Schulich School of Music news

Introducing the Minor in Music Entrepreneurship: a collaboration between the Schulich School of Music of McGill University and McGill’s Desautels Faculty of Management.

The Schulich School of Music is conducting an internal competition to select its candidate for the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship competition. The deadline to submit applications for institutional review is May 17, 2016. Eligible candidates must demonstrate potential to pursue a research-intensive career in an area aligned with research interests at the Schulich School of Music and with the strategic priorities of McGill University. Candidates must have fulfilled all requirements for a PhD or PhD-equivalent degree:

Professor Stephen McAdams, Canada Research Chair in Music Perception and Cognition, is one of six outstanding Canadian researchers to be awarded a Canada Council for the Arts Killam Research Fellowship. He is the second Killam Research Fellowship recipient from the Schulich School of Music.

When he retired in 2010, Lawrence Mysak, Professor Emeritus in McGill’s Department of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, capped an illustrious and award-winning career in science and mathematics. But his research and teaching career ran parallel to another passion. Mysak is also an active musician, and has played the flute for over two decades as a member of the I Medici di McGill Orchestra. Recently he established the Lawrence A. Mysak Prize for Woodwinds at the Schulich School of Music, an annual undergraduate award whose first recipient will be announced in 2016.

Research at McGill is often celebrated for its international collaborations and recognition; but its importance at home, in the province of Quebec, is equally meritorious. This was never more apparent than at the recent award ceremony of the Société québécoise de recherche en musique (SQRM) when the outstanding work of six young McGill musicologists and theorists were recognized.  On Nov. 11, 2015, four McGill students were the finalists for the annual paper competition.   

Professor Emeritus John Grew, former Dean of Music, will be invested into the Order of Canada on Friday, February 12th 2016 in a ceremony at Rideau Hall. The ceremony, which begins at 10:30am EST, will be webcast live from the Governor General of Canada's website. A webcast link will be available on their homepage before 10:30am on Friday.

Versatility and virtuosity will be the hallmarks of the McGill Symphony Orchestra (MGSO)'s debut at Toronto's famed Koerner Hall on November 17, 2015. The first Canadian student orchestra to perform in New York's historic Carnegie Hall, the MGSO has earned a reputation as one of the most dynamic student orchestras in all of Canada. The Koerner Hall concert celebrates the 10th anniversary of the naming of the Schulich School of Music, and the concert is presented in partnership with the McGill Alumni Association.

In September 2015 five new faculty members joined the teaching body of the Schulich School of Music.  Adding to the current 62 full-time tenure-stream professors, 29 part-time professors and 135 instructors currently teaching at the school are Jean-Sébastien Vallée, Assistant Professor of Choral Conducting, Richard Stoelzel, Associate Professor of Trumpet, and Chair of the Brass Area, Jean-Michel Pilc, Associate Professor of Jazz (piano), John Hollenbeck, Associate Professor of Jazz (drums and composition) and Steph

John Buck, Jazz Drums, BMus'18, was named the recipient of the first Lou Williamson Jazz Award  yesterday in a ceremony held at the Schulich School of Music.  This award was  established in 2015 by Chris and Eve Millington in memory of the gifted jazz percussionist Lou Williamson .  Williamson was a former McGill instructor and was also a highly respected music administrator.  

The Schulich School of Music of McGill University is pleased to announce  that Professors William Caplin, James McGill Professor, Department of Music Research, Schulich School of Music and Philippe Leroux, Associate Professor, Department of Music Research, Schulich School of Music, were among the fourteen McGill researchers and scholars named Fellos of the Royal Society of Canada.  

The Peter Mendell Award was recently given to violinist Elizabeth Skinner, a student of Prof. Axel Strauss.   She receives a bursary of $2500.  All violin, viola, cello, and bass students  under the age of 25 and enrolled on a full-time basis in one of Quebec’s universities, all cycles, or the Conservatoire de musique du Québec,  in third, fourth, and fifth cycles are eligible.  

Composition students and alumni have once again received awards at this year's SOCAN Foundation Awards for Young Composers.  The John Weinzweig Grand Prize Grand Prize awarded for the best overall work submitted in the competition Darren James Russo (M.Mus. 2015, B.Mus. 2011: studied with Denys Bouliane and Chris Paul Harman) The Sir Ernest MacMillan Awards For compositions for no fewer than thirteen performers up to a full symphony orchestra, which may include vocal participation and may be scored to include electroacoustics

This September, a groundbreaking new program at McGill University's Schulich School of Music will address that acute student stress and anxiety. Starting Sept. 1, studies in wellness will be added to the curriculum and new students will be required to take part in a peer mentorship program. The initiative is the first of its kind in Canada.  (Full article in sidebar link)

One music theorist greatly invested in the topic was Nicola Vicentino (1511–c.1575) who, inspired by the writings of the ancient Greeks, wrote a treatise proposing a 31-tone division of the octave. […] This "what if" scenario captured the imagination of Jon Wild, associate professor of theory and composition at McGill University's Schulich School of Music, who studied the treatise and soon realized he could use modern Auto-Tune software to bring Vicentino's startling ideas to life nearly 500 years later.

Schulich School of Music student Sven-Amin Lembke has been awarded two McGill convocations prizes that will be awarded on May 27, 2015. He will receive one of two Governor General's Gold Medal awards for the most outstanding McGill graduate receiving a Doctoral degree in 2014-15 in any discipline, as well as The McGill Alumni Association Graduate Award which is given to an outstanding McGill graduate receiving a degree in 2014-15 in any discipline