MUSIC AT MEMORIAL An Annual Newsletter to Friends and Alumni

2010-2011

Meet Helen MacLeod P.10

Dr Rob Ash P.11 Dr Doug Angel P.12 Rebecca Powell P.13 Dr Tom Gordon P.14

this issue Dr Ellen Waterman P.3

Opera Roadshow P.4 Music and Technology P.6

Classical Guitar P.8 Professor Kjellrun Hestekin P.9

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What’s Inside There has existed throughout the history of heal-ing a relationship between music and medicine. Often, the tuner of the instrument and the healer of the body have been the same individual. The ancient Greeks found this connection in Apollo, god of healing and of music, and us modern folk – if we look closely – will find a similar connec-tion with many medical professionals of today. In fact, if you comb the continent’s major urban centres you’ll find doctors’ orchestras in many of them – from Los An-geles to Philadelphia to London and Australia. The World Doctors Orchestra, founded in 2007, is a global non-profit organization that invites over 100 physicians to perform a benefit concert twice a year to raise money for medical aid projects. Is this connection between music and medicine a giant coincidence? I hesitate to think so.

In the following pages a few of our grads offer up opinion on why they think there is such a close connection between the two. The School continues to reach out into the community in different ways and a young program is gaining serious momen-tum. We will visit with the MacLeods and learn how remembering the past has been a big part of shaping their family mantra. And sadly, we will say goodbye to a few of our gems. Professor Kjellrun Hestekin retires after 34 years at the School of Mu-sic and in his final address to the alumni and friends of the School of Music, Dr Tom Gordon reflects on a decade of growth, achievement and fond memories. We most likely haven’t seen the last of them. So maybe instead of goodbye, it’s so long for now.

To our alumni, friends and supporters on behalf of our students, faculty and staff, please accept our sincerest gratitude. You are the foundation for our success.

Danny Hayward Development Officer

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Without Further Ado This July my son, Nic, turns 18. He’s all grown up and his parents are leaving home! As I journey with my husband Mi-chael and our daughter Liz to St. John’s to begin a new life as Director of the School of Mu-sic, I feel something of the an-ticipation that a new student has when going off to univer-sity. University is all about growth: in mind, in spirit, in critical understanding. The mark of a great school is that it encourages all these things by providing rich experiences and by expecting the very best from all participants in the commu-nity. What a privilege it is to have the opportunity to redis-cover that sense of adventure all over again.

What do I look forward to on this adventure, beyond the obvious things like spectacular scenery and all that fresh seafood? First of all, living in a community where music is at the centre of cultural life: whether a late-night jam at the Ship Inn, a Mozart quartet in the D.F. Cook Recital Hall, or paint-ball percussion in a churchyard (which I experienced with glee at the 2006 Sound Sym-posium!). Second, I’m excited about an environment where the School of Music is fully active in the life of Newfoundland and Labrador. I think that universi-ties have a social responsibility towards the communities that fos-ter them – just the opposite of the separation between ‘town and gown’ that traditionally marked the ‘ivory tower’. Through activi-

ties such as the Opera Road Show, research on traditional mu-sic in Labrador, and our new ven-tures into providing music lessons to young students in remote towns via video conferencing, the School of Music reaches out to Newfoundland and Labrador. I look forward to exploring the province and developing new pro-jects that continue this tradition of participation in community.

Third, I’m honoured to be joining such a stellar group of musicians and scholars! Music at MUN is hugely respected in the broader university music world: our inter-nationally regarded faculty of scholars, performers and compos-ers build this reputation wherever they present their work. The quality of our students sang out right across the country when our choir, directed by Dr. Douglas Dunsmore, took first place in the National Competition for Cana-dian Amateur Choirs in 2010. At recent Canadian music confer-ences in Regina, I had the oppor-tunity to hear presentations by

several of Memorial’s graduate students, stimulating scholars all. The highlight of the conferences was the public launch of a fest-schrift in honour of Dr Beverley Diamond, Canada Research Chair and Director of the MMaP. Mu-sic Traditions, Cultures and Con-texts contains essays by some of the world’s top ethnomusicolo-gists – a tribute to Bev’s impor-tant research and far-reaching mentorship.

Also embarking on a new journey is outgoing Director, Dr Tom Gordon, who has guided the School through a decade of un-precedented growth with wisdom, wit, and tenacity. Tom has worked hard to prepare a smooth transition for the School, and I extend hearty thanks for his gen-erosity. I look forward to joining the 2010 cohort of new under-graduate and graduate students in the adventure of growing together in Music at Memorial!

Dr Ellen Waterman Director, School of Music

Dr Ellen Waterman (courtesy of ellenwaterman.ca)

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Adventure on the High Cs MUN’s Opera Roadshow

Caught up like the rest of us with April’s JUNO - fever, the popular Newfoundland digest Downhome produced a special issue on music in Newfoundland and Labrador. In and amongst the articles on pop music superstars, the burgeoning music industry in the province and tributes to the tradition-bearers was an article that seemed to surprise even Downhome staffers – an article on one of the province’s top musical exports: opera singers! Headlined by School of Music alumnus and Metropolitan Opera sensation, tenor David Pomeroy, the article also featured profiles of rising baritone Peter Barrett from Cor-ner Brook and Gander-born opera composer Dean Burry whose School of Music connections in-clude two children’s opera com-missions he’s received from our hugely successful Opera Road-show.

