Dr. Stephen Chatman won Classical Composer of the Year at the 2020 Western Canadian Music Awards — his fourth such award (2005, 2006, 2010, 2020). Dr. Dorothy Chang was nominated for the same award, and David Gillham performed on Marcus Goddard’s album, which also garnered a Classical Composer of the Year nomination.
UBC Concert Winds Conductor Christin Reardon MacLellan received the 2020 Canadian Music Educators’ Association Builders’ Award and the BC Music Educators’ Association Distinguished Service Award for her leadership, advocacy and research in the field of music education during the pandemic. Alongside frequent School of Music collaborator Janet Wade, Prof. MacLellan was instrumental in creating and maintaining the “BCMEA/CMEBE Guidance for Music Classes in BC during COVID-19,” a living document which has allowed music education to continue in classrooms during the pandemic.
WATCH: Jose Franch-Ballester and Bernardo Assunçao perform “Songs of a Wayfarer”
Assistant Professor of Clarinet and Chamber Music Jose Franch-Ballester launched a popular series of clarinet videos with his student and cousin Bernardino Assunçao during the lockdown, from March 17 to June 11. Hoping to reach a broader audience with repertoire ranging from classical to pop/rock, they created 60 video performances that amassed over one million views and culminated in a televised concert honouring their hometown in Moncofa, Spain.
During the summer, Assistant Professor of Viola Marina Thibeault was active performing concerts online. From her UBC office she performed for the National Art Centre’s Canada Performs series, and with Dr. Corey Hamm, piano, she performed at the Chan Centre for the 2020 Cordas World Music Festival and the Barachois Summer Music Festival.
Trumpeter/pianist/composer and sessional lecturer Alan Matheson is teaching an online jazz history course at the VSO School of Music for the 20-21 year. “What Makes It Jazz?” is a lively exploration of fascinating topics hand-picked from the world of jazz, including historic audio and video recordings and live demonstrations by Prof. Matheson.
WATCH: Krisztina Szabó’s UBC début
Assistant Professor of Voice Krisztina Szabó appeared on Medici TV as a soloist for Le Nouvel Ensemble Moderne (Le NEM), premiering prize-winning new works at the biennial Azrieli Music Prizes Gala Concert by the Azrieli Foundation. Prof. Szabo also débuted on the Wednesday Noon Hours series with pianist Leslie Dala on Nov. 4, performing Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder and Jeffrey Ryan’s Miss Carr in Seven Scenes, a song cycle drawn from the journal entries of Canadian artist Emily Carr.
Composer and sessional lecturer Dr. Jocelyn Morlock was featured in of-the-now: Decolonial Imaginings, a decolonization workshop responding to Stó:lō/Skwah scholar and author Dylan Robinson’s new book, Hungry Listening: Resonant Theory for Indigenous Sound Studies. Co-produced with the BC Canadian Music Centre and supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, the project focuses on non-Indigenous composers to identify and demonstrate their specific responsibilities to the work of decolonization, following them through their process of self-reflection and creation.
Sessional Lecturer of Flute Brenda Fedoruk was commissioned by Claudia Morawetz on behalf of the Capilano Flute Choir to perform …And the Strange Unknown Flowers… by Charles Delaney for the Isolation Commissions series. For the same series, adjunct professor of Oboe Beth Orson performed Plox and Gubbals by Frédérik Robert and trombonist and sessional lecturer Jeremy Berkman performed Lament for a Lost Car features Prof. Berkman in an empty parkade, with a title that elicits thoughts of a true “sad trombone” moment.
WATCH: Marina Thibeault and Corey Hamm perform at Cordas 2020
Professor of Piano Dr. Corey Hamm performed twice with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in November. During the summer, Dr. Hamm appeared in virtual concerts with violist Marina Thibeault at the 2020 Cordas World Music Festival and the Barachois Summer Music Festival. This year he will also present five concerts of Schubert’s Trout Piano Quintet, and Canadian composer Chan Ka Nin’s Salmon Piano Quintet with musicians from the Vancouver Island Symphony.
Associate Professor of Music Technology Dr. Bob Pritchard was commissioned to film a video with the Turning Point Ensemble, featuring a work for oboe and dancer, with MaxMSP processing, and light costume for dancer. It will be released as part of a video series by the ensemble in the coming months.
Associate Professor of Piano Mark Anderson was the music coordinator for Connecting with Compassion — a project launched by the UBC Faculty of Medicine that brings videoconferencing tools and virtual concerts to isolated seniors living in long-term care homes across British Columbia. Prof. Anderson compiled video performances by UBC Music students, which were loaded onto complimentary iPads and distributed to the seniors. Special thanks to Tom Lee Music for opening their studio — free of charge — to make the musical recordings for the CWC initiative possible.
WATCH: Jeremy Berkman performs “Lament for a Lost Car”
Trombonist and sessional lecturer Jeremy Berkman was commissioned by the School of Music’s Laurie Townsend and Don Harder to perform for Little Chamber Music’s Isolation Commissions series. The chosen work, “Lament for a Lost Car” features Prof. Berkman in an empty parkade, with a title that elicits thoughts of a true “sad trombone” moment. Prof. Berkman also recently led a Canada Council-funded research project that explores the differences and similarities between audience engagement during live versus online music events.
