Music Courses available to all UM students

At the Desautels Faculty of Music, we have a selection of courses that are available to all students at the UM, regardless of your major. From history, production, and business, you do not need to be musically inclined to be captivated by the many areas that make up the study of music.

Some courses require an override to enter the course. Where it says “Instructor Approval Required” please email the instructor of record. 

Want to get a brief introduction to your instructors? Be sure to check out the Desautels Faculty of Music Instagram, for a collection of reels straight from our faculty members about our new courses!

MUSC 1010 – Music Matters: Excursions in Western Musical Culture

3 credits

Winter 2026 (CRN 61208)

Tuesday/Thursday 2:30-3:45 p.m.

Instructor: TBA

This course introduces and explores selected western musical phenomena from aesthetic, social, and historical perspectives. Topics will include art and vernacular musics; style and genre; social function and context; the nature and varieties of musical experience. May not be held with MUSC 1050. This course may not be used for credit towards the Bachelor of Music or the Bachelor of Jazz Studies degree.

Open to all UM students.

MUSC 1020 – Introduction to Popular Music

3 credits

Winter 2025 (CRN 61961) 

Tuesday/Thursday 11:30 a.m. -12:45 p.m.

Instructor: Dr. Andrew Deruchie

This course begins with a brief examination of the origins of the popular music industry in the late 19th and early 20th centuries through the development of rock’ n ‘roll in the 1950s and then surveys the subsequent proliferation of different types of popular music into the 21st century. The course will address representative genres, artists, and record labels in their cultural, political, historical, and technological contexts.

Open to all UM students – no restrictions.

MUSC 1030 – History of Musical Theatre

3 credits

Fall 2025 (CRN 21561)

Monday/Wednesday/Friday 10:30-11:20 p.m.

Instructor: Donna Fletcher

A broad survey of the development and history of musical theatre from the early days of Vaudeville and Burlesque through its evolution to the grand scale Broadway productions of today. This course is designed to reveal the origins and development of modern musical theatre through the study of influential artists, societal influences, shifting music & compositional trends, political movements, and major historical figures. This course may include a field trip component.

Open to all UM students – no restrictions.

MUSC 1040 – Discovering Jazz

3 credits

Fall 2025 (CRN 25005)

Tuesday/Thursday 1-2:15 p.m.

Instructor: Jonathan Challoner

This course is a comprehensive guide for listening to and understanding the genre of jazz. Students will examine how the musical elements of jazz such as improvisation and swing rhythm have evolved and developed from the 1800s to today. This course will also profile some of the genre’s most impactful artists and examine various approaches to jazz journalism and criticism.

 Open to all UM students – no restrictions.

MUSC 1930 – Rudiments of Music

3 credits

Fall 2025 (CRN 20084)

Tuesday/Thursday 8:30-9:45 a.m.

Instructor: TBA

An introduction to fundamental aspects of music such as sound generation, notation, melodic and harmonic construction, with emphasis on an aural approach.  This course may be used for credit as a Music elective by B. Mus or B. Jazz Studies students if taken before MUSC 1110 – Theory 1. Not available for credit for B. Mus or B. Jazz Studies students taking MUSC 1930 concurrently with MUSC 1110 or already holding a grade of “C” or better in MUSC 1110.

Open to all UM students.

MUSC 3040 – Perspectives on Indigenous Music

3 credits

Fall 2025 (CRN 25007)

Tuesday/Thursday 10-11:15 a.m.

Instructor: Melody McKiver

The goal of this course is to provide a functional understanding of how Indigenous communities create music while being impacted by settler colonialism. Students will learn to situate themselves within the land they reside upon and will discuss Indigenous histories of what is presently called the Winnipeg region. Students will survey the major Indigenous groups in Canada and will be introduced to Anishinaabeg worldviews and philosophies. Students will learn about different genres of music practiced by Indigenous artists and interrogate notions of appropriation and collaboration. May not be held with MUSC 3820 when titled Perspectives on Indigenous Music. 

Open to all UM students – no restrictions.

MUSC x190 (T25) – Wednesday Night Jazz Big Band

2 credits

Fall 2025 and Winter 2026 terms spanned 

Wednesday 5:30-7 p.m.

Instructor: Jonathon Challoner and Richard Gillis

The Wednesday Night Jazz Big Band, led by Richard Gillis and Jonathan Challoner, is a jazz big band open to all UofM students. This group will cover a variety of composers and musical styles and focus on the fundamentals of playing in a large jazz ensemble. The Wednesday Night Jazz Big Band will rehearse once per week and will be featured in at least one public performance per semester. 

To provide the best experience possible in this ensemble, we are asking that students send a brief statement of intent (150 words or less) to Jon Challoner or Richard Gillis (Jonathan.Challoner@umanitoba.ca OR Richard.Gillis@umanitoba.ca) before registering. Applicants should have at least two years of experience on their instrument and be able to read music notation.

Please provide a bit of information about what instrument you play and your background learning/performing music. Do you have experience improvising and/or learning music by ear? Please include your full name, student number, and home faculty with your statement of intent.

MUSC 3820 (T39) History of Gospel Music

3 credits

Winter 2026 (CRN 65865)

Tuesday/Thursday 8:30-9:45 a.m.

Instructor: Dr. Anna Nekola

Gospel music is the music of community, an embodied expression of hope and resilience in the face of injustice and oppression. Although gospel music continues to be tied to faith practices, the sounds of Black gospel are also deeply embedded in the sounds of secular popular music, from Ray Charles and Mahalia Jackson, to Beyonce, Stormzy, and Canadian artist William Prince. The course investigates how musicians make and think about gospel music, and how critics and audiences listen to and think about it, investigating the historical, religious, political, cultural, and social contexts of this music around the world. 

Open to Music students or with instructor approval for students in other faculties.

3 credits

Winter 2026 (CRN 65880)

Tuesday/Thursday 1-2:15 p.m.

Instructor: Melody McKiver

This lecture course is an introduction to the academic area of Hip Hop studies as an African diasporic and global phenomenon, with an emphasis on MCing and DJing as the musical elements of HipHop culture. Themes will range from history and origins of Hip Hop culture, uses of sampling, Black feminist scholarship and Hip Hop feminists, and the widespread global adoption of Hip Hop as a cultural movement with a special resonance to dispossessed and disenfranchised peoples from occupied Turtle Island to Palestine.

Open to all UM students – no restrictions.

3 credits

Winter 2026 (CRN 62804)

Tuesday/Thursday 10-11:15 a.m.

Instructor: Melody McKiver

Students will study form and compositional approaches to a variety of musical styles, which may include pop, rock, Hip Hop, and EDM. The course will provide an introduction to the creative use of music technology, including DAW usage and home recording. Assignments will include the development of a musical portfolio, and written reflections and analysis. Students of diverse musical experiences are encouraged to enroll.  

 Instructor approval required.

3 credits

Winter 2026 (CRN 65881)

Tuesday/Thursday 10-11:15 a.m.

Instructor: Fabio Ragnelli and Victoria Sparks

This introductory course explores the rich diversity of global drumming traditions through hands-on experience. Designed to be taught without using traditional western music notation, the course focuses on fundamental rhythm concepts, basic drumming techniques, and group performance practices using percussion instruments from Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and Asia. Students will develop listening skills and rhythmic coordination. The course will help students to develop an understanding of the social and cultural roles of drumming in various world traditions. No previous music experience is necessary.

Open to all UM students – no restrictions.

