Despite being one of Canada’s most prolific composers in the twentieth century, Eldon Rathburn (LMus 1937) still remains somewhat unknown. Over the course of his 75-year musical career, Rathburn churned out hundreds of remarkable film scores that provided the soundtrack for a wide variety of productions, in addition to many orchestral and chamber pieces. With such an extensive catalogue of noteworthy works, Rathburn certainly deserves a prominent place in the Canadian musical canon.
Before the age of 24, trumpeter Francis LaPorte (BMus 2018) will have already performed with two of the world’s biggest orchestras: the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) and L’Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal (OSM). For Francis, this is only the beginning of his life-long ambition to pursue trumpet professionally.
According to Deniz Ucbasaran of the Warkwick Business School, leaders of jazz ensembles have a lot to teach us about how to innovate as entrepreneurs. Looking at iconic figures in jazz such as Miles Davis, Art Blakey and Duke Ellington, Ucbasaran’s award-winning paper presented many standout concepts applicable to the business world at large that were revealed through investigating how these artists ran their groups.
On Sunday, November 25, Pollack Hall was host to several outstanding performances as part of the final round of the Wirth Vocal Prize. At the end of the evening, tenor Marcel d'Entremont was announced as the competition’s winner, having sung an exceptional program with collaborative pianist Dakota Scott-Digout, that included works by Verdi, Duparc, Schubert, Tchaikovsky, Quilter and Copland
The Schulich School of Music of McGill University is proud to announce that Thierry Tidrow is the grand prize winner of the inaugural edition of the Graham Sommer Competition for Young Composers. The $15,000 first prize for Tidrow’s new work for piano quintet, “Quicksilver,” was among $45,000 in total prize earnings awarded at the Concert and Prize Gala on Saturday, September 29, at Pollack Hall. This new national competition for Canadian composers under the age of 35 was founded by Dr.
Students at the Schulich School of Music can apply for an internship with CBC Music, where they'll get the chance to work with CBC Montreal's music team on broadcast recording projects, online editorial pieces and more for optional credit. The deadline to apply is September 22, 2018! Read below for full information.
INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITY WITH CBC MUSIC 2018-2019
POSITION: unpaid internship in music production and journalism (for optional credit)
LOCATION: Montreal, QC
(Blog post by Nick Walshe and Chris Maskell)
Recent Juno-award winning jazz composer and pianist David Braid will be visiting the Schulich School of Music this week to collaborate with jazz faculty and student improvisers in concert. Chris Maskell caught up with him in this recent interview to learn more about his music and his approach to improvisation.
The Schulich School of Music is pleased to announce the five finalists for the inaugural edition of the Graham Sommer Competition for Young Composers. This new national competition for Canadian composers under the age of 35 was founded by Dr. Graham Sommer, MDCM’72, (1946-2016), a graduate of McGill University’s Faculty of Medicine and an accomplished pianist and devoted music lover. In this first edition of the competition, five finalists are to compose works for piano quintet (piano and string quartet) which will be judged in front of a live panel.
Congratulations to Eric Abramovitz (B.Mus 2016), who was recently appointed as the associate principal/Eb clarinet of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO). We spoke to him in a recent email exchange about how studying at Schulich prepared him for this position.
How did the Schulich School of Music prepare you for life as a professional musician?
Congratulations to soprano Anna-Sophie Neher (MMus ’18) and mezzo-soprano Rihab Chaieb (BMus ’10) for being selected to participate in the 17th edition of the Concours musical international de Montréal (CMIM). Between May 29 and June 7, 2018, Neher and Chaieb will join 36 other singers to compete for prestigious prizes totalling over $265 000, including an $80 000 grand prize in both the art song and aria categories.
In November 2017, Dean Brenda Ravenscroft won the the Society for Music Theory's 2017 Outstanding Multi-Authored Publication Award for the first volume of Analytical Essays on Music by Women Composers (in collaboration wit
Every week, the Schulich School of Music sees musicians from all over Montreal come together to learn about the music of Brazil. In a ten-week free workshop directed by guitarist Rodrigo Simões (through support of Schulich's Jazz Performance and Music Education areas), a group of over 20 participants has the chance to learn the ins-and-outs of samba, Baiaõ and maxixe on their main instruments, as well as perform supporting roles on a variety of percussion instruments.
Simone McIntosh (M.Mus 2017) continues her streak of successes with an upcoming appearance singing the title role in Rossini's "La Cenerentola." The production, which will be put on by Vancouver Opera in the spring, will be McIntosh's first mainstage appearance in a lead role.
After graduating from Schulich (where she won the 2016 Wirth Vocal Prize), she has gone on to work in the Canadian Opera Company's Studio Ensemble for the 2017/18 season, among other notable national appearances.
The winners of the Conseil québécois de la musique's 21e Prix Opus have been announced and many faculty members and alumni took home awards this year!
Read here for a list of artists that have a connection with Schulich. Not listed are the many faculty members and alumni who perform in the many nominated orchestras.
Concert de l'année - Montréal
Yannick Nézet-Séguin (honorary doctorate) for Une page d'histoire: Yannick Nézet-Séguin dirige le sublime Parsifal
The Schulich School of Music is well-represented in the 2018 Juno Awards, with nominees appearing in three different categories. Congratulations to all of our alumni, faculty and students who released music this past year!
2018 Juno Nominees:
Classical Album of the Year (Vocal or Choral)
Philippe Sly (B.Mus 2011) & John Charles Britton - Schubert Sessions: Lieder with Guitar
Daniel Taylor (L.Mus 1992) with the Trinity Choir - The Tree of Life