Current students

Course type: Music history - This course can be used as a music or music history elective.

Instructor of record: Melody McKiver

Prerequisite: None

Overview: The goal of this course is to provide a functional understanding of how Indigenous communities create music while being impacted by settler colonialism. Students will learn to situate themselves within the land they reside upon, and will discuss Indigenous histories of what is presently called the Winnipeg region. Students will survey the major Indigenous groups in Canada and will be introduced to Anishinaabeg worldviews and philosophies. Students will learn about different genres of music practiced by Indigenous artists and interrogate notions of appropriation and collaboration.  
 

Course type: Music theory - This course can be used as a music or music theory elective.

Instructor of Record: Dr. David Byrne

Prerequisite: MUSC 2120 (Music Theory 4) or instructor approval if undergraduate student.

Overview: In this course, we will explore the chromatic harmony and expanded tonality that are typical of nineteenth-century Western music, and that remain current in more recent styles, most notably in film, television and video game music.  We will closely study examples from a wide range of genres (instrumental, vocal, stage and screen) using a variety of historical and modern analytical concepts, including scale-step (Roman numeral) methods, monotonality and its alternatives, function theories, harmonic dualism (AKA “negative harmony”), and recent transformational and neo-Riemannian approaches.  Course work will include analysis of musical passages (including many chosen by class members), responses to readings, small composition exercises, and an open-ended final project based on the course material.  Please note: This course is cross-listed with MUSC 7210 (T01) – Seminar in Music Theory and Analysis. The requirements for graduate and undergraduate members of the class will be different.

Course type: Music - This course can be used as a music elective.

Instructor of record: Katherine Twaddle

Prerequisite: Instructor approval required

The course explores the varying acting styles and techniques required for a career in opera today. Students are given the opportunity to explore different ways to use their body, voice and imagination to create characters and communicate intention, attitude, and story. We look at the various acting styles and theatrical genres used in opera and how and why they have changed throughout history. The importance of observation and reflection is emphasized through class discussion and homework assignments. This course is for students in the Post Baccalaureate and Masters programs. Instructor approval required.

Course type: Music - This course can be used as a music elective.

Instructor of record: TBD

Prerequisite: Instructor approval required

Overview: The goal of this course is to become acquainted with duo literature of the common practice periods to the present composed for instruments with piano, and to acquire an overall knowledge of the literature composed in this genre, in both general and specific terms. Instructor approval required.

Course type: Music - This course can be used as a music elective.

Instructor of record: Tracy Dahl and Monica Huisman

Prerequisite: Instructor approval required

Overview: This course is designed for MMus voice students, and with permission by their instructors, for Post-Baccalaureate or undergraduate students. Students will learn how to prepare a full operatic role and apply those skills and techniques to role(s) assigned by the instructors. The student will gain a better understanding of what learning a role means and all the responsibilities associated with a role assignment. The focus will be on the process of learning a full role which involves translations, IPA, character development and style. This course is designed to be fluid and adaptable both to each student enrolled and to the role’s specific needs. There are no performance expectations in this course, aside from masterclasses or group sessions. The instructor will be expected to coach you through the entire role or roles by the end of the second term.

Course type: Music - This course can be used as a music elective.

Instructor of record: Oleg Pokhanovski

Prerequisite: Instructor approval required

Overview: Students will study and perform standard orchestral excerpts to prepare for future auditions for professional orchestras in Canada and abroad. They will learn how to effectively practice challenging parts of various sections of the excerpts.

Course type: Music - This course can be used as a music elective.

Instructor of record: Mel Braun and Laura Loewen

Prerequisite: Instructor approval required

Overview: This class introduces voice and piano students to art song repertoire. Singers and pianists will be paired into duos each term, and in consultation with the class instructors, will choose the repertoire they will learn and perform. Classes will be organized as masterclasses, with
occasional lectures and discussions included, as appropriate. Through rehearsals and classes, students will discover the art of song-performance together with their duo partner(s). The interpretive and technical work done in this class will enhance their ability to understand the repertoire and to communicate effectively in performance situations.
Topics such as poetry analysis, translation, diction, and dramatic engagement will be discussed in class by the instructors and students.

Course type: Music - This course can be used as a music elective.

Instructor of record: Melody McKiver

Prerequisite: Instructor approval required

Overview: Students will study form and compositional approaches to a variety of musical styles, which may include pop, rock, hip-hop, and EDM. The course will provide an introduction to the creative use of music technology, including DAW usage and home recording. Assignments will include the development of a musical portfolio, and written reflections and analysis. Students of diverse musical experiences are encouraged to enroll. Open to non-majors with permission of instructor.

Course type: Music - This course can be used as a music elective.

Instructor of record: Katherine Twaddle

Prerequisite: Instructor approval required

Overview: Students will participate in a weekly masterclass in assigned operatic repertoire led by Katherine Twaddle with guest instructors. Students will sing three arias during the year, twice; one week for a guest, focusing on musical interpretation, and one week for Katherine Twaddle, focusing on character and dramatic interpretation and communication. Arias are to be memorized. Students may choose to sing a duet for one of their selections.

Course type: Music - This course can be used as a music elective.

Instructor of record: Mel Braun

Prerequisite: Instructor approval required

Overview: Students will perform assigned arias and ensembles from oratorios in this masterclass-format seminar. The class will also work on one or two group projects to include works such as Bach’s Magnificat and Handel’s oratorio Belshazzar. For these projects, the class will divide up the solos, duets, and trios and all sing in the choruses.

Course type: Music history course - This course can be used as a music or music history elective.

Instructor of record: Dr. Colette Simonot-Maiello

Prerequisite: Instructor approval if undergraduate student.

Overview: This course will examine the intersection of music, gender, and sexuality, exploring the ways in which     gender shapes musical discourse, with case studies from a variety of musical styles and genres. We will explore gender in music from several perspectives, including but not limited to feminist, queer, transgender, two-spirit, and masculinist viewpoints. We will also explore how gender intersects with race, class, sexuality, disability, and other elements of identity. We will look at the role of composers, performers, the audience, teachers, patrons, promoters, and technicians. We will also consider case studies from a historical perspective, examining sociocultural conditions which, for example, may have created or influenced traditions of public and private music making. Finally, we will examine the portrayal, representation, performance, and creation of gender identity through music. Please note: This course is cross-listed with MUSC 7120 Seminar in Musicology and, as such, there will be limited spaces for undergraduate students. There will be separate requirements for graduate and undergraduate members of this class.

Course type: Music theory - This course can be used as a music or music theory elective.

Instructor of record: Dr. Rebecca Simpson-Litke

Prerequisite: MUSC 2120 or MUSC 2122 or instructor approval if undergraduate student.

Overview: As a temporal art form, music requires that we keep track of how time unfolds and is organized, and for many listeners, this means feeling rhythmic, metric, and formal structures deep down in our bodily cores. Indeed, much of this embodiment is so fundamental to the way in which we perform and understand music that it becomes (nearly) subconscious: we tap our feet to “keep time” while playing our instruments in jazz band or orchestra, we headbang at a rock concert, we allow our weight to shift from one foot to another as we clap in sync with our choir members, we gently sway as we shape musical gestures. And so, one goal of this seminar is to investigate the ways in which physical movement helps us to understand musical structures and processes in general, with focus on the interrelated theoretical topics of rhythm, metre, hypermetre, and form.

The second goal of the seminar, then, is to examine dance and other movement-based arts in which the bodily experience and representation of music is elevated to a more immediately obvious and deliberate level, creating a beautiful interaction between these two temporal art forms. We will explore music and dance repertoire from a variety of traditions, devising ways to transcribe and analyze these art forms using cutting-edge music-theoretical tools and technologies, and exploring the power that choreographed and improvised physical gestures have to shape and transform the way we listen to and perform music itself.

By the end of this course, you should be able to transcribe/(an)notate music and dance, and analyze its rhythmic-metric structure using a variety of tools and concepts (accent and grouping, metric consonance/dissonance, modulation, hypermetre, pulse streams, projection, etc.) introduced via readings of scholarly literature, in-class activities, out-of-class observations and videos, and guest lectures. Please note: This course is cross-listed with MUSC 7210 (T02) – Seminar in Music Theory and Analysis. The requirements for graduate and undergraduate members of the class will be different. 

Course type: Music - This course can be used as a music elective.

Instructor of record: Melody McKiver and Lori Blondeau

Prerequisite: N/A

Overview: The goal of this course is to provide an understanding of how Indigenous musicians and visual artists have collaborated. Students will learn about contemporary Indigenous art history and movements in Indigenous music from the 1960s through the present. Students will develop studio skills and creative works through collaboration within these artistic disciplines. Weekly classes will consist of readings, Powerpoint presentations, group discussions, and possibly gallery trips, fieldwork and guest artists.

Course type: Music - This course can be used as a music elective.

Instructor of record: Katherine Twaddle

Prerequisite: Instructor permission required, and post-baccalaureate or masters students.

Overview: The course explores the varying acting styles and techniques required for a career in opera today. Students are given the opportunity to explore different ways to use their body, voice and imagination to create characters and communicate intention, attitude, and story. We look at the various acting styles and theatrical genres used in opera and how and why they have changed throughout history. The importance of observation and reflection is emphasized through class discussion and homework assignments.

Course type: Music - This course can be used as a music elective.

Instructor of record: Melody McKiver

Prerequisite: Instructor approval required

Overview: Students will study form and compositional approaches to a variety of musical styles, which may include pop, rock, hip-hop, and EDM. The course will provide an introduction to the creative use of music technology, including DAW usage and home recording. Assignments will include the development of a musical portfolio, and written reflections and analysis. Students of diverse musical experiences are encouraged to enroll. Open to non-majors with permission of instructor.

Course type: Music - This course can be used as a music elective.

Instructor of record: Oleg Pokhanovski

Prerequisite: Instructor approval required

Overview: Students will study and perform standard concertmaster excerpts to prepare for future auditions for professional orchestras in Canada and abroad. They will learn how to effectively practice challenging parts of various sections of the excerpts.