The return of QuartetFest West

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Posted on June 7, 2013 by john threlfall

Some ideas are just too good to give up on. Case in point? The Lafayette String Quartet’s highly successful QuartetFest West, which originally ran from 1993 to 1998.

The Lafayette String Quartet

While popular with both performers and audiences, the members of the Lafayette String Quartet—famed artists-in-residence here at UVic since 1991—found organizing and hosting the annual event was just too much alongside the demands of teaching, performing and family life. “It was extremely successful and popular with students,” says LSQ violinist Ann Elliott-Goldschmid, “but we could not keep it going along with the million other things we were doing.” Now that their children have grown, however, QuartetFest West is back.

An intensive chamber music workshop, the new QuartetFest West welcomes select students from universities across Canada and the U.S., as well as Brazil and New Zealand.There will also be a series of public concerts on June 12, 14, 18 & 21 (details below), as well as masterclasses open by donation.

The current incarnation of the Penderecki String Quartet (photo: Tomasz Adam)

Also returning are guest artists the Penderecki String Quartet, who were part of the original QuartetFest West in 1993. But their combined history goes beyond the stage—LSQ cellist Pamela Highbaugh Aloni first met her future husband Yariv Aloni (current music director for the local Galiano Ensemble, Victoria Chamber Orchestra and the Greater Victoria Youth Orchestra) when he was playing viola with the Penderecki Quartet at the original QuartetFest. As Elliott-Goldschmid puts it, “Pam and he fell in love and the rest is history.”

Elliott-Goldschmid is also particularly thrilled about the participation of acclaimed violist and professor Gerald Stanick. A former head of UVic’s string department before leaving to teach at Western University and UBC, Stanick won’t be shy about putting these students through their paces. “It’s really intensive,” she says. “They learn how to communicate very effectively very quickly, they have to learn the music quickly, come to agreements quickly—they don’t have a semester to work on something, they only have 10 days.”

In addition to studying in masterclasses with the LSQ, PSQ and Stanick, the 25 students at this 10-day intensive also get to work with UVic recording engineer Kirk McNally on recording techniques, as well as rehearsing and performing in a musical hothouse environment—which, says Elliott-Goldschmid, is what sets QuartetFest West apart. “There are summer camps that offer chamber music and solo lessons, but normally you’ll only have one or two soloists and one quartet—but we have two string quartets and Gerald Stanick here.”

Ann Elliott-Goldschmid

QFW students will also have the opportunity to learn from Feldenkrais specialist Diane Lade. “Musicians are athletes,” stresses Elliott-Goldschmid. “We use our bodies all the time, and you can get injured if you use your body wrong. For violinists and violists, the way we hold our instruments is very isometric and can be very damaging to the neck and shoulders; it’s repetitive work and if you have improper sitting postures, it’s easy to have issues with pains in our hands and arms. And for cellists, you need a lot of strength to get a sound out of that instrument; holding it and putting your fingers down to get the strings to stop requires strength, and sometimes people use their strength wrong.”

Whether you’re one of the students selected to participate or are simply attending the public concerts, QuartetFest West has much to offer. “Audiences loved QuartetFest West,” concludes Elliott-Goldschmid. “It’s so nice that’s it starting up again after all these years.”

Quartet Fest West runs Tuesday, June 11 to Friday, June 21. Concerts are at 8:00pm on June 12, 14, 18 & 21 in the Phillip T. Young Recital Hall, in UVic’s MacLaurin Building. Concerts are $12 for students, $25 general through UVic Ticket Centre, by calling 250-721-8480 or the door. There is also a series subscription rate, where you can see all the concerts for $25 (students) or $65 (General). Daily masterclasses open to the public by donation.

Concert details:

• Wednesday, June 12: The Lafayette String Quartet perform Mozart’s “K 589 in B flat”, R. Murray Schafer’s “String Quartet No. 11″ & Fanny Hensel (Mendelssohn) “String Quartet in E flat”

• Friday, June 14: The Penderecki String Quartet (program TBA)

• Tuesday, June 18: Gala concert with both the Lafayette String Quartet and Penderecki String Quartet performing Brahms’ “Sextet No. 2 in G Major”, Shostakovich’s “Octet” & Mendelssohn’s “Octet”

• Friday, June 21: Student concert (program TBA)

For those arriving by car, pay parking is in effect—evening parking is $2.25. Parking info and campus maps can be found here.

Fine Arts @ the edge of Congress 2013

Posted on May 30, 2013 by john threlfall

Unrivaled in scope and impact, the annual Congress of the Social Sciences and Humanities—known simply as “Congress”—is now (amazingly) in its 82nd year. This flagship event is much more than Canada’s largest gathering of scholars across disciplines. Organized by the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, Congress brings together academics, researchers, policy-makers, and practitioners to share findings, refine ideas, and build partnerships that will help shape the Canada of tomorrow.

Running June 1 to 8 at UVic this year, Congress will host nearly 70 scholarly association meetings and attract an average of 6,000 attendees over the week. Developed in partnership with a different host university each year, Congress programming is open to attendees, academics and non-academic audiences. From theatre research, literature studies and education to history, sociology and communications, Congress represents a unique showcase of scholarly excellence, creativity, and leadership. The theme for Congress 2013 is @ the edge. (Next year, it will move to Brock University, and will be held at the University of Ottawa in 2015.) For complete details, see this schedule of meetings for Congress 2013.

But while much of the programming if specific to delegates, there are a number of lectures, workshops, entertainment and special events that are open to the campus community and the general public. Be sure to visit the Congress website for complete event details.

Within the Faculty of Fine Arts, various departments are hosting association meetings—such as the Department of Theatre, who are welcoming the Canadian Association of Theatre Researchers/ Association canadienne de la recherche théâtrale conference, and the School of Music, who are hosting the Canadian University Music Society—but there are also a number of our faculty who are involved with various public presentations and events. Here’s a quick list of where you can check out the Fine Arts presence at Congress 2013.

The free gala concert kicking off the Canadian University Music Society conference at the School of Music on Thursday, June 6, at 7:30pm is now open to the public. The concert features performance faculty including Lou Ranger, Eugene Dowling, Michelle Mares, Anne Grimm, Susan Young, Harald Krebs, Arthur Rowe, and members of the Lafayette String Quartet. The program will include Gary Kulesha’s Sonata for Trumpet, Tuba & Piano, Julius Otto Grimm’s Ach, es sitzt mein Lieb und weint & Der Traum, Johannes Brahms’ Es träumte mir & Ständchen, Robert Schumann’s Schön Blümelein & Die Schwalben, Eugene Weigel’s Quartet Search, and Brahms’ Quintet for Piano and Strings.

As well, the CUMS concert at 8pm on Friday, June 7, is also free and now open to the public. This concert will feature School of Music faculty and alumni, performing a program of works by the winners of the CUMS 2013 Student Composition Competition—the School of Music’s own Robert Hansler and University of Alberta student André Mestre. Also on the program are works by Stefen Maier, Daniel Brandes, Tawnie Olson, and Jacques Hétu.

Paul Walde (photo: Times Colonist)

The Now Art faculty exhibit celebrates the contemporary work and wisdom of UVic’s Department of Visual Arts. Featuring the work of Vikky Alexander, Lynda Gammon, Daniel Laskarin, Sandra Meigs, Jennifer Stillwell, Paul Walde and Robert Youds, Now Art is a rare opportunity to see a group exhibit of dynamic contemporary art by some of Canada’s leading contemporary artists.

