CMU President Cheryl Pauls (centre) with leaders of Manitoba’s universities, colleges, and Manitoba’s school boards photo: University of Manitoba
Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) is proud to announce its participation in the Indigenous Education Blueprint as part of Manitoba’s education sector.
CMU joined five other Manitoba universities, three colleges, and the Manitoba School Boards Association in a landmark signing of the Indigenous Education Blueprint on December 18.
Working together in unprecedented fashion, the participating institutions developed and are now committed to the plan, which acts upon the recommendations the Truth and Reconciliation Commission presented this past summer.
The Blueprint commits the participating institutions to concrete practices in order to respect, celebrate, and support Indigenous peoples, knowledge, and success.
For more information about the event and the author, please see the related news release.
CMU President Cheryl Pauls (centre) with leaders of Manitoba’s universities, colleges, and Manitoba’s school boards photo: University of Manitoba
Working together in unprecedented fashion, the participating institutions developed and are now committed to the plan, which acts upon the recommendations the Truth and Reconciliation Commission presented this past summer.
The Blueprint commits the participating institutions to concrete practices in order to respect, celebrate, and support Indigenous peoples, knowledge, and success.
“The story has always been told by someone else. Now it’s your turn, and today we honour that,” Elder Harry Bone said during his opening remarks at the signing ceremony.
Steven Heinrichs, Director of Indigenous Relations with Mennonite Church Canada, was in attendance to witness the signing.
“CMU took an amazing step today in the pursuit of right relations with host peoples,” Heinrichs said. “This isn’t only good for Indigenous peoples. It can help us settlers in the paths of decolonization and bring us life. I’m looking forward to seeing how CMU will grow into this.”
CMU President Cheryl Pauls signs the Indigenous Education Blueprint alongside Manitoba Institute of Trades and Technology President & CEO Paul Holden photo: University of Manitoba
CMU President Cheryl Pauls participated in the signing ceremony on behalf of the university.
She cites a number of events and initiatives, such as CMU’s partnership with the Peguis First Nation post-secondary transition program and hosting of community forums to discuss the possibilities of an urban reserve at the Kapyong Barracks, as examples where CMU has already cultivated Indigenous-settler relationships.
“We are proud to be a part of this historic commitment,” Pauls said. “CMU’s mission statement places significant importance on reconciliation in our church and society. Through education, reconciliation can be fostered, understood, and turned into a new reality.”
Moving ahead, there will be numerous all-faculty conversations at CMU to engage the Indigenous Education Blueprint.
These conversations will identify opportunities where programs and courses can be enlivened in light of the Blueprint, particularly within Peace and Conflict Studies at CMU’s Shaftesbury campus and Conflict Resolution Studies at the Menno Simons College campus in downtown Winnipeg.
In addition to CMU, the educational partners that signed the historic Blueprint include: University of Manitoba, University of Winnipeg, Brandon University, Université de Saint-Boniface, University College of the North, Red River College, Manitoba Institute of Trades and Technology, Assiniboine Community College, and Manitoba School Boards Association.
Engaging with Indigenous peoples in respectful and reciprocal relationships and to realize the right to self-determination, and to advance reconciliation, language and culture through education, research and skill development;
Bringing Indigenous knowledge, languages and intellectual traditions, models and approaches into curriculum and pedagogy;
Promoting research and learning that reflects the history and contemporary context of the lives of Indigenous peoples;
Increasing access to services, programs, and supports to Indigenous students, to ensure a learning environment is established that fosters learner success;
Collaborating to increase student mobility to better serve the needs of Indigenous students;
Building school and campus communities that are free of racism, value diversity and foster cultural safety;
Increasing and measuring Indigenous school and post-secondary participation and success rates;
Showcasing successes of Indigenous students and educators;
Reflecting the diversity of First Nations, Inuit and Métis cultures in Manitoba through institutional governance and staffing policies and practices; and
Engaging governments and the private and public sectors to increase labour market opportunities for Indigenous graduates.
A Christian university in the Anabaptist tradition, CMU’s Shaftesbury campus offers undergraduate degrees in arts, business, humanities, music, sciences, and social sciences, as well as graduate degrees in theology, ministry, peacebuilding and collaborative development, and an MBA. CMU has over 800 full-time equivalent students, including those enrolled in degree programs at the Shaftesbury and Menno Simons College campuses and in its Outtatown certificate program.