MUSC 3830 (T41) –  Composition for Film and Media

3 credits

Fall 2025 (CRN 26355)

Tuesday/Thursday 1-2:15 p.m.

Instructor: Melody McKiver

Students will learn the use of Digital Audio Workstations (DAW) and sample libraries suitable for composition for digital media. Software includes Logic Pro, Ableton Live, and Spitfire LABS. Compositional tools will include MIDI orchestration, sound design, and audio recording. Students will study film history and the use of music as a compliment to storytelling within film, television, and video games. Other topics will include delivery standards and professional practices.

Instructor approval required.

MUSC 3830 (T42) – Business of Music

3 credits

Fall 2025 (CRN 26476) 

Thursday 5:30 – 8:30 p.m.

Instructors: TBA

Discover the business side of music. This course will provide a survey of music business topics including artist management, music marketing, rights and royalties, concert promotion, contracts, grants and funding, and financial planning. Students in all genres, including classical, jazz, pop, folk, and more, will learn from experienced industry professionals, gain insight into industry roles, and acquire skills required to succeed in the music business. Prepare for a professional future in music with tools to navigate the sector as a songwriter/composer, performer, arts worker, or industry professional. 

Open to all UM students – no restrictions.

MUSC 3830 (T50) – Intro to Game Audio

3 credits

Fall 2025 (CRN 26536)

Thursday 5:30-8:30 p.m.

Instructor: TBA

This course introduces students to the foundational principles and practical techniques of game audio design and programming. Emphasis is placed on interactive audio systems using FMOD Studio, a leading middleware audio engine, integrated with Unity or Unreal Engine. Students will explore sound design, audio programming, music systems, and the technical and creative aspects of game audio integration. 

Open to all UM students – no restrictions. 

MUSC 3830 (T50) – Intro to Game Audio

3 credits

Winter 2026 (CRN 66030)

Thursday 5:30-8:30 p.m.

Instructor: TBA

This course introduces students to the foundational principles and practical techniques of game audio design and programming. Emphasis is placed on interactive audio systems using FMOD Studio, a leading middleware audio engine, integrated with Unity or Unreal Engine. Students will explore sound design, audio programming, music systems, and the technical and creative aspects of game audio integration.

Open to all UM students – no restrictions.

Simpson-Litke’s current research explores rhythmic interactions between music and dance, focusing on the Latin social dances she has taught and performed for over 20 years. Her salsa research is published in Music Theory Spectrum, the Journal of Music Theory (for which she was awarded the 2020-21 David Kraehenbuehl Prize) and the forthcoming edited collection Making Music Together (Oxford University Press). She has also published on tango in The Cambridge Companion to Tango.

Simpson-Litke’s RITMO lecture is titled “Shifting Temporal Spaces: Exploring (Hyper)Metric Interactions Between Music and Dance in Salsa.” While salsa takes many forms within individual dancing communities, two fundamental styles have developed and spread worldwide—“On-1” and “On-2”—so-named after the metric location of changes in direction in the basic dance step. Practitioners note the differing movement qualities and debate the artistic merits of each style. Dr. Simpson-Litke’s lecture will address the question of why these styles produce such contrasting effects—a question that has not yet been sufficiently addressed.

The lecture will be streamed live, starting at 7:15am on Tuesday, March 11, 2025. See the following for more information: https://www.uio.no/ritmo/english/news-and-events/events/ritmo-seminar-series/2025/simpson-litke/

Music Courses available to all U of M students

At the Desautels Faculty of Music, we have a selection of courses that are available to all students at the U of M, regardless of your major. From history, production, and business, you do not need to be musically inclined to be captivated by the many areas that make up the study of music.

Some courses require an override to enter the course. Where it says “Instructor Approval Required” please email the instructor of record. Otherwise, please email DFoM.Advising@umanitoba.ca with your request to enter the course.

Winter 2025

MUSC 3830 (T32) – Popular Songwriting and Production

3 credits

Winter 2025 (CRN 62804)

Tuesday/Thursday 10:00-11:15am

Students will study form and compositional approaches to a variety of musical styles, which may include pop, rock, hip-hop, and EDM. The course will provide an introduction to the creative use of music technology, including DAW usage and home recording. Assignments will include the development of a musical portfolio, and written reflections and analysis. Students of diverse musical experiences are encouraged to enroll. Open to non-majors with permission of instructor.  

College override required

MUSC 1010 –  Music Matters: Excursions in Western Musical Culture

3 credits

Winter 2025 (CRN 61208) 

Tuesday/Thursday 2:30-3:45pm

This course introduces and explores selected western musical phenomena from aesthetic, social, and historical perspectives. Topics will include art and vernacular musics; style and genre; social function and context; the nature and varieties of musical experience. May not be held with MUSC 1050. This course may not be used for credit towards the Bachelor of Music or the Bachelor of Jazz Studies degree.

 No overrides needed

MUSC 1020 – Introduction to Popular Music

3 credits

Winter 2025 (CRN 61961) 

Tuesday/Thursday 11:30am-12:45pm

This course begins with a brief examination of the origins of the popular music industry in the late 19th and early 20th centuries through the development of rock’ n ‘roll in the 1950s and then surveys the subsequent proliferation of different types of popular music into the 21st century. The course will address representative genres, artists, and record labels in their cultural, political, historical, and technological contexts.

No overrides needed

MUSC 3830 (T41) –  Composition for Film and Media

3 credits

Winter 2025 (CRN 64885)

Tuesday/Thursday 1:00-2:15pm

Students will learn the use of Digital Audio Workstations (DAW) and sample libraries suitable for composition for digital media. Software includes Logic Pro, Ableton Live, and Spitfire LABS. Compositional tools will include MIDI orchestration, sound design, and audio recording. Students will study film history and the use of music as a compliment to storytelling within film, television, and video games. Other topics will include delivery standards and professional practices. Prerequisites: third-year standing as a Music major or permission of the instructor.

Instructor approval required.

MUSC 3830 (T42) – Business of Music

3 credits

Winter 2025 (CRN 64888) 

Monday 5:30pm – 8:30pm

Discover the business side of music. This course will provide a survey of music business topics including artist management, music marketing, rights and royalties, concert promotion, contracts, grants and funding, and financial planning. Students in all genres, including classical, jazz, pop, folk, and more, will learn from experienced industry professionals, gain insight into industry roles, and acquire skills required to succeed in the music business. Prepare for a professional future in music with tools to navigate the sector as a songwriter/composer, performer, arts worker, or industry professional.

No overrides required

MUSC 3830 (T43) – Monday Night Song Circle

3 credits

Winter 2025 (CRN 64889)

Monday 5:30-8:30pm

Join us for the Monday Night Song Circle. We’ll explore vocal technique along with a variety of vocal styles including Classical, Musical Theatre, Jazz, and Singer-Songwriter. You’ll learn about singing, while participating in a group setting that offers lots of solo and ensemble opportunities, taught by Winnipeg’s leading voice teachers.

Students should have some background in singing, including the ability to read music. 

Instructor approval required:

To provide the best experience possible in the Monday Night Song Circle, we are asking that students send a brief statement of intent (150 words or less) to course co-ordinator Mel Braun (mel.braun@umanitoba.ca) before registering.

Students should have some background in singing, including the ability to read music. Briefly describe what genre of music you perform, and a bit of information about your background learning and/or performing music. Please include your full name, student number, and home faculty with your statement of intent.

