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CMU's Verna Mae Janzen Music Competition crowns 20th champion (Classic 107)
The music school at Canadian Mennonite University marked a significant milestone last week as it presented the 20th edition of the Verna Mae Janzen Music Competition.
The competition was founded in 2006 by Peter Janzen in memory of his wife Verna Mae, who was deeply embedded in the Mennonite music community before her death in 1989.
"This competition is a small way that my mom and dad could give back to CMU and Winnipeg," said Peter and Verna Mae's child CJ Janzen in a statement. "Throughout her 13-year battle with cancer, music was her balm, her joy, and comfort."
The competition is an annual highlight for students in CMU's music community, including this year's winner, soprano Julia Norris.
#myCMUlife | Where creativity and community thrive
CMU prides itself on its tight-knit and welcoming community, with plenty of opportunities to interact with peers outside of classes, whether you live on campus or you're a commuter student. One of the driving forces behind these events is the Arts & Entertainment committee.
As the title implies, the Arts & Ents committee is responsible for providing fun events all throughout the year for students to take part in at no extra cost to the students. One consistent event that has remained solid throughout the years is the coffeehouse, usually put on multiple times a year. Coffeehouses are a chance for students to showcase their music or any other forms of performance. As a university with a diverse demographic of students, it's nice to see what kind of projects your fellow students have been creating in their free time.
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Celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Verna Mae Janzen Music Competition
The lovely sounds of sonatas, cantatas, and melodies have resonated through the halls of the Laudamus Auditorium every spring for two decades now as Canadian Mennonite University's School of Music celebrates the 20th anniversary of the Verna Mae Janzen Music Competition.
Founded in 2006 by Peter Janzen of Deep River, ON, in memory of his wife, Verna Mae, who died of cancer in 1989, the competition acts as a way for Peter to support the music landscape in which Verna was deeply embedded.
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How a local professor spent 20 years exploring the meaning of 'Oh My God'
Does the phrase "Oh my God" offend you? Have you ever wondered how it became something that people blurt out multiple times a day?
David Balzer, an associate professor of communications and media at Canadian Mennonite University and a storyteller at heart, is preparing to release an audio documentary that will answer all of these questions and more.
"I was doing the radio show [God Talk] and I had some friends at the University of Manitoba. They wanted to do something creative on campus and I got this idea to do a live show out of the university centre," said Balzer. "And so we're trying to pick a theme and during that week I was going to campus that week and I'm like, what could we do that would kind of bridge between our interest about who God is and culture and this phrase, 'oh my God' came up in my thinking."
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CMU Press celebrates 50 years of publishing
CMU Press, an academic publisher of scholarly, reference, literary, and general interest books at Canadian Mennonite University (CMU), reached its 50th anniversary in 2024. It has produced over 100 books since its inception, a remarkable feat in an industry that can be gruelling for small publishers.
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