The School of Dance, 杏吧原创’s Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, and its School for Studies in Art & Culture sponsored the event, which took place at the 杏吧原创-Dominion Chalmers Centre on the evening of December 8th.

All images are courtesy of Gilles V茅zina.

The post The Art of Creating the <i>Pas de Deux</i> appeared first on Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences.

By Emily Putnam

Artist-in-Residence has closed their residency at 杏吧原创 with two student-led performances.

Shortt is a storyteller and performing artist working across Turtle Island and internationally. They are a vocalist, saxophonist, noisemaker, improviser, composer, sound designer, video artist, curator, administrator, and producer.

Shortt has been on campus since January 2024. While here, they’ve taught a course called Music Producing 101 (MUSI 4200) and ran the Performer-Composer Lab ensemble. They also gave a masterclass, presented a concert at 杏吧原创 Dominion-Chalmers Centre, and took part in music auditions and juries.

They say 杏吧原创鈥檚 music program hosts a uniquely diverse range of musicians in study.

鈥淭he program here is really great because I’m meeting students from a plethora of genres. I have metal guitar players, I have singer-songwriters, I have classical musicians and jazz musicians, people who are self-taught, and people who have had lessons their whole life. I think it creates a really interesting dynamic that’s fun to work with.”

Shortt says the students they鈥檝e worked with have been open and eager to the new challenges they鈥檝e been assigned.

鈥淪tudents here are super keen. They have been absolutely amazing to work with. I don’t think I’ve met that many people who are just happy to try things out.鈥�

Shortt focussed on teaching students how to prepare artist bios, build their resume, and send email pitches in hopes of helping artists become more well-rounded experts of their craft.

The 杏吧原创 Music that occurred on April 1 took place at local venue .

The showcase featured the music of ABBA, Gotye, Andrea Bocelli, and several original compositions from 杏吧原创 music students.

The ensemble also collaborated with 杏吧原创鈥檚 radio station where students Robyn Lichaa, Sarah Peters and Anastasia Wasylinko  and performed pieces that will be featured at the showcase.

Shortt says connections and community can be one of the keys to success.

鈥淚 think it’s the advice everyone gives, and not everyone takes 鈥� which is: ask the local artists you’re interested in for coffee, because you learn so much from these conversations. I’ve done that so many times. I still do it.鈥�

Shortt also advises aspiring artists to refrain from being discouraged when things don鈥檛 go according to plan.

They say Ottawa鈥檚 community has welcomed them with open arms.

鈥淚 really like that Ottawa seems to have specific communities. And while maybe if you look statistically, there’s less, it’s almost like there’s more, because you’re really focusing on specific places.鈥�

Shortt says they particularly connected with 鈥檚 work, one of Ottawa鈥檚 leading independent and underground music and arts presenters.

鈥淚 found people really want to connect with you. Even if they don’t have the time, even if time鈥檚 not available, they’re like: I’ll find time.鈥�

Another focus of Shortt鈥檚 teaching was improvisation and interpreting music beyond traditional notation.

鈥淚 did all this training for so long, and then someone introduced me to improvisation. It really opened my eyes and reshaped how I looked at my previous training and classical music.鈥�

鈥淭here’s now these different ideas and ways of approaching improvisation, but they all coalesce, and they all come together. I just think it’s good to make sure you’re working all the different parts of your brain. I think they all work together in the end, and I’m just hoping that I can help make people into full and complete musicians, so that they’re not just only looking at music one way.鈥�

Shortt鈥檚 most recent artistic expression-of-choice is creating that encompass all components of their creativity.

鈥淚 really like video art because it kind of became a substitute for theatre, which I had really fallen in love with.鈥�

The second student-led performance will be taking place on Friday, April 5 at the Kailash Mital Theatre at 杏吧原创 University.

The post Celebrating Music, Creativity and Community with Artist-in-Residence Olivia Shortt appeared first on Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences.

By Emily Putnam

Those from the 杏吧原创 community tuning-in to the this weekend may get to see a familiar face on screen.