From sculpture and photography to painting, sound works, light works and drawing, our faculty members exhibit worldwide and are among the top contemporary Canadian artists, with work in the National Gallery of Canada’s permanent collection and representation by some of Canada’s leading galleries. Visitors will also have the opportunity to tour the Visual Arts building. Be sure to read this Times Colonist interview with both Walde and Meigs, and listen to this CBC Radio interview.

Now Art runs 10am to 5pm Saturday, June 1 to Saturday, June 8 throughout the Visual Arts building. There’s also a public reception from 5 to 8pm Wednesday, June 5.

The Department of Theatre is proud to host the annual Canadian Association of Theatre Researchers conference, running from June 1-4. While much of the CATR/ACRT conference is closed, the following free sessions and events are open to the public:

Mary Kerr’s design for Copper Thunderbird

• “A Creator’s Guide to The Unknown” with Marie Clements (9 to 10:30am, Saturday, June 1, in the Phoenix’s Dan George Theatre). An award-winning performer, playwright, director, screenwriter and producer, Marie Clements launches the conference with her keynote address on “A Creator’s Guide to The Unknown”. Her 12 plays, including Copper Thunderbird (featuring a stunning design by Department of Theatre’s own Mary Kerr), Burning Vision, The Edward Curtis Project and The Unnatural and Accidental Women, have been presented on some of the most prestigious Canadian and international stages.

Conrad Alexandrowicz

• “The Poet’s Dream” performance created by assistant Theatre professor Conrad Alexandrowicz (5:45 to 6:45pm Saturday, June 1, in the Phoenix’s Roger Bishop Theatre). Based on the poetry of Lorna Crozier, the much-lauded Canadian poet and recently retired Department of Writing professor, and collaborating with Alexandra Pohran Dawkins, head of woodwinds at UVic’s School of Music, Alexandrowicz has explored poetry as the textual point of departure in the generation of physical theatre. (You can read the backstory to the piece on this earlier blog post.) The poems evoke wonder in the face of life’s creations and grief at their passing. This workshop features recent grads Mollison Farmer, Alex Frankson, Véronique Piercy and Kale Penny, with Chris Mackie and Theatre professor Jan Wood, plus dancers Brandy Baybutt and Jung-Ah Chung, and musicians Keenan Mittag-Degala and Sarah Tradewell, with lighting by current Theatre student Freya Engma. Developed through the generous support of SSHRC (Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council).

• “Embodying This Place: An Eco-Dramatic Experiential Exploration . . . Outdoors” with Bronwyn Preece (4 to 5:30pm Sunday, June 2, in Finnerty Gardens, but meet in the lobby of Phoenix Building). Through drama, poetry and storytelling, this collective experiential workshop will attempt to embody and express UVic’s Finnerty Gardens. The workshop, drawing from the emerging field of Theatre/Performance/Ecology Studies, encourages partner and group participation to explore the garden’s “land/buildingscape” through touch, sound and smell and to consider new ways of interacting with the space. This site-specific workshop will be held outdoors and is open to everyone and all mobility levels. No previous theatre experience required.

• “Step by Step: Walking, Reconciliation & Indigenous Performances of Sovereignty” with Helen Gilbert (9 to 10:30am Monday, June 3, in the Phoenix’s Dan George Theatre). Acclaimed Australian theatre academic Helen Gilbert is recognized internationally for her cross-cultural theatre research. A professor of theatre at Royal Holloway, University of London, she is the co-convener of its interdisciplinary Postcolonial Research Group. She has published widely in theatre and performance as well as in postcolonial studies and has recently co-written a book on orangutans, race and the species boundary. Her primary research is now focused on an interdisciplinary and multinational team-based project examining Indigeneity and Contemporary Performance.

Juliana Saxton

• “Plus ça Change” with Department of Theatre professor emeritus Juliana Saxton (9 to 10:30am Tuesday, June 4, in the Phoenix’s Dan George Theatre). Juliana Saxton is an international master teacher, keynote speaker and co-author of a number of texts, most recently, Applied Drama: A Facilitator’s Handbook for Working in Community (Intellect, 2013). A lifetime in theatre is context for an idiosyncratic overview of “What’s up now?”

There are also a few events beyond Fine Arts where faculty members will be participating.

Lynne Van Luven

• Writing our world: A panel discussion about life writing (2 to 3pm Saturday, June 1 at the Expo Event Space in the McKinnon Building). Join Acting Dean of Fine Arts and Department of Writing professor Lynne Van Luven for a panel discussion about life writing with Aaron Shepard, Andrea Paquette, and Julian Gunn. These writers have covered topics such as mental illness, gender issues, body image, and the traditional role of family, and show how life writing and the personal essay can examine parts of our existence in an immediate and influential way.

• Attention, Poetry, Politics: Poetry Reading (7:30-9pm Tuesday, June 4 in Room 104 of the Fine Arts Building). Enjoy an evening of poetry readings by Department of Writing professor Tim  Lilburn plus fellow poets Jan Zwicky, Sue Sinclair, Warren Heiti and Lucy Alford.

Sam Dunn

• South of Heaven: Religion & Heavy Metal  (7pm Friday, June 7 at Cinecenta, 1 to 6pm  Saturday, June 8 in Room 103 of the Fine Arts Building). A two-day multi-media exploration of the relationship between heavy metal music and religion around the world, South of Heaven kicks off Friday night with a screening of the iconic Canadian documentary Global Metal, followed by a Q&A with director (and UVic Anthropology alumnus) Sam Dunn, hosted by Fine Arts communications honcho John Threlfall. Saturday afternoon, the public is invited to a free symposium by visiting scholars on the relationship of metal to religious movements and religious identity in diverse global contexts. The event finale is a live all-ages concert at Vertigo in the UVic Student Union Building with metal bands from Victoria and the Lower Mainland.

Threlfall will also be emceeing some of the performances on the Celebration Stage in the Quad, which runs from Sunday, June 2, through to Friday, June 7—and all performances are free and open to the public. See the complete schedule here.

Fine Arts will be represented on the stage by the likes of Lorna Crozier and Patrick Lane at the Writing @ the Edge event, from 11:45am to 1:45pm on Tuesday, June 4. Hosted by UVic’s own Malahat Review, there will also be readings by Yvonne Blomer, Jeremy Loveday, Arleen Pare and Philip Kevin Paul, plus musical performances by School of Music string students.

Also, School of Music professor emeritus Ian McDougall will be performing on the Celebration Stage from 12:30-1pm on Wednesday, June 5. (Don’t forget to pick up a copy of his $20 Fine Arts benefit CD, The Very Thought of You.) And School of Music instructor Coleen Eccleston will be performing from 1:15 to 1:45pm on Thursday, June 6, followed by Music alum Daniel Lapp and the BC Fiddle Orchestra at 6:30pm.

Finally, History in Art faculty and students are offering the exhibit Creating Con[Text] at downtown’s Legacy Art Gallery (10am to 4pm daily from Wednesday, June 5 to Saturday, June 8 at 630 Yates Street). Creating Con[Text] brings to life the works of art in the UVic’s Michael Williams Bequest Collection through the oral history research of Carolyn Butler Palmer and her graduate students. Dr. Butler Palmer and her students have gathered an extensive array of interviews with people associated with the late businessman and art supporter, Michael Collard Williams, and the artists he collected. Featuring paintings by Angela Grossman, Jack Shadbolt and Emily Carr, the exhibition allows the stories of artists, dealers, and collectors to impart greater meaning to these works of art.

Around the World in 37 Years

Posted on May 17, 2013 by john threlfall

First rule of history: if you want your story to be remembered, be sure to write it down. Such is the case with Bruce More and the UVic Chamber Singers, the 40-year-old campus choral group that has more than a few rich stories to tell.

