“Not only does this concert hall fill a significant need for our faculty, musical community and city, it enhances us nationally and globally as a university that inspires and houses world-class musicians,” says Monica Huisman, an instructor in the Faculty and a donor to the concert hall.

The funds raised through the campaign will help ensure completion of the performance hub, which will showcase some of the finest talent from our UM community and beyond. The venue will give UM students valuable performance experience in a world-class hall, which will be an invaluable part of their training. It will also provide performance opportunities for a wide range of artists in Winnipeg’s diverse musical community.

“With state-of-the-art acoustics, adjustable proscenium, and orchestral pit, the concert hall will provide an outstanding performance experience for our students, faculty, and community musicians. It is flexible enough to accommodate a range of musical activities, from the solo performer, to our various small ensembles, to large ensembles such as our opera productions and University of Manitoba Jazz Orchestra. The concert hall will be not just an important feature of the Desautels Faculty of Music and the University of Manitoba, but also a vital contribution to Winnipeg’s musical life,” says Edward Jurkowski, Dean of the Desautels Faculty of Music.

The concert hall is set to open in the fall of 2024 on the Fort Garry campus as the grand finale of the Taché Arts Project. The inspired design is the work of Winnipeg’s Cibinel Architecture and Toronto’s Teeple Architects. Both Cibinel partners, George Cibinel [BES/77] and Michael Robertson [BA/98, MA/04], are UM Faculty of Architecture graduates, as is Tomer Diamant [BEnvD/04] of Teeple. The concert hall won the AN Best in Design Award 2021.

“So many artists will have the opportunity to flourish, as the concert hall bridges the off-stage rehearsal experience to the on-stage practical experience,” says alum Evan Chan [BMus/23]. “The venue will also positively impact the local music scene and will be a dream come true for music students like me.”

Other funding for the Desautels Concert Hall has come from its benefactor, the late Marcel Desautels, who previously made a $10 million gift, and through the generosity of many other donors. In December 2019, the university gratefully acknowledged a gift of $2.5 million from Dr. Michael F. B. Nesbitt. More recently, a gift of $2.5 million was also generously given by Gail Asper, who has been a staunch supporter of the arts at UM and also previously made a gift to establish the Gail Asper Performing Arts Hall, located in the Taché Arts Complex.

Stay tuned for more information coming soon about the grand opening of the Desautels Concert Hall!

Be part of this legacy project and take your seat at the Desautels Concert Hall today. The deadline to secure your seat in the hall is July 2, 2024.

UM faculty and staff may be able to pay for their seat through payroll deduction. Visit this website for more information.

The weeklong schedule of events included Indigenous Homecoming’s Living Library, the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences Dean’s Breakfast, Bisons Homecoming Football game and Robson Hall’s 50^th year on the anniversary celebrations – just to name a few.

Adding to the excitement, the Front and Centre campaign reached a massive milestone with the support of 25,075 UM alumni who have given to the campaign to date. Thanks to donors, the campaign has reached $361,850,173 of the $500 million goal.

At the annual Homecoming concert, alumni heard the creative brilliance of Desautels Faculty of Music students preparing to illuminate stages across the world, who now rehearse in the historic Taché Arts Complex, one of 44 newly redeveloped places and spaces.

Our community also witnessed the legacy of athletic excellence support the next generation of Bisons when members of the 1969/70 Vanier Cup team announced a new scholarship, one of 629 new scholarships and bursaries.

Alumni had the opportunity to walk the halls of the Stanley Pauley Engineering Building, one of five new buildings constructed through the campaign, where students and faculty are conducting outstanding work to innovate and advance the world.

Experience an incredible week through the UM Homecoming wrap video 2019:

The FitzGerald name has been transferred over to the School of Art wing (the east wing) of the new Taché Arts Complex, which also houses the Desautels Faculty of Music.

The name honours L.L. FitzGerald, an early principal of the School of Art and an artist who exhibited with the Group of Seven.

According to the National Gallery of Canada’s website:

L.L. (Lionel LeMoine) FitzGerald was an accomplished draftsman, painter, printmaker and art educator. His subjects arose from his detailed observations of nature in Winnipeg and Manitoba, where he worked throughout his life.

FitzGerald took evening classes at A.S. Kesztheyli’s Art School in 1909, and from 1912 he found employment designing window displays, interior decorating, and painting theatre backdrops. From 1913 he exhibited with the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, and held his first solo exhibition at the Winnipeg Art Gallery in 1921. Feeling the need for more training, he travelled to New York to study at the Art Students League with the Canadian-born artist Boardman Robinson and with Kenneth Hayes Miller during the winter of 1921-22.

Returning to Winnipeg, he worked in commercial design and became assistant to G. Keith Gebhardt, Principal of the Winnipeg School of Art in 1924, before his own appointment as Principal (1929-49). Since teaching made considerable demands on his time, his art developed slowly and methodically. Drawing the Manitoba landscape was as important as painting, and he exhibited primarily in Winnipeg and Toronto.

