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Keyword: music
CMU alum recontextualizes art song through queer, ecological lens
Monday, January 23, 2023 @ 1:18 PM
At first glance, it may not seem like music, climate justice, and queerness would cross career paths. But Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) alum Anna Bigland-Pritchard has built a life that weaves together these strands.
The 30-year-old soprano lives in Victoria, BC, where she divides her time between studying under renowned soprano Nancy Argenta, managing marketing at Vancouver Bach Choirs, directing music ministry at Oak Bay United Church, and teaching through her small business, ABP Music Studio. She also dedicates time to advocating for climate justice and facilitating workshops on eco-mindfulness, which she has done for institutions like KAIROS, University of Toronto, and CMU.
Faculty-alumni collaboration explores decolonizing music education in the classroom
Monday, July 4, 2022 @ 10:52 AM
Studying music education means learning scales and chord progressions, practicing how to move your hands while conducting, and planning out class schedules. But sometimes it also involves examining and re-evaluating the entire education system at its core.
Pianist wins 2022 Verna Mae Janzen Music Competition
Monday, May 9, 2022 @ 9:25 AM
A pianist from Fort Frances, Ontario is the winner of the 17th annual Verna Mae Janzen Music Competition at Canadian Mennonite University (CMU).
Anna Schwartz's performance in the finals, held on Friday, April 8 in CMU's Laudamus Auditorium, earned her first place and the $700 prize that comes with it.
CMU student and instructor make music come alive through synesthesia, art
Tuesday, May 3, 2022 @ 10:00 AM
Imagine if you could see sound. When Anna Schwartz listens to music, she not only hears the different instruments, keys, and dynamics—she sees them. That's because she has synesthesia, a neurological condition in which information entering a person's brain stimulates multiple senses at once.
2022 Verna Mae Janzen Music Competition Finals (video)
Friday, April 29, 2022 @ 12:00 AM
View the full performance of each finalist, hear the jurors' comments, and learn the outcome of the competition.
Dual winners mark the 16th annual Verna Mae Janzen Music Competition
Tuesday, April 6, 2021 @ 2:47 PM
For the past 16 years, the CMU School of Music hosts the Verna Mae Janzen Music Competition for music students capable of performing at a high skill level. It is a time, as adjudicator Henrietta Schellenberg puts it, "of comradery and competition for music students, a chance to bring their art to the public, a jewel in the life of the musical calendar at CMU."
Final Performances from the 2021 Verna Mae Janzen Music Competition (videos)
Thursday, March 25, 2021 @ 7:30 AM
The 16th annual Verna Mae Janzen Music Competition finals are held virtually in 2021, with performanaces recorded to comply with COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.
This year's edition of the competition features two seperate categories and winners in both voice and piano performances. The winner of each category is announced by adjudicators Henriette Schellenberg (voice) and Dr. Edmund Dawe (piano) at the conclusion of each video below.
Student assistantship with Li Keur project yields golden opportunities for two PACTS majors
Monday, October 5, 2020 @ 12:00 PM
Peacebuilding students Bryna Link and Hannah Connelly describe joys and challenges of their work on the Li Keur Podcast, interviewing creators and collaborators from the eponymous new opera.
Bryna Link and Hannah Connelly joined the production team of celebrated new opera Li Keur: Riel's Heart of the North as student assistants back in July. What began as a summer position—and for Connelly, a practicum placement ahead of graduation next Spring—has developed into a long-term student assistantship that will take both women all the way through Summer 2021.
CMU choir continues to connect during cancelled tour
Friday, July 10, 2020 @ 11:39 AM
From April 27 to May 4, the Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) Singers were to spend a week singing and travelling across the country, all the way from Manitoba to British Columbia. Unfortunately, the choir tour had to be cancelled—one of the many casualties of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Production Update: Dr. Suzanne Steele and Neil Weisensel’s Li Keur, Riel’s Heart of the North
Wednesday, July 8, 2020 @ 12:00 AM
Two CMU Peace and Conflict Transformation Studies (PACTS) students will assist completion of Indigenous Language pronunciation database essential to new opera.
Co-creators of the new opera Li Keur, Riel's Heart of the North—Dr. Suzanne Steele, Métis poet and scholar, composer Neil Weisensel, Adjunct Professor of Music at CMU—have hired two CMU students to learn and assist on the opera's production team as they move towards the show's first staged production in 2021. Senior PACTS students Bryna Link of Peguis First Nation and Hannah Connelly of Saskatchewan will take on the roles of Communications Assistant and Production Assistant respectively.