While More retired back in 2008, the Professor Emeritus has spent the past three years (“Really, whenever the muse caught me”) documenting the story of the Chamber Singers in his new self-published book, The Conductor is the One in Front: 37 Years with the UVic Chamber Singers. And what a story: with over 400 singers having followed his baton, plus international tours to 140 cities in 40 countries (including Eastern and Western Europe, Asia, Africa and the South Pacific, plus the U.S. and Canada), the UVic Chamber Singers carved out an enviable reputation under More’s direction.

“The UVic Chamber Singers is probably the most widely traveled chorus in Canadian history, let alone universities,” says More from his home in Castlegar. “Some universities travel regularly, every two years or so, but they go back to the same place every time—they’d do an exchange with a university in England or someplace. I always tried to go for a three-week tour somewhere new, because for some of these kids it’s the only international travel they’ll ever do. I didn’t want to just go someplace for a week and then come home, which is what most choirs do.”

Bruce More as a terracotta warrior conductor, snapped during the China tour in 2005

Specializing in the works of Canadian composers, the Chamber Singers routinely perform sacred and secular music from all eras, having a repertoire of more than 700 works. They’ve recorded for broadcast in at least seven different countries, received numerous awards and represented BC in the Juno Award-winning performance of R. Murray Schafer’s Credo back in 2000. Currently, the Chamber Singers are under the direction of School of Music instructor Garry Froese.

More himself has spent his life in pursuit of all things choral, from conducting the first Yale University Women’s Chorus (in addition to four other ensembles) while studying for his doctorate in the late ’60s to founding the Malaspina College’s Music department. Following his appointment to UVic’s School of Music in 1973, he was founding president of the Vancouver Island Opera Society (now Pacific Opera Victoria) and, for 16 years, conducted the Victoria Choral Society and frequently guest conducted the Victoria Symphony. He also founded the 70-voice Prima Choir in 1994, and in 2006 received the Herbert Drost Award for his lifetime service to choral music in BC.

The Chamber Singers on their 1999 tour of Asia

But while the history of the Singers is well documented, it’s the colourful tales of international touring that take up the bulk of the 135 pages of More’s book. Geographically, More literally took the Chamber Singers around the world on a different tour every two years, from Helsinki (the farthest north) to New Zealand (farthest south), and from Hawaii (west) to Tokyo (east). Describing himself as not only conductor but also a den mother and travel advisor, More says his years with the Chamber Singers were both incredibly fulfilling and incredibly exhausting. “But it’s apropos for my personality,” he says with a quick laugh. “I’m not a good delegator—I feel like I have to take all these things on myself . . . which is good and bad.”

When asked to name the most memorable tour, More doesn’t hesitate. “The most exotic tour was our first Russia tour in 1991, and the most difficult—but also exciting and exhilarating—was the last Russian trip in 2007.” (As the book notes, the latter tour included instances of blackmail and sexual harassment by guards at the Transdniestria-Ukraine border.) “But each trip had its own character,” More continues. “Certainly the longest and most continually exhilarating tour was when we went to both Brazil and South Africa in 2003. It started with a strong desire to go back to South Africa, but six months before that we went to a choral festival in Newfoundland and met a Brazilian group who we got to know quite well, and they invited us to Rio—and then we learned that you can get to South Africa through Sao Paulo.”

Exhausted refugees? Nope, some of the Chamber Singers at the Moscow airport in 2007

Tales of border difficulty and missed connections are the meat and potatoes of any traveler—and The Conductor is the One in Front is certainly filled with those—but more interesting are the situations only a large choir would encounter: empty concert halls, poorly translated posters, less-than-gracious hosts, and limited toilet facilities for a very large group of people. Then there were the typical health problems most travelers face, which can be far more onerous for a choral group. “Sometimes it could be very difficult,” More explains. “A change in climate does immediately cause vocal problems. The higher your range of sopranos and tenors, the more difficulty you’ll have with that—but it’s amazing what people can sing through. I’ll always remember the last concert of the 2001 tour through Mexico and Belize: we’d been out all day in the sun, drinking and everything else, and people were just dropping like flies, fainting from the heat.”

A 2009 Times Colonist article about Bruce More’s retirement

Yet while the bad stuff always makes for the best stories, the good times still make the best memories. “What I wanted to get across more than anything else is the incredible combination of artistic achievement and the experience of seeing far-off lands that someone on one of these tours could experience,” More says. “And the ‘far-off-lands’ business isn’t just a matter of getting off a tour bus and seeing a famous landmark—it’s about meeting students and singers of any age and making life-long connections. The families we billeted with were wonderful. It didn’t matter if they were singers or even musicians, we still had a ball with them.”

While his book will be primarily of interest to Chamber Singers alumni who want to relive the good (or bad) old days, More also included a 22-track CD featuring a range of performances over the years. “You can talk about the ensemble till you’re blue in the face, but until you actually listen to them, you don’t know how good they are. I’d rather someone judge the group by what they hear.“

“I absolutely loved writing it,” he says about the book, of which he printed 250 copies and now has about 50 left. “It was produced for the Singers, but it’s not out there to make a lot of money.” More pauses and laughs. “I’m pleased with how it’s sold, but my pocket book doesn’t display anything . . . except a deficit.”

And even though the Chamber Singers continue to hold annual reunions, does More miss the touring now that he’s retired? “The last couple of tours I got home and nearly died,” he chuckles. “I was getting older, no question, but the fatigue was just terrible. I knew that the international touring was coming to an end after 2007; I managed to get through ’09, but I had an assistant conductor who took a lot of the weight off me. That was it, though.”

More pauses and laughs, and it’s easy to imagine the travelogue of memories passing before his mind’s eye. “I’m a healthy guy, but it’s amazing I stayed that way.”

Interested in a copy of The Conductor is the One in Front? Contact Bruce More directly at morebruce@gmail.com. He would also like to hear from any Chamber Singers alumni not currently in touch.

Summer plans for Fine Arts faculty

Posted on May 14, 2013 by john threlfall

It’s summer, which means the majority of our Fine Arts faculty have broken free of the classroom and are now engaging on their own creative research or practice. As always, here’s a quick roundup of what various faculty members are getting up to this summer.

Lewis Hammond & Monteverdi

Come August, new School of Music director Susan Lewis Hammond will be researching Claudio Monteverdi and music of the baroque period at the University of Toronto. Her travel is funded by a SSHRC Insight Grant and the results will appear in two forthcoming books from Routledge Press: Claudio Monteverdi: A Research and Information Guide and Music of the Baroque: History, Culture, Performance.

Over in History in Art, the husband-and-wife research team of Marcus Milwright and Eva Baboula will be tackling the last phase of their SSHRC-funded fieldwork in Greece, continuing their search for Ottoman-period buildings and hydraulic engineering in the Peloponnese. Milwright also plans to spend some time in the Linden Museum in Stuttgart working on the Egyptian puppets in their collection. However, his main task for the summer—and forthcoming study leave—will be to complete a book on the seventh-century mosaic inscriptions in the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.

Busy digital media technician and filmmaker Dan Hogg is heading off to the Cannes Film Festival in May with his new short film Floodplain—and you can watch the trailer here. Created in association with equally busy filmmaker, Writing grad and returning Cannes guest Jeremy Lutter (whose Joanna Makes A Friend was at Cannes last year) and based on a story by Writing grad and current Can-lit star D.W. Wilson, Floodplain has been invited by Telefilm Canada as part of their annual Not Short on Talent short film program. Check out this short interview with Hogg, written by fellow Writing grad Will Johnson on his dandy Literary Goon blog. Floodplain stars Victoria-based actor Cameron Bright (Twilight, X-Men 3) and Sarah Desjardins. But as if that’s not enough, Hogg is also currently writing Rip My Heart Out, a tongue-in-cheek creature feature for Movie Central.

