Get festive with Fine Arts

by | Dec 3, 2024 | Events, Faculty, School of Music, Theatre

If there’s one thing we can all agree on, the winter holiday season is the one time of the year where people join together to enjoy the biggest range of festivities. From concerts, plays and readings to holiday films, it seems like there’s a bit of everything ready to deck December’s halls. Here’s what Fine Arts is serving up this year. 

Holiday concerts

The festive season starts with Jingle Brass, the ever-popular annual School of Music brass concert. This year the Faculty Trio — featuring Merrie Klazek (trumpet), Sam McNally (horn) and Scott MacInnes (trombone) — will perform solo works for the season, and UVic brass students will be joined by talented young local high-school brass players. Get ready for some beautiful and celebratory sounds of the season, with a special appearance from the UVic Vikes Band.

7pm Wed, Dec 4 • Phillip T Young Recital Hall, MacLaurin B-wing • Tickets $5/$15 or free for Music students • This concert will be available as a live stream

Then, School of Music cello professor Pamela Highbaugh Aloni brings together UVic cello students, alumni and community members for A Holiday Cellobration, an annual festive concert that celebrates community and the holiday season.

7pm Sunday, Dec 8 • Phillip T Young Recital Hall, MacLaurin B-wing • By donation • This concert will be available as a live stream.

Following a soggy performance in 2023 when the skies opened for one of the rainiest days of the year, Tuba Christmas returns for their (hopefully drier) 46th year. School of Music brass instructor Scott MacInnes directs more than 100 tuba and euphonium players from across the region as they play your favourite seasonal songs at one of Victoria’s most beloved holiday traditions! Interestingly, 2024 is the 50th anniversary for Tuba Christmas events across the world, as it dates back to 1974 where it originated in New York City: concerts now take place in over 200 cities worldwide!

1-3pm Saturday, Dec 14 • Downtown’s Market Square, 560 Johnson St • By donation to the Times Colonist Christmas Fund

Festive performances

Busy Theatre alum Zachary Stevenson returns to Victoria with Buddy’s Holly Jolly Christmas old-time rock & roll revue. Stevenson has carved out a career for himself over the years portraying rock legend Buddy Holly, and he’ll be joined at this show by the Chicago-based trio The Lovettes, who offer a salute to the female icons and girl groups of the ’50s and ’60s. Hear all the hits plus a sprinkle of your favourite seasonal tunes performed by the cast with backing provided by the Legends All-Star Band.

7:30pm Mon, Dec 9 • McPherson Playhouse, Centennial Square • Tickets $62

This year, the annual CBC Victoria charity reading of A Christmas Carol features a new face: School of Music professor and CBC Radio’s Saturday Afternoon at the Opera host Marion Newman, who will join other CBC Victoria on-air personalities presenting Dicken’s holiday classic plus the Reach Choir and special guests at this annual fundraiser for Our Place.

7pm Friday, Dec 13 • First Met United, 932 Balmoral • Tickets $7 & $15

What happens when you discover that your greatest enemy is your soulmate? That falling in love with love is not real love at all? That darkness is less powerful than light? Find out when Blue Bridge Theatre presents The Shop Around The Corner just in time for the festive season. Theatre professor and director Brian Richmond presents this version of the 1940s Christmas classic film by legendary director Ernest Lubitsch, which was then adapted for the Lux Radio Theatre in 1941.

Now, Victoria playwright and Fringe Festival favourite Andrew Bailey has placed his own contemporary take on this timeless classic, which features Theatre instructor Amanda Lisman plus a cast of alumni (Trevor Hinton, Frances Matheau), students (Jack Storwick) and community players (Brian Linds,Rosemary Jeffrey, among others).  

8pm Fri-Sat, Dec 13-14 + 2pm Dec 14 & 15 • UVic’s Phoenix Theatre • Tickets $10-$35

Alumni puppet company WONDERHEADS return with their signature reimagining of Charles Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol, offering an unforgettable live experience featuring spectacular giant masks, whimsical puppets and unfathomable theatrical invention.