MUSC 3830 (T44) – Monday Night Brass Band

3 credits

Winter 2025 (CRN 64890)

Monday 5:30-8:30pm

This ensemble will explore the music and culture of brass bands from around the world covering styles such as jazz, pop, funk, samba, klezmer and more. Brass, wind, and percussion players are all welcome. Ability to read music is not necessary, but at least two years of experience on your instrument is recommended.

Instructor approval required:

To provide the best experience possible in the Monday Night Brass Band, we are asking that students send a brief statement of intent (150 words or less) to course instructor Jon Challoner (Jonathan.Challoner@umanitoba.ca) before registering.

Ability to read music is not necessary, but at least two years of experience on your instrument is recommended. Please provide a bit of information about what instrument you play and your background learning/performing music. Do you have experience improvising and/or learning music by ear? Please include your full name, student number, and home faculty with your statement of intent.

MUSC 3620 – Métis Fiddling lessons (Independent Study)

Winter 2025 (CRN 65049)

The Desautels Faculty of Music is thrilled to announce that we are offering Métis Fiddling lessons with North American Fiddlers’ Hall of Fame member Patti Kusturok.  Patti is an inspiring and gifted teacher who works with students at all levels and is a member of the Manitoba Métis Federation. 

These lessons are available to all U of M students.  No previous experience reading music or playing fiddle is required. 

There are 10 spots available for private lessons – students will register for a 3-credit Independent Study for the opportunity to study with Patti during the 2024-25 academic year. Instruments will be provided on loan, free of charge. 

Contact DFoM.Advising@umanitoba.ca for access to this course.

Advisor Approval required

Métis Fiddling Ensembles 

2 credits

(Chamber Music Ensemble MUSC X190 T04) Fall and Winter spanned

North American Fiddlers’ Hall of Fame member Patti Kusturok will be leading Métis Fiddling ensembles.  You can register for these 2-credit, spanned ensembles or participate as a community member. 

These ensembles are designed for students who play stringed instruments or who are taking Métis Fiddling lessons with Patti during the 2024-25 year.

For more information about Metis Fiddling lessons or ensembles, please contact DFOM.advising@umanitoba.ca

College override required

Guest host Emily Brass spoke with Orjan Sandred, Professor of Composition at the University of Manitoba’s Desautels Faculty of Music, who sees it as a tool for new forms of creative expression.

Listen here

UM Alumni Book Club
Looking for some literary lustre? Read A Gentleman in Moscow with us. From New York Times bestselling author Amor Towles, and set in 1920s Russia, it tells the peculiar tale of Count Alexander Rostov, who is sentenced to house arrest in the luxurious grand Metropol Hotel. Join host Chancellor Anne Mahon and a network of over 800 UM alumni, friends and fellow book lovers to connect and discuss ideas, literature, lifelong learning and more. Everyone is welcome to join at any time. This program is generously sponsored by the UM Alumni Association.
Ongoing until March 10 | Free 
Join

UM Theatre Program presents Unity (1918) by Kevin Kerr
Watch Unity (1918) a mainstage production about the story of the last great pandemic as the “Spanish Flu” hits the town of Unity, Saskatchewan while soldiers are returning from the Great War. The story is both far away and very close, as we see the community experience fear, panic, and caring and masking, distancing, and conspiracies. It is very resonant and also full of love and loneliness, sex and death, hope and fatalism.
February 2-5, 7:30 p.m. | Free
Watch

Promises to Keep: Cree Treaties, Cree Ceremonies and Pathways to a Shared Constitution
Faculty of Law Distinguished Visitors Lecture Series
Be part of the conversation with Dr. Darcy Lindberg, mixed-rooted Plains Cree, with his family coming from maskwâcîs (Samson Cree Nation) in Alberta and the Battleford-area in Saskatchewan. Darcy was called to the British Columbia and Yukon bars in 2014 and practiced in the Yukon Territory with Davis LLP.  His research focuses on nêhiyaw law, ecological governance through Indigenous legal orders, gender and Indigenous ceremonies, comparative approaches in nêhiyaw and Canadian constitutionalism, and Indigenous treaty making.
February 3, 12-2 p.m. | Free
Register

TD Building Wealth Webinar
We know that financial health is increasingly important and top of mind for many right now. That’s why we’ve partnered with TD Financial to help you get the right knowledge, tools and advice to make more confident financial decisions. Jeff Myall, Assistant Branch Manager and the LGBTQ2+ Market Lead for TD Bank, will deliver this free financial education webinar. Take advantage and get money smart!
February 7 | 6-7 p.m.| Free
Register

Inchoate Citizens: Black Canadians, Law and the Racial State
13th annual Delloyd J. Guth Visiting Lecture in Legal History: Dr. Barrington Walker
This presentation draws from published work and works in progress. It explores the Canadian racial state formation, law and the Black Canadian experience over time. The talk will begin with a discussion of slavery, law and the question of freedom. It will move to a discussion of Black Canadians and citizenship in the post slavery era and the law’s role in both supporting the conditions of Black unfreedom and providing an avenue for contesting it.
February 10, 12-2 p.m. | Free
Attend

The Coronation of Poppea
Desautels Faculty of Music
Watch the Desautels Chamber Opera Group’s electrifying performance of Claudio Monteverdi’s opera “The Coronation of Poppea” .
February 10, 7:30 p.m.-10 p.m. | $10
RSVP

Writer-In-Residence Welcome Event
The Centre for Creative Writing and Oral Culture
Join Ariel Gordon (she/her), a Winnipeg/Treaty 1 territory-based writer, editor and enthusiast. Her most recent books are Treed: Walking in Canada’s Urban Forests, a collection of essays that combines science writing and the personal essay, and TreeTalk, a public poetry project where Ariel hangs poems in trees and asks passersby to add their thoughts, ideas and secrets. She is also the ringleader of Writes of Spring, a National Poetry Month project with the Winnipeg International Writers Festival that appears in the Winnipeg Free Press.

Special guest reading by Alison Calder, an award-winning poet. She is the author of Wolf Tree and In the Tiger Park, and she lives in Winnipeg where she teaches Canadian literature and creative writing at the University of Manitoba.
February 11, 10 a.m.-11:15 a.m. | Free
Email ccwoc@umanitoba.ca for the Zoom link to attend

Virtual Fireside Chats
Learn from Elders and community members every second Tuesday as they come together to share Indigenous knowledges in this long-running series.
February  15, 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. | Free
Learn more

Adjudication and Mediation are Cousins Playing in the Same Sandbox: Reflections on Mandatory Mediation
Faculty of Law Distinguished Visitors Lecture Series
Dr. Nayha Acharya from Schulich School of Law will discuss how adjudication and mediation should come together to form a holistic, legitimate civil justice system.  Acharya’s premise is that a legitimate civil justice process will demonstrably recognize and uphold, equally, everyone’s human dignity. That is at the core of a valid legal system that deserves the authority that it asserts. She questions how mandatory mediation fares in terms of upholding these central values of equality and human dignity through three related lenses.
February 15, 12-2 p.m. | Free
Register

Indigenous Scholars Speaker Series
The Indigenous Scholars Speaker Series highlights the research and expertise of Indigenous scholars, while providing new opportunities to learn about Indigenous perspectives and knowledges. In this talk, hear from Heather Souter, instructor in the department of Indigenous studies, as she addresses the goals of language proficiency, community-building and capacity to promote and participate in language revitalization among learners of Michif.
February 17, 12-1 p.m. | Free
Attend Zoom event