Writing professor David Leach will be working “with six or so students” to produce issue #2 of their well-received Concrete Garden urban agriculture magazine—which will also feature a bigger print run—and will shortly be launching the Campus Confidential anthology. And, muse willing, he’ll be finishing up his second book, which currently has three working titles: Look Back to Galilee, The Shouting Fence, or Who Killed the Kibbutz? On the international front, Leach will also be giving a paper and workshop on sustainable suburban design at the International Communal Studies Association conference being held at the spectacular Findhorn Ecovillage in northern Scotland. (Keep a sharp eye open for the fairies!)

The always busy performer and head of Voice for the School of Music, Benjamin Butterfield, has a full lineup of international activities this summer, including performing at the Aldeburgh Connection as part of Toronto’s Britten Festival, singing with the Bach Choir of Bethlehem at the Bach Festival in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, participating at the local Friends of Mengo Hospital Africa Benefit in May, and appearing with the American Classical Orchestra at New York City’s Lincoln Center for a concert of Mozart and Rossini Arias/ Duets. Butterfield will also be part of the Summer Vocal Programs faculty at the Opera on the Avalon in Newfoundland, Opera Nuova in Edmonton, the Vancouver International Song Institute and the Amalfi Coast Music Festival in Italy.

Music instructor Anita Bonkowski will be on tour performing in Western Europe throughout June, before she returns in July to teach her summer film music course Let’s Go To the Movies. She’ll also be performing at both Butchart Gardens (July 13 and August 7) and Filberg Festival in Comox (August long weekend). All this in addition to her regular weekly gigs and more summer performances with various groups and ensembles.

History in Art professor Erin Campbell is also currently on study leave, finishing up her book on “Old Women and Art in the Early Modern Italian Domestic Interior.” (There is absolutely no truth to the rumour we just started that Meryl Streep will be starring in the book’s film adaptation.) She’ll also be heading to Bologna, Italy, for a few weeks in June to do some research and reconnect with the art. Send us a postcard!

Theatre instructor Leslie Bland is finishing the editing of his all-female comedy series She Kills Me for the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, and is in the process of putting together the financing for his feature-length documentary Gone South: How Canada Invented Hollywood, created in association with writer Ian Ferguson. Also on Bland’s summer to-do list is attending the Banff World Media Festival, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and working a number of writing projects.

Busy new Writing professor Kevin Kerr is heading into a new production with his always groundbreaking Vancouver-based theatre company, Electric Company. The new piece is called You Are Very Star and it’s being staged at Vancouver’s HR MacMillan Space Centre & Planetarium. “We’re billing it as a transmedia event that plays with the boundaries of where theatre begins,” explains Kerr, who conceived the project and is co-writing it. “Participants start their journey with the piece prior to performance in an online encounter. The play then continues through public and private exchanges with the audience through social media, and in performance the two-act structure takes the audience on a bit of time travel—back to 1968 and ahead to 2048—and in the middle invites them on a narrative scavenger hunt inside the space centre building.” If you’re in Vancouver, You Are Very Star June 12 – 29. Also stay tuned for a production of Kerr’s Governor-General’s Award-winning play Unity (1918) at Phoenix Theatre next season, which he will be directing himself.

In addition to helping her Writing 420 filmmaking class crowdsource the funds they need to complete their current project, ‘Til Death—directed by Connor Gaston—Writing professor and busy filmmaker Maureen Bradley will be making her own feature film. Bradley was recently announced as one of four winning teams for the National Screen Institute’s Features First initiative, and her project will be going in front of the camera this summer. Stay tuned for details!

Kirk McNally (centre) with his group The Krells (photo: Darren Stone, Times Colonist)

School of Music audio specialist and recording engineer Kirk McNally will be recording a CD project with adjunct faculty member Colin Tilney on harpsichord this summer. “This will be the fourth project that Colin and myself have collaborated on,” says McNally, who has previously recorded Preludes and Dances for a French Harpsichord, Fugue: Bach and his Forerunners, J.S. Bach: The French Suites and Froberger 1649. “I’m also working with Dave Broome and a student from the joint major program in music and computer science to realize an online ‘library’ of the school’s concert recordings—similar to the DIDO slide library. It will be a secure, streamable presence for the School’s recordings on the webpage.” (This project is a follow-up to the Fall 2012 class Special Studies: Project in Digital Media Storage & Dissemination.)

John Boehme really likes to put himself into his art

Visual Arts instructor John G. Boehme is off to Australia to attend and fully participate in exist-ence 5: international festival and symposia—a celebration of live art, performance art and action art. Boehme will be premiering work alongside international artists Henrik Hedinge (Sweden), Labanna Babalon (USA), Peter Baren (Holland) and Sari Kivinen (Finland), and Australian artists Julie Vulcan, James Cunningham, Jade Boyd, Dracopede and Onnie Art. From June 17 to 30, he’ll be at exist-ence in Brisbaine, followed by July dates in Lismore (New South Wales) plus Melbourne’s A is for Atlas festival and Sydney’s PACT Centre for Emerging Artists. exist-ence fosters global education and appreciation for performance art. “We at EXIST hope that this undertaking creates a meeting place where artists, audiences and communities can engage openly,” say the organizers, “a space where one can pause, ask, discover, surrender.”

The latest play by Department of Theatre’s Jennifer Wise is being given a reading in Toronto as part of the new-play fest In The Beginning: A Jewish Playwriting Festival at the Toronto Centre for the Arts. Wise’s story of Ray Frank, titled The Girl Rabbi of the Golden West, recently had a public workshop presentation here in Victoria as part of the 150th anniversary celebrations of Congregation Emanu-El—the very place where Frank actually officiated at High Holiday services in the synagogue’s sanctuary in 1895.

Finally, Department of Writing instructor Vivian Smith has just returned from Ontario’s Western University, where she gave MA students in journalism a presentation on her PhD dissertation. Completed at UVic, the Interdisciplinary Studies dissertation is called All the Resistance That’s Fit To Print: Canadian Women Print Journalists Narrate Their Careers. Smith interviewed more than 25 women journalists in newspapers across the country to explore their reasons for loving—and very often leaving—their newsroom positions. Smith will be part of a panel on gender studies at Congress 2013 in early June here at UVic, and officially graduates June 13. She’ll spend the summer working on a manuscript for a scholarly book on her dissertation, as well as writing and editing for a new Victoria-based consulting company, Santé Communications Group. A few weeks of cruising around the local waters in the “Ruthie B” might produce a few travel articles, or at least reduce the pile of books waiting to be read!

Recent awards roundup

Posted on May 8, 2013 by john threlfall

History in Art professor Marcus Milwright‘s recent win of the 2013 Craigdarroch Silver Medal for Excellence in Research isn’t the only award-winning news in the Faculty of Fine Arts of late.

Lorna Crozier (Gary McInstry)

Recently retired long-time Writing professor Lorna Crozier—a multiple award-winning poet (including her own Craigdarroch award) and former chair of the Writing department—was just named the co-winner of the 2013 Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Literary Excellence. The award was established in 2003 to recognize B.C. writers who have contributed to the development of literary excellence in the province. Lieutenant Governor Judith Guicho presented the award to Crozier as part of the B.C. Book Prizes gala at Government House on May 4; she shares the award with young adult author Sarah Ellis.