Created by acclaimed Theatre alum Kate Braidwood, any WONDERHEADS show is a feast for the eyes, ears and heart, with a generous kick to the funny bone; but their Christmas Carol is particularly astonishing, given its glowing ghosts and 10-foot-tall puppets.

7:30pm Dec 18-21 + 3:30pm Dec 21 at the McPherson Playhouse • Tickets $30-$64

Merry movies

Our friends at Cinecenta, UVic’s on-campus movie theatre, have another week-long lineup of holiday films set to entertain: from the 1970 oddball charmer Harold and Maude (Dec 17) and 1985’s endlessly debated is-it-or-isn’t-it-a-Christmas-movie Die Hard (Dec 18) to the sweetly kooky 1992 The Muppet Christmas Carol (Dec 19-20), love-it-or-leave-it 2003 UK comedy Love Actually (Dec 19-20) and finally the 1946 classic It’s A Wonderful Life (Dec 21), there’s quite literally something for everyone!

Trees tease 

Finally, our friends at UVic Athletics are back with their annual Vikes Christmas tree sale. This year, the Vikes cross-country and track teams invite you to pick up a tree from 10am-6pm Fridays to Sundays until Dec 15.

Now in its 23rd year, this cherished tradition offers locally grown Grand, Noble and Douglas firs from the Cowichan Valley, with proceeds directly supporting UVic student-athletes. Head to parking lot 4, off McGill Road, at Centennial Stadium.

Pacific Opera Victoria Presents Barbara Hannigan & Bertrand Chamayou

by | Nov 29, 2024 | Events, Faculty, Graduate, News, Orion Series in Fine Arts, School of Music, Undergraduate

Do not miss this one-night-only event! 7:30pm December 02 at McPherson Playhouse. An evening of music with renown artists soprano Barbara Hannigan & pianist Bertrand Chamayou, with special guest appearances by Terrence Tam (Principal Violin of Victoria Symphony) and Benjamin Butterfield (Head of Voice, UVic School of Music). The duo will present a concert at the McPherson Playhouse featuring Messiaen’s Chants de Terre et de Ciel, Scriabin’s Poème-nocturne and Vers la flamme, and John Zorn’s Jumalattaret. Barbara and Bertrand’s visit is made possible in part with support from Pacific Opera Victoria.

 

With a musical programme featuring Messiaen’s Chants de Terre et de Ciel, Scriabin’s Poème-nocturne and Vers la flamme, and John Zorn’s Jumalattaret, be ready to be whisked away on a fascinating and eclectic journey through diverse musical landscapes.

Messiaen’s mystical and nature-inspired compositions – rich with complex rhythms, vibrant colors, and mystical themes – create an ethereal and contemplative atmosphere. Scriabin’s metaphysical and harmonically adventurous works is dreamy and dramatic, brimming with sensuous textures, innovative harmonies, and a sense of transcendence. Zorn’s modern and genre-defying piece is a masterwork in the advent-guarde. It boldly presents a complex tapestry of sound that explores the boundaries of traditional and contemporary music.

Barbara Hannigan

Barbara Hannigan, an unparalleled artist, embodies music with remarkable dramatic sensibility. Collaborating with luminaries like John Zorn, Simon Rattle, and Sasha Waltz, she’s at the forefront of musical creation. Her commitment to contemporary music is evident in premiering over 90 new works and collaborations with composers like Boulez and Ligeti. Recently, she debuted Poulenc’s La Voix Humaine, blending singing and conducting with live video. Her conducting debut with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and ongoing collaborations with esteemed orchestras mark her as a leading figure in the music world. Her recordings, including the Grammy-winning Crazy Girl Crazy, showcase her exceptional talent. Barbara’s dedication to mentoring young artists led to initiatives like Equilibrium Young Artists and Momentum. Recognized with prestigious awards like the Gramophone Magazine’s Artist of the Year, Barbara Hannigan continues to inspire and innovate in the world of music from her home in Finistère, France.