, who is now a Juno nominated composer, started her journey at 杏吧原创 in 2002 to study jazz guitar.

Brandon says she feels overwhelmed and excited for her first-time nomination.

鈥淚t鈥檚 wonderful to have this acknowledgement from my peers and to be in the company of the other nominees I admire so much, such as Dinuk Wijeratne, Emilie Lebel and Nicole Liz茅e.鈥�

Brandon is nominated for Classical Composition of the Year for , a piece recorded with and cellist , who she says she wrote the piece for.

鈥淪imulacra is essentially a sonification of my own experiences with identity鈥�, says Brandon. 鈥淟ike many others, I鈥檝e often felt intense pressure to alter aspects of my fundamental self in order to better 鈥榝it in鈥�.鈥�

鈥淚 express this in the piece by making the timbre of the cello a metaphor for this kind of self-inhibition and self-suppression 鈥� it travels from the narrowest of timbral ranges to the fullest, undergoing continuous transformation, eventually ending in an uneasy balance.鈥�

Brandon鈥檚 compositions have been described as 鈥�…gut wrenching and horrific鈥� (Critipeg), and “otherworldly, a clashing of bleakness with beauty” (Minor Seventh).

鈥淚 get great satisfaction from creating music that has a certain physicality, although sometimes that quality is not necessarily beautiful in the traditional sense. But to me, this manipulation of timbre is what carries the most communicative aspects of music.鈥�

The piece, conducted by , was first performed at the in 2023 and was supported by , and .

鈥淭he title of the cello concerto, Simulacra, refers to Baudrillard鈥檚 famous book on semiotics, and the concept of 鈥榓 copy that does not have an original鈥�. This is a nod to the idea that sometimes we create our identities out of nothing, creating a kind of hyperreal self that replaces us in the real world.鈥� says Brandon.

She says her education at 杏吧原创 helped to instill important values that she carries with her today.

鈥淚 worked with Wayne Eagles, Garry Elliott, Tim Bedner and , all of whom had a profound impact on me musically and as a person. I was lucky to have had the chance to work further with Roddy beyond my degree – we toured a little together on the East Coast and he is featured on my first album, ‘‘ which was released in 2016. He’s a brilliant guitarist and composer.鈥�

鈥淚 also took classical guitar lessons from Garry even after I graduated. His approach to teaching gave me a foundation of discipline which I relied on later in life as I moved into composition. He taught me that nothing good comes without effort and practice, which is a philosophy I use to this day twenty years later.鈥�

Brandon says 杏吧原创鈥檚 music program was always encouraging of her innovative and unique sonic interpretations.

鈥淥ne thing I appreciated about 杏吧原创 as a whole was its openness to musical ideas and influences from beyond the traditional conservatory system. I never felt that my musical ideas, however outlandish, were considered unwelcome. This musical openness definitely laid the foundation for my later approach to composition and performance in more experimental and free improvisational styles.鈥�

She says her compositions help bring her internal emotions outward.

鈥淔or me, composing is as simple as wanting to take everything that I hear inside, and bringing it outside. Simulacra, and all my pieces are these kinds of personal communications to ‘the outside world’.鈥�

鈥淚’m grateful that other people have found these expressions to be something worthwhile, and I cherish all the collaborations with performers that have come from that.鈥�

This year鈥檚 winners will be revealed in Halifax, Nova Scotia at the  Presented by Music Canada on Saturday, March 23 and The on Sunday, March 24, live on CBC.

The post 杏吧原创 Music Alum Amy Brandon Receives Juno Award Nomination appeared first on Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences.

As the room began to fill up before her lecture, film studies professor Malini Guha wanted to test the AV for the film she鈥檇 be screening 鈥� directed by John Akomfrah and produced by the Black Audio Film Collective.

The film flashed across the screen, and for a moment, there was a familiar voice singing the blues.