We Need a New Story: Walking and the wâhkôhtowin Imagination
Faculty of Education Dean’s Lecture Series: Dr. Dwayne Donald
Inspired and guided by the nêhiyaw (Cree) wisdom concept of wâhkôhtowin, Dwayne Donald, professor, Faculty of Education, University of Alberta, frames walking as a life practice that can teach kinship relationality and help reconceptualize Indigenous-Canadian relations on more ethical terms. A significant curricular and pedagogical challenge faced by educators in Canada today is how to facilitate the emergence of a new story that can repair inherited colonial divides and give good guidance on how Indigenous peoples and Canadians can live together differently. In his experience, Donald believes the emergence of a new story can be facilitated through the life practice of walking.
February 17, 5:30-6:30 p.m. | Free
Register 

Kaffeeklatsch: Aganetha Dyck, Reva Stone and Diana Thorneycroft in conversation
School of Art Gallery
Join internationally renowned artists Aganetha Dyck, Diana Thorneycroft and Reva Stone for the fourth installment of Kaffeeklatsch. Sharing a studio for 27 years and a friendship that spans even longer, this trio will converse about the ways in which their relationship has supported pivotal moments of their life and art practice. Dyck, Stone and Thorneycroft bolster practices that are uniquely complex and evocative yet all critique contemporary societies’ practices and histories.
February 18, 12-1 p.m. | Free
Details

Workshop: How to Talk to Bees with Aganetha Dyck
School of Art Gallery
In this workshop, Aganetha Dyck will use her art practice to exemplify the ways in which she has approached and has collaborated with bees to create her sculptural works. She will go into depth on how beekeepers have guided her to successfully and safely collaborate with honeybees, as well as her ventures working with different scientists all over Canada and abroad on cutting edge research on the preservation of honeybees. Please have handy: paper & a pencil/pen and a favourite, typical kind of bread* that you identify as a part of your family/home/culture/community.
February 19, 1-2:30 p.m.| Free
Learn More

What’s new on LinkedIn this year?
Take your LinkedIn profile to the next level with this free webinar! LinkedIn is always changing – and the savviest job-seekers change right along with it. Join former LinkedIn insider, Omar Garriott, to discover new tools to explore which careers match your skills best, based on data from 700 million professionals.
February 28, 7-8:30 p.m. | Free
Register

For more events: University of Manitoba events calendar

From Kelly Clarkson’s Since You’ve Been Gone at age seven, to Orff’s Carmina Burana as his first concert with the Desautels Faculty of Music, Kyle is proud of his diverse career’s portfolio, “I’ve had the privilege of working as a performer, creator/producer, teacher, teaching assistant, administrator, researcher, and facilitator”, Kyle explains.

In the faculty

As a Bachelor of Music in the Performance concentration student, Kyle was able to explore a variety of music both new and classic. During his time at the Desautels Faculty of Music he performed with the Musical Theatre ensemble and Opera Theatre ensemble. His roles of Dickon from the Secret Garden, Slim from Paul Bunyan, Orpheus from Orpheus in the Underworld (English title), and most recently, Chevalier de la Force from Dialogue of the Carmelites (English title) are among his highlights of the time spent at the University of Manitoba.

As a DFOM student Kyle received the Andrew Kuryk Memorial Scholarship and the Emerging Leader Award for his leaderships within the University of Manitoba Singers Ensemble. During his third year, was awarded second prize in the Zita Bernstein competition for excellence in German Lieder, “participating in this competition was a memory I will never forget.

The mentorship, coaching, and comradery I gained alongside some of my most beloved colleagues is something I’ll surely treasure forever”, Kyle explains.

Faculty of Mentors

During his time at the Desautels Faculty of Music he has encounter a faculty full of cheerleaders along the way. Working closely with many of our faculty members has allowed Kyle to grow in a supportive environment where he was able to learn from peers and instructors.  

Kyle has special acknowledgements to pass on to Dr. Simpson-Litke, “she taught me everything I know about getting involved in music theory scholarship and got me genuinely excited about the field” and his teacher Mel Braun, “he taught me beyond what was on the page and became an inspiring figure for me in terms of how I want to live my life. He was someone I could trust and look up to too. Mel was the best voice teacher I could have asked for.”

The same way he has had a faculty of mentors around him, he has become a mentor for his peers and theory students as he explains, “being able to see growth, courage, and triumph amongst them has made and still makes me so proud.”

Future Plans

Kyle’s plans are simple, “I want to live my life, slow down, and have as much fun as I can”, he is ready to lean into the aspects of his career that he enjoys the most and become inspired by himself. His long-term goals include maintaining a private studio and operatic training, finding works in arts administration; and working towards releasing his first EP as a recording artist.

His next steps will be applying for McGill’s Master of Music in Sound Recording program and building new roots in Montreal next fall.

You can learn more about Kyle Briscoe through his Instagram account @kyle_briscoe_tenor 

Carve your own path

“I like to remind my mentees that being a music student never mind having a career in the field is so so hard. It will teach you so much about who you are and will make you into a better person. What your career looks like in comparison doesn’t matter – what matters is that you love the skin that you’re in and that you’re happy with the way you’re living your life because it goes by way too fast for you to care about anything else. Carve your own path!”

This is a phrase that, for most people, is usually followed up by a comment about the person’s lack of drive, or how they need to work harder.

But when it comes to 2021 Desautels Faculty of Music graduate Selene Sharpe…She can do anything she puts her mind to, and then she just accomplishes it all.

High school as a gateway to music

Although she always loved to sing, Sharpe didn’t consider pursuing a university education in music until high school, when she studied with Kim Brown at Ecole Kelvin High School.
“I was especially inspired by those involved in Kelvin’s musical, and I really looked up to and admired some of the older students who talked about pursuing a music degree,” she says.
A few short years later, after a successful audition, Sharpe found herself joining some of those peers in the Desautels Faculty of Music. However, long before she arrived in the faculty, she was already making waves in the Winnipeg music scene, having won the Winnipeg Music Festival’s 2015 W.H. Anderson Memorial Trophy, awarded for the most outstanding performance in a competition of vocalists, 16 years of age and under.

Desautels faculty members were well aware of Sharpe before she even thought about joining the faculty.

“I first met Selene when she was still a high school student singing with the WSO [Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra] in one of their spring concert events celebrating the musicians of the future,” says Desautels Professor of Voice Mel Braun of the first time he saw Sharpe perform.

“At that time she struck me as a most elegant and poised musician, and she has continued to build on those strengths during the last four years at the Desautels Faculty of Music,” Braun says.

In the faculty

Upon her entry into the DFOM, the soprano immediately threw herself into her studies, both academically and in performance. Her audition for the faculty, as well as her outside musical pursuits, earned Sharpe multiple scholarships and financial awards, including the Don Wright Entrance Scholarship, the Marcels A. Desautels Faculty of Music Scholarship, the Margaret H. Tyler Award in Music, the Winnipeg Music Festival Award, the Reg and Anne Hugo Memorial Fund, the Patricia Ruth Rogers Music Award, and the Tier-2 UM Guertin Centennial Entrance Scholarship.

Sharpe also made an early splash in the DFOM, being awarded the part of Sally in the University of Manitoba Musical Theatre Ensemble’s production of scenes from You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, in only her second year in the faculty, a starring role that she made her own with humor and presence. The role also presented Sharpe with her favourite piece learned during her time in the Desautels Faculty of Music, “My New Philosophy.”

