Friday, February 21, 2020

Musical excellence at orchestra@uwaterloo's 2020 competition

From left: Garnet Zhao, Professor Emeritus David Taylor, Ashley Yip and Robert Choi.

By Elizabeth Robertson

The orchestra@uwaterloo held its 2020 Concerto and Aria Competition on February 1 at Conrad Grebel University College. Any student or recent graduate of the University of Waterloo is eligible to compete in this biennial competition hosted by the orchestra. The Department of Music at Conrad Grebel University College is grateful to Professor Emeritus David Taylor, whose generous and ongoing support of the orchestra has made these competitions possible.

Each contestant of this year’s competition executed their piece with superb talent and accomplished skill. In the final round, Robert Choi, a cellist and Nanotechnology student, performed Dvořák Cello Concerto Op. 104; Ashley Yip, a Computer Science & Business Administration major, performed Wieniawski Violin Concerto no. 2 in D minor; and Garnet Zhao, pianist and Civil Engineering student, performed Rachmaninov Piano Concerto no. 2 in C minor. “All three of the finalists play at an incredibly high level. Each one would have been an excellent choice,” commented Daniel Warren, conductor of the orchestra@uwaterloo and one of the judges on the panel.

After these high-level performances drew to a close, one finalist stood out. “Ashley seemed, particularly in the final round, to rise to another level even compared to her first round,” remarked Warren. Ashley Yip was announced winner, with Garnet Zhao pronounced runner-up. As the winner, Ashley will perform as a soloist with orchestra@uwaterloo in their term-end concert on March 26.

Ashley has vast musical experience. She won the Royal Conservatory of Music’s National Gold Medal in 2017 and performed with the Verbier Festival Junior Orchestra in Switzerland. She said she is “extremely excited to have the opportunity to perform with the orchestra@uwaterloo.” As a current member of this ensemble, Ashley remembered performing with past competition winners, and the experience encouraged her to audition herself. “I am very grateful for all those that have supported me through this time and my music education in general, such as my parents, my music teachers, and my friends,” she shared.

Reminders as fiscal year-end approaches

In a memo circulated on February 14, Finance reminded the University community that fiscal year-end is April 30, 2020. "The April 30, 2020 fiscal year-end is approaching and it is important that all current year transactions are posted and reviewed in a timely manner," says the memo. "We ask for your assistance in managing the workload and helping meet year end deadlines by ensuring that tasks in Unit4 are processed by end users as soon as possible after they are received." 

Follow these procedures and deadlines to help ensure the accuracy of the University's financial statements for year-end:

• Throughout the year all transactions should be sent to Finance for processing as soon as possible and no later than the month following the completion of the transaction. Cut-off dates for each month-end can be found on the Finance website.

• Financial reports for your area of responsibility should be reviewed monthly throughout the year for accuracy and completeness.

• There are a number of actions required and deadlines for April 2020 transactions. See the full memo for details.

Academic units should contact their Faculty Executive Officer or Faculty Financial Officer with any questions. Academic support departments should contact their Financial Officer (if applicable), or the Finance contacts at the bottom of the memo. Finance would like to thank everyone in advance for their support.

Board of Governors approves administrative appointments

The University’s Board of Governors approved a number of administrative appointments at its meeting on February 4. Among them:

• Professor Raouf Boutaba, appointed as Director, School of Computer Science in the Faculty of Mathematics, effective July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2024;
• Professor Lori Case, appointed as Associate Dean, Co-operative Education and Life Long Learning, effective Faculty of Mathematics, July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2023;
• Professor Dan Davison, appointed as Associate Dean, Undergraduate Studies, Faculty of Engineering, effective January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2022;
• Professor Anna Esselment, appointed as Associate Dean, Graduate Studies, Faculty of Arts, effective July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2023
• Professor Jesse Hoey, appointed as Associate Dean, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Faculty of Mathematics, effective January 1, 2020 to June 30, 2022;
• Professor Markus Moos, appointed as Director, School of Planning, Faculty of Environment, effective July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2024;
• Professor Elizabeth Nilsen, appointment as Interim Associate Dean, Graduate Studies, Faculty of Arts, effective January 1, 2020 to June 30, 2020
• Professor Richard Staines, re-appointed as Associate Dean, Research, Faculty of Applied Health Sciences, effective July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2022.