鈥淎re we watching a documentary about Robert Johnson?鈥� music student Mubarak Farah enthusiastically called out from the back of the classroom. 鈥淗e鈥檚 the best singer of all time.鈥�

鈥淪ort of!鈥� replied Guha. 鈥淭he music students in the room will like this one. It鈥檚 a film about music.鈥�

The course, titled Race and Representation in the Arts, took place in the fall of 2023 and was co-taught by School for Studies in Art and Culture Professors Malini Guha (Film Studies), G眉l Kale (Art and Architectural History), and Kathy Armstrong (Music).

It used an interdisciplinary approach to equip students in and outside arts programs with skills to examine representation in the arts and influence positive change in their future career endeavors.

Guha, sharing her vision for the course, expresses, “By resisting the traditional boundaries of 鈥榙iscipline鈥�, our course opens up space for students and instructors alike to share their existing knowledge on these topics as represented across music, architectural history, and film while also learning from each other.”

The lectures were split into three-week segments taught by Armstrong, Kale, then Guha. Students engaged in cross-disciplinary and collaborative work along the way, building a portfolio of their work together in small groups, and exploring everything from city soundscapes, to race in modern architectural discourse, to Afrofuturism and Indigenous Futurism.

Armstrong, a percussionist who studies Ghanaian music and participatory music-making, underscores the course’s impact by pointing out how students, right from the first class, spoke to one another about personal experiences.

“We wanted the course to engage with lived experiences rather than being merely theoretical reflections,” says Kale, a trained architect and architectural historian, who hopes the course empowers students to implement positive changes in their interactions with the world and diverse communities.

Mubarak Farah, a music student and professional pianist, says he loved the long discussions that took place with his peers and instructors throughout the course, and “appreciate[d] that every voice was heard.”

“I think the value that can be gained here is people from each of these disciplines can take what they’ve learned from the course and use it to make their respective industries much more fair and inclusive,” says Farah.

The post Race and Representation in the Arts Course Covers New Ground appeared first on Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences.

Theme: Your 杏吧原创 Experience

With prizes in two categories: Poetry and Songwriting

Sign up by March 1 by filling out the form below. Submit your work by March 10, 2023.

What is this? A call for students to submit original poems and songs to encourage artistic engagement in the 杏吧原创 community.

Who can participate? Any student in any program registered at 杏吧原创 University in the 2023 Winter term. There is no fee to participate.

Are there prizes? Yes!

• $300 first prizes, $200 second prizes in each category. There may be additional prizes given.
• Possible publication in an anthology of poems and song lyrics.
• Performance and/or recording of selected winning songs.
• The joy of creating and participating!

What should my poem or lyrics be about? Focus your creativity on one of the following topics: 

• Your experience at 杏吧原创 University, directly or indirectly related to your school activities.
• Your experience in your department or program.
• What you are learning in a course.
• It can be expressive, humourous, heart-felt, course content-specific, etc., but keep it mostly positive and have fun!

If I write music, what styles can I submit? Any style is accepted, any length or duration. Music can be with lyrics or instrumental. Music should be recorded in WAV or MP3 format. If there are lyrics, they need to be submitted on a separate PDF. If submitting instrumental music or a song without an obvious connection to the competition theme, you should also write an accompanying paragraph explaining how it relates to your 杏吧原创 experience. 

Who are the judges? Professionals in Creative Writing and Songwriting.

How will the submissions be assessed? Quality of artistic craft, relevance to theme, audience appeal; for music category only: vocal and/or instrumental performance standard (but recording quality is not an issue).

Can I write collaboratively? Yes, but all people on the team need to be 杏吧原创 students.

How many songs or poems can I submit? Each student may make one submission per category.

Can I submit if I miss the March 1 registration deadline? Although participation is not guaranteed after the deadline, you can inquire to see if the deadline has been extended for a specific category. 

Can I see and hear last year鈥檚 prize winners? A selection of excellent songs and poems from the 2021鈥�22 competition are included in the Creative Reflections of the Student Experience Anthology and Soundtrack.

What else? Students who participate will be asked to give permission for us at the university to share their work (though the student creator retains copyright of their work).

