FRIDAY, MARCH 5TH MUSIC IN THE TIME OF COVID (CHAIR: BRADLEY DEMATTEO), 6:00PM - 7:00PM
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
UofT Graduate Music Conference 2021
Friday, March 5th
Music in the Time of COVID (chair: Bradley DeMatteo), 6:00pm - 7:00pm
“How to Jam on Zoom: Reflections on Ten
Months of Meaningful Music-Making at
Distance”
Brendan Kent is enrolled in the Music and
Culture program at Carleton University (Ottawa,
ON, Canada) where he is completing his master’s
thesis on real-time improvised music-making
over the internet during COVID-19. His research
interests include improvisation, participation,
sound installations, and networked performance
arts. Brendan is a guitarist and pianist with a zeal
for teaching. An active composer, his
compositions are often inspired by minimalist
and post-tonal techniques.
“Strength for the journey: Music-making and
Critical Disability”
Diane Kolin is a MA candidate in Musicology in
York University, Toronto, Canada. Her research
interests are diverse and include Critical
Disability Studies, Ludwig van Beethoven, and
Franz Liszt. The study of Beethoven’s deafness
and her personal history led to her research in
disability and music. She is the editor in chief of
the Journal of the French Beethoven Society -
Association Beethoven France et Francophonie.
1
UofT Graduate Music Conference 2021
Saturday, March 6th
Music in Media (chair: Michelle Grosser), 9:00am -11:05am
“Mangled Bodies and Untimely Demises: Female Artistic
Excellence in Nocturne”
Christine Roberts is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree
in Musicology at Michigan State University where she is
also finishing her Doctorate of Music in Vocal
Performance. A passionate educator, Christine is
currently a sixth year Teaching Assistant at Michigan
State University and is also an Instructor of Voice at Alma
College. Her musicological interests include audience
reception of classical music in film and issues of gender
and sexuality from an interdisciplinary perspective. In her
free time, Christine enjoys video games, floral print, yoga,
and pandering to her cat, Muffin.
“Globalized Soundscapes for Girls’ Journeys of
Empowerment: A Musical Comparison of Kiki’s Delivery
Service and Spirited Away”
Cheng-Yun Wang (Mia) is a master student in Musicology
at Texas Tech University. She holds a BM from National
Tsing Hua University in Music, and an MM in
Performance from Northern Illinois University. Her
principal instrument is horn; she also plays the piano. She
is interested in exploring music in Japanese animation.
Her current work focuses on examining the relationship
between animation and globalization, localization, and
gender in Japanese society.
2
UofT Graduate Music Conference 2021
“Ludonarrative Pitch Relationships in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky”
Blaire Ziegenhagel is a composer and theorist from Seattle, Washington, currently studying at the University of
British Columbia. Her research focus lies in all sorts of popular and media music ranging from music on Billboard’s
charts to video game soundtracks, with a particular interest in musical theater. As a primarily spectralist
composer, Blaire combines these research interests with 20th century modernsim to create pieces with unique
tonal languages in both the classical and musical theater canons. She is committed to broadening musical literacy
to practitioners and enthusiasts alike in an effort to foster clear and concise conversation about the music we
listen to both everyday and academically.
“Piranhas, Volcanos, and Turtle Shells: Coherence and Congruence
in Mario Kart 8’s Enigmatic Sound World”
Growing up in the vibrant music scene of Melbourne, Australia,
James Heazlewood-Dale started playing the double bass
professionally in early high school. Having completed a bachelor's
degree in jazz performance with first class-honors, he relocated to
Boston to study at the Berklee School of Music and New England
Conservatory on the provision of full scholarships. A current Ph.D.
candidate in musicology at Brandeis University, his research focuses
on jazz studies and ludomusicology. He has given lectures and talks
at several universities in the Boston area, including Brandeis
University, Tufts University, the Berklee College of Music, and Boston
College. His current musical projects include working as a trio
member for Grammy award-winning Mehmet Sanlikol and Vadim
Nebraska’s nonet, which also involves Grammy award winners Dave
Douglass and Keita Ogawa (Snarky Puppy).