As the jury noted, “The committee for the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Literary Excellence quickly agreed that among many strong candidates, two were outstanding—and, as quickly agreed, there were no grounds to choose between these two most deserving giants in their field. Both are prolific, both are recipients of numerous awards, both are passionate advocates for their literary genre and for Canadian writing, both are internationally recognized, both tirelessly mentor their literary children, and both bring the strength of oral tradition to their writing. … Both bring the highest honour to the Lieutentant Governor’s Award for Literary Excellence.”

That same event saw Bill Gaston—the current chair of the Writing department—win the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize for his latest novel, The World. (Ironically, former student and Writing alumni Yasuko Thanh was also nominated in the same category as Gaston for her acclaimed short story collection, Floating Like The Dead.) Gaston was previously nominated for the Ethel Wilson Prize for his 2006 short story collection Gargoyles, which earned him a nomination for the Governor General’s Award for Fiction. (Hmm, could a 2013 GG nom be in the cards for The World?)

And in other Yasuko Thanh news, Floating Like the Dead has also been named one of five finalists (out of 29 submissions) in the 2013 Danuta Gleed Literary Award. Now in its 16th year, the $10,000 Danuta Gleed is administered by the Writers’ Union of Canada and recognizes the best first English-language collection of short fiction by a Canadian author. This year’s jury includes authors Alexander MacLeod, Carol Malyon and our own Bill Gaston. And busy Writing alum Eliza Robertson recently won the Canadian/European regional prize for the prestigious Commonwealth Short Story Prize. She’ll now compete with the other regional prize winners (Africa, Asia, Caribbean and the Pacific region) for the overall prize, which will be announced May 31. Go Eliza!

Mark Reid with Shania Twain (Photo: AEG Live)

Meanwhile, over in the School of Music, alumnus Mark Reid has been named Teacher of the Year by MusiCounts, the music-education charity associated with the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS). The award, one of the highest honors in Canadian Music, was presented to Reid by country music superstar Shania Twain at a private ceremony in Las Vegas. Reid also received $10,000, which he will put toward his post-graduate studies; he is currently pursuing a master’s degree from Chicago’s Vandercook College to add to his Bachelor’s degree in music education from UVic. Reid has been teaching at Vancouver Technical Secondary School for the past seven years, and those students will receive an additional $10,000 in instrument inventory as part of the CARAS award.

In other Music news, the Canadian University Music Society (CUMS) announced that recent UVic Master’s graduate, Robert Hansler, is one of the recipients of their 2013 Student Composer Competition. He has worked primarily with Dániel Péter Biró and John Celona in the pursuit of his Master’s degree in composition. The jury selected his “Broken Branch” as one of two outstanding pieces to share first prize; both pieces will be performed by School of Music faculty members as part of a concert of contemporary music to be presented on Friday, June 7 at the Phillip T. Young Recital Hall.

And fourth-year School of Music student Lynne Penhale recently had the opportunity to attend the 19th Young Composers Meeting in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands. The meeting, chaired by iconic Dutch composer Louis Andriessen, offers a select group of 14 emerging composers from around the world the opportunity to exchange ideas about contemporary music. “It was the most enriching experience of my life!” says Panhale. “I learned more about society, myself and music in an experience which seemed to have lasted three weeks but was really only one.” Each composer came prepared with a three-minute piece composed for the 23-instrument ensemble-in-residence, Orkest de Ereprijs. Participants engaged in rehearsals, lectures, and lessons with composers Martijn Padding, Richard Ayers, Dmitri Kourliandski, Carola Bauckholt, and Ted Hearne. “As intense a learning experience this was . . . my favourite learning experience was getting to engage with the other young composers, and being completely inspired and challenged by everyone’s individual strengths they had brought with them,” says Penhale, who thanks UVic’s School of Music for supporting her in this opportunity.

In other student award news, recent Visual Arts BFA graduate Bronwyn McMillin received the 2013 Royal Canadian Academy of Arts C.D. Howe Scholarship for Art and Design as part of the BFA graduation exhibit Work. The Howe Scholarship is awarded annually to allow the recipient the opportunity “to pursue further formal study in a discipline represented by the RCA membership. These opportunities in Canada or elsewhere should enable recipients to develop further their studio practices while gaining a deeper understanding of the historical precedents and contemporary issues relevant to their discipline.” Fellow BFA graduates Carson Wronko, Emma Palm and Won Seok Seo also received the Visual Arts Achievement Award, funded by the office of the VP Academic and Provost, Dr. Reeta Tremblay.

Recent Visual Arts grad and aboriginal artist Kelli Clifton has won the YVR Art Foundation Scholarship Award. She will be given one year to complete a work that will then be on display at the Vancouver International Airport. Founded in 1993 by the Vancouver Airport Authority, the YVRAF fosters the development of BC First Nations art by providing scholarships and awards to artists wishing to develop their artistic potential.

CNA winners Bhandar & Annand

Busy Writing MFA student Connor Gaston has been nominated for a Leo Award in the “Best Student Film” category for his TIFF & VFF screened short film, Bardo Light. Two other Writing students—Lukas Bhandar and Vanessa Annand—were both named winners of the 2013 Community Journalism Scholarships, courtesy of the Community Newspapers Association. Also among the winners at the recent BCYCNA Ma Murray Community Newspaper Awards were Writing alumni Nathalie North of the Saanich News (First Place, Arts & Culture Award) and Monday Magazine‘s Danielle Pope (First Place, Business Writing Award; Second Place, Environmental Writing Award).

Finally, current Writing student Vin Fielding has been awarded honourable mention in the short fiction category of The Fiddlehead‘s annual literary contest. His story, “All Bones Recovered,” appears in their current issue. It was originally workshopped in Writing instructor Matthew Hooton’s class, and Hooton describes it as “gorgeous writing, and one of the most arresting opening scenes I’ve encountered. I still think about it nine months after first reading it.”

Congratulations to all!

—With files from Kristy Farkas

Anne Heinl now officially excellent

Posted on April 23, 2013 by john threlfall

With her ready smile, sympathetic ear and vast storehouse of campus knowledge, Anne Heinl may be the most important person a Fine Arts student ever meets. Now, the veteran undergraduate advising officer has been honoured with the Award for Excellence in Service, presented by UVic president David Turpin at 2013’s Distinguished Service Awards.

Award for Excellence in Service winner Anne Heinl (UVic Photo Services)

“I’m very honoured that I received this award,” says Heinl. “I’d like to thank the people who put my name forward and wrote the reference letters: the Dean’s Office, especially Samantha Knudson and Lynne Van Luven, the faculty and staff who wrote letters of support—they did a lot of work and that’s the only reason my application was looked at and approved.”

“But it’s not just me—there’s also all the people I work with,” she continues. “I’m doing a good job because I have a great team: Maureen and Beth in Records, the people in Admissions, Norm Thom, each of the Fine Arts department secretaries . . . I kind of feel embarrassed about the award being just for me. Everybody works hard; I don’t see myself as special.”

Heinl, who has worked at UVic for 22 years, had been in Earth and Ocean Sciences for two years when she was hired as secretary to then-Dean of Fine Arts Tony Welch. “Advising students just started as a side thing off my desk back then,” she recalls, noting that each department had their own undergrad advisor. It was a later Dean, Giles Hogya, who created her position.