Following an exhibition of his work in Toronto in 1928, FitzGerald was invited to exhibit with the Group of Seven. He became a member in 1932, just before the Group’s expansion into the Canadian Group of Painters, of which FitzGerald was a charter member.

The name changes come into effect in advance of Homecoming 2019, which takes place at the University of Manitoba from Sept. 16 to Sept. 22.

So when the visionary media tycoon established The Asper Foundation in 1983, he wasted no time sugar-coating his expectations of the family’s charitable organization to his children – David, Gail, and Leonard.

“Fight all you like about business,” he said, “but what will keep you together as a family is that you’ll have the Asper Foundation, which will give you the opportunity to do something useful with your lives.”

As the Foundation celebrated its 35^th anniversary this past Saturday, it is undeniable that the Aspers – along with family friend and executive director Moe Levy [BComm/73, MBA/74] – have taken Izzy’s words to heart. 

(L-R) Izzy Asper with Moe Levy.

The Asper Foundation is behind some of the most world-renowned human rights projects, including the Canadian Museum for Human Rights and the Holocaust Studies Program at Yad Vashem’s International School for Holocaust Studies in Israel. Locally, Winnipeg’s science, education and arts communities have benefitted greatly from initiatives like the I.H. Asper Clinical Research Institute, the Asper Jewish Community Campus and the Lyric Theatre at Assiniboine Park. In 2000, the Jewish Foundation of Manitoba and the Winnipeg Foundation received $10 million each from the Aspers, greatly expanding the collective reach of philanthropy in the province.

Here at the University of Manitoba, the Asper family has collectively contributed over $17.5 million which continues to directly impact students, staff and faculty in nine faculties and all three colleges.

Most prominent, perhaps, is the I.H. Asper School of Business which continually ranks among the best in Canada and includes the Asper Chair in International Business and Trade Law and the Stu Clark Centre for Entrepreneurship (formerly the Asper Centre for Entrepreneurship).

Music and the arts are also closely linked to the Aspers. Gail [BA/81, LLB/84, LLD/08] herself performed in multiple productions from the Black Hole Theatre Company during her student days, and just last fall, she and husband Michael unveiled the Gail Asper Performing Arts Hall in the newly renovated Taché Arts Complex. Decades earlier, the Aspers also funded a professorship, instruments, programming and student awards for the Desautels Faculty of Music’s jazz program.

David [BA/80], a life-long football fan, is also a decades-long supporter of U of M athletics which includes a bursary for Bison football and the Ruth Asper Scholarships in Physical Education and Kinesiology. In 2013, the university opened the David Asper University of Manitoba Bison Football Centre at Investors Group Field to recognize his commitment to Bison athletes.

There are also the lesser-known gifts – in 2011, to help digitize The Manitoban; in 2018, to a teaching fellowship in Judaic Studies – that reveal the depth and breadth of the Asper Foundation’s contributions to the university.

“The University is immensely fortunate to have such a strong relationship with the Asper family, and to have benefitted from their generosity over these past three decades across numerous capital campaigns and campus initiatives,” says U of M President and Vice-Chancellor David Barnard. “Their enthusiasm for the continued success of our students, staff and faculty is evident from every conversation and campus visit. The University of Manitoba occupies a special place in their lives, as they do in ours.”

Most notably, on Thursday evening, alumni and U of M community members were invited to explore state-of-the-art rehearsal spaces at the grand opening of the new addition to the Taché Arts Complex. The 60,000-square foot building will provide much-needed space for the Desautels Faculty of Music

When the former music building opened in 1966, it had a capacity of just 60 students—today there are 260 enrolled in the faculty. During the grand opening U of M alumnus and honourary degree recipient Marcel A. Desautels and voice professor Robert McLaren wowed the standing-room-only crowd with a duet performance of ‘O Sole Mio,’ which received boisterous applause and a standing ovation.

Also honoured that evening was philanthropist, arts supporter and U of M honourary degree recipient Dr. Bonnie Buhler, who announced a $1 million gift to support graduate students in music. “The idea that I can support young musicians by freeing them from some financial burdens so they can focus on fulfilling their creative potential is an opportunity I couldn’t let pass,” Buhler said. “It is a privilege to help these students who have spent their lives sacrificing so much to develop their musical talents. It’s an honour to play a part in their journey.”

Dr. Bonnie Buhler, centre, announced a $1 million gift to create an endowment fund to support outstanding graduate students in the Desautels Faculty of Music.

Attendees had the opportunity to tour the new spaces, including the Multi-Media Lab showing scenes from Chopin’s Heart, a film featured at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival with score composed by alumnus Steven Webb [BMus/11]. Rehearsal rooms featured performances by students, faculty and alumni, including alumna Tracy Dahl, the University of Manitoba Singers, conducted by Elroy Friesen, and the University of Manitoba Wind Ensemble, conducted by Jacquie Dawson.