3
UofT Graduate Music Conference 2021
Lecture Recitals (chair: Hannah Davis-Abraham), 11:15am -12:15pm
“Reminiscences: Interpreting Nostalgia and Allusion in Solo Violin
Works by Kurtág and Arcuri”
Arlan Vriens is a DMA candidate in violin performance at the
University of Toronto. His dissertation research examines the
unaccompanied violin works of the late-18th century composer
Friedrich Wilhelm Rust, and his performance interests orbit
historically-informed and contemporary music performance. He has
held symphony tenures as concertmaster of Opera on the Avalon and
associate concertmaster of the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra,
and his present studies are supported by a SSHRC CGS-D doctoral
scholarship.
“Testing a New Memorisation Method for Post-Tonal Piano Music”
Laura Farré Rozada is an award-winning pianist and mathematician,
deemed a 'Rising Star' by BBC Music Magazine. She is currently a PhD
candidate at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, where she has
been awarded a Midlands4Cities AHRC Doctoral Studentship. She is
one of the founding members of the TiMP Symposium and has been
a reviewer for the NIME International Conference. Laura has
successfully auditioned for and secured residencies such as the
WRCMS 2017 in Canada, the BCMG: NEXT Scheme 2018/2019 in the
UK and the Ensemble Evolution 2019 at the Banff Centre, the latter
generously supported with the Cyril and Elizabeth Challice Fund for
Musicians Award. Her second solo album Nimbus (2021) has just
been released with Catalan label Seed Music, and her debut album
The French Reverie (2018) was described by Classical Music Magazine
as 'a model for young artists making their recording debuts'. She has
performed in Spain, France, Germany, Canada, USA, Bulgaria and the
UK.
Keynote Presentation by Dr. William Cheng (introduction by Dr.
Lyndsey Copeland), 1:00pm - 2:30pm
Dr. Cheng is Chair and Associate Professor of Music at Dartmouth College. He holds a PhD in
musicology from Harvard University and conducts research and teaches varied courses in
history, media, ethics, disability, race, and digital games. See Dr. Cheng’s full biography at:
https://willxcheng.com/
4
UofT Graduate Music Conference 2021
Music Education and Activism (chair: Caleb Labbe Phelan), 2:40pm - 3:40pm
“Radical Self Actualization in Music Education”
Wes Carroll is a musician, composer, and teacher whose interest in
social justice has been a central theme within his song writing,
approach to education, and research. His interest in activism
developed while he was completing a Diploma in Social Justice
Studies at the University of Victoria (2017). During that time, he
became involved with the workplace justice movement in Victoria BC
and later worked as the public education coordinator and outreach
coordinator for the Retail Action Network. In that time, he curated
and delivered workshops on workers' rights, helped workers to take
on their ‘bad bosses’, and lobbied the BC government for decent
working conditions. Wes has released two albums of original music
that explore workplace justice, alienation in liberalism, climate chaos,
and surveillance. His most recent research project “Radical Self Actualization in Music Education” has been developed
during his second year in the University of Toronto’s Masters of Jazz Performance program. It explores the unique
opportunity that grade-school music teachers have to build a community space that encourages self-actualization by
giving up their power over students to allow for a polyphony of ideas through which students encounter themselves and
others through practices like song writing, improvisation and the study of global pop music.
“Decolonizing Western Piano Music”
Olivia Adams is a pianist, music clinician, and teacher. She holds an
Honours B.Mus. in Piano Performance from Western University, and
is completing Masters in Music and Feminist & Gender Studies at the
University of Ottawa under Dr. Lori Burns. She also holds a Piano
Pedagogy Certificate from the Royal Conservatory of Music. She has
appeared in performances across Canada, including Sweetwater
Music Festival, and in Ottawa Chamberfest’s Chamber Pints upcoming
season. Olivia is an in-demand adjudicator and an Ontario Registered
Music Teacher teaching in Ottawa and Orleans. Olivia combines her
feminist research with her piano interests and frequently performs
the music of QTBIPOC female composers. She enjoys collaborating
with her piano duo partner, the GJS Kanata choirs, and other solo
artists in Ottawa. Olivia has written articles for the Canadian Music
Teacher Magazine, Opus, and the book Hands On Piano. Most
recently, she received a SSHRC Grant for her research “She’s Still
Sounding: Working towards gender, race, and intersectionality
inclusivity in piano curriculum.” Olivia is also teaching assistant at the
University of Ottawa. She is passionate about equity in the music
studio, writing curriculum, and increasing the inclusionary practices in
the music studio.