Bertrand Chamayou

Bertrand Chamayou stands as one of today’s most brilliant pianists, acclaimed for his virtuosic and deeply imaginative performances. Renowned for interpreting French music, he’s explored major works by Ravel, Liszt, and Messiaen. Chamayou’s collaborations with contemporary composers demonstrate his passion for innovation. Performing worldwide at esteemed venues and festivals, he’s graced stages with renowned orchestras and conductors. This season, he’s featured in an ‘Artist Portrait’ series with the London Symphony Orchestra and anticipates the release of his forthcoming album, “Satie-Cage.” His acclaimed recordings, including Messiaen’s Vingt Regards sur l’enfant-Jésus, have garnered numerous awards and accolades, showcasing his mastery. Chamayou’s artistic endeavors extend beyond performance, as he co-directs the Festival Ravel, a prominent celebration of Maurice Ravel’s legacy. With a multi-award-winning discography and an unparalleled dedication to musical innovation, Bertrand Chamayou continues to captivate audiences worldwide.

UVic Symphony Orchestra: From Darkness to Light

by | Nov 19, 2024 | Award, Faculty, Graduate, School of Music, Undergraduate

When the UVic Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Maestro Giuseppe Pietraroia, presents the captivating evening of music From Darkness to Light on November 29, they’ll not only be  blending  drama, passion and rhythmic vitality, but will also feature a memorable performance by our 2024 student Concerto Competition winners.

As part of the concert, Jiran Miao — a fourth-year piano student at UVic studying under Music professor and esteemed concert pianist Arthur Rowe — will perform Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1 in D Minor, op. 15 with the UVic Orchestra. Originally from Shaoxing, China, Jiran started playing piano at age five and has since dedicated herself to her craft, winning awards from the CDMF, Vienna International Classical Music Competition, Don Chrysler Concerto Competition, and Rocky Mountain Music Competition. She has also performed in cities around the world, including Vienna, Salzburg, Shanghai, and Vancouver, and has given solo recitals in her hometown.

When Professor Rowe first suggested she take on Brahms’ concerto, Jiran was hesitant due to the short preparation time ahead of the competition date. However, her love for Brahms and his “gentle portrait of Clara Schumann” in the second movement motivated her to complete the work. Jiran expresses deep gratitude for the support of her UVic professors, especially the mentorship of Professor Rowe, which has greatly shaped her growth as a musician. “From the day I first stepped into UVic for my audition, I knew I wanted to study here,” she explains.

Looking ahead, Jiran plans to pursue advanced studies, aiming to blend her musical insights with composers’ intentions and, as an international student, to eventually share her knowledge and experiences with other musicians in China. Her performance of the Brahms’ Piano Concerto — considered a masterpiece of the Romantic era — will offer powerful orchestral textures and intricate piano passages that will take you on a memorable journey from turbulent passion to serene introspection.

The concert will also include Franz Schubert’s Fierabras, D. 796: Overture and will conclude with Antonín Dvořák’s lively Slavonic Dances, Op. 72. Inspired by the folk traditions of Dvořák’s homeland, these dances brim with infectious rhythms, vibrant melodies, and the spirit of Czech folk music, promising a joyous and exuberant finale to the evening. Also, be prepared for turn at the baton by Arturo García Cuéllar, our Graduate Assistant Conductor.

Don’t miss this unforgettable concert that showcases the beauty and power of orchestral music and emerging student performers at their finest!

Coming up in 2025 will be two more performances by our other two Concerto Competition winners: second year Master of Music soprano Olivia Charette, performing W.A. Mozart’s Exsultate, jubilate (Exult, rejoice), K. 165 with the UVic Symphony Orchestra on February 13, 2025; and second-year music education student Spencer Leong Cowie, who will perform his winning concerto with the UVic Wind Symphony in our 2025-26 season.

Indigenous Writers & Storyteller Series

by | Oct 25, 2024 | Events, Faculty, indigenous, Writing

When this year’s installment of the sxʷiʔe ̕m “To Tell A Story” Indigenous Writers & Storytellers Series returns to UVic on November 1, it will be the latest gift to the community by the Department of Writing and professor Gregory Scofield.

“My goal is to honor the nations on whose territory we live, and to celebrate and honour the writers and storytellers in our communities,” he says. 

Scofield is following up last year’s successful event by presenting two acclaimed Indigenous authors this year: Icelandic/Red River Métis poet Jónína Kirton and Cree author Joseph Kakwinokansum. 