References to the MUN’s opera workshop as the hothouse for young opera singers were fre-quent in the article. And so they should be. As Telegram critic Pe-ter Jackson wrote in his review of MUN’s full-staged production of Mozart’s Magic Flute this year,

“The strength of the opera relied entirely on orchestra costumes, drama and, of course, singing. And what singing there was. The numerous solo ranks are all filled by current or former voice stu-dents at MUN. And the calibre is pretty close to what you’d get at a small opera house in any larger centre from New York to Milan...[Caroline] Schiller is the current torchbearer for the School of Mu-sic’s opera workshop program.

For many years the program has provided excellent instruction and small-scale performance and tour-ing opportunities for students. And every year, the pool of talent grows.”

~Peter Jackson, The Telegram, 19 February 2010

This year’s brilliant Magic Flute was only the latest in a long stream of mainstage productions that trace back to all the Don Cook / Carolyn Hart productions at the Arts and Culture Centre. But these days it’s on the road that most of the MUN’s aspiring divas cut their professional teeth. Opera Roadshow is bringing the excitement of opera to school-aged children across Atlantic Canada. The concept – brainchild of Dr Caroline Schiller – is simple enough: form a small troupe of young and dynamic singers, pre-pare a delightful children’s opera (with at least one pants-fall-down moment to keep the hilarity roll-ing), rent a van on May 1st and storm the province. In each of the last seven years five to six thou-

sand children have enjoyed these performances – and we’ve got the letters and crayon drawings to prove it!

As delighted as the kids in the audiences have been, the bless-ings of five weeks in a van and 50 performances as Gretl, one of the three pigs or a puffin have not been lost on the Opera Roadshow alumni. Numerous of the grads of this program have parlayed the

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Roadshow experience into the foundations of exciting careers. Take for example Suzanne Rid-gen, now with l’Atelier Lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal. Suzanne first hit the boards (and floor-boards) as a singing puffin in Dean Burry’s The Vinland Trave-ler which toured . . . well, Vin-land in 2006. She also did a turn as Cinderella in 2007 before mo-ving on to a graduate degree from UBC, several big competition

wins and leading performances in Banff and Tel Aviv. Both tenor Jonathan Reed and soprano Meg-han Herder headed to the States after wowing rural Newfoundland in successive tours with The Three Little Pigs and Little Red’s Most Unusual Day. While at Bos-ton’s New England Conservatory, Jonathan had lead roles in several mainstage productions. Megan’s time at Westminster College in Princeton, NJ was highlighted by

performances as Ifigenia in Han-del's Oreste. Both are back in Newfoundland now and running performance careers from home. Then there was our favourite Ma-ria, Tamara Fifield who made it to the finals in Andrew Lloyd Weber and CBC’s nationally broadcast “How do you solve a problem like Maria?” Back off her Austrian mountain top, Tamara is comple-ting a MMus in vocal performan-ce at l’Université de Montréal.

Are there operatic mountains left to climb for MUN’s School of Music? Absolutely! Next year’s Roadshow tour will be with a brand new work – once again from composer Dean Burry – Verrue au nez, a bilingual work adapted from a Franco-Newfoundland fairy tale by Aca-dian librettist Mélanie Léger. A co-production with the opera pro-gram at Université de Moncton, the cast from both universities will tour both Newfoundland and Labrador and New Brunswick as another generation of young sing-ers set their course for careers on the world stage!

David Kelleher-Flight David cut his operatic teeth as the Big Bad Wolf with Roadshow in 2004. From Memorial, he took his next bite from the Big Apple as he pursued graduate studies, first at the Manhattan School of Music and then in the doctoral pro-gram at Stony Brook. Basing his career from New York, David has sung with Ashlawn Opera Festival, the Ohio Light Opera, the Bronx Opera, the New York Opera Project; and New York Lyric Opera. Just this April he made his Carnegie Hall debut as Monterone in Rigoletto to rave reviews which singled him out as the “one to watch.”

From Change Islands to Carnegie Hall is more than a walk in the woods, but David credits Roadshow with the be-ginnings of his career:

“Memorial offers an opera program that is unlike any other in Canada. Its small size guarantees much-needed per-formance experience and individual attention for undergraduates. While I was an undergraduate, I had completed 3 complete opera roles before graduation. One of the highlights of the program is that it also offered me professional touring outreach opportunity during the summer, performing over 75 performances all around the province. This kind of hands-on training is invaluable for young performers to hone their craft and nurture their skills as developing opera singers. My training at Memorial not only gave me experience, but educated and prepared me about skills needed for a professional career in opera.”

