricker).

  All events will be live-streamed at BrockVideoCentre’s DART channel  [Click on the “live video” button on that page.]

  Tags: colloquium, guest speakers, J. Kelly Nestruck, Jackie Maxwell, Jill Dolan, John Law, Karen Fricker, Richard Ouzounian, Steve Solski, walker cultural leader series
  Categories: Announcements, Current Students, Events, In the Media, News

• In The Works

  Saturday, February 02, 2013 | By Brock University

  The Department of Visual Arts & the Centre for Studies in Arts and Culture present:
  In The Works
  Donna Akrey, Scott Sawtell and Jessica Thompson
  Faculty and Instructors from Brock University’s Department of Visual Arts and Centre for Studies in Arts and Culture speak about art, research and works-in-progress. All are welcome to attend and be part of the discussion.

  When: March 2, 2013 – 3:00pm
  Location: Niagara Artists Centre, 354 St. Paul St., St. Catharines
  Cost: $0
  Sponsor: the Department of Visual Arts and the Centre for Studies in Arts and Culture
  Contact: Prof. Duncan MacDonald dmacdonald@brocku.ca

  Tags: donna akrey, in the works, jessica thompson, scott sawtell
  Categories: Events