“It has been and continues to be a very exciting time for Indigenous writers and storytellers,” he says. “There are so many important stories to be shared, told and celebrated across Turtle Island through the mediums of literature, film, music, dance and oral storytelling . . . . As more Canadians become aware of truth and reconciliation, more people are reading works by Indigenous writers and gaining knowledge of our history.”

Scofield

About Jónína Kirton

Jónína Kirkton was born in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba: Treaty 1 territory, the traditional lands of the Anishinaabe, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota, Dene peoples and the homeland of the Métis. She graduated from the SFU Writer’s Studio in 2007 and since that time has published three books with Talonbooks. She was 61 when she received the 2016 Vancouver’s Mayor’s Arts Award for an Emerging Artist in the Literary Arts category, the same year her first collection — page as bone, ink as blood — was released.

Her second collection of poetry, An Honest Woman, was a finalist in the 2018 Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize. Her third book, Standing in a River of Time, was released in 2022. It merges poetry and lyrical memoir to take us on a journey exposing the intergenerational effects of colonization on her Métis family. She currently lives in New Westminster BC, the unceded territory of many Coast Salish Nations. Although she acknowledges and is thankful for the teachings offered through academic institutions, she leans heavily into what some term ‘other ways of knowing.’ Her writing is often a weaving of body and land as she firmly believes until we care for women’s bodies we will not care for the earth.

About Joseph Kakwinokansum

Joseph Kakwinokansum is a writer, creator, and storyteller. A member of the James Smith Cree Nation, he grew up in the Peace Region of northern BC and is a graduate of Simon Fraser University’s Writer’s Studio and Writer’s Studio Graduate Workshop.

He was selected by Darrel J. McLeod as one of the Writers Trust of Canada’s Rising Stars of 2022. His short story “Ray Says” was a finalist for CBC’s Nonfiction Prize in 2020 and his manuscript Woodland Creetures was awarded the 2014 Canada Council for the Arts Creation Grant for Aboriginal Peoples, Writers, and Storytellers.

His debut novel, My Indian Summer (loosely based on his own childhood) was winner of the 2023-2024 First Nations Communities READ Award and shortlisted for the 2023 ReLit Award for fiction. His work has been published in the Humber Literary Journal and the anthologies Resonance: Essays on the Craft and Life of Writing, Emerge: The Writer’s Studio and Better Next Year: An Anthology of Christmas Epiphanies.

Kakwinokansum was also selected as the 2024 Storyteller in Residence for Vancouver Public Library.

The free event  sxʷiʔe ̕m “To Tell A Story” Indigenous Writers & Storytellers Series, starts at 7pm Friday, November 1, in UVic’s First Peoples House. Books will be available for purchase & signing

Kathryn Mockler wins Victoria Book Prize

by | Oct 23, 2024 | Award, climate, Faculty, Writing

The Writing department’s 2024 Victoria Book Prize finalists (from left): Tim Lilburn, Ali Blyth, Kathryn Mockler, Arleen Paré 

This year, October should be renamed the “Month of Mockler”, given how much Department of Writing professor Kathryn Mockler has been popping up. Not only was she announced as a shortlister for — and eventual winner of — the City of Victoria Butler Book Prize (more on that later), but she was also one of three jurors for the 2024 Governor General’s Literary Award for Poetry, appeared as part of the Wild Prose literary roundtable “Alice in Monsterland: Alice Munro and other ‘art monsters’” and was one of the featured readers at the Department of Writing’s Faculty Reading Night.

But it was her Butler Book Prize win for her new story collection Anecdotes which really gave her cause to celebrate.

Named the winner at the annual public gala at the Union Club on October 16, Mockler was originally announced as a finalist alongside recently retired Writing professor Tim Lilburn (Numinous Seditions: Interiority and Climate Change) plus Writing alumni Ali Blythe (Stedfast) and Arleen Paré (Absence of Wings), as well as local poet Shō Yamagushiku (Shima).

It was a notable indicator of excellence that four of the five finalists were connected to our Writing department and, in her acceptance speech, Mockler noted that she was “humbled to be in the company of these finalists and their beautiful books”.