For additional information, please contact:
Kevin Kilbrei, Director of Communications & Marketing
kkilbrei@cmu.ca; 204.487.3300 Ext. 621
Canadian Mennonite University
500 Shaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg, MB R3P 2N2
That’s how Samantha Klassen feels now that the City of Winnipeg, the Province of Manitoba, and the Federal Government have voiced their support for the construction of a permanent road for Shoal Lake 40 First Nation.
Klassen, a second-year student at Canadian Mennonite University (CMU), is a member of Students for Freedom Road, one of the grassroots organizations in Winnipeg advocating for just relations with Shoal Lake 40.
Shoal Lake 40 is an isolated reserve that straddles the Manitoba-Ontario border. The reserve was cut off from the mainland a century ago during construction of an aqueduct which sends fresh water to Winnipeg.
It has no all-weather road and its residents have lived under a boil-water advisory since the late 1990s – one of the longest boil-water advisories in Canadian history.
A road connecting Shoal Lake to the mainland would mean the reserve could start thinking about a water treatment plant and economic development.
Klassen, who is a co-director of the Peace and Sustainability Committee student group at CMU, wanted to get involved after hearing Winnipeg singer-songwriter Steve Bell talk about the cause in a chapel service at CMU in September.
The Peace and Sustainability Committee partnered with Witness Through Service, another student group on campus, to form Students for Freedom Road.
They soon partnered with Friends of Shoal Lake 40, a collective of community organizations working on the issue.
In addition to circulating petitions and attending rallies, a handful of CMU students were part of a delegation that traveled to the reserve on October 30 to meet Shoal Lake community members and better understand how the aqueduct that supplies Winnipeg with its drinking water has devastated the community.
The delegation also included Bell, seven city councillors, two aides, business leaders, and representatives from various advocacy groups.
For Klassen a sharing circle city councillors and community members participated in during the October 30 visit was particularly meaningful.
Jim Cheng, a student in his final year of study at CMU who captured his experience on October 30 through a number of photographs, says getting involved with Students for Freedom Road and visiting Shoal Lake was an opportunity to apply what he’s learned in classes like Biblical Perspectives on Peace and Justice to everyday life.
“Often I feel like the stuff that I learn academically can only stay with me as head knowledge,” Cheng says. “When I meet people, the information touches not only the head but the heart and the spirit.”
Klassen, Cheng, and their peers are celebrating the commitments all three levels of government have made to build Freedom Road.
“The people of Shoal Lake 40 will at last have the chance to thrive in their own home,” Klassen says. “Let this be a witness to all of the power of goodness to overcome evil, and the redemptive power of grace.”
The barge transports the group from the mainland to the man-made island of Shoal Lake 40. (photo credit: James Christian Imagery)The group poses for a photo on the temporary bridge across the diversion canal. (photo credit: James Christian Imagery) The Shoal Lake 40 community relies solely on bottled water for drinking, cooking, and bathing as a result of the boil-water advisory. (photo credit: James Christian Imagery)Chief Erwin Redsky speaks to the group on October 30. (photo credit: James Christian Imagery)The group stands on the temporary bridge that was built two years ago. A permanent bridge is being constructed and will connect Freedom Road, which will join Hwy. #1 to the west of Shoal Lake 40. (photo credit: James Christian Imagery)
Stewart Redsky explains the history and geography of Shoal Lake 40. (photo credit: James Christian Imagery)
Visitors participate in the tour of the island on October 30. (photo credit: James Christian Imagery)
The Junior Chief and Junior Council members, dressed up for Halloween, spoke to the group in the community hall. They were shy but they welcomed the group and explained how they wish Freedom Road would get built. (photo credit: James Christian Imagery)
Steve Bell speaks with Samantha Klassen. (photo credit: James Christian Imagery)
Displaying t-shirts that get the message across. (photo credit: James Christian Imagery)
CMU students Rebecca Penner (from left), Erin Froese, Kelsey Wiebe, Edina-lil Preteau, Samantha Klassen, and Louisa Hofer pictured with singer-songwriter Steve Bell (far right) and Amy Knight (second from right). (photo credit: Aaron Epp)
Manitoba’s post-secondary institutions and school boards are working together to make our province a global centre of excellence for Indigenous education, research, languages and cultures. Together we have developed and committed to the Manitoba Collaborative Indigenous Education Blueprint, making excellence in Indigenous education a priority. Through this partnership, we are acting on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s recommendations, and are taking steps that will advance reconciliation in Manitoba, and across Canada.