5
UofT Graduate Music Conference 2021
“Methods of teaching piano to children with autism”
Violetta Dimitrova graduated from M. P. Mussorgsky Ural State Conservatory, Faculty of Folk Instrument,
specialization – accordion, in 1997, Russia, after which she continued to teach and perform. Violetta moved to
Calgary in 2004 and successfully continues her career as piano and accordion teacher, preparing candidates
for the Royal Conservatory of Music certification. Simultaneously, she has been working in the Ukrainian
Culture Center as a cultural coordinator, and orchestra and choir conductor, performing annually in cultural
concerts in Calgary and Edmonton. Currently, Violetta is a second-year master’s degree student in the music
education program of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Calgary.
Critical Perspectives in Opera (chair: Camille Rogers), 3:50pm - 4:50pm
“Ms., Opera, Music, Mr.: Gender Bias in
Contemporary Classical Music Criticism”
Allison Chu is a Ph.D. student in Music History at Yale
University, with research interests in opera in the
twenty-first century, contemporary classical music,
and the representations of identity on and off the
stage. She holds a Bachelor of Music in Clarinet
Performance (2019) and a Bachelor of Arts in English
(2019) from the University of Michigan. From 2017 to
2019, she worked with the University of Michigan
Gershwin Initiative as an Editorial Assistant. Allison
was awarded an EXCEL Enterprise Fund grant for her
research on blackface minstrelsy, the representation of
Black cultural life, and genre hybridity in George
Gershwin’s Blue Monday. Allison is one of the founding
members and current co-chair of the Grant Hagan
Society, an affinity group that supports people of color
in the Yale Department of Music. She also currently
works as a graduate research assistant for the 2020-21
Mellon Sawyer Seminar at Yale, “The Order of
Multitudes,” which studies the relationship between
long histories of information management in the age
of big data. Allison is invested in bridging the gap
between performers and scholars, practicing public
musicology through engagements such as her position
as guest lecturer at the 2020 Lakes Area Music Festival.
Outside of scholarly work, Allison enjoys reading
novels, traveling, and playing chamber music.
6
UofT Graduate Music Conference 2021
“Ms., Opera, Music, Mr.: Gender Bias in Contemporary Classical
Music Criticism”
Frances Pollock is a composer who is excited by all kinds of music.
Her favorite music inspirations are Dolly Parton, Whitney Houston,
Francis Poulenc, Joni Mitchell, Missy Elliot, Stephen Sondheim,
Jonathan Dove, and Billy Joel. Known for her “bold and bracing”
(Baltimore Sun) opera writing, Frances Pollock’s music “pulls no
punches and never flinches.” (City Paper).
Frances loves watching opera and writing opera. This coming season,
Frances is writing for Chautauqua Omaha, Opera Omaha, and Bel
Cantanti. Frances’ first opera, Stinney, was workshopped in
Baltimore in 2015 where it won a Johns Hopkins Diversity Grant and
a Best of Baltimore award. It was presented again in workshop in the
2019 PROTOTYPE festival in New York City. It will have its world
premiere in 2022 with Greenville Light Opera Works in Greenville,
SC. Frances has since written opera’s for Washington National Opera
(librettist Vanessa Moody) and Chicago Lyric/Seattle Opera (librettist
Jessica Murphy Moo).
Frances is a founding member of the investment group, Midnight Oil
Collective where she is incubating two pieces, Salt (with wife and
best friend Emily Roller and Ms., Opera, Music, Mr. with Allison Chu)
She holds a Bachelors of Music in theory and composition from
Furman University and a Masters of Music in vocal performance
from Peabody Conservatory. She is currently completing her
doctorate in composition at Yale University.
“Darius Milhaud, Simón Bolívar, and Hugo Chávez”
Zachary Lee Nazar Stewart is a Ph.D. candidate at Yale University. He holds an M.Phil. from the University of
Cambridge, where he was funded by a Dr. Herchel Smith Fellowship, and a B.A. from Williams College, where
he was awarded the Shirley Stanton Prize and highest honors in music. His dissertation examines how French
music of the 1940s and ’50s engaged with contemporaneous political questions, focusing on the processing of
wartime events and postwar French colonialism. He was recently awarded an M. Elizabeth C. Bartlet Grant
from the AMS.
