Classical music: VYSO looks to its past and future for 95th birthday celebration
“At a time when music education in public schools faces alarming cuts, the role of the VYSO has never been more important. As students move through our four orchestras, they don’t just grow as musicians — they grow into thoughtful, engaged, and compassionate individuals, shaped by the kind of artistic training that helps build a better world.” ~ Jonathan Girard, UBC Director of Orchestral Activities/ Vancouver Sun
UBC Opera visits Harbin Normal University in China for Cross-Cultural Exchange
UBC Opera Ensemble perform Thunderstorm at the Harbin Conservatory of Music in Heilongjiang Province, China. / Images from Harbin Normal University
UBC Music student Linda Ruan wins First Prize in the 2025 Eckhardt-Gramatté National Music Competition
UBC Music Students Linda Ruan (DMPS 2nd yr) received First Prize and Hamilton Lau (BMus’24, MMus 1st yr) received Second Prize, at the 48th Eckhardt-Gramatté National Music Competition. / Photo: E-Gré Competition
PhD Student, Holly Bergeron-Dumaine receives Killam Graduate Teaching Assistant Award.
Holly Bergeron-Dumaine’s research encompasses Music Pedagogy, counter-canonical approaches to Popular Music studies & pedagogy, and analysis of music in video games with an emphasis on Timbre & Genre.
From Bach to beats: How Ryan Davis is redefining the viola’s sound
Blending classical roots with the pulse of folk, electronic, and hip-hop, School of Music professor Ryan Davis—known by his moniker “Radia”—is carving out a space for the viola that is both fresh and timeless. His journey as a violist and composer defies tradition, embracing a fusion of genres to breathe new life into an instrument often overshadowed in classical music./ UBC Faculty of Arts
Piano prodigy Jaeden Izik-Dzurko: “serious”, “introverted” and… extremely refined
Jaeden Izik-Dzurko is having an international career, Montreal piano music lovers will attend his Sunday afternoon recital at Pierre-Mercure hall. Alain Brunet had a chat with this more than excellent player./ Pro Musica
Stir Cheat Sheet: 5 things to know about the French Romantic opera Manon
For this UBC Opera and Opera West collaboration, emerging stars take the lead in a classic story with a long history of fame and scandal / Stir Magazine
Vancouver violinist makes epic music for math that ‘changed the human race forever’
UBC Music Alum Jack Campbell (BMus ’24) has created music based on the mathematics used to crack the Enigma code during the Second World War. /Credit: Vancouver is Awesome
Alberta composer looks to Indigenous culture for composition, Controlled Burn
UBC Music Alum Cris Derksen’s (BMus’07) composition, “Controlled Burn” begins with a “col legno” passage, which is when the strings are hit by the wood back of the bow. For the Cree composer, the “crackly sound” is meant to emulate nature.
Music and Disability Studies Q & A with Dr. Anabel Maler, Professor of Music Theory
“I’d like to suggest that songs like River Song reveal that music can be better defined as organized movement, rather than organized sound. How might this change our understanding of musical expression? What does it mean for movement to become musical?” ~ Dr. Anabel Maler