The Manitoba Collaborative Indigenous Education Blueprint is just the beginning of a conversation. We look forward to working with more partners and organizations on initiatives and programs that will advance Indigenous education that will translate into success for Indigenous students and families, and enhance the lives of all Manitobans.
Please join us Friday, December 18, 2015 as six universities, three colleges, and the Manitoba School Boards Association come together on Treaty One Territory and the homeland of the Métis Nation to sign the Manitoba Collaborative Indigenous Education Blueprint.
AGENDA
Emcees: Deborah Young, Executive Lead Indigenous Achievement, U of M and Wab Kinew, Associate Vice-President Indigenous Affairs, U of W
Elder Harry Bone
Honour Song – Justina McKay
Minister of Education and Advanced Learning, Hon. James Allum
David Barnard, President and Vice-Chancellor, U of M — Welcoming remarks on behalf of COPUM
Paul Vogt, President and CEO, Red River College
Ken Cameron, President, Manitoba School Boards Association
Author hopes book ‘will help readers enter into the lives of people who become refugees’
CMU Press is proud to announce the publication of its latest title, To and From Nowhere, written by Winnipeg author Hedy Leonora Martens.
In this gripping and moving novel, protagonist Greta Enns and her family struggle to exist in the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1976 after being displaced by Stalin along with thousands of Russian Germans, Mennonites, and other ethnic groups.
To and From Nowhere is the second of two books by Winnipeg writer Hedy Leonora Martens that tell the life story of Greta Enns.
CMU Press and Martens will celebrate the publication of To and From Nowhere with a book launch on Monday, December 7 at 7:00 PM in the atrium at McNally Robinson (1120 Grant Ave.). Everyone is invited to attend this free event.
“I hope this book will help readers enter into the lives of people who become refugees,” Martens says, adding that it wasn’t just Mennonites that Stalin displaced.
“Many nationalities were exiled, torn from their homes, some of them never to return. They were wiped off the map as if they never existed, which is why the book is called To and From Nowhere.”
Greta was a real person who belonged to Martens’ extended family.
Based on painstaking historical research and interviews with Greta and her family, To and From Nowhere tells a harrowing and beautiful story in the unusual style that Martens has fused, combining narrative, biography, poetry, history, and personal reflection.
To and From Nowhere is the conclusion of a two-part project that began with the publication of Martens’ 2010 novel, Favoured Among Women, which the Winnipeg Free Press called a “detailed and touching portrait of a Mennonite woman during the harsh early years of Soviet Russia.”
Dr. Sue Sorensen, Associate Professor of English at CMU, served as editor for both Favoured Among Women and To and From Nowhere.
Sorensen calls the new book unique and adds that readers will gain insight into history—especially war—and at the same time be moved by the details of a real family’s day-to-day existence.
Martens, a retired family therapist, spent three decades working on Greta Enns’ story.
“In addition to that, you are drawn into the author’s process as she herself comments on her interactions with the material she is writing about,” Sorensen says. “There’s a beautiful resonance to all these different voices and writing styles living side-by-side in the book.”
Sorensen adds that Martens has a gift for bringing characters to life. “Because of Hedy’s skill I felt like I also had met Greta,” she says.
CMU Press is pleased to publish To and From Nowhere, says General Editor Dr. Paul Doerksen.
“Hedy has provided an invaluable contribution by bringing to view the experience of particular characters, allowing us to both witness and imagine some of the experiences which enable us to deepen our own understanding of historical circumstances, personal encounters, struggles of faith, and so on,” Doerksen says.
“While the book focuses on particularities, nonetheless it has the capacity to speak to a reading audience that is much broader than any single ethnic or religious group.”
Martens, a retired family therapist, recently celebrated her 80th birthday. She is looking forward to the December 7 book launch after working on Greta’s story for three decades.
“It feels really good to have completed this,” she says.
About CMU A Christian university in the Anabaptist tradition, CMU’s Shaftesbury campus offers undergraduate degrees in arts, business, humanities, music, sciences, and social sciences, as well as graduate degrees in theology, ministry, peacebuilding and collaborative development, and an MBA. CMU has over 800 full-time equivalent students, including those enrolled in degree programs at the Shaftesbury and Menno Simons College campuses and in its Outtatown certificate program.