David returns home next December to perform with the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra in their annual per-formance of Handel’s Messiah.

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Music and Technology: Nerds and Geeks invade the School of Music

Time was the most sophisticated – and the most modern – piece of technology in the School of Mu-sic was the colossal Cassavant organ in Cook Recital Hall. But times are changing and without turning our backs on the marvel-ous acoustic technologies that have served music for centuries, the School is in the throes of a technological revolution. We’re going digital from how we create to how we teach to how we relate to the world around us. And along the way, we’ve found some pretty nifty shortened circuits to make life at the School more efficient and well . . . more modern.

The School’s first engagement with music technology came with the creation of the electronic mu-sic studio tucked in a corner of the M. O. Morgan building in 1986. But it was really the open-ing of Petro-Canada Hall with its

distance-leveling hard-wiring that offered the School its passport to the digital world. Not only is PC Hall a perfect acoustic space, it’s also a giant video-conferencing box ready to connect what hap-pens within with the outside world. And perched above that box is the School’s Music Tech-nology Specialist, Richard Blen-kinsopp. From mentoring student assistants to producing commer-cial-quality recordings, Rich is the School’s techno-idol who keeps us wired (and wireless) as we explore the no-boundaries ter-ritory of music technology. As part of a (music) technology liter-acy strategy, Rich developed a graduate course module for MMus students this year, assuring that they could negotiate their way through the essential digital tools for recording and editing. Rich reflected on the first offer of the course, “Recording as a soloist as well as a chamber mu-sician and even as a rock star benefits from understanding the recording chain and process. The module took the students through the essential roles of producing and supporting musi-cian on one side of the glass, to recording, editing and mixing

engineer on the other. There was also a healthy smattering of the-ory – both in terms of equipment and set up, so students left armed with the skills to set up their own recording sessions, as well as be-ing a part of others’.”

Technologically enhanced peda-gogy is the theme of a number of other new initiatives. This sum-mer the School is running its first on-line course – Rudiments of Music Theory – the result of a highly innovative and successful collaboration between the School and Memorial’s Distance Educa-tion and Learning Technology (DELT) unit. With theory-guru Kjellrun Hestekin as the content expert, DELT’s team of curricu-lum and software developers have morphed the inventory of learning objects (AKA theory drills) first developed in support of our the-ory diagnostic testing for potential students into the materials from which the mysteries of music ru-diments can be unlocked for pre-B.Mus. students and a general interest audience as well. Next on the on-line course docket will be a course on Newfoundland and Labrador Folksinging, currently being developed by tradition-bearer Anita Best.

This year the School piloted an “E-Studio” through an initiative of Dr Vernon Regehr. Double bass

Rich Blenkinsopp

Andrew Staniland (courtesy of andrewstaniland.com)

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students in Dr Regehr’s studio had once-a-month lessons in real time and using video-conferencing technology, with Meredith Johnson, a bassist with the Winnipeg Symphony Orches-tra. These lessons, supplemented by Meredith’s once-a-semester visits to St. John’s, provided our bass students with the real world reference point of an orchestral bass performer and pedagogue as they mapped their progress across the year. And with a flip of the directional switch MUN’s E-Studio located the mentor – in this case, M.Mus. guitar candidate Matthew Walsh – in St. John’s with the student – School of Mu-sic applicant Andrew Noseworthy – in distant Labrador West. An-drew credits the highly successful audition which won him a place in the 2010 entry class with the months of mentorship he was able to acquire in the virtual guitar stu-dio.

Along with being practical and pedagogically rich, tech-nology is fast becoming a key partner in our creative activity. Enter Andrew Staniland, the newest mem-ber of MUN’s burgeoning composition faculty. An-drew’s well-deserved reputa-tion as the next-big-thing in Canadian composition was earned through a host of re-cent awards and honours, including the 2009 National Grand Prize in EVOLU-TION, a contemporary mu-sic competition presented by CBC Radio 2/Espace Musique and The Banff Centre; top prizes in the SO-CAN young composers com-petition; and the 2004 Karen Keiser Prize in Canadian Music. Andrew’s acoustic life is complemented by an en-

gagement with new creative tech-nologies. Mixed media, the use of electronic media with acoustic media, is at the forefront of Dr Staniland’s creative activity. To support this, Andrew has begun modernizing the electronic music studio with state of the art soft-ware capable of cutting edge elec-tronic composition. There is hardly a single aspect of composi-tion left untouched by the recent personal computer revolution. For most composers, computers play a role not only in music engrav-ing, but in the compositional process itself, be it for acoustic or electronic forces. It is now not uncommon to see lap top built in 2010 on stage with a Gagliano Cello made in 1775. New music is in an incredible period of tran-sition, and technology is front and centre in this change. Everything is changing, from how we com-pose to how we purchase and lis-ten to music. It is both an uncer-tain and incredible time to be a musician.