Heinl started out working with 750 students; she now deals with about 1,500 and sees everyone “at least once . . . but some I see every month. It’s important for students to know that they can come and talk to me anytime; the door is always open for what they want to do, what they want to change.” And given her role, it seems inevitable that she would form lasting connections. “I have a whole batch of letters and cards from parents and students,” she chuckles. “Because you’re not just helping them with their academic life, you’re also helping them find what they need on campus: counseling, a letter for a job . . . I’m even starting to see the kids of parents who were students. A mother just emailed me the other day saying that her son is coming to UVic—and I was her advisor!”

Sometimes Anne takes the idea of serving students literally!

In addition to her advising duties, Heinl also works with policy and curriculum committees, recruiters, transfer credits, appeals and the Senate Committee on Re-registration and Transfer—all of which is what makes her so valuable, says Acting Dean Lynne Van Luven. “She is truly a repository of knowledge about process, history and especially curriculum. One is never afraid to ask her a question—nor to seek her advice in a complicated matter involving student grades or academic concessions. Her support is immediate and unstinting.”

Heinl’s biggest reward? Helping out with the robing ceremony for graduating students each year. “It gives me great pride to see that—they’ve done it, they’ve accomplished it, they’re off to bigger and better things,” she says. “I love having them leave satisfied, with smiles, feeling they can conquer anything. Or having students come back and say ‘You really helped me through my degree, I couldn’t have done it without you’—which they could have, of course, but it’s great to feel you’ve made a difference in someone’s path.”

Heinl says she learned this commitment to students from her days working with Tony Welch and the late Jean Shannon. “Tony was the one who expected the Dean’s secretary to be compassionate and be there for students, to advocate for students. Tony was really in tune with student needs, and knew that’s why we’re here. And Jean’s influence was where that attitude really started for me—that told me why we were here, why we’re doing it. She was the one who really encouraged me. Without them, there is no university.”

Heinl still sees this “students first” mandate as being the key to the overall university experience. “We should all be open and receptive and helpful,” she says. “As soon as a student comes in with a problem, we have to stick with it until it’s solved; it’s really important to not say, ‘Sorry, that’s not my job’ or ‘I’m busy’. We should be here for the students all the time. We need to make sure they have a good experience and their education is what they expect, and what they should have.”

All of which explains why she feels more like a team captain than the star quarterback. “It’s never just one person who makes things so good,” Heinl insists.

But it can be one person who makes all the difference in a student’s life.

Summer Music courses rock!

Posted on April 11, 2013 by john threlfall

Want a fresh soundtrack for the summer semester? Check out these special courses offered through the School of Music.

If you like movies and music in movies, you’ll love Let’s Go to the Movies (Music 391). Think about some of the classic moments in cinematic history and you can’t help but hear the music that goes along with them: the ominous, lurking theme from Jaws, the shrieking violin in Psycho, the pulse-pounding excitement of the James Bond theme.

Let’s Go to the Movies will examine the role of music in movies, drawing mainly upon American movies of the past 75 years. You’ll look at how music is used to support the development of characters and story, how music creates atmosphere and more, all illustrated by a select series of visual and audio clips. A music background is not a prerequisite—the main requirement is a willingness to listen carefully and articulate what you hear. Not only will you develop critical listening and viewing skills, but it’s guaranteed to change the way you hear movies!

Let’s Go to the Movies (Music 391) runs 2:30-4:30 daily July 8-30 in MacLaurin A169.

MUS 391 is taught by Anita Bonkowski, who has a wide range of expertise in theory, history and orchestration in both jazz and classical music. Since earning her Masters in Music, she has continued to work nationally and internationally as a drummer, bassist, composer and arranger, performing in jazz and R&B bands, musical theatre and show bands. Her pieces can be heard on radio stations around the world.

But if you’re more interested in rock music, why not give either The Top 20 Albums (Music 208) or The Beatles (Music 308) a spin?

The Top 20 Albums looks at the album as an art form. Once merely a change of format in the ever-competing music industry, “the album” has evolved over time to be the medium for some of the most remarkable music of rock history. Through close listening and consideration of context, you’ll explore production, songwriting and the phenomenon of lists, comparisons and biases as well as their ramifications on the artists, musicians and composers in their careers. The criterion for what makes this particular top-20 list is the album itself as a “work of art.” That guarantees great variety and good listening.

The Top 20 Albums (Music 208) runs 2:30-4:30pm daily May 1-24 in MacLaurin A169.

It’s an understatement to say The Beatles were no ordinary rock band—they were part of a revolution of thought in a world reinventing its values. They were talented, charismatic and riding an unbelievable wave of music and social history; and while they achieved mythic proportions, they also suffered the consequences. From poverty in Liverpool to such wealth and fame: their story and their history are the subject of this course. Their music is a profound legacy that has affected every musician who has ever heard them. Together with George Martin they were innovators in the world of recording. The Beatles had a chemistry about them, an openness, and honesty, an innocence and sense of humour that conquered the world.

The Beatles (Music 308) runs 2:30-4:20 daily June 12-July 5 in MacLaurin A169.

Both Top 20 Albums and The Beatles are taught by singer/ songwriter/actor Colleen Eccleston. Colleen has enjoyed a multifaceted career as a performer ranging from various theatrical productions to fronting a six-piece rock band and touring with the Ecclestons for the past 14 years playing traditional and original music. She has also toured extensively as a solo performer. She has been a songwriting mentor for the BC Festival of the Arts, a novelist, a voice instructor and a sessional instructor in the School of Music for many years. Maclean’s magazine even rated her one of the most popular profs at UVic!

Alumni names in the news

Posted on March 18, 2013 by john threlfall

There’s been a flurry of Fine Arts alum popping up in the media of late. Here’s a quick roundup.

Who will win in the Gaston versus Thanh showdown?

It’s Gaston versus Thanh! Who will win?

Writing grad Yasuko Thanh has been named as finalist for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize in the BC Book Prizes for her debut collection —and she’s up against none other than Department of Writing chair Bill Gaston. Thanh has been tapped for her debut collection of stories, Floating Like The Dead, while Gaston is named for his latest novel, The World. Also on the shortlist for the BC Book Prize’s Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize is Writing alum and former Writing instructor Patricia Young for Night-Eater, her 11th book of poetry.

Thanh also continues to make news thanks to the revealing news about her appearance in the 2014 PEN nude author’s calendar. The latest coverage appeared in the Times Colonist, hooked to her participation in The Malahat Review‘s upcoming WordsThaw event on March 23.

Jessica Kluthe (photo: Edmonton Journal)

Three other Writing alumni in the news: grad-turned-Writing professor Joan MacLeod‘s new play The Valley was just announced in the Globe and Mail as being part of the lineup for Tarragon Theatre’s new 2013-14 season. CBC CanadaWrites Short Story Prize shortlister Eliza Robertson now has a Q&A up about the story that landed her a spot in the popular CBC writing contest; this is her third time entering, and first time as a finalist—fingers crossed for the whole “third time lucky” thing! And Jessica Kluthe continues to attract attention with her first book, Rosina, the Midwife—check out this Edmonton Journal article.

Nathan Medd

Over in Theatre, busy Phoenix alum Nathan Medd was just announced as the new Managing Director of the National Arts Centre’s English Theatre in Ottawa—a real feather in anyone’s cap. “I feel extremely honoured to be taking on this role with the National Arts Centre—the Team Canada of the performing arts!,” he says.

The move sees Medd leaves his position as managing producer of the nationally recognized Electric Company Theatre in Vancouver—whose artistic director and founding member is none other than new Department of Writing prof Kevin Kerr. Among Medd’s other achievements (theatre program coordinator with the BC Arts Council, the Canada Council’s Theatre Assessment Committee, Vancouver’s arts assessment juries, etc.) are stints with both the Belfry Theatre and Intrepid Theatre, where he helped establish downtown Victoria’s immensely popular Metro Studio.