Multitasking
Sharpe, who also performed with the Women’s Choir, the University Singers, and the Opera Theatre Ensemble during her time in the DFOM, has never met a challenge she didn’t completely embrace and then conquer. While training for her demanding role as Sally, Sharpe was also training for an entirely different venture: the Manitoba Marathon.

Training for a marathon is a massive task, requiring perseverance, hard work, talent, and dedication. Marathoners train for years to reach elite levels. Apparently, nobody told Selene Sharpe that.
In what was only her second marathon ever, Sharpe put forward an incredible performance, and won the 2019 Manitoba Marathon.

“[In 2018] I used an online training plan for beginner marathon runners,” said Sharpe at the time, regarding her training schedule for her first marathon, the 2018 Manitoba Marathon, at which she took home second place.

Faculty mentors

Sharpe is thankful for the mentors she has learned from on her path to graduation.

“My teacher Tracy Dahl has been the most wonderful mentor,” says Sharpe.

“She is not only wealthy in knowledge and talent, but she is also incredibly kind, and someone I trust and respect wholeheartedly. I always walk out of our lessons having learned something new, and feeling better than how I felt walking in,” Sharpe says of her work with Canada’s leading coloratura soprano and an voice instructor in the Desautels Faculty of Music.

“She has played a huge role in my growth as a singer, performer, and young woman over the past 4 years,” Sharpe adds.

Dahl has been impressed by Sharpe, as well.

“I have known Selene for many years, not just in her time here in the Desautels Faculty of Music,” says Dahl.

“She has always been a high achiever and sets the bar high for herself. As many on campus and the city may remember when she sets a goal she attains them – winning the Manitoba Marathon women’s entry at the age of 19,” Dahl says of Sharpe’s work ethic.

“Selene is always well prepared, receptive to new ideas and embracing new repertoire for singing. Knowing that Selene was going to be coming into the studio for her lesson on a day I knew my day would be better,” says Dahl.

“She was always interested in participating in the events that happened on and off campus too – singing in the Bernstein German Lieder competition every year, the Winnipeg Music festival, MRMTA [Manitoba Registered Music Teachers Association] and provincial music festival,” Dahl says, listing some of the many performances Sharpe has given outside of the faculty.

Dahl notes that Sharpe was always game for trying new techniques and methods to improve.

“It’s almost too hard to pick a highlight but here are two: in the musical theatre evening when she sang Sally from Charlie Brown. I liked brassy Sally and referred to her energy often. I also remember us trying to get the ‘sprinter’ energy by having her run down the halls at the school and come back to the room and sing,” says Dahl.

I would like to thank Tracy Dahl, Mel Braun, Monica Huisman, Donna Fletcher, Katherine Twaddle, Elroy Friesen, Laura Loewen and all of the amazing professors who have taught me along the way. You have brought my love for music to new heights and have made me feel supported and valued every step of the way. I am so fortunate to have learned from all of you, and I cannot thank you enough.

Voice Area Head Mel Braun, Opera Studies Coordinator Katherine Twaddle, and opera instructor Monica Huisman have high praise for Sharpe.

“Selene is such a sensitive musician and a generous colleague. She sings with grace and a real affection for her repertoire,” says Opera Studies Coordinator Katherine Twaddle.

“Whether singing in Masterclass, Oratorio Seminar, or one of the Ensemble performances, the beauty of her voice, her musicality, and her generosity of spirit always shine through,” agrees Braun.
“Besides all that, she’s one heck of a runner. The world has much to look forward to as Selene makes her way into the future,” Braun adds.

Selene is such an impressive young woman and artist,” echoes Huisman.

“I will never forget our time when we travelled to Holland together with Women’s Chorus, and she let me teach her everything about Dutch food and culture! It was a treat getting to know her out of school, and share all of those wonderful performances together. That was such a special time and memory, especially now that we can’t go anywhere!” says Huisman of the Choral Ensembles’ tour of Europe.

Beyond the stage

In addition to her outstanding performance skills, both on stage and on a marathon route, Sharpe has excelled in the classroom during her time in the DFOM. In fact, she received the faculty’s gold medal for the Bachelor of Music – General program, which is awarded to the graduating individual in the general program who achieves the highest academic marks!

As Sharpe prepared to leave the faculty, she decided to bookend her musical academic career with another Winnipeg Music Festival entry. And of course, she walked away with a prize!

“I was very proud to receive the Myrna Lou (Mickey Rourke) McGregor Memorial Scholarship this year at the 2021 Winnipeg Music Festival,” she says of the competition that also served as one of her final performances as a music student.

“This award felt very special because it is awarded to a singer who has a passion for music, and sharing music will always be something that I truly love to do,” Sharpe adds.

Final Jury

In the 2019-2020 academic year, COVID-19 forced the cancellation of about 40 student credit recitals and juries, which serve as a sort of capstone project showcasing what students have learned at various points in their university studies.

Fortunately, thanks to the creativity and dedication of faculty members and administrators, the Desautels Faculty of Music was able to ensure that students’ final credit recitals and juries could resume in the 2020-2021 year, with invited audiences able to watch students perform via Zoom, instead of in person.

For her final jury, Sharpe chose to perform Jake Heggie’s “Bedtime Story,” Mozart’s “Zeffiretti Lusinghieri,” Debussy’s “Romance,” Brahms’ “Die Mainacht,” and “It’s an Art,” from Stephen Schwartz’ Working the Musical, which documents the lives of workers as they get ready for their days.

Up next

So what does Sharpe hope to do with her days now that she’s completed her degree? As she looks back on the past four years, she is also preparing for the future.

“The past few years have been so incredible because I was able to combine my love for music with my love for running,” says Sharpe.

“I firmly believe that these two passions of mine will stay with me forever. No matter where I end up, I know that my life will be enriched with music and sport,” she says.

If Sharpe continues to perform in musicals, she might be able to multitask with a re-imagining of Billy Flynn, the savvy lawyer in Chicago, albeit more ethically!

“I have written my LSAT, and hope to study law at Robson Hall,” Sharpe says of her plans for the immediate future.

We feel bad for anyone who has to be cross-examined by Sharpe in the future. As with all other things she does, she will be VERY good at it!

“Selene is such a good sport, such a good athlete and such a good musician,” says Dahl.

“She possesses a tender heart for music which always reaches those who hear her – always has and always will. Congratulations on your graduation all the best in your future endeavors!” says Dahl.

“I know she is destined for great things, because of the foundation she has built and the talent and drive she possesses. Congratulations Selene! The sky is the limit for you,” Huisman adds.
We agree! Selene, congratulations! We will miss you, and we can’t wait to see what you do next!

The Fox, a new opera by Roan Shankaruk
Based on a short story by D.H. Lawrence and presented by the University of Manitoba’s Desautels Faculty of Music

The University of Manitoba’s Desautels Faculty of Music is delighted to present Roan Shankaruk’s new opera The Fox, adapted from D.H. Lawrence’s classic novella of the same name.

Lawrence’s The Fox tells the story of two unmarried women, Nelly March and Jill Banford, who are trying to cobble together a living on a farm during World War I. While the two labour tirelessly, a fox sneaks onto the farm and begins to pick off their chickens, one by one, slowly destroying their livelihood and ability to survive independently.

When an unexpected visitor, Henry Grenfell, arrives to help save the failing farm, he also threatens to tear Nelly and Jill apart.

