Stories from the Creative Edge
Alumni
Upcoming Music concerts
It's a busy month for concerts and recitals in the School of Music! Here's a quick roundup of what's coming up. UVic Vocal Jazz Ensemble: Into the Twilight Directed by Music instructor Wendell Clanton, the UVic Vocal Jazz Ensemble has established a reputation for...
Linda Catlin Smith named Honorary Degree recipient
Honorary degrees have been awarded at UVic since its inaugural convocation in 1964. An honorary degree is the highest honour the university can bestow for distinguished achievement in scholarship, research, teaching, the creative arts and public service. As part of...
A climate of change marks Writing grad Aldyn Chwelos’ academic journey
Writing grad Aldyn Chwelos finds hope with UVic’s Climate Disaster Project (photo: Sean Holman) Given the deluge of headlines about fires, floods, droughts and heat domes, it’s easy to feel a sense of despair around our continuing climate crises. The challenge,...
Feeling Earnest at the Phoenix
Eric Barnes in The Importance of Being Earnest at the Phoenix Theatre (photo: Dean Kalyan)The Importance of Being Earnest — Oscar Wilde's timeless comic masterpiece — has long been celebrated for its sharp humour and daring social commentary. But despite being over a...
New sxʷiʔe’m Indigenous Writers & Storyteller Series launches
When the new sxʷiʔe ̕m “To Tell A Story” Indigenous Writers & Storytellers Series launches at UVic on November 10, it will be offered as a gift to the community by the Department of Writing and professor Gregory Scofield.“My goal is to honor the nations on whose...
Phoenix season kicks off with shows for the young & the young-at-heart
The cast of The Woman Who Outshone The Sun (photo: Megan Farrell)Proving that experience matters when it comes to creating impactful productions, Phoenix Theatre is offering an all-alumni directed season—ideally matched to UVic’s upcoming 60th anniversary...
Annual Reading Night Returns
Hear new work by some of Canada's top writers at the annual Writing Faculty Reading Night! Back for the first time since pre-pandemic days, this event features acclaimed Department of Writing professors Shane Book, Mo Bradley, Danielle Geller, Lee Henderson, Kevin...
Phoenix subscribers play a vital role as patrons & donors
Student Ximena Garduño Rodríguez in 2023’s Phoenix production of Mojada (photo: Megan Farrell)As anyone who has ever been to the Phoenix Theatre well knows, our students learn by doing. They’re involved in every aspect of our productions—from running the box office...
Awi’nakola as a way of being
Paul Walde, Rande Cook & Kelly Richardson on stage at the Rifflandia Festival in Sept ’22It would be difficult to imagine two more different audiences than those at Montreal’s COP 15 UN Biodiversity Conference and Victoria’s Rifflandia Music Festival, but both...
Legacy gifts transform student experiences
Performance infrastructure may not be top of mind when it comes to supporting the student experience, but it’s always a primary concern in the Faculty of Fine Arts. Such is the case with the School of Music’s Phillip T. Young Recital Hall: named for the former...
Diamond in the rough
As anyone who has suffered the slings and arrows of a theatrical life knows, working on stage can be a risky business. But Theatre grad Emily Bailey (née Lindstrom, BFA ’19) has taken her production-management experience in a new direction by putting herself into...
Alumni lead 23/34 Phoenix season
It’s an all-alumni season coming up at Phoenix Theatre this year, with three alumni directors returning to lead the mainstage productions! First up is Oscar Wilde’s comic masterpiece, The Importance of Being Earnest, running November 9-25. Although it debuted in 1895,...
QFW performances & new LSQ video
Over 20 brilliant young musicians from across the world will descend on our beautiful campus for the return of Quartet Fest West chamber music festival and concert series. Running from June 26 to July 8, students will undertake two weeks of intensive chamber music...
Climate Disaster Project a finalist in global journalism awards
CDP founder Sean Holman with student Sandra Ibrahim (UVic Photo Services) We're thrilled that the Climate Disaster Project (CDP) has been announced as a finalist in the global Covering Climate Now 2023 Journalism Awards, which honour the best coverage of the climate...
High-achieving twins both earn the Victoria Medal for their love of writing
Rachel (left) and Sarah LachmansignhWhen it comes to the academic arts experience, it’s easy for undergraduates to lose track of their initial passion as they get caught up in the drive for grades and goals. Yet despite Rachel and Sarah Lachmansingh’s many laudable...
Zainub Verjee awarded Honorary Doctorate
The Faculty of Fine Arts is thrilled to announce that Zainub Verjee will be awarded the Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts (DFA) at the 2023 Fine Arts convocation ceremony. You can watch Zainub Verjee’s address to graduating Fine Arts students as part of the UVic...