Prize money to charity  

While the win may have been a surprise to the author, her donation of the $5,000 prize money to three local charities was likely a surprise to the event’s audience. Yet such a move was not surprising for Mockler, who describes the act of writing as being “inherently political”.

“No matter how solitary the act of writing can feel, a writer is always addressing a collective, shared world — describing, analyzing, critiquing, redefining and expanding it. Writers cannot ignore the world that shapes their words nor the world that receives them,” she noted in her acceptance speech.

“In Anecdotes, I use personal experiences to grapple with violence, oppression and the climate crisis, and I am accepting this award at a time in which a genocide is being perpetrated by Israel against Palestinians with the support of the US, Canada and many European states—the same colonial forces responsible for the genocide of Indigenous Peoples across Turtle Island.

“While Canada makes me complicit in these crimes through its arms sales and moral failure, I am deeply grateful to the judges and the Victoria Butler Book Prize for enabling me to donate the entirety of this award money to the following:

She concluded by saying, “I encourage anyone appalled by these atrocities to seek out groups like ArmsEmbargoNow and World Beyond War.”

About Anecdotes

Mockler’s sixth book, Anecdotes is her latest collection of characteristically disruptive writing (see also the 2020 anthology Watch Your Head: Writers and Artists Respond to the Climate Crisis, which she co-edited) and is described as a hybrid collection of “dreamlike stories and dark humour” which examines the pressing realities of sexual violence, abuse and environmental collapse.

A finalist for four other awards (2023 Danuta Gleed Literary Award, 2024 Trillium Book Award, 2024 Fred Kerner Book Award, 2024 VMI Betsy Warland Between Genres Award), Anecdotes was also recently reviewed in subTerrain Magazine.

UVic retires 215+ memorial banners, raises Survivor Flag

by | Sep 25, 2024 | Art History & Visual Studies, Faculty, indigenous, Visual Arts

On May 27, 2021, Canada watched in horror as news spread about the confirmation of more than 215 unmarked graves on the site of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School, located on the lands of the Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation. This discovery was a painful reminder of the ongoing history of colonial violence inflicted by Canadian educational institutions—institutions that have long been complicit in their harm towards Indigenous peoples.

Closer to home, at UVic, the response across the campus community was an overwhelming: What can we do? How can we support Indigenous students, staff and faculty, as well as Elders, knowledge keepers and others from our community? How do we recognize the children who never came home and the Survivors who continue to be impacted by their past experiences at residential schools?

Very quickly, the campus came together to create an action plan, including lowering the university flags, lighting a Sacred Fire and installing memorial banners on light standards across the UVic campus designed by UVic Impact Chair in Indigenous Art Practices and Fine Arts professor, Kwakwaka’wakw/Coast Salish artist Hayalthkin’geme, Carey Newman. The artwork, titled “Hearts and Hands”, was a design to honour the children who never returned home from the residential schools.

“Universities aren’t often known for their nimbleness; however, UVic’s response to this discovery was an example of what’s possible when everyone is pulling in the same direction. Frankly, the response was refreshing,” says Newman.

Moving from initial response to committed action

After flying for more than three years, the 215+ banners began showing signs of wear and tear, and it was time to consider replacements or to look for space for a permanent recognition on campus. During the 2023 Orange Shirt Day ceremony, Survivor and Elder Klith-wii-taa, Dr. Barney Williams, gifted President and Vice-Chancellor Kevin Hall with a Survivors’ Flag, which will now have a permanent home outside the Mearns-McPherson Library and adjacent to the area where previous National Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day ceremonies were held.

The flag will permanently honour the strength, courage and perseverance of Survivors who fought with determination to carry on their cultures, traditions and languages and knowledge systems for generations to come. Now, the 215+ banners will come down to make room for the installation of new Indigenous artwork by internationally renowned Lək̓ʷəŋən master carver and artist Dr. Butch Dick.

“The 215+ banners were never intended to be a long-term visual acknowledgement of truth and reconciliation,” says Newman. “They were part of an immediate and collective reaction to a moment in our history. With the raising of the Survivors’ Flag on campus, the work of the banners has concluded, and I like to think that they held space until this more permanent response could be found.”

Read the full UVic News story here