Multi-talented Desautels Faculty of Music Master of Music student and composer Roan Shankaruk has now transformed Lawrence’s tense exploration of gender, sexuality, femininity, and war into a gorgeous opera that makes full use of its performers strong and impassioned voices.

The online opera was filmed in accordance with provincial public health guidelines, observing all social distancing and health measures.

Watch The Fox, by Roan Shankaruk

CAST:

Jill Banford – Sydney Clarke*
Nelly March – Jacqueline Arthur*
Henry Grenfell – Chris Donlevy*

ORCHESTRA

Piano – Kimberly Lapatha
Violin – Bariah Penner
Cello – Natalie Dawe*

DIRECTION

Music Director – Mel Braun
Stage Director – Katherine Twaddle

*= UM Alumni

Cast and Orchestra Biographies

ROAN SHANKARUK: Roan Shankaruk is completing her Master of Music in Opera at the University of Manitoba this summer. She is a UBC School of Music graduate, with a double major in Opera and Composition. Roan has been performing in musicals and operas since age ten and made her professional debut in Vancouver Opera’s Magic Flute. She was selected as a composer and performer in Vancouver Opera’s Spring Festival in 2018-2019. Roan’s first chamber opera “The Woman Who Borrowed Memories” was performed at the 2019 Vancouver Fringe Festival, the first time an opera had been presented in its history. Roan is hard at work on her newest composition, “The Post Office Girl”!

SYDNEY CLARKE: Sydney Clarke is a soprano who performs “all-guns blazing” (Opera Canada). She’s a graduate of the University of Manitoba under the tutelage of Tracy Dahl (CM). Sydney performed the role of HELENA in Opera NUOVA’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Britten, the role of DONNA ANNA in Manitoba Underground Opera’s (MUO) production of Don Giovanni, and FIRST LADY in Opera Nuova’s The Magic Flute. She performed as the soprano soloist for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s staged production of Carmina Burana, and is a winner of the 2020 Women’s Musical Club of Winnipeg’s McLellan Competition. Sydney is currently based in Winnipeg, continuing to perform and teach voice.

JACQUELINE ARTHUR: Jacqueline Arthur, mezzo-soprano, began her training in Medicine Hat and at an early age demonstrated passion and commitment in her music. Jacqueline received a Bachelor of Music degree, graduating with great distinction, from University of Lethbridge, and a Master of Music Degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Manitoba. Jacqueline’s vocal versatility has allowed her to perform many operatic roles including Fernando (Rodrigo), Bianca/Rosabella (Angela and her Sisters), La Peinture (Les art’s florissants), Maurya (Riders to the Sea), Mrs. Peachum (The Beggers Opera), Sandman (Hansel and Gretel), and Second Witch (Dido and Aeneas).

CHRIS DONLEVY: Chris Donlevy (He/Him) is a Saskatoon born tenor based in Winnipeg, and is thrilled to have been a part of the workshop for The Fox. Growing up in a musical family, Chris explored performing and composing musical theatre at the beginning of his career. Upon discovering opera, he transitioned to the classical realm and began studying at the University of Manitoba, achieving Bachelors and Post-Bachalaureat degrees with Mel Braun. When it is safe to do so, Chris is excited to get back to making live music again. Selected Credits: It’s a Wonderful Life (Persephone), Gianni Schicchi (MUO), Carousel (Opera Nuova).

KIMBERLY LAPATHA: Kimberly Lapatha is originally from Kentucky, and has lived in Canada since 2001. She received her Bachelor of Music degree in piano from the University of Kentucky and her Master of Church Music degree in piano from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky where she met her Canadian husband, Philip. She is currently working toward a Masters in Collaborative Piano at the University of Manitoba. She teaches piano out of her home and also teaches music for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers. She accompanies various choirs in the city and is the worship coordinator at her church. When she is not teaching or playing piano, she enjoys knitting, running, biking, board games, and word games. She and her husband, Philip, live in downtown Winnipeg.

BARIAH PENNER: Bariah Penner is a student majoring with the violin in performance. She began violin at age 12 and studied with Albert Bergen, and also attended Providence University College for a year. Here, she has received scholarships for each year of her degree, including extra scholarships the last two years that have fully paid for tuition. She has also attended Delaware’s Masters Players Festival. In her spare time she enjoys reading, painting and hiking.

NATALIE DAWE: Natalie Dawe (B.Mus, M.Mus) is a freelance cellist and teacher based in Winnipeg whose performances have included the Festival Internacional de Música in Ecuador (2018), a Scandinavian tour with the University of Manitoba Singers (2011), and a tour of China with the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra to record an award-winning CD (2007). She recently performed in the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, and with her piano trio, Trio Loja.

KATHERINE TWADDLE: DFoM Opera Studies Coordinator Katherine Twaddle enjoys a career that is rich in directing and teaching activities. She has worked as a staff director with most of the major opera companies in the UK, including English National Opera, Scottish Opera and the Royal Opera House Covent Garden. Directing engagements in Canada have included Puccini’s Madama Butterfly for Manitoba Opera, Janacek’s Jenufa in Edmonton and Puccini’s Manon Lescaut for Calgary Opera. Creative activity outside of directing is focused on libretto writing, with the creation of Angela and Her Sisters with composer Dean Burry for the U of M Opera Theatre 2010 school tour. She has also created English performance translations of Hansel and Gretel and Mozart’s Bastien et Bastienne.

MEL BRAUN: Mel Braun is a long-time voice teacher and music director for Opera Ensembles at the Desautels Faculty of Music, where he is also the Vocal Area Coordinator. As a singer, he has appeared across the North America in Opera, Oratorio, and Recital. As a conductor and composer, he remains active with Winnipeg’s Camerata Nova, leading all the Indigenous collaborations featuring New Works by Andrew Balfour. As a teacher, he has seen many of his students go on to professional careers as singer, teachers, conductors, and community leaders. He loves nothing better than exploring new works like The Fox.

Well, Ashleigh Sadler has kept the receipts.

“I started making music as early as I can remember,” says Sadler, who hails from Winnipeg.

“I danced and sang from a young age and would not go to sleep unless my Disney Princess record was playing! I can remember singing along to Shania Twain and Hannah Montana and practicing my stage face in my mirror almost every day after school!” she says.

Even at school Sadler’s thoughts were never far from music, as this early childhood drawing proves!

Ce que je veux etre quand je suis grande, it reads, or “What I want to be when I grow up.”

“Music has always captivated me, and it still does every day,” she says.

The path towards her future in music

She began performing with choirs as an elementary school student, and picked up tenor saxophone and clarinet in middle and high school. Her time in teacher Jeff Johnson’s College Sturgeon Heights Collegiate Jazz Band introduced her to jazz, and her work in teacher Kathy Byrne’s Band and Wind Ensemble, and teacher [and 2020 DFOM Master of Music graduate!] Avonlea Armstrong-Green’s choir gave her a strong foundation in music.

Rather than apply directly to the Desautels Faculty of Music out of high school, Sadler decided to attend the University of Manitoba’s U1 year while she weighed whether she would pursue biology or music.

“One day something clicked,” she says of that first year of exploration.

“I realized that I had to pursue music, and that there simply wasn’t any other path for me to take at that moment. I knew I wanted to recreate for myself and share with others the amazing feelings I get when I perform and make music,” she adds.

She hasn’t looked back since, and her passion has now led Sadler to earn a Bachelor of Jazz Studies in voice.