Sound Genres explore sound as foundational practice
Paul Walde's Glacial The School of Music will be exploring sound as a foundational practice with Sound Genres, a special multimedia symposium running May 26-28 and funded in part by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. More than just an academic...
Summer Arts Series showcases arts technology
Looking to expand your artistic repertoire with new skills and practices? Fine Arts is once again partnering with UVic’s Division of Continuing Studies and Alumni Relations for our second annual Summer Arts Series. This year’s series, running in July 2023, will focus...
Christopher Butterfield marks retirement with new album
Forget the gold watch: noted composer and longtime School of Music professor Christopher Butterfield is marking his UVic retirement with the March 31 release of his latest album, Souvenir. Performed by longtime musical collaborators Aventa Ensemble, the 70-minute...
Four Fine Arts recipients in Distinguished Alumni Awards
The annual Distinguished Alumni Awards celebrate the remarkable achievements of UVic graduates in three different categories: the Presidents' Alumni Awards, the Emerging Alumni Awards and the Indigenous Community Alumni Awards. This year, Fine Arts has four recipients...
Audain Professor Lindsay Delaronde continues her learning journey
Audain Professor Lindsay Delaronde (photo: Tori Jones)An early morning walk through the visual arts department usually sees a mix of students, faculty and staff arriving with coffee in hand: something not typically seen is an informal smudging ceremony outside the...
UVic contributes talent, technical & creative power to Victoria’s burgeoning film industry
Director & Dept of Writing professor Maureen Bradley (right) on the set of her locally lensed feature film, Two 4 One Connect to any streaming service and it’s not hard to find UVic alumni on screen, thanks to busy actors like Erin Karpluk (The L Word), Peter...
The freelance life of Jenessa Joy Klukas
Given the 24-hour global news cycle, we’re living in a time of rapid media consumption, but freelance writer Jenessa Joy Klukas is finding success by keeping her focus tight and building relationships one story at a time. A recent Department of Writing graduate,...
Fine Arts makes 2022 UVic News top 10 list — twice!
Fine Arts was excited to see the continuing research and creative activity of our faculty members make it into two separate "UVic Top 10 of 2022" lists! Compiled by UVic News out of the many stories released across campus throughout the year, we congratulate the...
Theatre grad Markus Spodzieja’s kosher journey
While Stephen Sondheim made the Baker a central character in his musical Into The Woods, theatre isn't exactly filled with plum roles for those who love to bake. But in the case of Department of Theatre grad Markus Spodzieja, he went from the stage to starting a...
Trans queer UVic alumna named Rhodes Scholar
There’s getting a great education, and then there’s what you do with it. Canada’s first trans woman Rhodes scholar has big plans for both. University of Victoria graduate Julia Levy is one of 11 young Canadians—the only one in BC—chosen for the prestigious...
Exploring the hidden wonders of puppeteer Ingrid Hansen
UVic Theatre grad Ingrid Hansen puppeteering Num Num Bird on Fraggle Rock: Back to the RockIf you made a list of the most fun careers, “professional puppeteer” would surely be somewhere near the top. And for any fan of fuzzy fur and funky foam, it doesn’t get much...
Theatre alum Stacy Ross continues to make the news
Stacy Ross did not grow up giving pretend interviews and dreaming of being a television anchor. In fact, the Metchosin-raised Ross had her heart set on a life in theatre. “My first love was always theatre and musical theatre . . . I always thought my dream job would...
Giving Tuesday supports Student Impact Fund
Tuesday, November 29 is Giving Tuesday—the world’s largest generosity movement! Today, Fine Arts is asking our creative community to help us raise funds for the Fine Arts Community Impact Award—and we’re fortunate enough to have a generous donor offering to match all...
Fine Arts active with 5 Days of Action
UVic's 5 Days of Action is back! Running Nov 14-18, Five Days of Action: 365 Days of Commitment is UVic’s annual free, week-long event aimed at amplifying the work groups, units and organizations are doing to create a more diverse, inclusive and equitable campus and...
A coding career composed of science and sound
When Calgary-based Logan Wood was looking for a leading post-secondary music and computer science degree program, he quickly realized that there was only real choice for him. “In comparing programs across the country, UVic stood out for me,” he says. Despite landing...
Discover Shane Book’s world of words
When Shane Book began teaching poetry workshops at the University of Victoria in 2017, he had to fill out a form listing the number of times he had moved. After some mental gymnastics, he arrived at an approximate number: 65. “I think I’m on the spectrum of it’s...