For additional information, please contact:
Kevin Kilbrei, Director of Communications & Marketing
kkilbrei@cmu.ca; 204.487.3300 Ext. 621
Canadian Mennonite University
500 Shaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg, MB R3P 2N2
Kevin Derksen, a 2007 CMU graduate serves as pastor at St. Jacobs Mennonite Church (SJMC) in St. Jacobs, ON. He was on the CMU campus from November 2 to 6 as CMU’s Pastor-in-Residence, a program designed to encourage out-of-province pastors to live in residence and participate in the life of the CMU community.
Derksen’s reflection on his week at CMU appears in the Winter 2015 issue of SJMC’s newsletter, Life Together. Republished with permission is Derksen’s excerpt below.
Pastor-in-Residence for a Week: Canadian Mennonite University
by Kevin Derksen, SJMC Pastor
During the week of November 2-6, I had the opportunity to turn back the clock and re-live my student years at Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) in Winnipeg. I had been invited to spend a week on campus as the “Pastor in Residence” for the fall semester.
The “in Residence” part was quite literal—I was given a tiny bachelor suite in the student apartment block, and went for meals in the school cafeteria. The head cook was still the same from my time thirteen years before, and the good food I remembered hadn’t changed a whole lot.
The years had been less kind to the mattress in my room, however, which clearly predated my student days by a fair margin. But I was sleeping on my own without young children to attend to, so the accommodations still felt pretty good. There was a fair amount of night-time commotion from rooms down the hall, but I decided those students probably didn’t need me to find their ‘blankie’ and tuck them back in!
The point of the visit, however, was to spend time with students—not as a parent, but as a pastor. CMU invites someone to come for a week in each semester as a “Pastor in Residence.” The idea is to bring a fresh face on campus to get to know the school, connect with students and initiate some good conversations. I was happy to accept the invitation when it came, especially as a former student with lots of connections and memories still there. Even though I became a pastor in Ontario, I was shaped significantly by my time at CMU. So it was fun to bring what I do now back to that community.
They did keep me pretty busythroughout the week. I spoke at three chapels and at a student worship night. I was a guest presenter in a couple of ministry-related classes. And I had lunches and meetings with a handful of student and faculty groups. In many of these settings I shared about my own experience as a pastor and invited reflection on topics that are significant within our context here at St. Jacobs. I discovered all sorts of resonances and common interests. It turns out that many of our current issues and conversations here are happening within churches in Winnipeg and beyond, too.
I also spent a whole lot of time in campus coffee shops visiting and talking with people. There were a couple of mornings where I was assigned to sit with a box of cookies to share with students who stopped by for conversation. But I also spent lots of time visiting with staff and faculty, as well as community folks who happened to be around.
On one day I had “coffee” with six different people over the course of five hours, as I held court in one of the cafes. By the end of the week, I was pretty chatted out! But it was really interesting to hear what was going on at CMU and make some connections with where I was coming from as a pastor. Hopefully students and staff and faculty at CMU found something valuable in what I shared as well.
Part of what I took from the week was also a renewed appreciation for what a place like CMU can be and do as a branch of the church. So, here are a few quick reflections on what I noticed as the vibe at the school right now:
CMU has just completed a building project that created a new library, coffee shop and student space called the “Marpeck Commons.” The new space is connected to buildings on the other side of Grant Avenue by a fancy indoor bridge that saves the need for risky street crossings in the winter. The bridge and the Commons have transformed the CMU campus. It has connected the buildings on both sides of the street, and created a natural crossroads for the community. I have never experienced a building project that has had such an immediately positive impact on the culture of a place. Kudos to the vision that lay behind it.
When I began as a student at CMU thirteen years ago, there were still growing pains in the integration of the partner colleges. In particular, some of the church culture distinctives between the Mennonite Brethren and Mennonite Church Canada were still being negotiated. My sense fifteen years into this experiment in unity is that these divisions are less of an issue. In part, because the school has grown to encompass a much greater diversity of students. These days, less than half of students come with any sort of Anabaptist or Mennonite background. CMU remains committed to providing education from an Anabaptist perspective, but there is a wide and beautiful diversity in those who come to learn.
