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Keyword: School of Music
2025 Verna Mae Janzen Music Competition
Wednesday, April 2, 2025 @ 4:34 PM
In its 20th year, the finalists of the 2025 Verna Mae Janzen Music Competition were:
Read MoreCMU's Verna Mae Janzen Music Competition crowns 20th champion (Classic 107)
Tuesday, March 25, 2025 @ 11:51 AM
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.
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Read MoreCMU student composers to showcase their works (Classic 107)
Tuesday, March 11, 2025 @ 7:54 AM
The next generation of Manitoban composers will be on display this week at Canadian Mennonite University's Laudamus Auditorium.
Composition students at CMU's School of Music will showcase their latest works on March 12 at 11:30 AM as they continue to discover their musical voices and the ways in which they want to utilize it.
"My work actually started in high school when I pretty much accidentally composed my first original pop song," shared Keira Medina in an interview on Morning Light. "I was like, 'OK, well, I composed a song. So now what? I want to compose more!'"
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Read MoreCelebrating the 20th anniversary of the Verna Mae Janzen Music Competition
Thursday, March 6, 2025 @ 9:24 AM
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.
Read MoreMeet Music Therapist Lacey Friesen: She doesn’t sing ALL day
Thursday, May 30, 2024 @ 9:17 AM
I guess you could say that music runs in Lacey Friesen's blood. Her role as a Music Therapist at HSC Children's Hospital could not be better suited to her interests, personality, or way of life.
"I grew up in a very musical family, with a mother who taught private music lessons, a father who plays drums and sings, and two musical sisters. We grew up singing in church together," said Lacey. "There was just so much music around me."
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Read MoreAlumni in Their Own Words - Nicole Richard Williams
Wednesday, April 17, 2024 @ 9:45 AM
Nicole Richard graduated from CMU in 2013 with a Bachelor of Music Therapy.
Where has your life taken you since you left CMU?
After finishing my Bachelor of Music Therapy at CMU, I worked as a music therapist in Winnipeg for about three years. During this time, I started working with many clients on the autism spectrum and noticed that doing rhythmic and drumming interventions with these folks really seemed to help them reach some of their therapeutic goals. I wanted to deepen my understanding of how exactly music therapy could help autistic children. Going to grad school had always been a dream of mine, and so I decided to take some time off working to do a Master's in Music and Health Science at the University of Toronto. During that degree, I decided I wanted to continue on and do a PhD and was accepted again at the Music and Health Science Research Collaboratory (the lab out of which the master's and PhD are based) at the University of Toronto.
Read MoreViolinist wins the 19th annual Verna Mae Janzen Competition
Thursday, April 4, 2024 @ 10:31 AM
The 19th annual Verna Mae Janzen Music Competition at Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) reached a rousing crescendo this year, as the night's final performer, William Harder, was awarded first place.
The Winnipeg violinist says, "It is really rewarding to have some very tangible recognition for all of the work that gets put into practicing music."
Read More2024 Verna Mae Janzen Music Competition (video and photos)
Monday, March 25, 2024 @ 9:00 AM
View the full performance of each finalist, hear the jurors' comments, and learn the outcome of the competition.
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From napkin sketch to piano concerto: two CMU students' collaborative journey
Monday, November 6, 2023 @ 9:48 AM
What began as a student's rough sketch on a napkin has now grown into a sweeping piano concerto commissioned by the Mennonite Community Orchestra (MCO).
Written by Liam Berry and performed by Georg Neuhofer, "Rains Dance" is a piece that carries great significance for the two Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) students. It's the consolidation of musical congeniality, collaboration, and years of friendship.
Read MoreNew Indigenous opera is a story of good medicine
Thursday, June 1, 2023 @ 3:08 PM
This fall, Manitoba Opera will be performing the world premiere of Li Keur: Riel's Heart of the North, the first full-scale Indigenous-led opera presented on a Canadian mainstage. It celebrates Métis women, languages, music, and culture, with libretto written by Métis poet and scholar Dr. Suzanne Steele and music composed by Métis fiddler Alex Kusturok and CMU faculty Neil Weisensel.
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