Will Jasleen Powar make it to MuchMusic?

In other Phoenix news, current Theatre student Jasleen Powar has made it to the top 40 in MuchMusic’s VJ Search competition. (Phoenix alumna Melanie Karin had also been on the longlist, but got knocked out.) Will Powar make it to the top 20? Vote for her here and help her make the cut!

Also on the television beat, Phoenix grads Peter Carlone (half of the sketch comedy team Peter ‘n Chris) and Mack Gordon have applied to be on the first-ever Canadian edition of The Amazing Race—you can watch their hilarious audition video here. The cross-Canada version of the race-around-the-world reality show will air later this year on CTV. And Phoenix grad and Theatre SKAM co-founder Amiel Gladstone is back in Victoria directing Pacific Opera Victoria’s upcoming production of Tosca.

Amy Wood

Staying in the media spotlight, recent School of Music alum Amy Wood made it through the first three rounds of voting in CBC’s Searchlight competition for the Best New Canadian Artist, earning a spot in the top five for the Victoria region before getting bumped. While at UVic, Amy studied voice with Music prof Benjamin Butterfield, but started playing and singing at the piano at a very young age. She now describes songwriting as an “obsession,” saying, “I can’t not write and lately it hurts not to sing for others.”

Wood is currently planning the release of an EP as well as a full-length album and is in the midst of covering song requests on her YouTube-based Sunday “Request Booth”. (Interesting side-note: Wood’s Searchlight submission was actually recorded in the UVic studios and mixed by one of School of Music Audio Specialist/Recording Engineer Kirk McNally‘s student recording techs.)

Finally, three Visual Arts alumni—Stephanie Aitken, Katie Lyle and Shelley Penfold—are featured in Drama of Perception, the latest exhibit at Deluge Contemporary. Aitken currently teaches at Langara College and Emily Carr University in Vancouver, Penfold lives and paints in Vancouver, and Lyle received a fair bit of attention last year when she was named the honourable mention winner in the 14th Annual RBC Canadian Painting Competition for her oil painting, “White Night.” She earned a cheque for $15,000 and her painting was added to RBC’s 4,000-piece corporate art collection.

Drama of Perception is also curated by Visual Arts prof Sandra Meigs, and runs to April 13 at 636 Yates.

A March of Music

Posted on March 7, 2013 by john threlfall

March is a busy month for the School of Music, with 35 concerts, recitals and performances on deck. Check out the full list here, but if you’re looking to get a tasty sampling of their sonic delights, here are some highlights:

• Sonic Lab returns with Ajtony Csaba directing UVic’s new music ensemble as they perform Adventures in the interior of a major chord – and “hausmusik.” Expect works by Gérard Grisey, Gordon Mumma, Pierluigi Billone, as well as some “Soundpainting.” That’s at 8pm Friday, March 8, in the Phillip T. Young Recital Hall. By donation.

Scott MacInnes

• The latest Faculty Concert Series features trombonist Scott MacInnes and guests. MacInnes, UVic’s trombone instructor, has a mission to prove that this bellowing brass instrument is viable and versatile in the mainstream. While the trombone has come a long way since it’s earliest ancestor (the sackbutt, circa 1450) as a support instrument, solo repertoire is still somewhat limited. For this concert, MacInnes has prepared several transcriptions of works originally composed for other instruments, including Camille Saint-Saëns’ Sonata for Bassoon.

“I believe that this is the first performance attempted on the trombone,” he says. “The work demonstrates the extreme capabilities of the bassoon, so it is tremendously difficult on the trombone.” Other pieces on the program include Trauermusik by Paul Hindemith (originally composed for viola), the Canadian premiere of Jacob TV’s multimedia work, I was like…WOW, and a couple tunes that will leave you “toe-tapping and humming.” (Tommy Pederson’s Blue Topaz “is like getting a big hug from a trombone choir with solo bass trombone,” MacInnes says.)

Several members of the Naden Band, the Victoria Symphony, and a few UVic alumni will join him at 8pm Sunday, March 10, in the Phillip T. Young Recital Hall. Tickets are $17.50 & $13.50.

Alexander Dunn

• The next Faculty Concert Series features guitarist Alexander Dunn and guests performing Guitarworks. Music has been likened to the songs of angels, the gateway to the soul, and has frequently been associated with spiritual experiences; now, Dunn will draw you into the realm of spirits, ghosts and mystics with this concert featuring contemporary music for guitar.

Described as a “genius and wizard” of the guitar by the Times Colonist, Dunn will perform Tim Brady’s Ghosts for guitar quartet and electronics, which Dunn describes as “a striking work moving between atmosphere and rhythmic propulsion, with an ambient electronic part that acts as a ‘ghost’ identity shadowing the live players.” Also on the program is the Canadian premiere of George Crumb’s darkly rich and layered Ghosts of Alhambra, as well as Peter Maxwell Davies’ intensely meditative Dark Angels.

Dunn will also give the premiere of Liova Bueno‘s Poema Mistico. Born from a germinal musical idea, the single-movement work “explores the facets of mysticism,” explains Bueno, a recent School of Music alumnus. “Calm and meditative moments are interspersed with sections of rhythmic intensity, creating a sound world which alternates between both the gentle and the wild energies of mystical and spiritual discovery and experience.”

Aided by soprano Susan Young, baritone Stephen Price, clarinet Patricia Kostek, and Alex Rempel on bass, Dunn has also invited students from the School of Music to join him on stage, including Jay Schreiber (percussion) and guitarists Brian Desjarlais, Stefan Maier, and Graeme Cruickshank.

Guitarworks kicks off at 8pm Friday, March 15, in the Phillip T. Young Recital Hall. Tickets are $17.50 & $13.50 at the door or through the UVic Ticket Centre (250-721-8480).

Patrick Boyle

• Following that is the latest performance by the UVic Jazz Orchestra. Conducted by Jazz Orchestra director Patrick Boyle, expect an eclectic evening of standards and originals featuring jazz students from the UVic School of Music that will go above and beyond past performances.

Describing it as their “most daring program to date,” Boyle says, “Part of our mandate is to encourage the performance of new Canadian works, especially works by ensemble members.” With that in mind, the Jazz Orchestra will perform pieces by UVic students Aaron Pang and Jared Richardson, as well as original arrangements made collectively by the group. In addition to big band, the concert will feature two new groups: the UVic Latin Ensemble E Pluribus Uno and the UVic Rhythm Kings & Queens, a small group that plays an amalgam of New Orleans and Balkan music.

“In jazz music, knowing whom you are playing with is critical to presenting the music holistically,” explains Boyle, who is no stranger to collaboration and has played and recorded with some of the nations best jazz musicians. “This particular version of the UVic Jazz Orchestra blends a wonderful camaraderie and mutual respect with a serious work ethic and commitment to professionalism.”

Hear what it’s all about at 8pm Saturday, March 16, in the Phillip T. Young Recital Hall. Tickets $15 & $10.

• School of Music alumni Matthew McConchie (tenor trombone), Robert Fraser (bass trombone) and Tzenka Dianova (piano) will perform an eclectic program of jazz and classical repertoire, including works by Professor Emeritus Ian McDougall, Leonard Bernstein and Daniel Schnyder on March 19.