New to this year’s Homecoming celebrations was the Brown and Gold Brunch, held on Sunday. Alumni in attendance had a chance to connect with old friends and colleagues, as well as current students seated at each table to hear about their areas of study and their thoughts on the exciting developments taking place on campus. Dr. David T. Barnard, President and Vice-Chancellor, hosted the event.

“As we come together for Homecoming, I ask us all to reflect on the immense value of the community this university creates,” said Barnard. “I believe we are more aware than ever that at the heart of our many successes is a community of people—diverse people who are empowered to thrive in a culture of respect. Together, we support the transformation of tens of thousands of students, and ultimately of this province, our nation and the world.”

The Autonomous Agents Laboratory demonstrates its award-winning robots.

The Autonomous Agents Laboratory was on hand as well, showcasing their award-winning robots. The teams of undergraduate and grad students are fresh off of a very successful trip from the FIRA HuroCup robotics competition in Kaohsiung, Taiwan where they won two gold and one silver medal and finished fourth overall. Demonstrations of their two humanoid robots garnered oohs and ahs as well as laughter from the audience while they performed tasks such as archery, weightlifting, long jump and basketball.

Support for Indigenous students was highlighted at the Indigenous Achievement Homecoming event on Wednesday where students had the opportunity to connect and engage with U of M alumni, faculty, staff and community leaders during rounds of speed networking.

“Networking with Indigenous alumni was inspiring. I appreciate that the university puts events like this on – it makes students feel like they matter,” said Christine Hallett, an Indigenous student in her second year.

At Saturday’s annual Homecoming football game, the Bisons took on the University of Calgary Dinos. The Bisons fell to the Dinos, 76-17, but despite the tough loss and the damp weather, the energy of the crowd remained high. The Bisons unveiled a new uniform, which is a throwback to the 2007 season and a Vanier Cup champion. Players from that team were on hand to celebrate their 10^th anniversary during a special halftime announcement.

Faculty reunions are often considered to be the heart of Homecoming. This year there were more than 20 events held on both campuses and across the city, including a number of graduating classes of 1967, such as Home Economics, Agriculture and Kinesiology, who were celebrating their 50^th anniversary. In particular, the Faculty of Engineering celebrated its 110^th year—a significant milestone honouring the history of grads who have had a transformational impact on almost every industry in every corner of the world.

These faculty-specific events provided alumni with a chance to catch up with old classmates and reminisce about the times that brought them together. They also served as a great opportunity to share stories with fellow alumni from different graduating classes and hear from current faculty members about the exciting development of the Stanley Pauley Centre. Thanks to a combined gift of nearly $10 million from alumnus Stanley Pauley, construction is underway for a building for the Faculty of Engineering that will bear his name.

The Grand Opening of the New Addition to the Taché Arts Complex will unveil the renovation and restoration of Taché Hall that houses memories for many in the U of M community.

Built in 1911 as the male and female dormitories, the four-storey building was the largest on the new Fort Garry campus, with a façade almost as long as two football fields. It housed up to 200 women and 400 men, most of them home economics and agriculture students from rural Manitoba.

The dorms on Dafoe Road were the social hub of the university, housing two gyms, two swimming pools, lounges, an auditorium, and a dining room. For almost 30 years, home economics students ran a tea room. Concerts, plays, church services, dances, debates, and graduation ceremonies also took place here.

As more faculties and schools opened, the residence was renamed the Manitoba Union Building. However, students were forced to leave during the Second World War, when their home turned into an infantry basic training centre for about 3,000 men.

Left in shambles in 1945, the iconic campus building endured further damage during the Red River Flood of 1950 and did not see major renovations until 1979. By that point, a separate women’s residence had been built, and the men’s dorms were renamed Taché Hall after Archbishop Alexandre Antonin Taché, one of the university’s founders.

Taché Hall housed not only students and soldiers but also flood evacuees in 1997 and athletes during the 1999 Pan American Games. Almost 40 years ago, an idea arose to house various schools and programs, including art, music, and theatre, within Taché.

In 2011, that idea became a reality. Taché Hall closed as a residence and—thanks to our donors—is becoming a central home for the School of Art, Desautels Faculty of Music, and the theatre program in the Faculty of Arts. The Taché Arts Project is a cornerstone of the Front and Centre campaign and has already supported the creation of new spaces like the Gail Asper Performing Arts Hall and John J. Conklin Theatre.

On Sept. 14, the U of M will officially open a brand new 60,000 square foot addition to the Taché Arts Complex. All are welcome to attend to explore stunning new spaces and enjoy live performances by Desautels Faculty of Music students, faculty and alumni.

There is no cost for this event but space is limited and registration is required. For more information on this event, and other Homecoming activities, visit: umanitoba.ca/homecoming