Special Events 2023-24
Quick Links
Parsons and Poole Concert and Masterclass Series
Faculty and Guest Artists Concerts
Maritsa Brookes Concerto Competition
Fred Pattison Piano Award Competition
Winds, Brass & Percussion Concerto Competition
Homecoming 2023
September 22-24
From concerts and guided tours, to celebrations of this year's Alumni Wall of Fame inductees and an alumni meet-and-greet with Dean Michael Kim, all are welcome to join us for this year's Homecoming celebrations in Music.
Tempo!
Friday, October 27 | 12:30-1:30pm
Paul Davenport Theatre
Jointly presented by the Don Wright Faculty of Music and the Western Academy for Advanced Research (WAFAR), this event combines a concert with a discussion of the increasing natural disasters coming from climate change and what we can do to adapt to our changing reality. Music will be performed by Les Choristes, Western University Singers and other musicians TBA.
Tempo: Music for Climate Action is a multinational coalition of physical and social scientists and musicians to change the emotional climate about climate change. The creator of Tempo, Dr. Lucy Jones, is a seismologist at the California Institute of Technology and is participating in a WAFAR project entitled Climate Resilient Infrastructure and Buildings (CRIB). This concert brings together music inspired by the Tempo project with a discussion of the challenges facing Canada from the changing climate.
The concert initiates a week-long series of interdisciplinary events at Western University with scholars, policymakers, professionals, and the media to disseminate the result of the WAFAR CRIB project. Dr. Jones will also speak at 3:30pm (Oct. 27) Music Graduate Colloquium Series about her journey from seismology to Tempo.
Songs of Many Lands
Friday, November 24 | 1:30pm
von Kuster Hall
Join us for our annual concert of songs in many global languages celebrating Western’s International Week. Singers and pianists from the Don Wright Faculty of Music will perform songs in many languages and styles from countries across the world.
Contact Patricia Green for more details.
Northern Tornadoes Project and Western Music
Friday, March 1 | 7-9pm
von Kuster Hall and various locations around Don Wright Faculty of Music
Various locations throughout the Don Wright Faculty of Music will be transformed into a gallery that features music inspired by the data collected by the Northern Tornadoes Project (NTP) as well as other weather and nature inspired pieces.
Graduate composition students will be collaborating with engineers from NTP and faculty from Music Performance Studies. There will also be presentations in collaboration with marine biologist Paul Mensink.
The evening will culminate in a panel discussion Greg Kopp, ImpactWX Chair in Severe Storms Engineering and NTP lead researchers, seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones who is also the founder of Tempo: Music for Climate Action, and Kevin Mooney from Don Wright Faculty of Music.
Performers planned as of June 2023 include:
Western Viola Quartet; Saxophone Duo; cello and piano duo (Thomas Wiebe and Angela Park); Clarinet, trumpet, trombone trio (Jana Starling, Aaron Hodgson, Denis Jiron); String Sextet (Scott St. John, Yvonne Lam, violins; Annemarie Moorcroft, Sharon Wei, violas; Mischa Meyer, cello) Additional performers TBA, subject to change.
More information to follow. Contact Sharon Wei for more details.
NATS Regionals - Great Lakes Region - Final Concert
Saturday, March 2 | 4:30pm
von Kuster Hall
We are proud to host the NATS Regionals - Great Lakes Region auditions at Western University this year, with an estimated 150 students and their families, along with pianists, coaches, adjudicators, and teachers expected to attend. The public are welcome to attend the culminating final concert featuring winners of the various categories determined throughout the day.
For more information, contact faculty member and local co-ordinator Gloria Gassi, District Governor NATS Ontario. Regional committee members include faculty members Torin Chiles, Bethany Hörst and NATS Ontario Executive members.