April 25, 2012 – Canadian Mennonite University welcomed an enthusiastic audience to University’s annual Spring Concert, eld in the CMU Loewen Athletic Centre on April 21.
“The School’s choirs and ensembles entertained our audience with a delightful selection of songs from their vast repertoires,” said Dean of the CMU School of Music, Dr. Dietrich Bartel.
In his opening comments, Bartel drew attention to the healing power of music, inviting the audience to “actively participate, not just by listening to a showcase of what has been going on in CMU’s School of Music in the past year, but by allowing yourself to be taken to different places; different places around the world, but also to different places inside of yourself.”
Bartel reminded the audience that “we are all in need of God’s healing power, and we are all in need of music.”
School of Music Dean, Dr. Dietrich Bartel
All four choirs – the CMU Chamber Choir and CMU Men’s Chorus with Conductor Rudy Schellenberg, and CMU Singers and CMU Women’s Chorus with Conductor Janet Brenneman – were part of the evening’s entertainment.
The crowd showed their appreciation for the CMU choirs, and as well for the talented performances by the popular CMU ensembles: the seven-member CMU Guitar Ensemble (Willie Wiebe, Director), the CMU Jazz Band (Chad Pollard, Director) and CMU’s nine-member Wholly Jazz vocal group (Cynthia Wahl, Director).
Conductor Rudy Schellenberg leads the CMU Chamber Choir
CMU conductors featured a number of students performing as soloists throughout the evening, helping to represent and showcase the exceptional talent of CMU music students. Among these was CMU 2012 graduating student Daniel Trolly (Bachelor of Music) who conducted a performance by the CMU Chamber Choir.