Finally, I was struck by the wealth of thoughtful and committed student leaders that I met – many of who are and will be leaders for the church. It was encouraging to receive their passion and to share my story in the midst of it. God is at work at CMU, as in many other places of learning and formation that we are connected with.I’m grateful for the opportunity to see that again.
Tuition Freedom Day celebrates the generosity of donors, churches, and the Manitoba Government in supporting education at Canadian Mennonite University.
Taking place November 30, 2015 at 11:30 AM in CMU’s Chapel (600 Shaftesbury Blvd.), Tuition Freedom Day marks the end of the fiscal year paid for by student tuition, and the beginning of the year made possible by grants and donations from the Manitoba government, churches, and individual donors.
Ron Penner will address the student body on behalf of CMU’s church constituency, speaking of their broad commitment to CMU because of its allegiance to Anabaptist-Mennonite perspectives on Scripture and the Christian faith that combines justice, peace, discipleship, evangelism, and community. Ron and his wife Ruth were both students of founding college MBBC, after which time Ron served as lead pastor at Braeside Evangelical Mennonite Church until his retirement. Today Penner serves as an executive with the Mennonite World Conference.
Hugo Peters, an alumnus of founding college CMBC, will speak as a representative of CMU’s donors. Peters expresses profound appreciation for the foundation CMBC provided during his post-secondary years before becoming a high school teacher first in Virden, MB and then at Transcona Collegiate in Winnipeg. Peters supports CMU with a recognition for the need for a faith-based university that cultivates and validates a broad range of ministries and a world view beyond the immediate.
About CMU A Christian university in the Anabaptist tradition, CMU’s Shaftesbury campus offers undergraduate degrees in arts, business, humanities, music, sciences, and social sciences, as well as graduate degrees in theology, ministry, peacebuilding and collaborative development, and an MBA. CMU has over 800 full-time equivalent students, including those enrolled in degree programs at the Shaftesbury and Menno Simons College campuses and in its Outtatown certificate program.
For additional information, please contact:
Kevin Kilbrei, Director of Communications & Marketing
kkilbrei@cmu.ca; 204.487.3300 Ext. 621
Canadian Mennonite University
500 Shaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg, MB R3P 2N2
‘The CMU faculty is doing very significant work,’ says vice president
Among the published CMU faculty to be featured in the December 9 book celebration are (clockwise from top-left) Froese, Doerksen, Sorensen, and Gerbrandt.
Peacebuilding in Laos, the history of Mennonites in California, Deuteronomy, and the portrayal of clergy in pop culture—recent books by faculty from Canadian Mennonite University cover a wide range of topics.
The university will recognize faculty who have published work in the last year-and-a-half at a special celebration happening on Wednesday, December 9, 2015 at 3:00 PM.
The celebration will take place at folio café in Marpeck Commons (2299 Grant Ave.). Admission is free, and all are welcome to attend.
In addition to selling and signing their books, CMU faculty will give brief presentations about their work.
“The CMU faculty is doing very significant work,” says Dr. Dietrich Bartel, Interim Vice President Academic. “We want to highlight that.”
The event will celebrate the following books:
Deuteronomy (Herald Press, 2015) by Dr. Gerald E. Gerbrandt, President Emeritus and Professor Emeritus of Bible. The 29th volume in the Believers Church Bible Commentary series, Deuteronomy examines divine grace and the practices of justice and right living.
Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding in Laos: Perspective for Today’s World (Routledge, 2015) by Dr. Stephanie Stobbe, Associate Professor of Conflict Resolution Studies. Using the case study of Laos, a small country that has seen brutal poverty and violence, this book examines the power of traditional and indigenous conflict resolution systems as a tool for social justice.
The Outsiders’ Gaze: Life and Labour on the Mennonite West Reserve 1874-1922 (Manitoba Mennonite Historical Society, 2015), co-edited by Dr. Adolf Ens, Professor Emeritus of History and Theology.This book is a perspective of Mennonites through the eyes of outsiders from 1874-1922 when 7,000 Mennonites emigrated from southern Russia and settled in Manitoba.
Inner Peace Through Conflict Transformation (2015) by Dr. Paul Redekop, Professor Emeritus of Conflict Resolution Studies. This is a groundbreaking guide that aids readers in achieving a more peaceful relationship with themselves by applying basic strategies of conflict resolution to inner conflict.