In the faculty

Her talents and hard work have earned Sadler multiple scholarships during her time in the DFOM, including the UM Guertin Centennial Entrance Scholarship, the Marcel A. Desautels Faculty of Music Scholarship, the M.A. Faculty of Music Endowment Scholarship, the Corus Radio Jazz Major Scholarship, and the Reg and Anne Hugo Memorial Fund Scholarship. She was also on the Dean’s Honor List every year that she was in the faculty.

The endowment she received allowed Sadler and her sister, 2020 Bachelor of Jazz Studies graduate Elizabeth Sadler to travel to New York City in 2019 to take part in a cultural exposure experience to study jazz music and its history.

Additionally, Sadler took every musical opportunity available to her to expand her musical horizons in the faculty, performing not only with the ensembles of Kyle Zavitz, Assistant Professor Karl Kohut, and Instructor Karly Epp, but also with Elroy Friesen’s Women’s Chorus, with which she toured the Netherlands and Belgium.

If her assiduous attention to her academics and her performance schedule weren’t enough, Sadler also threw herself into learning the technical side of music, serving as a student technician for recitals, and ensemble performances.

“One of my favorite jazz pieces I performed [in the faculty] was Nancy Wilson and Cannonball Adderley’s version of “Never Will I Marry,” says Sadler.

“Karl Kohut brought it into ensemble, and as soon as I heard the recording I fell in love,” she says.

“On the classical side of things, one of my favorite pieces that we worked on in Women’s Chorus was called “That Yongë Child” from Benjamin Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols, Op. 28,” a piece in which she was awarded the solo.

“I never would have thought that I – a jazz voice student – could sing a classical solo at the Winter concert that year,” she says of her pride in being able to excel on both the jazz and classical side.

“It was really special and I’m so happy to have been able to have the opportunity to work in various styles with different directors,” Sadler says.

Those opportunities working with different musicians have led her to better realize, appreciate, and outright own her abilities.

“[One of my proudest moments] would be seeing my musical growth as a vocalist after I started taking classical voice training with Shannon Unger in the first year of my degree,” says Sadler.

“I was able to start doing things with my instrument that I never knew I had the capability to do and that was amazing since it helped me realize that with hard work and practice, I could achieve anything I wanted to,” she says of the experience.

“Another [proud] moment was in my final year, when I composed my second original jazz composition. What started as an assignment grew into a piece of art that I am proud to have made. My younger self would be proud of all the growth I have made this far, and it only pushes me to continue on to make and create more music!” she says.

Faculty mentors

“I’ve been fortunate to have had many mentors in this faculty,” says Sadler of the professor and instructors she has worked with during her time in the DFOM.

“Karly Epp, my MPS instructor and UMJVE [University of Manitoba Jazz Vocal Ensembles] ensemble director has taught me so many valuable skills in both music and in life that I will be able to use for the rest of my life,” says Sadler.

“I am so happy for the time we had together, and I want to thank her from the bottom of my heart, for all the support she has given me throughout my time here” she adds.

For her part, Jazz Voice Instructor Karly Epp also has glowing things to say about Sadler.

“Ashleigh has been a hard-working and dedicated student for the duration of her time in this program,” says Epp.

“She has a wonderfully light-hearted demeanor – even when things get challenging – and that was one of many reasons that she was joy to teach! She’s also a supportive and caring person and that was felt in a significant way by many of her peers,” adds Epp.

Indeed, Sadler always volunteered to help lead DFOM Open House Tours for high school students, giving them their first taste of how kind and generous Desautels students are in lending a helping hand to newcomers.

“In addition, she is extremely organized – a skill which was not only valuable to her in her own studies, but, in combination with the rest of her wonderful traits, also served our wider jazz community well. Ashleigh is the kind of person who will excel no matter what path she goes down, and she will be sorely missed!” says Epp.

“I would also love to thank Jon Gordon,” says Sadler.

“We spent a lot of time together in my third year with his Composition and Arranging class and his emphasis on learning and mastering the rudiments. Jon cares so much about the success of his students and it shows in how dedicated he is to this faculty and its students. Thank you, Jon, for all the help you have given me, it was a pleasure to have studied and learned from you,” she says.

“Ashleigh was always a pleasure to work with during her time at our program,” says Gordon, an Associate Professor of Jazz in the DFOM.

“She has a beautiful voice and great instincts for interpreting melodies. It was really a joy to watch her grow as an improviser and composer and I can’t wait to see and hear how her music develops going forward!” he says.

COVID-19 has nothing on the Sadler Sisters

In the 2019-2020 academic year, COVID-19 forced the cancellation of about 40 student credit recitals, which serve as a sort of capstone project showcasing what students have learned at various points in their university studies.

Fortunately, thanks to the creativity and dedication of faculty members and administrators, the Desautels Faculty of Music was able to ensure that students’ final credit recitals could resume in the 2020-2021 year, with invited audiences able to watch students perform via Zoom, instead of in person.

“My jazz recital centered around jazz standards from the Great American Songbook,” says Sadler.

“One of my favourites was ‘You’re Blasé’ with music by Ord Hamilton and lyrics by Bruce Sievier. I came across it one day earlier in the year and was instantly drawn to it due to its lyrics. I felt they really related to how I – and I am sure many – have felt during the pandemic,” she says.

“You’re tired, and uninspired, you’re blasé… there’s nothing new for you to do, you’re blasé,” she recites.

“It makes me chuckle now, but this is one of the reasons I love music: it helps you cope with life’s troubles and turns it into something special,” Sadler says.

“I performed this song as a ballad with the incredible Evan Miles on piano, who I just know will one day soon be all over the jazz scene,” she says.

“I was also able to perform my original composition titled ‘No Longer Lost,’ which tells the story of someone who is reminiscing about a past relationship, where they are no longer in the stages or grief, but rather remembering the moments they shared together,” she says.

Sadler’s ability to smirk in spite of the pandemic began late last year, as rising case counts in Winnipeg caused a significant lockdown just prior to the holiday season. With an isolating Christmas on the horizon, Ashleigh and Elizabeth, who perform together as the Sadler Sisters, decided to bring some cheer back into the season.

“[Elizabeth] and I created a COVID-19 friendly caroling business,” she says.

“Dressed up in many layers, hand-warmers and Christmas lights attached to our clothes, we travelled in our faithful steed – a Honda civic with antlers attached – and went all across Winnipeg singing Christmas carols and winter favorites,” she says.

In 12 days, Ashleigh and Elizabeth, along with a portable amplifier, performed 780 minutes of music at 52 stops, driving more than 480 kilometers!

“Whether it was 30 below with gusting winds, or a beautiful winter’s evening, it was so special to not only sing live, something we had desperately missed, but to also bring some joy and Christmas spirit to families, friends and even Professor Jon Gordon!” Sadler recounts.

You can see and hear more of the Sadler Sisters on their Instagram account (@thesadlersistersmusic)

Acknowledgements

Sadler would like to thank the following people, who have all contributed to her success in the Desautels Faculty of Music:

“Thank you to Avonlea Armstrong-Green for being both an amazing mentor and friend; Thank you to both Professor Elroy Friesen and Dr. Catherine Robbins for the joy you bring to your teaching and music; I also want to thank Shannon Unger, my classical voice teacher of two years for her dedication and incredible instruction. You care so much about your students’ success and I am so lucky to have been able to learn and grow as a vocalist with your guidance; Thank you to Sue Stone Scott, it was a pleasure to work for you and I appreciate your friendship and the tools you have taught me; Thank you to my parents, Jeff and Karen for all the love and support you have given me – from helping haul my gear from one venue to the next to always showing up to watch me perform, thank you for being with me every step of the way in my musical journey; Thank you to my Grandma Pearl, who you will always catch a glimpse of in the first row, and who will always be my number one fan, I love you so much; Thank you to all my amazing family, friends and musical community, the support you have given me in this degree means the world to me; Lastly, thank you to my sister and best friend Elizabeth Sadler. I couldn’t have done it without you, and it’s so special to be able to not only have the bond of being sisters, but to also share a bond and passion for music. I can’t wait to make more music with you and see what our future holds!”

