Sound continues to fill the halls over the spring term in the University of Waterloo’s Department of Music, housed at Conrad Grebel University College. This summer, there were several courses and numerous studio lessons taught, along with many ensemble rehearsals and concerts. The end of August is also a time when Grebel hosts Ontario Mennonite Music Camp which also brings energy and creativity to the halls of Grebel.
This summer, Music Faculty members were busy with a variety of projects on and off campus. In July Ken Hull presented the Plenary Address at the Sexennial Joint Meeting of the Hymn Society in the US and Canada, The Hymn society of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Internationale Arbeitsgemeinschaft fur Hymnologie on “Do we become what we sing? The role of music in congregational spiritual formation” in Cambridge, England. Ken was also the Worship Leader for a conference at the Sorrento Centre Retreat & Conference Centre in British Columbia.
Mark Vuorinen led the Grand Philharmonic Choir in a concert to raise funds for Mennonite Central Committee in Nepal, collaborated with numerous musicians and singers in a rare production of Murray Schafer’s Apocalypsis in Toronto, and presented three dawn concerts and an evening concert of Schafer’s music in Stratford.
Department Chair, Laura Gray, prepared two lectures on Sibelius to be presented at Stanford and in Finland this fall and spent much of the summer planning for the upcoming academic year.
Maisie Sum travelled extensively in Indonesia and then coordinated performances by the Grebel Gamelan at Mennonite World Conference in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Tim Corlis was also involved in coordinating music selections and publication for Mennonite World Conference. Marilyn Houser Hamm, Chairperson and Editor of the Global Assembly Songbook 2015 said,“to have this kind of professional skill and expertise has been a gift of unspeakable value.”
The fall term will bring some departmental changes as Tim Corlis has decided to move back to British Columbia to pursue other musical interests. In a note to colleagues he expressed “deepest gratitude for the many ways that Grebel has impacted my life so positively.” Laura Gray noted “deep appreciation for Tim’s talents and best wishes for his future endeavours.”
Sessional instructors are in place to teach courses originally scheduled for Corlis this fall and winter terms, including Leonard Enns who returns from retirement to teach a seminar on composition offered this fall.
Students are encouraged to visit the Music Department website or visit the Music office to get information on fall term courses, studio lessons and ensembles and also to sign up for auditions.