7
UofT Graduate Music Conference 2021
Sound and Space (chair: Keegan Curry), 5:00pm - 6:00pm
“Raising the Alarm: An Ethnography of a Sonic Sit-In”
Peter Sloan is a musician, writer, and activist based in San Diego, CA. As a musician he is interested in
statistics, systems, places, and histories. He also writes about and does what he can to participate in the
climate justice movement. Peter has a B.A. in philosophy from the University of Alabama and an M.A. in music
from Mills College in Oakland, and he is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in music at the University of California, San
Diego.
“Investigating the Effects of Aestheticizing Ecological Objects in
Multimedia Art”
Joyce To is an Australian percussionist, curator and improviser
whose creative practices explore sounds of found objects alongside
traditional instruments in contemporary and experimental settings.
Her music career spans across the globe, having performed
throughout Australia and in Japan, America and Canada. She is
passionate about performing new works and supporting emerging
creatives. Joyce’s musical endeavours primarily focus and reflect
on contemporary environmental and social discourse. Recently,
she has immersed herself in the research and exploration of
realising new performative frameworks pursuing liveness amid
COVID19 digital culture through the curation of a digital concert
series ‘Nothing Else Left to Read’.
“Investigating the Effects of Aestheticizing Ecological Objects in
Multimedia Art”
Louis Pino is a percussionist and electronicist whose work spans a
breadth of musical genres and other media, including
improvisation, composed theater, pop, and electroacoustic music.
His improvisational and compositional practices are influenced by
cyclical time, neural entrainment, and the sound of his cat’s purr.
As a soloist, Pino prefers to work on music incorporating theatrical
elements and the use of technology, and has performed solo
recitals of entirely theatrical music and entirely electroacoustic
music. Pino spends most of his time composing for his friends,
tinkering with homemade electronic instruments, and live
streaming online.
8
UofT Graduate Music Conference 2021
Sunday, March 7th
Performance Practice (chair: Kristen Graves), 9:00am - 10:00am
“Free Your Bow and Strike the Imagination: A Discussion of
Affect in Historical Performance Practice”
Originally from Ottawa, Kailey Richards is currently
completing her Doctorate at the University of Toronto
under the tutelage of Julia Wedman and Jeanne Lamon. She
is also the 2020 recipient of the SSHRC Joseph-Armand
Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship. Kailey is a
graduate of the Master of Historical Performance Program
at the University of Toronto and of the Bachelor of Music
Program at Indiana University where she studied with
Stanley Ritchie, was the recipient of a Premier Young Artist
Award, and was named an Indiana University Founders
Scholar. She has performed with many ensembles including
the Theatre of Early Music, Talisker Players, Musica Viva
Orchestra, Rezonance Baroque Ensemble, Cor Unum
Baroque Ensemble, and the Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra.
“What the Devil Left Behind”
Benjamin Louwersheimer is a DMA student in cello
performance in Joseph Johnson’s studio at the University of
Toronto, whose dissertation focuses on the Belgian violinist
Eugene Ysaÿe. Benjamin has presented his research at the
Western University Graduate Symposium on Music in 2019.
As a performer, Benjamin has won numerous competitions
as a soloist and chamber musician. Recently he participated
in Continuum’s HATCH 2019 tour and was a first-place
winner of the Felix Galamir competition at the University of
Toronto. Benjamin is a passionate performer and
researcher of the solo cello repertoire, particularly for
underrepresented works and neglected composers.
9
UofT Graduate Music Conference 2021
Musicians’ Injuries (chair: Emily MacCallum), 10:10am - 11:10am
“One size fits none: What oboists’ injuries and tailored injury
prevention can tell us about managing musicians’ health”
A passionate performer, pedagogue, and researcher, Heather
Macdonald is a Toronto-based oboist dedicated to curating
interdisciplinary collaborations that appeal to a diverse audience. She
performs in orchestras and chamber groups all over Colorado,
Wyoming, and Ontario. Heather is currently working towards the
Doctor of Musical Arts at the University of Toronto, where she
researches intersections between musicians’ health and music
education.
“Understanding, Defining, and Controlling Muscular Tension in
Musical Performance”
Originally from Manitoba, Ariel Carrabré earned his Bachelor’s
degree in performance at McGill University. Ariel is an accomplished
cellist with numerous competition placements and scholarships to his
name and has performed as a soloist with the Winnipeg Symphony
Orchestra on multiple occasions. He has also been selected to
participate in numerous prestigious music programs such as
Morningside Music Bridge and Orford Music. In 2015, he earned a
master’s degree in music theory at the University of Ottawa, during
which he was awarded a coveted SSHRC grant to assist in completing
his research. Ariel then completed a second Master’s, this time in
cello performance, under Paul Marleyn at the University of Ottawa.