James and Paul: The Politics of Identity at the Turn of the Ages (Fortress Press, 2015) by Dr. V. George Shillington, Professor Emeritus of Biblical and Theological Studies.This book seeks to understand the different but complementary missions of the apostle Paul and James of Jerusalem.
Voices of Harmony & Dissent: How Peacebuilders are Changing Their Worlds (CMU Press, 2015), co-edited by Dr. Jarem Sawatsky, Professor Emeritus of Peace and Conflict Transformation Studies and Valerie Smith, Co-Director of CMU’s Canadian School of Peacebuilding. This book explores the stories, theory, and tools of 16 peace leaders, trainers, and activists from around the world.
California Mennonites (John Hopkins University Press, 2015) by Dr. Brian Froese, Associate Professor of History. This book examines the Mennonite experience in the Golden State, from the 19th century migrants who came in search of sunshine and fertile soil to the evangelically oriented, partially assimilated Mennonites of today.
Toward an Anabaptist Political Theology: Law, Order, and Civil Society (Wipf and Stock, 2014), edited by Dr. Paul Doerksen, Associate Professor of Theology and Anabaptist Studies. This collection of essays by the late theologian Dr. A. James Reimer pursues the investigation of theological realities that are to serve as the engine of a political theology that seeks to articulate both a critical and a positive-constructive approach to public/political life and institutions.
The Collar: Reading Christian Ministry in Fiction, Television, and Film (Cascade, 2014) by Dr. Sue Sorensen, Associate Professor of English. This is a wide-ranging study of the many ways Christian ministers have been represented on page and screen. Ranging across several nations, denominations, and eras, The Collar is an inquiry into pastoral passion, frustration, and fallibility.
Because each author has a background in teaching and is also involved in a church community, their work will appeal to a variety of readers, including lay readers, pastors, teachers, and more.
“These writers are not just speaking to other scholars,” says Dr. Vic Froese, Library Director at CMU, who is organizing the December 9 event. “They are aware that there is an audience that has a more practical interest in what they have written.”
Froese is looking forward to the celebration.
“I hope that people who attend learn more about the excellence we have here on our faculty,” he says, adding that the event is also meant to recognize the hard work of CMU’s professors. “We want to express our appreciation to them and congratulate them on a job well done.”
About CMU A Christian university in the Anabaptist tradition, CMU’s Shaftesbury campus offers undergraduate degrees in arts, business, humanities, music, sciences, and social sciences, as well as graduate degrees in theology, ministry, peacebuilding and collaborative development, and an MBA. CMU has over 800 full-time equivalent students, including those enrolled in degree programs at the Shaftesbury and Menno Simons College campuses and in its Outtatown certificate program.
For additional information, please contact:
Kevin Kilbrei, Director of Communications & Marketing
kkilbrei@cmu.ca; 204.487.3300 Ext. 621
Canadian Mennonite University
500 Shaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg, MB R3P 2N2
Course, concert allow students to learn the art of stagecraft
Canadian Mennonite University’s Opera and Musical Theatre Workshop is proud to present The Aria: A Study of the Staged Solo.
The concerts features more than 15 striking solo performances from more than 10 different opera and musical theatre productions.
Directed by CMU Instructor of Music David Klassen, the production runs for two shows: Thursday, December 3 at 7:30 PM and Friday, December 4 at 7:30 PM.
The performances will take place in the Laudamus Auditorium (500 Shaftesbury Blvd.). Tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for students, and available at the door. Tickets may also be reserved by calling 204-487-3300.
The show includes performances of “Dalla sua pace” from Mozart’s Don Giovanni, “Caro nome” from Verdi’s Rigoletto, “Juliette’s Waltz” from Gounod’s Romeo and Juliette, a handful of hits by Gilbert and Sullivan, and more.
Klassen is looking forward to seeing his 10 students perform.
“I’m always really, really proud of what it is they produce,” Klassen says. “My hope is that the audience comes along on the journey and can see their hard work.”
The Opera and Musical Theatre Workshop course is made available to students of all skill levels and gives them an understanding of the energy and effort required to communicate when performing operatic works.
“Every year I try to build something that fits the skill level and make up of the student body in the class,” says Klassen, who has taught the course for the past 10 years. “What I decided to do this year was take a stagecraft approach.”