Additional competition details will be sent to those who sign up.  

For more information, contact:
Dr. James McGowan (JamesMcGowan@cunet.carleton.ca)
School for Studies in Art and Culture (SSAC)
PLACE (Performative Learning and Artistic Communities of Engagement) Program Coordinator
University Chair in Teaching Innovation 

Please register below to enter the competition. Those who register will be added to a Brightspace (non-credit) course. Further information on the competition is provided on Brightspace.

The post Songwriting and Poetry Competition appeared first on Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences.

The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences is elated to share that one of our faculty members has been elected to the  in recognition of the high level of excellence and potential demonstrated during their career.

Congratulations to Professor Jesse Stewart (Music), who has been named a member of the RSC College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists.

Dr. Stewart is an award-winning composer, percussionist, artist, researcher, and educator.

In addition to being highly commissioned as a composer and artist, he has published widely on subjects including jazz, improvisation, hip hop, and experimental music.

Dr. Stewart is one of three 杏吧原创 faculty members recently elected to the Royal Society of Canada, which you can .

The post FASS Professor Elected to the Royal Society of Canada appeared first on Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences.

Theme: your 杏吧原创 Experience

With prizes in 4 categories! Poetry, lyrics, songs and compositions.
Sign up by November 12, submit your work by February 1.

What is this? A call for students to submit poems, lyrics, songs and compositions to encourage artistic engagement in the 杏吧原创 community.

Who can participate? Any student in any program registered at 杏吧原创 University in the 2021鈥�22 academic year. 

Are there prizes? Yes!

• $300 first prizes and $200 second prizes in four categories – a) Poetry, b) Lyrics, c) Songs, d) Compositions.
• Possible publication in an anthology of poems and lyrics.
• Performance and/or recording of winning songs and compositions.
• The joy of creating and participating!

What should my poem or lyrics be about? Focus your creativity on one of the following topics: 

• Your experience at 杏吧原创 University.
• Your experience in your department or program.
• What you are learning in a course.
• It can be expressive, humourous, heart-felt, course content-specific, etc., but keep it positive and have fun!

If I write music, what styles can I submit? Any style is accepted, any length or duration. Music can be with lyrics or instrumental. Music can be just notated or just recorded or both. If submitting instrumental music, you should also write a paragraph explaining how it relates to your 杏吧原创 experience. 

Who are the judges? Professionals in Creative Writing, Composition, and Songwriting, including 杏吧原创 Faculty in FASS and community arts leaders.  

Can I write collaboratively? Yes, but all people on the team need to be 杏吧原创 students.

How many songs or poems can I submit? Each student can make one submission per category.

Can I submit if I miss the November 12 deadline?聽Although participation is not guaranteed after聽November 1, you can inquire to see if the deadline has been extended for a specific category.聽

What else? Students who participate will be asked to complete surveys about their 杏吧原创 experience and the role that the arts play in your community engagement. 

Additional competition details will be sent to those who sign up.  

For more information, contact:
Dr. James McGowan, PLACE (Performative Learning and Artistic Communities of Engagement) Program Coordinator, University Chair in Teaching Innovation JamesMcGowan@cunet.carleton.caJasmine Kharazmi, PLACE Communications Assistant JasmineKharazmiToosi@cmail.carleton.ca

Please enter the competition by registering below.

The post Songwriting and Poetry Competition appeared first on Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences.

By Nick Ward

Music’s newly appointed Visiting Scholar聽Hooshyar Khayam’s聽latest album聽, has been selected by the United Kingdom-based world music journal聽.

Khayam is an Iranian-British musician, composer, pianist, and teacher who produces music in contemporary classical, fusion, and world music styles, and composes scores for film and theatre. 

Raaz, which translates from Farsi to “secret,”is a collaboration between Khayam and fellow award-winning musician Bamdad Afshar. It is the very first release from the innovative German-based 30M label, .

The album is representative of Khayam’s field recordings from Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan province on the Pakistani border. It incorporates Gwati, a form of Iranian healing music, and blends this form with elements of electronic music and the implementation of traditional male and female vocals.