More recently, he was a finalist prize winner in the Eckhardt-
Grammaté National Music Competition in the spring of 2018. Ariel is
currently pursuing doctoral studies in cello performance at the
University of Montreal, studying with Yegor Dyachkov. His research
project focuses on injury prevention and recovery for string players
through a concentration on defining and describing muscular tension
and its role in string playing.
10UofT Graduate Music Conference 2021
Global Intersections of Chinese Musics (chair: Matthew Shih), 11:20am - 12:50pm
“Piano Is Chinese”
Minato Sakamoto is a Japanese composer, pianist, and improviser from Osaka. Ranging from classical concert music to
electronic music with heavy uses of computational technologies, his compositions practice the unserious seriously, fuse
spontaneous and organic qualities, and demonstrate a clear connection to the past. Minato is currently studying towards his
Ph.D. in composition at Duke University. Website: minatosakamoto.com
“Creating Cultural Bridges: The History and Development of
the Chinese Orchestra in Canada”
Patty Chan is a second-generation Chinese Canadian erhu
musician, educator, and author. She is the Music Director of
the Toronto Chinese Orchestra, and Director of Centre for
Music Innovations (musinno.com). As an erhu musician,
Patty has collaborated and premiered new works with many
ensembles and organizations, including the Strings of St.
John’s, Red Snow Collective, the Toronto Masque Theatre,
and the Canadian Children’s Opera Company. Her
composition, Redemption: The Chan Kol Nidre (2015) for erhu
and viola da gamba has been added to the archives at the
Beit Hatfutsot in Tel Aviv, a museum for the Jewish people.
Patty has taught erhu and Chinese music at York, Ryerson, and Carleton universities. She has written several books about
the erhu that have sold in over 30 countries, and and a storybook in three languages about Chinese instruments for
children. She is currently studying in the MA ethnomusicology program at York University, with a focus on cultural
connections and creating a Chinese music database for English readers.
“A Collaborative Pianist’s Guide to Chinese Art Song”
A multifaceted musician, pianist Jialiang Zhu passionately
embraces chamber music, solo piano, and vocal
collaboration. She co-founded the Bedford Trio with violinist
Alessia Disimino and cellist Andrew Ascenzo. They have
performed in major music festivals across Canada and are
champions of young composers’ works. In May 2020, Jialiang
presented a virtual solo recital with the Emerging Young
Artists Organization, where she performed Canadian
composer David Jaeger’s Meditations and improvised on
composer and poet Kathryn Knowles’ poetry alongside
classical repertoire. Jialiang is channeling her enthusiasm for Chinese art song into her doctoral thesis project A
Collaborative Pianist’s Guide to Chinese Art Song, which examines the interpretation of Chinese art song and offers
language tools for non-Chinese speakers to tackle this repertoire. In January 2021, she presented a lecture recital with both
native and non-native Chinese-speaking vocalists. They performed songs by composers from different Chinese-speaking
communities around the world. In February 2020, she presented her thesis research in the Dream Big Conference, the
inaugural Canadian collaborative piano conference, at the University of Winnipeg. Currently, Jialiang is pursuing her
Doctoral of Musical Arts in Collaborative Piano at the University of Toronto under the tutelage of Prof. Lydia Wong.
