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!
The first in a distinguished legacy of long-serving musical visionaries, Helen Martens was hired as a music professor at Grebel in 1965. Illustrating the College’s interdisciplinary focus from the beginning, the initial classes Helen taught were Music and the Fine Arts, as well as Music and Literature.
Pursuing Music’s Healing Effects
The Music program at Grebel and the University of Waterloo consistently appeals to students who are looking for a balanced and broad music education. When searching for a program that fit him best, student Tyler Reidy immediately felt comfortable when he arrived at Grebel for his pre-enrolment studio audition. “The faculty was incredibly welcoming, the students were encouraging and excited to get to know me during my audition process, and Grebel was small enough that I was immediately drawn to the community.” Tyler maintained a strong link to the department through all four years of his university career, and he is now set to graduate this spring with a Major in Music and an Intensive Music Specialization.
When Grebel was founded in 1963, no one could have anticipated the growth of the Music program and the central role Music would play in giving voice to the College’s mission in the ensuing 55 years.
The music for this concert is a collection of enchanting and beautiful compositions from all over Europe and England. The incomparable Beethoven wakes us to the evils of politics, dishonesty, and murder in his dramatic overture to Coriolan. A fitting overture for an election year...
The Music Department wishes to express profound gratitude to two ensemble directors for their extraordinary work with Grebel choirs: Catherine Robertson (pictured at piano), who has directed the Chapel Choir since 2015, and Gerard Yun (pictured below), director of the University Choir since 2009. Gerard is beginning a full-time position in Community Music at Wilfrid Laurier University.
Latvian Ēriks Ešenvalds is one of the most sought-after composers working today, with a busy commission schedule and performances of his music heard on every continent. Through a connection with Music Professor Mark Vuorinen, Ešenvalds offered a seminar and singers’ workshop in partnership with Grebel’s three choirs and the Grand Philharmonic Choir in February.
Music has long been a constant companion to many aspects of the human condition. It can invite people to dance or offer comfort in times of distress; it can be used in reverence of God, or offer commentary on life’s great joys and tribulations. Just as “there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens”, there is music to accompany it all. This semester’s program explores some of these “times” through classical and contemporary composers alike, including music by Mendelssohn, Haydn, Copland, McGlynn, and Emery.
There could not be a more delightful way to spend a summer evening. Three different chamber groups of talented students will perform classical music in the Conrad Grebel Chapel. Selections include:
Trio No. 1 in D minor by Felix Mendelssohn
Trio No. 1 in B flat major by Franz Schubert
Trio K. 498 'Kegelstatt' by W. A. Mozart
Refreshments to follow. Free admission. 
In Bali, the Gamelan is traditionally played out of doors. In that spirit, our Spring concert will take place at Waterloo Town Square.