After completing his Bachelor’s degree at UVic, McConchie went on to do post-graduate work at the Eastman School of Music then changed course to study law at the University of Calgary; he currently practices with the firm of Jones Emery Hargreaves Swan in Victoria. Fraser studied music education at Brandon University and trombone performance at McGill before winning the bass trombone position in the Victoria Symphony in 1990; he completed his Master of Arts in Musicology with Performance at UVic in 2008. Dianova began her studies in her native Bulgaria, at the academies of Pleven and Sofia; she moved to Canada in 1998 to pursue her Master’s degree at UVic and currently works as a concert pianist, accompanist, chamber and orchestral musician and is the principal keyboard player for the Victoria Symphony. She is also an internationally recognized authority on new music and extended/prepared piano techniques.

Their performance is at 8pm Tuesday, March 19, in the Phillip T. Young Recital Hall. Admission by donation.

• Finally, there’s the Vocal Jazz Spring Showcase. Director Wendell Clanton will present Moods of March, featuring charts by New York Voices, Burton Lane, Eric Clapton, Michelle Weir, Arlen & Capote, Darmon Meader and more.

Clanton shares Patrick Boyle’s sentiments on the importance of connections within the Vocal Jazz Ensemble, which he has been directing since 2005; he often incorporates movement, improvisation, and games into his rehearsals. “By bridging the social and academic environments, spontaneity is restored to music-making and people let their personalities shine,” says Clanton. He describes these sessions as “fun, hilarious and educational” which is important to fostering “natural engagement, energy and enthusiasm which spreads to all areas of learning and performance.”

Expect a wide range of styles and moods in their upcoming March 24 concert, with tunes like “He Beeped When He Shoulda Bopped,” “The Lady Is A Tramp,” “Baby Driver” and “Won’t You Be My Neighbor” (yes, the theme song from childhood favourite, Mr. Rogers’ Neighbourhood). Clanton says the show “ping pongs between intimate ballads, quirky upbeat numbers and powerful showstoppers. It will begin like a lamb and end like a lion.”

Be there at 8pm Sunday, March 24, in the Phillip T. Young Recital Hall. By donation.

—Additional content by Kristy Farkas

Fine Arts at IdeaFest

Posted on February 25, 2013 by john threlfall

IdeaFest is coming up soon at UVic and Fine Arts is all over the programming this year!

With more than 50 ideas worth exploring, UVic’s second annual IdeaFest looks pretty exciting. Running March 4-15 in every corner of campus, this free festival connects you to experts working on the kind of ideas that really can change everything—whether you’re a rocket scientist, artist, gamer, zombie fan or something else entirely.

New and emerging research will be brought to life in panels, workshops, exhibits, lectures, performances, film screenings and tours. Ideas up for discussion run the gamut of political upheaval, creativity, heart health, Canada’s north, urban planning, big data, #IdleNoMore and whether or not English should emerge as a global language—just to name a handful.

Take a few minutes to browse through the full program on the IdeaFest 2013 website— the hardest part will be deciding which idea to start with!

Here’s a quick breakdown of what Fine Arts has on tap:

• Enacting the Artist / Researcher / Educator: Six UVic applied theatre graduate students engaged in a theatre-based PhD research project will discuss utilizing playbuilding as qualitative research, as well as a variety of theatre conventions as a way to generate, interpret and (re)present data. The result is a devised play about enacting the artist/researcher/educator with a post-show dialogue. 2-4pm Monday, March 4, in room 109 of the Fine Arts building.

• Jamie Cassels Undergraduate Research Awards: Celebrate some of the outstanding research produced by the 2012 Jamie Cassels Undergraduate Research Awards scholars at this day-long presentation of their work. Here’s a list of who’s representing Fine Arts, but you can read abstracts of their research here: Sara Fruchtman, Alexandra Macdonald and Christine Oldridge (History in Art), Stewart Gibbs, Sarah Johnson and Jennifer Taylor (Theatre), Bronwyn McMillin and Willie Seo (Visual Arts), Claire Garneau and Liz Snell (Writing). The JCURA runs 11am-3pm Wednesday, March 6, in the SUB’s Cinecenta, Upper Lounge and Michele Pujol room.

• Mini Film Fest: Join some of the Department of Writing’s emerging filmmakers for a screening and discussion of several recent, award-winning student films—including the Leo Award-winning web series Freshman’s Wharf, and Connor Gaston’s recent TIFF and VFF-screened short, Bardo Light. 7:30 pm Thursday, March 7, in room 162 of the Visual Arts building.

• Sonic Lab: Join UVic’s contemporary music ensemble as they present two compositions that explore the sound itself as musical material. Imagine a brick wall with a human figure painted on it, which can be taken apart & rebuilt as a fence or a house—meaning the parts of painted body would show up in an unexpected context. The same happens here, where usual & unusual sounds will be taken apart and put together in a new context. 8pm Friday, March 8, in the Phillip T Young Recital Hall.

• “Have you ever had an idea?” Get in on this interactive, community-involving project aimed at enabling ideas to be more accessible and more attainable. Participants become part of Victoria’s biggest idea—a giant run-on sentence created by texting, calling or e-mailing in their ideas. It all culiminates in an installation with video & audio components of real-time projection, discussions, idea-counseling, etc. 7-10pm Friday, March 8, in room A111 of the Visual Arts building.

• “Games Without Frontiers: The Social Power of Video Games”: Join professors, grad students, undergraduates, high-school students, local game designers and curious citizens of Victoria at this mini-conference to explore, discuss and marvel at the power of video-game technology to bring people together and improve the world. Faculty and students will give demonstrations and offer a Q&A about the innovative use of “gamification” techniques in their research, including games that help to improve the lives of children with autism, teach about First Nations treaties, combat obesity and explore the ocean floor, among others.

Don’t miss the Minecraft documentary

Other events will include demonstrations of new games by students and local designers, a “journalism game jam” to apply game tools to improve public-service reporting, various competitions and panels of local experts to debate the power, the pitfalls and the future of game design. The UVic student music ensemble Flipside will also be performing a selection of video game soundtracks (1:30-3pm), and Cinecenta will be hosting a screening of the documentary Minecraft: The Story of Mojang, a look behind the scenes of the popular online game, with an Orion-sponsored talk and Q&A with the Portland-based filmmakers from 2 Player Productions to follow—that’s at 7:15 pm Friday, March 8, at Cinecenta. Games without Frontiers runs 11:30am-6pm Saturday, March 9, in the David Strong building.

• “Is There Still Potential for Human Creativity?” A good question, and one which promises a lively back and forth at this Fine Arts discussion panel featuring Jennifer Stillwell (Visual Arts), George Tzanetakis (Computer Science-Music), Lee Henderson (Writing), Victoria Wyatt (History in Art), Jonathan Goldman (Music). Moderated by the Times Colonist‘s Dave Obee. 7:30pm Monday, March 11, in B150 of the Bob Wright Centre.

• Fine Arts PechaKucha: Unfortunately, this event has been cancelled.

• Intergenerational Theatre for Development in India: After being displaced by the 2006 tsunami, a new community in India is using Applied Theatre to reconnect its citizens. The creation of an intergenerational theatre company to perform the stories of seniors and rural youth of the Tamilnadu community has the potential to create lines of dialogue across generations by positively highlighting the life experiences of residents of Tamaraikulam Elders’ Village and students of the Isha Vidhya Matriculation School. Theatre PhD student Matthew Gusul recently visited India and will tell the story of this developing project. 4:45pm Thursday, March 14, in the Phoenix Theatre’s McIntyre Studio.

Artsy Type

UVic's Faculty of Fine Arts: Thinking with the right side of your brain

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