On October 23, the Winnipeg Bach Soloists, an exciting music endeavour founded by singers Rosemarie van der Hooft and Mel Braun, presented the inaugural concert of the Professor Bach Project.  Along with an ensemble of eleven players and two additional singers, they employed a unique one-on-a-part approach in their performance of four church cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach.  The Professor Bach Project was designed as a mentorship opportunity for young performers to discover the beauty of Bach’s music, and to explore stylistic performance practice within a historically informed context.  As a soloist, each participant was encouraged to take ownership of their respective part, while listening intently and working in collaboration to create a performance that is ultimately greater than the sum of its parts.

Beginning in mid August, van der Hooft and Braun worked with singers Meagan Reimer (soprano) and Jan van der Hooft (tenor) to find the musical energy within the text, to establish dance-like tempos and to discover the musical gestures within the phrases.  The musicians came together in early October for one orchestral rehearsal lead by Mel Braun who used the text, dance rhythms and gestures to provide a basis for the instrumental interpretation of the music. Subsequent combined rehearsals proceeded in distinctive baroque style without a conductor. Professor Oleg Pokhanovski (violin), Dr. Minna Rose Chung (cello), Douglas Bairstow (oboe), Laurel Ridd (flute), Irmgard Baerg (harpsichord) and Lottie Enns-Braun (organ) provided mentorship and played alongside students Carolina Nagy (violin), Katherine Bonness (viola), Luke Sellick (bass), Bronwen Garand-Sheridan (oboe) and Charmaine Bacon (flute).

As the singers and players worked together, a cohesive sound emerged resulting in two highly charged and exciting performances.  At midday, the ensemble performed two of the four cantatas for faculty and students at the University of Manitoba.  In the evening concert at Canadian Mennonite University’s Laudamus Hall, the performance was presented to a capacity crowd of family, friends and Bach enthusiasts from across Southern Manitoba. With the tremendous commitment of all the mentors and students as well as our sponsors, and the support of many volunteers, faculty and staff at both the Canadian Mennonite University and Marcel A. Desautels Faculty of Music, the Professor Bach Project was a tremendous success. Plans are underway for a continuation of this project during the next academic year.

On October 15th Winnipeg born soprano Tracy Dahl, was honoured for her distinguished career with an Opera Canada Award. The award ceremony, known as The Rubies after the magazine’s founding editor Ruby Mercer, was held in Toronto and was attended by distinguished artists and patrons of opera. Other honourees were tenor Ermanno Mauro, director Robert Carsen and designer Michael Levine.

Tracy Dahl has been a voice instructor at the Marcel A. Desautels Faculty of Music since 1996. Along with her teaching, she continues her celebrated career as a performer with engagements this year in Edmonton as Gilda in Rigoletto, Madame Mao in Nixon in China for Vancouver Opera during the Winter Olympics, and the world premiere of The Golden Ticket, based on Roald Dahl’s (no relation) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.

Dean Edmund Dawe states, "The Marcel A. Desautels Faculty of Music is very fortunate to have Tracy Dahl as an instructor and colleague. She is a first-rate artist who has earned international accolades for her work in numerous operatic roles and recitals. She is most deserving of this national recognition."

For the complete article on Tracy's achievement, click here.

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Dr. Fraser Linklater has created thematic materials for teacher use.  Click here see them.

Welcome to the Marcel A. Desautels Faculty of Music at the University of Manitoba

MISSION:  "to provide a broad range of opportunity for music study and to produce creative and scholarly work which is of local, national and international significance, and to inspire a love of music and a recognition of its importance in defining and ennobling human experience"

VISION:  "The Marcel A. Desautels Faculty of Music is a provincial, national and international centre of excellence in academic programs, music performance and for commitment to community involvement."

Are you interested in studying music at the U of M?   click here to find out why the U of M is the choice for you!

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