News

The students, staff, and faculty of Conrad Grebel University College are fortunate to have Karen Sunabacka as an Associate Professor in the Music Department. Along with teaching music theory and composition, Karen is an internationally renowned composer. Her compositions have been performed across Canada and the U.S., as well as in South America and Europe.

Did you know any Waterloo student can take a studio course (individual lessons: voice|piano|instrumental), Music 226, for a full credit elective?

If you are planning to attend the Climate Strike at Waterloo Town Square on Friday Sept 27 and would like to add your voice to a rousing chorus of Beethoven’s 9th symphony with other area choristers and members of the KW Symphony you are all more than welcome!  There will be a short run-through at First United Church (King and William Streets) beginning at 11.30.  By 11.45 we will move over to Waterloo Square to be ready to sing at 12 noon.

The Balinese Gamelan, Instrumental Chamber groups, orchestra@uwaterloo, and the University Choir are open for audition registration.  Please see our Ensemble Page for details.  Auditions start on May 6th.

Every two years, orchestra@uwaterloo holds a Concerto and Aria Competition that is open to University of Waterloo students and recent graduates, and is judged by a panel of professional musicians. Winners perform as soloists with the orchestra in a public concert.

2020 Concerto and Aria Competition: February 1, 2020.

Deadline for application: October 25, 2019.  See orchestra website for entry forms.

Competition sponsored by Professor David Taylor

Music builds community! In an effort to strengthen relationships and connections between individuals and groups in academic and local settings, Conrad Grebel University College at the University of Waterloo is privileged to welcome an extraordinary musician as the 2019 Rodney and Lorna Sawatsky Visiting Scholar. Ysaÿe M. Barnwell, Ph.D.

Is music an essential part of your life?  Join one of our three choral ensembles or four instrumental ensembles in Winter 2019.  Auditions start January 7, but you can sign up for an audition slot now.  See audition details. 

Twenty years ago, a gay university student in Laramie, Wyoming, was driven to the outskirts of town. He was beaten, robbed, tied to a fence, and left to die. For 18 hours, Matthew Shepard hung bleeding, in near-freezing temperatures. The passing cyclist who found him thought at first that he was a scarecrow. He spent several days in a coma in hospital before dying.

The University of Waterloo Department of Music at Conrad Grebel University College invites all students, faculty, staff, and community members to join most of the eight ensembles that it sponsors and organizes.

Instrumental: Instrumental Chamber Ensemble; Jazz Ensemble; Orchestra; World Music Ensemble (Balinese Gamelan)

Choral:  Chapel Choir; Chamber Choir; University Choir; Vocal Techniques. 

See webpage for details. 

Professor of Music at Conrad Grebel & University of Waterloo and Artistic Director of the Grand Philharmonic Choir, Mark Vuorinen has been appointed the new Artistic Director for the Elora Festival and the Elora Festival Singers, Inc.

Congratulations Mark!