Celebrating community connections
Dept. of Music, symphony benefit from a solid relationship

October 17, 2008

When it comes to making connections with the Saskatoon community and fulfilling the university's outreach and engagement objectives, few groups on campus can match the long and productive relationship between the Department of Music and the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra (SSO).

"There has always been an extremely close and largely symbiotic connection between the SSO and the department," said Dean McNeill, department head and third trumpet with the symphony. In fact, the SSO was originally established by musicians Arthur Collingwood, Murray Adaskin, David Kaplan and Dwaine Nelson who were all both U of S music faculty and conductors of the SSO.

"To this day, the department has all kinds of important connections with the symphony," some with McNeill himself in a few different roles. In addition to playing trumpet when required, the department head has conducted the orchestra for concerts with k.d. lang and Natalie McMaster, and for the SSO's 2008 Vienna Ball in January.

But there are numerous, "and perhaps even more significant examples of artistic collaborations," he said: Garry Gable, associate professor of voice and musical theatre has sung with the SSO many times, Glen Gillis, associate professor of saxophone and conductor of the U of S Wind Orchestra has conducted, Kathleen Solose, associate professor of piano has recorded as a soloist with the SSO, and Gerald Langner, associate professor and conductor of the Greystone Singers and University Chorus has rehearsed choirs for performances with, and conducted, the SSO.

And among the SSO players can be found many musicians who were students in the department or who have, and do, teach at the university. "This is a highly specialized profession," said McNeill, "so we wouldn't have these people as teachers in our department if not for the professional opportunities offered by the symphony."

In addition to the overlap of musicians who teach and teachers who play, McNeill said U of S music students reap the benefit of strong links with the SSO. Symphony master classes held on campus, for example, offer unique opportunities for professionally-oriented student musicians, so "the healthier, stronger and more vibrant the symphony is, the better it is for our students. To not have the SSO would be to lose part of their aesthetic artistic education.

"The healthier the SSO is, the more opportunities there will be for our students, graduates, sessionals and faculty, given the interdependence of the art form itself," McNeill said. "And if our department doesn't support the SSO, who the heck will? In fact, I would enourage everyone on campus to support the symphony by simply going to their concerts."

For the symphony, the well-established connections with the university reap benefits like access to rehearsal space and performance space in Convocation Hall when TCU Place is booked. The Department of Music also supplies the SSO with instruments on occasion in return for a mention in concert programs "which is good for the department, for the College of Arts and Science and for the university," McNeill said.

The SSO has recently been through a change-over of the board which now includes department administrator Troy Linsley among its members, and the return of Earl Stafford as this season's artistic director. For McNeill, these changes point to a re-invigoration of the organization that will benefit all – students, faculty, musicians, the department, the university and the city.

"A very critical component to building culture in a community is finding ways to facilitate one aesthetic experience at a time – one art show at a time, one concert at a time, and so on. I think our department has played a significant role in this regard and we have the responsibility to continue that tradition with artistic entities like the SSO."

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The people shown in the photo above are listed below with their connection to both the Department of Music and the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra (SSO). Many others were unable to attend the photo session.

Front Row, left to right:
Roy Sydiaha: current MMus student, UNIFEST co-ordinator and SSO percussion
Alyssa Thompson: BMus (Performance); SSO clarinet
Arlene Shiplett: instructor; SSO French horn
Jo-Anne Dillon: dean, College of Arts and Science
Dean McNeill: head, Department of Music; SSO trumpet

Middle Row, left to right:
Brian Unverricht: faculty member; SSO trombone
Randi Nelson: instructor; SSO flute
David Bindle: music librarian (Education/Music Library);
SSO percussion
Kathleen Solose: faculty member, piano; SSO soloist
Gyula Csapo; faculty member, composer
Troy Linsley; department administrator, instructor; SSO board member
Don Schmidt: instructor; SSO trombone
Kevin Junk: instructor; SSO English horn
Elysia Hunt: BMus (Performance); SSO French horn

Back Row, left to right:
Margaret Wilson: instructor; SSO clarinet
Gerald Langner: faculty member; choral conductor
Glen Gillis: faculty member; wind conductor
Richard Carnegie: instructor; SSO double bass
Terry Heckman: instructor; SSO trumpet
Mary Marino: instructor, Dept. of Languages and Linguistics; SSO board member
Blake Cumming: BMus (Performance); SSO operations manager
Kristine Eggertson: BMus (Theory & Composition), department office co-ordinator; SSO trombone substitute