In recent years, western jazz and music of the Middle East have been inspiring one another and creating new ways of thinking. Khayam’s work is a perfect exemplar of this phenomenon.   

“I have constantly worked halfway between my admiration of the music of the West and passion for the East,” explains Khayam.

Recently appointed as Music’s Visiting Scholar, Khayam has been a prolific composer and producer since finishing his Doctorate of Musical Arts in composition at the University of Cincinnati in 2005. Upon graduation, he returned to Iran to begin a series of travel experiences working and studying his home country’s music and its neighbouring nations’ music and culture, including Azerbaijan, Kurdistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Armenia and Georgia.  

“I also worked on some music from the regions within Iran,” says Khayam. “Some of these influences impacted my work almost subconsciously and thus naturally worked their way into my compositions.”

Critics around the globe have described Khayam’s music as avant-garde, experimental, hopeful, and magical. Have a listen to his pre-Raaz work:

Khayam wrote the string quartet Monir (2013) as the soundtrack to a film by Iranian filmmaker Bahman Kiarostami on the life and art of Iranian painter and sculpturist Monir Shahroudi Farmanfarmaian. Music performed and recorded by Kronos Quartet 

The post Music鈥檚 Visiting Scholar Recognized for Transformative International Album appeared first on Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences.

杏吧原创 University鈥檚 is pleased to announce that genre-defying multi-instrumentalist will be the artist-in-residence in 杏吧原创鈥檚 music program for the Winter 2021 semester.
As artist-in-residence, Cancura will offer private saxophone lessons to Bachelor of Music students, conduct masterclasses, direct 杏吧原创鈥檚 Jazz and Roots ensemble, and offer public concerts. He also will teach a new course titled 鈥淭he Creative Process for Musicians鈥� that will explore the artistic and logistical challenges of taking a musical concept from idea to presentation.
Born in Czech Republic, Cancura is a graduate of 杏吧原创 University鈥檚 Bachelor of Music program. After earning a Master of Music degree from the New England Conservatory in Boston, he lived in Brooklyn, New York for ten years, cultivating many professional relationships and establishing himself as a leader in the field of creative music. Now based in Ottawa, Cancura is the current Program Director of the Ottawa Jazz Festival. From 2015-2017, he was the Musical Director of the National Arts Center鈥檚 Crossroads Series, reimagining the songs of current Canadian songwriters for an all-star jazz cast.

As a saxophonist, mandolinist, composer, and producer, Cancura blends roots music and jazz to create an authentic, fresh, and raw sound. His recording Down Home was nominated for the 2015 Best Instrumental Album JUNO, and was awarded the Independent Music Award for Best Instrumental Album of the Year. Petr鈥檚 most recent releases include a roots-inspired quartet recording featuring Kenny Wollesen and Tony Scherr, and a cinema/avant-garde inspired quartet recording featuring Jesse Zubot, Gordon Grdina and Jean Martin. In November 2020, he will launch his third release this year, which features the great guitarist Charlie Hunter and drummer Geoff Clapp. All of these are available on Roots2Boot Recordings, an independent record label run by Cancura.
Highlights include having performed and recorded with Charlie Hunter, Danilo Perez, Julian Lage, Bob Moses, Joe Morris, Richie Barshay, The Ghost Train Orchestra, Kathleen Edwards, The Mighty Popo, Matt Wilson, Tony Scherr, and Kenny Wollesen. Other credits include performances with Aretha Franklin, Jamie Cullum, Bobby Previte and many more.
Cancura strives to bring the best out of students, pushing them to pursue and solidify their own voice. He did a phenomenal job as the 2015-16 artist-in-residence at 杏吧原创 University, and we are pleased to be welcoming him back to 杏吧原创 for the 2021 Winter semester.

More 杏吧原创 Petr

The post Announcing New Winter Artist in Residence Petr Cancura appeared first on Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences.

The post The End of an Era for 杏吧原创 Jazz appeared first on Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences.