Check back often for the latest news and updates about faculties at the University of Manitoba!
Congratulations to Jordan Laidlaw, third year B.Mus. (performance) student, who was recently awarded the 2010 Domenic Troiano Guitar Scholarship in the amount of $10,000.00 to continue his guitar studies.
One scholarship is presented annually to a guitar student who will be pursuing post-secondary guitar education in Canada or elsewhere.
Posted in: Music
University of Manitoba students showed off musical talents on December 27.
Five students performed and received Women’s Musical Club scholarships.
The winners are Daniel Tselyakov on piano, Ariel Carrebre on cello, Joshua Peters on violin, Charmaine Bacon on flute and singer Dawn Bruch.
Bruch is a UM Grad (M.Mus., 2008). Bacon holds a B.Mus (UM, 2007) and is currently a Masters Student at the Marcel A. Desautels Faculty of Music.
Posted in: Music
We extend congratulations to music student, Matthew Packer. Matt recently received a $2500. scholarship from the Canadian Scholarship Trust Foundation’s “Learning Matters Education Charity”. He was one of six recipients from 530 applicants across Canada. Matt received the scholarship based on his work at “Welcome Home” organization, where he has provided free piano lessons to inner-city children for the last two years.
Matt is in his first year in University, majoring in piano and saxophone. Congratulations Matt.
Posted in: Music
The Marcel A. Desautels Faculty of Music is excited to announce the appointment of George Colligan as Assistant Professor of Jazz Piano, beginning September 1, 2009.
Mr. Colligan is a New York pianist. His first instrument was the trumpet, although he did take piano lessons for a brief period at age 7. George became more serious about the trumpet in Grade 6 when his teacher, Lee Stevens, inspired him to listen intelligently to many different styles of music, particularly jazz and 20th century classical music. It was clear that George was to pursue music as a career, although less clear was in what capacity. In 1987, George enrolled at Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore as a trumpet and Music Education major. However, during his time at Peabody, his interest in the piano and jazz became stronger and he started gigging in hotels and clubs in town.
In 1990, George participated in a one month summer jazz workshop at the Banff Center in Alberta. In 2002 he won the Jazzconnect.com Jazz Competition. The following year he received a grant from the Chamber Music America/Doris Duke Foundation for his commissioned work, Post 9-11; a suite of jazz pieces based on impressions of life in America after 9/11. He has released 19 CDs as a leader, with his newest CD being released this fall, “Come Together”. Colligan is highly in demand as a sideman, having worked with players like Cassandra Wilson, Buster Williams and Lonnie Plaxico, both on the bandstand and in recording sessions (appearing on over 100 CDs).
He says, “I felt a great enthusiasm from the students and the faculty (at the University of Manitoba). I’m anxious to start working with the community here in Winnipeg. Hopefully we can all learn from each other and grow together.”
George Colligan, and his wife Kerry Politzer moved to Winnipeg this fall.
Posted in: Music
Most children dream about what they want to be when they grow up.
But while the other students were writing ‘fire fighter’ or ‘policeman’ in their Grade 1 notebooks, Edmund Dawe was very purposefully pencilling ‘music teacher’ in his.
“My family has always gotten a kick out of that,” the Marcel A. Desautels Faculty of Music dean says. “Our Grade 1 printing journals had a page where we were asked, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ My response was ‘I want to be a music teacher.’ I think most of the other kids thought I was crazy!”
Actually, Dawe probably knew even sooner. He was playing the piano by ear when he was four-years-old and taking lessons by the time he was six.
“Growing up in a small Newfoundland town, we lived in an environment with a rich folk music tradition. Music was a central part of what we did at family, church, and social gatherings.” Dawe said. “My mother plays by ear, so I guess the musical talent comes from that side of the family.”
Home for Dawe during his childhood was Upper Gullies, a small town of about 350 near St. John’s. However, it has since grown to become part of the substantial bedroom community of Conception Bay South with a population of about 25,000.
Pursuing his grade school career aspirations, Dawe entered Memorial University to study music and education.
“One of the most exciting things to happen during that period of my life was an external semester program where two students were chosen each semester to study in London, England at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. In 1980, I was one of those students, and I spent six months living in central London. Just think of the impact of this on a 19-year-old musician – going from a small town to living in one of the world’s major cultural centres! I had the opportunity to hear renowned performers and I studied with some of the best artist-teachers. The experience changed my life and made me decide to continue my education by pursuing a graduate degree in piano performance. I was hooked,” Dawe said.
He graduated from Memorial University in 1982 with the degrees of bachelor of music and bachelor of music education, winning the university medal for excellence in music. Dawe then went on to the University of Western Ontario to complete a masters degree.
Following his graduate studies at the University of Western Ontario, he attended the University of British Columbia where he earned a doctor of musical arts degree (piano performance). Throughout his education, his work was a balance between performance and historical research on aspects of performance and piano pedagogy.