11UofT Graduate Music Conference 2021
Historical Inquiries (chair: Carolyne Sumner), 1:30pm - 3:00pm
“J.S. BACH: Rhetoric and Creation; Solo Bach Reinvented:
Analysis through Creation”
Early Music America scholarship recipient Jessica Korotkin has
been featured at the Montréal Baroque Festival, Vancouver Bach
Festival, Bloomington Early Music Festival, Portland Bach Festival,
Cleveland Bach Festival and with the American Bach Soloists
Academy. She specializes in the baroque cello, and also plays a
number of historical bowed bass instruments including the viola da
gamba, violone, and bass violin. Based in Montreal, Ms. Korotkin
has performed with ensembles such as the Broken Consort, Studio
de musique ancienne de Montréal, Les Boréades de Montréal and
L’Harmonie des saisons. She has been featured as a soloist on a
number of albums including Mark Maarder’s Contemplation for
Strings, and the Broken Consort’s Isle of Majesty. Ms. Korotkin
served as a summer faculty member at the Cornish College of the
Arts where she taught a baroque improvisation workshop. Before
moving to Montréal to pursue a DMus at McGill in historical performance, she held a position as section cellist with the
Firelands Symphony Orchestra, led by Carl Topilow. Ms. Korotkin earned her BM at the Peabody Institute and MM from
Oberlin’s Historical Performance Masters Program. In addition to performing, Ms. Korotkin is an active composer who
specializes in arranging historical music and writing baroque inspired music. Her recent accomplishments include a
publication with the American Composers Alliance, and the “Music from Silence” premiere where she is featured as a
composer/performer with Earth World Collaborative.
“J.S. BACH: Rhetoric and Creation; Rhetorical Analysis in
Performance Practice: Bach’s English Suite Nr. 2 BWV 807”
Pianist Jarred Dunn is a Yamaha Artist. He is a laureate of the
Jan Hoffman and Lithuanian Chopin International
Competitions. He is pursuing his doctorate in piano at McGill
University where he also teaches piano. He is published in the
CMEA and Canadian Music Teacher journals. A native of
Canada, he studied in Montréal, New York, Katowice and
Bydgoszcz.
12UofT Graduate Music Conference 2021
“‘A woman who is well loved should not be reproached’:
The Medieval Troveresse and the Hidden Meanings in Her
Music”
Suzanna Feldkamp is in the first year of her MA in Musicology
at Michigan State University. She holds a Bachelor of Music in
vocal performance from the same institution and plans on
pursuing a PhD in musicology following her master’s studies.
In addition to Suzanna’s primary interests in medieval secular
song and gender, she hopes to investigate sacred music,
politics, violence, emotions, and philology in the Low
Countries during the Middle Ages. In her spare time, Suzanna
enjoys cooking and baking, creative writing and reading,
knitting, nature walks, drinking a lot of coffee, and petting her
friends’ cats.
“Saloma Bagnchos Lar: Cyclic construction and listening in
Cambodian Royal Court Music from the cultural outsider’s
perspective”
Kelsey Lussier is currently finishing her master’s degree in
music theory at the University of British Columbia in
Vancouver. Originally from Calgary, Alberta, she completed
her undergraduate degree at Queen’s University in Kingston,
Ontario, with a focus on music theory, flute performance, and
orchestral conducting. She is completing her master’s thesis
on motivic uses of augmented sixth chords in Tchaikovsky’s
orchestral music. Her research interests also include analysis
of non-Western and popular music, groove, formal function,
music cognition and perception studies, and music theory
pedagogy.
13UofT Graduate Music Conference 2021
Art Songs and Song Cycles by Black Composers (chair: Rena Roussin), 3:10pm - 4:10pm
“Dark like me:” Meaning and Metaphor in “Dream
Variations”
Marie Comuzzo is a graduate student in Musicology at
the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She is
originally from Italy and spent much of her life in
Europe, studying violin and touring in various orchestras,
before moving to the USA to pursue graduate studies in
violin and more recently musicology.
Her research work focuses on the intersection between
capitalism, gender and race inequality and the lack of
diversity within the Euro-Western musical canon. In
addition to her research and teaching assistant work,
she enjoys learning about ritualistic traditions across the
world, gardening, making vegan cheeses, singing,
improvising and playing wildly with her cat.
“‘Haply I may remember, And haply may forget’: Fusion
of Sorrow Songs and Western Art Music as a Vehicle for
Narrative Construction in Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Six
Sorrow Songs, Op. 57”
Saeideh Rajabzadeh, an Iranian-Canadian mezzo-
soprano, is in her second year of Master’s in Musicology
at the University of Ottawa. She also holds a Graduate
Diploma and a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance
from the same school. Her current thesis research
centers on Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Six Sorrow Songs,
Op. 57 and the cross-genre borrowings between
Western classical music and slave songs in this cycle. In
line with her regular solo singing and conducting
performances, she is now collaborating with the Great
Canadian Theatre Company on an inclusive choir project
that aims to bring people’s voices together in the spirit
of hope and joy during COVID-19 pandemic.
Photo by Aude Urbancic
14You can also read