Andrew Mercer (B.Mus./B.Mus.Ed., 1994; M.Ed., 2007) is a music educator with vision – far vision. As the curriculum specialist for music at the Centre for Dis-tance Learning and Innova-tion (CDLI) for Newfound-land and Labrador’s Depart-ment of Education, Andrew sees students every day who are hundreds of kilometers away – in every direction!

Andrew’s online music class is a place for rural and iso-lated high school students to study, create, share, and lis-ten to music with their peers. He uses numerous pieces of technology to cre-ate this learning environ-ment. “Many new and emerging technologies are already an integral part of our students’ lives. It’s my task to find ways to use these cool new technologies to offer relevant learning op-portunities for students who might not otherwise have access to a music educa-tion,” Andrew says.

“When an at-risk student in North West River uses his cell phone to text me images and video of himself DJ-ing a party for his classmates, all I can say is – Sweet!”

Andrew Mercer –

Virtual Music Educator

Andrew Mercer (submitted photo)

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All Strung Out How do you get a guitarist to play quieter? Put music in front of him! That old joke doesn’t have much resonance around the School of Music these days as MUN’s guitar studio is taking its place loud and strong among the performance areas at the School. Thanks in part to the great work being done by MUN guitar grads that are now out teaching pri-vately and sending really promis-ing students our way, guitar appli-cants are now among the top five instrument groups each year – both in quantity and in quality. Once here at the School, it’s the artistry and mentorship of the re-markable Sylvie Proulx that’s at the heart and soul of all this won-derful activity.

Classical guitar has been an ap-plied studies area at the School since the 1990s when the studio was opened as a sideline for com-poser Clark Ross. Limited in size because of Dr Ross’s already busy schedule of teaching in the-ory and composition, the studio grew gradually because of a rela-tively low awareness of classical guitar in Newfoundland and Lab-rador. In 2001 Kris O’Reilly gave the first graduating recital in gui-tar while the first admit to the per-formance program in guitar was Andrew Wicks in 2004. Since then the studio has been flourish-ing. The first graduate student in guitar was admitted in the Fall of 2007. That same semester a trio of top players toured Labrador under the Northern Soundscapes program. And then there was that memorable massed guitar concert in March 2009 when fifteen gui-tarists – mostly current students and graduates of the program – gathered on the stage of Cook Hall for a performance of Steve

Reich’s Electric Counterpoint . . . no quiet guitar presence there!

All this recent activity is a result of the arrival of a master guitarist in our midst: Sylvie Proulx. Sylvie joined the School in the Fall of 2005 on a half-time appointment (the other half of her life at MUN is in the Department of French and Spanish where she teaches French language courses). She came to the School of Music with a long list of credits to her name both as a per-former and as a teacher. Previous post-secondary appointments in-clude Dalhousie University in Hali-fax and a stint with TV Ontario where she designed and taught an adult beginner course in guitar for broadcast. She has been invited to offer master classes across Canada, including at the University of West-ern Ontario, St. Francis Xavier, Lakehead and elsewhere. Those in-vitations were merited by her im-pressive career as a performer, both in live concert and over the air-waves. She has performed across Ontario, Québec and Atlantic Can-ada both in solo performances and with artists as diverse as jazz singer Jerri Brown and the Penderecki String Quartet. Her discography includes Tango Nuevo, the music of Astor Piazzolla with featured artists Robert Aitken (flute) and Joseph Petric (accordion) and the soon to be released Sirocco a solo guitar CD on Centaur Records, recorded in our own Petro-Canada Hall by the CBC’s Adrian Hoffman and our own Rich Blenkinsopp.

With guitar graduates from MUN winning top national prizes, head-ing off to international graduate studies and returning home to open studios of their own around the province, we’ll be hearing from classical guitar for a long time to come.

Steve Cowan (B. Mus. Hons., gui-tar performance 2010) is the most recent high profile graduate of the School of Music. Next Fall he starts a MMus program at the pres-tigious Manhattan School of Music in New York, continuing on his rapid ascent as a classical guitarist. Steve describes his trajectory:

“For many years I immersed my-self in the art of music making as a hobby, being primarily self-taught on a number of instruments. Upon entering university I was intro-duced into the classical music world and to the classical guitar. Though I was late starting, I took the right steps and practiced ex-tremely hard in order to gain ac-ceptance to Memorial University’s School of Music after only study-ing classical guitar for 5 months.

“While at MUN my passion for classical music grew rapidly, as did my abilities as a classical musician. My hard work as a performer re-sulted in numerous MUN scholar-ships and a 3rd place win in the gui-tar category at the 2009 Canadian National Music Festival in Saska-toon, Saskatchewan.

“I will be attending Manhattan School of Music in the fall for 2 years of graduate studies. Though the main focus will be guitar per-formance, I intend to use my time in New York City to become the best and most well-rounded musi-cian I can be. I hope to take in the city and all its people have to offer a young musician; to develop in areas such as composing, arrang-ing, teaching, and better under-standing the business aspects of being a classical musician today.”

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Only She Has Touched Us All: Kjellrun Hestekin retires after 34 years at the School of Music In the era of RateMyProfessors.com where top marks go for “easiness” and bonus points are attributed in red hot peppers along the sexiness continuum, a teacher who insists on the mastery of both material and métier may appear to be some-thing of an anachronism. But how meaningful are those red peppers against three generations of graduates’ testimonials? To a person, the graduates of the School of Music have said they learned more from Kjellrun Hestekin than any other professor in the School. This despite the fact that these same graduates have also said – almost to the person – Kjellrun Hestekin was the most de-manding teacher they ever had.

Since Memorial’s School of Music opened its doors to students in 1975, Kjell-run Hestekin has borne principal responsibility for the undergraduate music theory program. In that capacity she has had the often thankless task of es-corting music students through what is arguably the most arduous element of the university music cur-riculum. Many young musicians, especially those cursed with that instinct otherwise known as “talent,” enter the music program with a natural ability to make music but too little understanding of what

makes music music. Enter Profes-sor Hestekin who has been a one-person music literacy campaign at the School of Music for thirty-four years.

To the mastery of the language of music, every real musician must join an acceptance of the métier. And for this the best learning is by example. Here too Professor Hestekin is a striking testament to

the musician’s life lived. Her years in the Newfoundland Sym-phony Orchestra, the even greater number of years she has spent in the MUN Chamber Choir, the countless hours spent in rehearsal with students and colleagues – hours she didn’t need herself to spend due to her own mastery, but which she dedicated nonetheless

by way of example – all this dem-onstrates vividly the way to the mé-tier of musician. No music festival in this province could function without her generous volunteerism; no musical organization in need of a competent professional was ever turned down when it approached her for help. In all this time given freely, Kjellrun Hestekin “teaches” the way to the profession of music for the students around her.

With her signature modesty, Kjellrun looks back on those years as a kind of “lucky break” for her: recently she observed, “I was extremely fortu-nate all those years ago that the (then) Depart-ment of Music was willing to take a chance on a very wet behind the ears new graduate. Since then I’ve enjoyed wonder-ful opportunities that I’m sure I would not have had elsewhere. But the best part of the job has always been the people, students, faculty and staff.”

Through two build-ings, three directors, 34 convocations, the best part of becoming

a musician at Memorial for almost 700 undergraduate students has been Professor Kjellrun Hestekin. We are delighted that she will re-main part of our community in the years ahead, through her engage-ment with the on-line theory initia-tive . . . maybe, just maybe, we haven’t seen the last days of Kjell-run in her customary seat in Cook Hall, marking theory papers during intermission!

Professor Kjellrun Hestekin (photo by Chris Hammond)

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Remembering Your Roots

From the moment I stepped inside her Ottawa apartment I felt like a member of the family. Along with her two sons, Peter and Martin, Mrs. Helen MacLeod welcomed me with open arms (and I mean that literally!). I proceeded to join the MacLeod family for a Sunday brunch and a jovial discussion about Newfoundland and Labra-dor, the late W.K. MacLeod – Helen’s late husband – and Mrs. MacLeod’s most recent gift to the School of Music. As it turned out, all three were very much inter-twined.

William Kenneth MacLeod at-tended Memorial University Col-lege in the early 1930s. At the time, completing his education as an engineer was not an option in St. John’s, but he had the good fortune of being awarded a schol-arship – the Senior Jubilee Schol-arship – which allowed him to finish his studies in Canada. Ac-cording to son Peter, his father would not have been able to com-plete his studies without financial support. “That scholarship al-lowed him to receive levels of education and employment that would never have been possible, at the time, had he stayed in St. John's,” he says. Profoundly af-fected by the financial support they received early in their lives together, Mrs. MacLeod has been on a crusade to give back in the very same way. She credits friends and family ties to New-foundland for her decision to sup-port Memorial University and its School of Music. One very per-sonal and tragic connection was through her brother, Edgar Ray-mond Martin. Edgar was a young

man of 19 returning to St. John’s on the S.S. Caribou in October of 1942 when it was torpedoed by the German submarine, U-69. Sadly, Edgar didn’t survive.

Helen has since established a scholar-ship in his memory at Memorial’s School of Music. It serves to support graduate students and according to her, there is no better feeling than that of a donor. “Supporting students with promise is the most rewarding form of investment,” she states passion-ately. “Giving back is delightfully rewarding in unexpected ways – it feels great to feel part of a life that has promise.” In fact, the MacLeod’s have supported our promising stu-dents for quite some time. The Wil-liam Kenneth Macleod Scholarship is designed to sup-port a student annually in the Faculty of Sci-ence, while the most recent gift – the James and Muriel Martin Award, named after Helen’s parents – was established to support graduate students in our vibrant Ethno-musicology pro-gram. However, in 2007 Helen and the School of Music collabo-rated on some-thing a little dif-ferent: the pur-chase of a pres-tige instrument which could be put in the hands of a deserving student.

The Helen MacLeod

Heinicke Violin is presented to one student each year, for an entire year, and affords them the opportunity to hone their craft on an instrument they would otherwise have no access to.

Investing in success by sup-porting deserving students so they can grow past their po-tential is the mantra of the MacLeods. “Support for edu-cation is as critical as it has ever been – especially from individuals,” Helen says. “We live in a bigger and more competitive world and all stu-dents need support to suc-ceed.”

Danny Hayward

Helen MacLeod (photo by Christine Tripp)

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From the “Hub of the Bay” to the Hub of Healthcare: The travels of Dr Robert Ash from Carbonear to California

As a boy, six year-old Robert Ash was discov-ering what would be-come a long-time pas-sion. I know what you’re

thinking and it was-

n’t the wonderful world of sci-ence. That would come later. In fact, young Robert was learning to play the piano. Laughing as he reminisced, Ash says his mother was desperately hoping he would take to the instrument after his three older brothers had begun and subsequently quit taking les-sons.

Living over 7,200 kilometres away from his beginnings in Car-bonear, NL, Dr Robert Ash (B.Mus.’90, BMS’95, and MD’95) is currently practicing at one of the top hospitals in the United States. According to U.S.News & World Report, out of over 4,800 hospitals recently sur-veyed in the U.S., St. Joseph of Orange Hospital in Orange, Cali-fornia, ranked among the best in the nation.

After completing a residency at the University of Western Ontario in Radiation Oncology, a spe-cialty that deals with treating can-cer and other diseases with radia-tion, Dr Ash was off to San Fran-cisco to further his training and later began practicing in London, ON until 2007 when California came calling again.

So, with a busy career and years of advanced medical training un-der his belt the question is, does Ash still have time for his pas-sion? “Absolutely”, he says. “I still play (piano) in my free time…when I have some that is.”Actually, Dr Ash feels his training has allowed him to appre-ciate classical music and the arts in general and, whenever possi-ble, he takes advantage of the cul-tural scene in southern California. It was during his early high school years that Robert decided he would pursue a degree in mu-sic. He credits Jane Steele of St. John’s for having such a positive influence on his decision and his parents for their commitment and support throughout his years of musical training. He chuckles as he recounts many times during his youth driving with his parents across Roaches Line in a snow-storm just to get to St. John’s for his lesson.

After high school, Robert entered Memorial University’s School of Music and graduated with a Bachelor of Music (Performance) in 1990. “The School of Music has such a good reputation”, Ash states. “In terms of its curriculum and the opportunities to be in-volved in other events, it’s very well-rounded. The quality of the instructors is also very high.”

There are many wonderful memories of his time at the School, but his fondest? “Hands down the Gilbert Sullivan musical productions”, says Dr Ash. “They were so much fun. There was always a sense of commu-nity and family not to mention the excitement of being involved in such a large production that to me was al-ways of good quality. “Also,” he adds, “Dr Volk was fantastic and I loved studying under her.” Through-out his life he has consistently drawn upon the skills honed as a musician to serve him in many ways, including his current career.

Ash says that, in his opinion, a deci-sion to study music prepared him well for medical school. “Studying classi-cal music instills tremendous disci-pline and there is a process of delayed gratification, like when you’re work-ing on finishing a concerto. This training establishes in you the idea that anything that’s worthwhile takes time and hard work.” Within medi-cine,” he says thoughtfully, “there is a particular advantage in having a clas-sically trained background because I believe it has allowed me to bring a certain sensitivity to my profession and my patients.”

The study of Biology, Robert’s other passion, developed throughout his school years leading up to university and during his second year at the School he decided to add a minor in life sciences. He consequently entered Memorial’s medical program to pur-sue his deep interest in science and graduated with a medical degree in 1995. Currently, Dr Ash is the Medi-cal Director, Radiation Oncology at St. Joseph of Orange Hospital. He tries to make the long journey home as frequently as possible but com-ments light-heartedly that the trend these days is for family to pay him a visit in sunny California.

Dr Rob Ash (submitted photo)

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Head and Shoulders Above MUN Music grad Dr Doug Angel has been immersed in the St. John’s music scene his entire life. From taking piano lessons at the age of five to performing with such groups as the Quintessential Vocal Ensemble and the New-foundland Symphony Youth Choir to...playing in a rock and roll band? You bet. Angel’s in-volvement in music has been di-verse and has allowed him to see musicians from a broad vantage point. “Essentially, I admire any-

one who has taken their talents in mu-sic and chosen to make that their ca-reer,” he states. “Whether it be in classical perform-ance, rock and roll, or anything for that matter. I think those individuals work harder than most people real-ize.”

Dr Angel currently resides in London, Ontario, where he is completing a post-graduate resi-dency at the Uni-versity of Western Ontario. Otolaryn-gology - Head and Neck Surgery is regarded as one of the more competi-tive specialties to enter but that did-n’t deter Angel and

now he is halfway towards com-pletion. He chose the field be-cause he loves being in the oper-ating room and the surgeons in St. John’s made quite the impression on him. In fact, Medicine was al-ways something he’d envisioned doing (his father and uncle both graduated from MUN medical school) but made his mind up in high school that he would get his music degree first.

“I knew I'd get as good (or better) training at the School of Music than I would at any other school in the country,” Angel says. “They have many world – re-nowned faculty and, along with Dr Tom Gordon, have done a great job at promoting our school and making it a fantastic place to

train.” Doug graduated with a per-formance major (piano) in 2003 with honours and later in 2008 with his medical degree from the MUN medical school. He is constantly quizzed on his path choice to medi-cine but feels an undergraduate de-gree in music better prepared him for medical school than a sciences degree could have.

“In my opinion, the work ethic pos-sessed by musicians is unparalleled in other fields and time manage-ment is crucial for success,” he says firmly. “Most musicians are in-volved with numerous ensembles, as well as having their our own written and practical work to be completed.” Throw into the mix a part-time job or playing with a rock and roll band and you’ve got one hectic schedule. “Furthermore,” he explains, “the operations I perform regularly require me to have excel-lent manual dexterity, hand-eye co-ordination, and the ability to train my hands and fingers to do fine movements.” Did I mention he is a classically trained pianist?

There have been many out-standing musicians that have inspired Doug throughout his life. From his first in-structor, Sally Rowsell, to Susan Quinn during his time with QVE to Dr Susan Knight, they pushed him to excel and exposed him to new experiences that left him wanting more. But it was the School’s own Pro-fessor Timothy Steeves that has left a lasting impression on him for a different rea-son. “He's an incredibly gifted pianist himself,” states Angel, “and I learned a lot from him but, as a per-son, he was just so under-standing.” Doug recounts one time in particular, a po-tential disaster, just two

Dr. Doug Angel (submitted photo)

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months away from his gradu-ating recital. “I'll never forget the day I walked in for a les-son with a cast up to my el-bow,” he recalls fondly, “unfortunately, I had broken a finger and he just said, ‘ahhh, don't worry, we'll sort this out.’” By the way Professor Steeves, if you’re looking for your Scarlatti book of Sona-tas...

Speaking frankly, Angel cred-its Steeves and Gordon for playing an integral role in his success in both music and medicine but notes that the support from his grandfather throughout it all was crucial. Doug is grateful for all the musicians and instructors he has had the privilege to train and work with at the School of Music and these days he uses his training as a method of relaxation. Angel isn’t in-volved as much in the local scene in London, however, he still manages to perform on occasion with The Insiders, a St. John’s based rock and roll band, and hopes to return home to St. John’s to set up a practice after his residency is complete where he can once again, immerse himself into all things musical.

No Regrets

MUN School of Music grad Rebecca Powell, B.Mus. Honours 2007(Performance), struggled when confronted with the choice of studying music or medicine. Then it occurred to her, why not do both? The native of Shearstown, NL, started play-ing the cello at four and the piano at the age of five. A career in medicine was always in her sights but felt if she didn’t take the opportunity to complete a music degree first, she would regret it.

“Looking back now,” she says, “on the opportuni-ties I was presented with, the friends I made, and experiences I had, I would not change a single thing. I had a wonderful experience while doing my undergrad at the School – it’s really like a family.” Rebecca is currently in her second year of medical school at Memorial University and credits her training as a musician for preparing her well.

“With music, as well as medicine, you must memorize an enormous amount of material accurately and quickly and will often be required to re-call it under pressure. Furthermore, music taught me how to work well both independently, and how to collaborate with others. This too is a skill very important in medicine.”

Music continues to be an important part of Rebecca’s life and her pursuit of a music degree can be partly accredited to her late grandfather, G. Calvin Powell. A patron of the arts, his encouragement was very influential during the course of her development and she decided to honour him upon gradua-tion from the School by establishing a scholarship in his name.

These days she can often be found enjoying a concert at the NSO or scoping out a performance at D.F. Cook Recital Hall during the School of Music’s recital series. “If you enjoy music and want to further develop your skills and deepen your appreciation for classi-cal music, MUN Music is the place to be.”

Angel (far left) directing the MUNMed Choir

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Last Words . . . It was 1969 and I had one of those VW Beetles with nine spare fan belts and a destiny to reach the end of the road. Starting out from rural Missouri, Newfoundland was as end-of-the-road as you could get. But when the car rolled off the William Carson I had one of those life-changing epiphanies: a completely unanticipated feeling of being home. My first visit to Newfoundland was a love-at-first-sight experience and the next 30 years saw that thunderbolt of an intuition grow to conviction. So I launched a three-decades-long campaign to make myself inevita-ble to Memorial’s School of Mu-sic – a campaign that grew more fervent with every visit. My initial attraction to the “Genesis-Chapter I” landscape began to take second seat to the people whom I met here. Increasingly the most inter-esting and compelling of them were musicians from the School of Music.

My next big epiphany occurred on July 16th 2000, driving along the St. John River Valley in New Brunswick. We were driving to the boat, moving to Newfound-land. Sting was on the CD player and I suddenly wondered what-the-heck I had gotten myself into.

Thirty years of fantasies about a musical utopia in the North Atlantic is not the stuff you make life-changing deci-sions over. After all, this is New-foundland . . . not Disneyland! But that epiphanal doubt proved to be nothing more than

nervous bridegroom jitters. As the days, months and years unfolded in this job, I grew in the realization that even my most wildly romantic fantasies about what wonderful things could happen here fell short of the reality of what has happened.

The past ten years have sped by. It seems that only a few weeks ago I was being introduced as the “new director”. And they’ve sped by be-cause they’ve been so full – so full of accomplishment in the commu-nity of the School of Music and rich personal fulfillment for my wife Mary O’Keeffe and me. There are the obvious and evidently enduring achievements – the construction of Petro-Canada Hall, the inauguration of the M.Mus. graduate programs and the MA/PhD stream in ethno-musicology, the development of the MMaP Research Centre. More powerful still are the people accom-plishments: the national and inter-national recognition of our choirs, the ground-breaking work in re-search, creative activity and per-formance of our faculty, the spec-tacular successes of our graduates whether on concert stages in New York or in the music room at Meni-hek High School in Labrador West. The MUN Chamber Orchestra in St. Petersburg, Opera Roadshow on Change Islands, the Scruncheons in Nain . . . the School of Music is everywhere and everywhere it is, there is exciting music!

The personal fulfillments are the deepest. Our growth as performers has been incredibly rewarding: Mary’s through collaborations like the Hot Earth Ensemble; mine with generous faculty colleagues as I dragged them through my latest Fauré or Lieder project and they dragged me to a slightly more re-spectable level of playing. And Newfoundland and Labrador has shaped the direction of my research, first in the form of the remarkable collaboration Jane Leibel and I en-joyed with the Artistic Fraud theatre company around the life of Geor-gina Stirling and now through my continuing engagement with the Moravian music of Inuit Labrador – a project that has opened me to the vitality of Inuit culture and the beauty of Nunatsiavut.

But it has been the lesson of a com-munity joined in music that has been the most powerful. Whether in massed choir or kitchen duet, mak-ing music together is the greatest privilege of human experience. And nowhere is this more vividly taught than among the musicians and friends of music we’ve met here in Newfoundland and Labrador. We make music at the most profound level of human interaction and in reaching that level we’re not afraid to have a good time. The best part about leaving the director’s office after ten years is what comes next: becoming a “civilian” musician and music researcher at the School of Music. To all those who have con-tributed generously to the successes of the School of Music across the last ten years, my deepest thanks, not only for your support of the School itself, but also for how much you’ve enriched my life.

Dr Tom Gordon

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MUSIC AT MEMORIAL is a publication of Memorial University’s School of Music. It keeps us in touch with the community, our alumni and our many friends. It is with their help that we achieve so much. If you wish to be removed from the mailing list, or if you would like an electronic copy, please contact the School of Music. Design: Danny Hayward Writing: Tom Gordon, Danny Hayward and Ellen Waterman Printing: MUN Printing Services Cover photo of Dr Ellen Waterman courtesy of www.ellenwaterman.ca

ISSN 1923-6468

E-list Signup You can join the School of Music Concerts E-List by sending an e-mail to listserv@cliffy.ucs.mun.ca with the text SUBSCRIBE CONCERTS Anonymous in the body. Your e-mail does not need a Subject. You may change Anonymous to the name you wish to be known on the e-list (eg, Mr R Smith would be SUBSCRIBE CONCERTS Mr R Smith ). You may unsubscribe to the list at any time by sending an e-mail to listserv@cliffy.ucs.mun.ca with the text SIGNOFF CONCERTS in the body. Your e-mail does not need a Subject. Subscribe and unsubscribe commands must come from the e-mail account you are subscribing/unsubscribing from. If you have any problems and wish to be added or removed manually, please send a message to music@mun.ca with an explana-tion of what you would like us to do.

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Those who can ...also teach. This year the School of Music welcomes the guest artists from the Newfoundland Sym-phony Orchestra’s Masterworks Concerts for a series of public master classes.

Eavesdrop with us as these great performers and mentors pass the tricks of the trade to as-piring student artists. All part of becoming a great musician at MUN’s School of Music.

Colin Carr Cello and Chamber Music:: October 7th, 1 to 3pm, Petro-Canada Hall

David Jalbert Piano:: November 18th, 1 to 3pm, Petro-Canada Hall

James Ehnes Violin and viola:: February 10th, 1 to 3pm, Petro-Canada Hall

Anton Kuerti Piano:: March 10th, 1 to 3pm, Petro-Canada Hall

And for the best in chamber music by visiting professionals, faculty and student artists, join us for the 2010-2011

Music at Memorial concert series. Complete listings on our exciting concerts are available on our website at:

www.mun.ca/music/concerts

Colin Carr

David Jalbert

James Ehnes

Anton Kuerti