Celebrating a Chorus of Choral Excellence

As the semester draws to a close, we would like to take this opportunity to announce the various awards and achievements of our Choral students, alumni, and faculty over the past few months: Congratulations to Dr. Debra Cairns on her recent induction to the Royal Society of Canada at its annual meetings in Banff in November...

19 December 2013

As the semester draws to a close, we would like to take this opportunity to announce the various awards and achievements of our Choral students, alumni, and faculty over the past few months:

  • Congratulations to Dr. Debra Cairns on her recent induction to the Royal Society of Canada at its annual meetings in Banff in November.
  • Congratulations are due to several of our choral students and graduates who have been chosen to participate in the National Youth Choir's 2014 sessions in Nova Scotia this coming May. Irene Apanovitch (MMus, Choral Conducting, 2011) has been chosen as the Apprentice Conductor for the NYC, and will be working under the mentorship of this year's conductor, Dr. Hilary Apfelstadt. Elizabeth Kreiter (Library and Information Studies), currently an alto in the Madrigal Singers, and tenor James Frobb (Pharmacy), a former member of the Madrigal Singers, were chosen as members of Alberta's provincial quartet for the NYC, which will rehearse and tour in several Maritime Provinces, culminating in a performance at Podium 2014 in Halifax.
  • Congratulations to recent doctoral graduate Brendan Lord on his Convocation in November. Brendan's dissertation was on Jonathan Dove's choral music with keyboard accompaniment.
  • On November 17 the Department's choirs joined forces with the Academy Strings to present a concert to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of British composer Benjamin Britten at the Winspear Centre for Music. On this concert the University of Alberta Madrigal Singers also gave the world premiere of two commissioned works by Ontario composer Jeff Enns, Golden Winged, Silver Winged, and Farewell, Green Fields. For a link to the Edmonton Journal's review of the concert, please click here.
  • The University of Alberta Madrigal Singers recently sang as guests of the Alberta Baroque Ensemble on their December Christmas concert, performing Pergolesi's Magnificat in B-flat and Kuhnau's Christmas cantata Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern.
  • Both the University of Alberta Concert Choir and Madrigal Singers continued their long-standing tradition of singing carols during CBC Edmonton's morning show for its annual Christmas Turkey Drive, in support of the Edmonton Food Bank.
In short, it has been an active and exciting year for Choral scholarship and performance at the University of Alberta. Bravo to all, and all the best in 2014!