Notice Board

December 2015 Kudos Report!

The December holiday was no reason for the Fine Arts to slow down or take a break… instead, they flourished.  From awards to fundraising to productions at home and abroad, our faculty, students, and alumni closed out 2016 with a bang!

MUSIC

• The three Conservatory of Music Choirs, under the direction of Kathy Matkin-Clapton are helping the U of L Refugee Action by donating $2 from each of their CDs sold to the U of L Refugee Action/From Syria to Lethbridge.  CDs are available online at: www.musicalive.ca  or CDbaby.  Hard copies can be purchased at CASA (front desk), Prim Health & Beauty, and Joey's Seafood. If you want multiple CDs as Christmas gifts, go directly to Kathy Matkin Clapton at conservatorychoirs@gmail.com.
• Dr. Josh Davies (Music) performed with Johnny Summers and the Calgary Jazz Orchestra on Dec. 17 in the University Theatre.
• Joe Porter (BMus ’11, MMus ’13) has been selected to tour with the World Percussion Group.  Joe is the sole Canadian in the group, which comprises the world’s top young professionals -- with 12 countries represented.  Between February 16 and March 13, 2016, the group will perform concerts and deliver clinics at universities throughout the U.S.  According to Adam Mason (Music), it is an incredible honour for Joe to earn a spot in this truly elite group.

• The U of L Trumpet Ensemble, directed by Dr. Josh Davies (Music), has been invited to perform at the International Trumpet Guild Conference in Anaheim, California.  The June 2016 conference will feature some of the worlds best trumpet performers, educators, and ensembles.  “We are delighted to be a part of such an elite crowd!” says Josh.

DRAMA

Theatre Outre's show UNSEX'd ran in Vancouver at the PAL theatre from November 27-December 5.  The co-production with the Frank Theatre Company and has many connections with the U of L.  

• Jay Whitehead (Drama) - Writer & performer
• Adam Beauchesne (BFA ’09) - Performer & producer at Frank Theatre
• David Barrus (BFA ’09, MFA ’13) - Set and Costume design
• Aaron Collier (arts tech) - Sound & stage management
• Richie Wilcox (Drama) - Director 
• Doug MacArthur (Drama) - Dialect coach

• Andrew Legg (MFA – Dramatic Arts ‘13) stars in the one-man show Dicken’s Own Christmas Carol on Friday Dec. 11 at 8 pm in the Geomatic Attic.  Other U of L connections include Gail Hanrahan (Drama), who directed the production and Matt Cameron (BMus ‘13), who composed the music.

• Lisa Doolittle (Drama) received the 2015 Award of Excellence in Education presented by the Alberta Premier's Council on the Status of Persons with Disabilities at CASA during International Day for Persons with Disabilities Day celebrations on Dec. 3, 2015. Alum Corey Makoloski (BFA – Dramatic Arts/BEd ’03), currently a Master of Arts in Education student, had his work featured in the evening ceremonies. Corey and his ensemble "Limitless" presented two mixed ability dance works, one on video and one performed live. 
• New West Theatre’s family holiday production, which ran from Dec. 22-Jan. 2 in the Sterndale Bennett Theatre, is full of U of L alums.  Jeremy Mason (BFA – Dramatic Arts ’05) wrote the new spin on an old fairy tale – Three Little Pigs, in which Camille Pavlenko (BFA – Dramatic Arts ’12) and Ryan Reese (BFA – Dramatic Arts ’12) play the little pigs and Kelly Malcolm (BFA – Dramatic Arts ’12).  The production is directed by Alice Nelson (BFA – Dramatic arts ’00).  The play ran from Dec. 22-Jan. 2.

ART

• Annie Martin (Art) is participating in À la recherché (in search of practice-based research), a group exhibition curated by Barbara Balfour at the Open Studio Gallery in Toronto from Jan. 8 – Feb. 6, 2016.  The working title of the show À la recherche (in search of practice-based research), suggests a call in honour of research, as something to be celebrated, and also alludes to the title of Marcel Proust’s novel À la recherche du temps perdu. Etymologically, there is a sense of “search” within “research,” which curator Barbara Balfour is keeping in mind in undertaking this curatorial project. Research has been at the heart of Balfour’s practice for many years, but she has also been thinking about it in a more concerted fashion lately, in terms of the notion of “practice-based research.”

• Izmer Ahmad (BA Art ’93), Robert Bechtel (BFA Art ’95), George Ho (BFA Art ’92) and Yoko Takashima (BFA Art ’93) have work in Bridge, an exhibition at The Gallery at Casa.  These artists studied and exhibited together while attending the University of Lethbridge in the 1990s and since then have taken divergent paths and varied approaches to their practices.  Izmer Ahmad (Malaysia/Dubai), an artist and educator teaching at the University of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, is exhibiting works on paper; Robert Bechtel (Lethbridge), an artist and long-time volunteer within the Lethbridge arts community, displays a selection of his paintings; George Ho (Vancouver), a writer and artist with recent exhibitions in Hong Kong and Santa Monica, brings his sculpture to the exhibition; and Yoko Takashima (Victoria), a media artist and professor at the University of Victoria, presents a video work.

Bridge runs from Jan. 9 – Feb. 26, and admission is free.

NEW MEDIA

• Aaron Taylor (New Media) gave the keynote lecture at the Embodied Film Language Symposium in Helsinki on Dec. 4 – 5, 2015. Aaron’s presentation, “Screen Acting and Reality Effects,” is tied to his CREDO-sponsored research project on performance and embodied cognition.
• Deric Olsen’s (New Media) feature film Common Chord had its UK premiere when it was broadcast in primetime on Dec. 14 on TBN UK Channel 65 (Sky582).  This channel is the United Kingdom’s largest faith and family channel and is available free-to-air reaching 26 million households across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.  The film also involved numerous other Fine Arts students, alumni, and faculty as well as community members. 

If you know of any U of L alumni, student, staff, or faculty member with research, creative works, or achievements that deserve recognition, please forward any article or release to Katherine Wasiak at katherine.wasiak@uleth.ca