Next steps

As someone who has consistently guided both high school and university students through the Desautels Faculty of Music, Sadler has some words of advice to impart to incoming students as she moves into the next part of her journey.

“Hard work, dedication and passion go hand in hand – your hard work and commitment will pay off,” says Sadler, who will finally take a well-deserved breather before pursuing more musical gigs with the Sadler Sisters and also furthering her education in the field of labor relations.

“I would also say that you should never be afraid to ask for help from a fellow student or instructor. They are invaluable resources and are there to help you learn and grow! I am certainly glad for all the help and experience I received from my peers and instructors,” she says.

We know that the music-obsessed little girl who grew into the woman with the powerful and beautiful voice will continue to accomplish big things, in music and in life. The Desautels Faculty of Music is incredibly fortunate to have had Ashleigh’s talent, perseverance, and spirit throughout her time with us, and we can’t wait to see what she does next! Congratulations, Ashleigh! You have definitely earned this milestone!

• Event: Spring Sing: Find Your Anthem
• Date: Saturday, March 27, 2021
• Time: 7:00pm CDT
• Tickets: $10 for students/$15 for adults/$25 for families (To purchase tickets, fill out the form at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1h6temMomFIyyKh-0K48VM_-i9zvmcLKtVYZCX2mWGZY/viewform?edit_requested=true and then submit payment via e-transfer to uofmsingers@gmail.com. A link for the concert will be sent to you the day of the concert.
  
• Questions: Please contact uofmsingers@gmail.com.

It’s no secret that this past year has been challenging, if not downright difficult. From navigating remote learning, to learning to catch up with friends and family from a distance of six feet, this year has been…a LOT. For the University Singers, the Desautels Faculty of Music’s large, tight-knit choral ensemble, COVID-19 has sidelined their renowned, packed-house concerts. As members of the ensemble ventured forward in an uncertain year, completing coursework they found themselves being drawn to anthemic, spirit-lifting repertoire, which they will share in an online concert this Saturday!

Performers find their voices and their anthems during the pandemic

Like the fall 2020 POPs Concert, the Spring Sing will feature students performing remotely, either on their own or in small groups that align with public health restrictions and guidelines. The fall concert addition attracted 200 attendees, and raised over $3000 towards the future University Singers trip – whenever it occurs!

When it came to determining a theme for the Spring Sing, the University Singers Council knew immediately what they wanted to showcase.

“Coming to the end of this school year we realized that a common thread between many students in the faculty is how we use music to empower us, even in difficult times,” says Hannah Johnson, one of the event organizers.

“The songs showcased in this concert are the ones that we have felt uplift us in each of our individual lives, which is something that we want to share with our community,” she says.

“What’s great about this concert is that choristers can choose whatever songs they want, allowing for lots of creative freedom, which a lot of people ran with!” adds Johnson.

15 acts have officially signed on for the concert, thus far, and more students are expected to submit their acts before Saturday.

A sneak peak

Some of this weekend’s performers have shared a sneak peak at what they will be sharing at the concert, as well as the inspirations behind the performances.

“I chose to sing ‘Time After Time.’ by Cyndi Lauper,” says vocal performance major Camryn Dewar.

“I find that in a time of global crisis, it is important for us to create ways to feel nostalgia and look back at times before the pandemic,” she says of her reasons for selecting the 80s hit.

“Over the past year, I’ve found myself doing a lot of reminiscing, watching movies I used to love, listening to music from my childhood, et cetera,” Dewar explains.

“Cyndi Lauper is nostalgic for me because she reminds me of when I was a child, watching her music videos on MTV with my mom. I also love the message of the song, which reiterates how important it is to turn to loved ones for support, and which we’ve all found ourselves doing time and time again over the past year,” she says.

Meanwhile, recent Desautels graduate Julia Davis and first-year piano student Alex Klassen turned to the current hits in choosing their anthem.

“Alex and I will be performing ‘evermore’ by Taylor Swift and Bon Iver,” says Davis of their performance piece, which is from Swift’s recently released album of the same name.

“We chose this song as our ‘pandemic anthem’ because it really just sums it all up perfectly. It is a good reminder that the pain and loneliness we have all felt during this time will not last forever!” she says.

For performer Kristian Cahatol, the inspiration for her performance piece, ‘Jet Lag,’ by Simple Plan featuring Marie-Mai, has appropriately pandemic origins – a Zoom call.

“This used to be one of my favourite songs growing up, but I had forgotten it existed for the longest time,” the first-year voice student says.

“Around December 2020 I was having a Zoom party with some friends and we were feeling a little sad since we haven’t been able to see each other in person as much as we used to. To
help with missing each other, we all decided to create a collaborative playlist to share our favourite songs,” Cahatol says.

“The first song one of my friends put on the playlist was ‘Jet Lag’. It brought back so many fun memories, and, honestly, it still slapped as hard as I remembered. It’s been stuck in my head
every day since, and has also been a staple for car rides and home-alone concerts. It now also reminds me of my good friend!” she adds.

Pandemic lessons to carry forward

While this year has not been the year that Desautels students expected or wanted, they have proven repeatedly just how tough they are, and just how much grit they have. When it comes to takeaways, these resilient and optimistic performers have learned some incredible lessons about themselves this past year.

“As someone who loves to keep busy, the pandemic has definitely taught me how to slow down and not take anything for granted. I am learning to take things as they come, because right now there is really no other choice!” says Julia Davis.

“This year has really made me think about how I value myself, on a day to day basis, as a body, as an identity, and as a person in this world. It took a global pandemic for me to
realize how unkind I can be to myself!” laughs Kristian Cahatol.

“Since [the beginning of the pandemic], I have been fortunate enough to have access to counseling, and a very loving community. Though I’m still on this journey – and always will be – I’m growing more and more into a person who can ask for help, and embrace myself a little more,” Cahatol adds.

Some of the performers are even setting goals for themselves for the summer!

“This summer, I will be attending the six-week Emerging Artist Program at Opera Nuova,” says Camryn Dewar of be able to fulfill a long-time dream in the middle of a pandemic.

“They have a very strict set of COVID protocols, so it is exciting that I will finally be able to safely make music with others again. I have been waiting to attend this program for years now, and I can’t wait!” she says.

Meanwhile, fourth-year Desautels student and Spring Sing performer Kyle Briscoe will expand on his musical talents while training for new goals.

“I’m hoping to work towards running a marathon and writing more music,” he says.

In spite of everything, the pandemic has inspired creativity and ingenuity this year, and students are looking forward to the day when they can perform together again.

“In light of all the changes that we have had to adjust to this year, we have been shown many opportunities that weren’t feasible in past years,” says Hannah Johnson.

“We are excited to see how students will bring the skills they’ve learned into the next year. We have such diverse performers in our choirs and that creativity is what’s going to make concerts like this possible in the future!” says Johnson.

Desautels students are unstoppable, and we are incredibly proud of everything they have accomplished this year!