After graduating from UBC, he spent two years back home in Newfoundland teaching at Memorial University followed by two years at Laurentian University in Sudbury.
“In 1990, I moved to Sackville, New Brunswick, where I spent 17 years at the department of music at Mount Allison University,” Dawe said. For six of those years, he served as department head.
He maintained an active performing schedule and released two solo CDs. He continues to be a regular adjudicator at music festivals and competitions including the Juno Awards, a speaker at national and international conferences, and was nominated for an East Coast Music Award (Best Classical).
In 2007, he had the opportunity to become dean of the Faculty of Music at the University of Manitoba. Dawe said there were several elements that attracted him to the position.
“First and foremost, the faculty has a strong and growing reputation for offering an outstanding curriculum taught by exceptional professors, in an area of the country known for producing tremendous musical talent,” Dawe stated. He also liked the size of the faculty; small enough to maintain close interaction between professors and their students, yet large enough to offer specialized training.
“And being part of a larger research-based university opens interdisciplinary possibilities. Last year, for example, we offered a course ‘anatomy for musicians’,” Dawe said. “It was team taught by a musician and an occupational therapist, and allowed students to explore the musical and physical issues associated with playing an instrument.”
The faculty is also adding a business course for musicians which recognizes that musicians need business skills.
“Musicians have to be entrepreneurs,” Dawe said. “They need career management skills – organizing and advertising concerts, making and marketing recordings, maintaining financial records, dealing with tax laws, applying for grants, etc. Most of these aspects are not covered in university music programs.”
Dawe was also drawn to Winnipeg by the strength of its artistic community.
“There was a period last year when I attended 18 events in three weeks – all of them were excellent and indicative of the vibrant cultural activity in the city.” Dawe said. These strengths allow the faculty to partner with nationally respected professional arts groups in the community and enrich our students’ training. Last year, a mentorship program was established with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. This year, the program was expanded and the assistant conductor of the WSO was appointed conductor of the University of Manitoba’s Symphony Orchestra.
But for all its strengths, there was one thing the faculty did not have: space.The current Music Building was built in the mid 1960s and designed for 60 students. Today the faculty has over 260 students and with the addition of its new bachelor of jazz studies degree, the enrolment is expected to grow to over 300 within the next three years.
“Currently, we use any available space on campus,” Dawe said. Students are using rooms in the Faculty of Education, the Music Annex, and the Great Hall in University College. Even the Great Hall’s former kitchen is being called into action by the faculty’s percussion students. The faculty also has some office and practice space in the Services Building, and will use the entire Services Building when its current occupants move into the university’s new Welcome Centre next spring.
But into that mix, two rather astounding things have happened for the Faculty of Music. The first was the announcement of Project Domino last April – an outstanding facilities master plan that will see changes and upgrades to the locations of over a dozen faculties and departments at the university. As part of the plan, the Faculty of Music and the School of Art will be moving into a refurbished Taché Hall, helping solve the space issues that both groups have been facing.
And on the heels of the Project Domino announcement was something that was perhaps even more stunning. Canadian Credit Management Foundation president Marcel A. Desautels donated $20 million to the Faculty of Music, with $10 million in support of Project Domino, and $10 million in an unrestricted endowment fund.
The donation followed a dinner that Dawe and past president Em?ke Szathmáry shared with Desautels in Toronto on Dec. 1, 2007.
“We didn’t even discuss money,” Dawe recalled. “We talked about music. He’s passionate about music and, in particular, opera. So we shared our love of music and I talked about the exciting things happening at the faculty.” In other words, they discussed the very strengths that had drawn Dawe to the faculty. But they also talked about Dawe’s vision for the faculty to become a primary destination for Canadian and international students.
The $20 million gift is one of the largest in Canadian history to a department, school, or faculty of music. “It’s historic and transformative. A $10 million gift for the renovation project is tremendous, but to receive an additional $10 million in an unrestricted endowment fund is practically unheard of,” Dawe stated. The income generated from this fund will enable the faculty to offer outstanding support to its students and professors, and is already inspiring others to give.
“My colleagues and I were in unanimous agreement that the Faculty should be named the Marcel A. Desautels Faculty of Music.” Dawe said. “This chapter in the history of music at the University of Manitoba will remain one of the main highlights of my career. Marcel Desautels is a visionary, a business leader, a gifted musician, and a great friend. He is one of the strongest advocates of the faculty, its mission, and its vision.”
His duties as dean aside, Dawe has three children aged 16, 19 and 21. His wife Karla is an organist and is also an instructor in the faculty. And while it’s his administrative talents that have received the lion’s share of attention in this article, Dawe is also a performing artist, juggling his work as dean with a performance schedule in the community.
“We joke at our house that my practicing has become the nightshift,” Dawe said. “Given the intense planning activity and daily demands at the faculty, this has not been possible here. So I do that work in the evenings if I can, or on the weekends. It’s a challenge, but it’s all worth it.”
Posted in: Music
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