That meant teaching the students stage skills such as directing and blocking. Each student is involved in at least three pieces: one they star in, one they direct, and one in which they portray a secondary character.
“What I really hope my students take with them is the confidence in their ability to understand and stage musical pieces on their own,” Klassen says.
The course is valuable because it empowers students to think for themselves about the pieces they are performing, says Nolan Kehler, a fourth-year Music student who has participated in the Opera and Musical Theatre Workshop each year he’s been at CMU.
“David asks questions like, ‘How is your character feeling in this scene?’ and ‘Why is your character moving the way he is?’” Kehler says. “All the questions make you think about what you’re doing on stage.”
CMU’s small student body gives students wishing to participate in Opera and Musical Theatre Workshop an advantage.
Larger universities typically draw from their graduate programs when staging productions like The Aria: A Study of the Staged Solo. At CMU, even non-music students are able to take the course.
Students in the course mount a full-scale production every second year, and present scenes from a variety of different works in the years in between.
“Alternating between a full production and scenes means more people get a chance to be a leading character and get into a leading character’s mindset,” Kehler says. “That kind of opportunity is pretty huge.”
Annual create-your-own-concert event features more than 100 musicians
Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) invites the community to celebrate the start of Advent at its 15th annual Christmas at CMU concert event.
Christmas at CMU takes place on Saturday, November 28 at the university (500 Shaftesbury Blvd.). There are two concerts: one at 2:00 PM and the other at 7:00 PM. Admission for both concerts is free, and all are welcome to attend.
Rudy Schellenberg, Professor Emeritusof Music and one of the event’s key organizers, is joyfully anticipating the concerts.
“It’s really an intergenerational event, which is the great thing about it,” Schellenberg says. “There’s something for everybody.”
More than 100 performers are involved in the event, which features CMU choirs; vocal and instrumental jazz; a classical guitar ensemble; and performances by the university’s music faculty.
Christmas at CMU is a multi-generational, interactive event that allows family, friends, and neighbours of all ages to mingle in CMU’s beautiful heritage building.
Part of the event’s appeal is that people who attend do not have to sit in the same spot for an hour-and-a-half.
Music ensembles will be stationed in different parts of the university, allowing attendees to create their own concert by walking around the festively decorated campus—all while enjoying hot apple cider and cookies.
Highlights of this year’s event include Making Room for the Angel’s Song, a multimedia monologue taking place in CMU’s Great Hall. Based on Luke 1:26–38 with music from George Crumb’s A Little Suite for Christmas, the piece will feature CMU President Cheryl Pauls on piano.
Meanwhile, Dietrich Bartel, Associate Professor of Music, will read How the Grinch Stole Christmas in CMU’s Faculty & Staff Lounge, with CMU student Jesse Dollimont performing musical selections from the famed 1966 animated TV special to accompany him.
Following that performance, all children and parents are welcome to make music with Rebecca Harder, a CMU alumna and instructor with the university’s Community School of Music and the Arts.
Christmas at CMU will end with an audience carol sing in the Loewen Athletic Centre, an annual tradition that always culminates with everyone singing Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus.
“There’s something universal about the Hallelujah Chorus that is a great summation of the purpose of this event,” Schellenberg says. “It’s a highlight every year.”
Since it was first held in 2001, Christmas at CMU has become an important event on the university’s calendar. Each of the two concerts draws approximately 700 people.
Alumni and friends from Saskatchewan, Alberta, and even southern Ontario travel to Winnipeg to attend.
“Christmas at CMU is our gift to the constituency that supports the university and to the community at large,” Schellenberg says. “It is a thank you for all the donations and students that CMU benefits from.”
While Schellenberg is co-organizing this year’s event, his retirement this past spring means he will not be conducting any of the ensembles.
“For the first time, I’ll be able to walk the halls and enjoy the music along with the audience,” Schellenberg says. “I think I’ll come to both concerts.”
About CMU A Christian university in the Anabaptist tradition, CMU’s Shaftesbury campus offers undergraduate degrees in arts, business, humanities, music, sciences, and social sciences, as well as graduate degrees in theology, ministry, peacebuilding and collaborative development, and an MBA. CMU has over 800 full-time equivalent students, including those enrolled in degree programs at the Shaftesbury and Menno Simons College campuses and in its Outtatown certificate program.
For additional information, please contact:
Kevin Kilbrei, Director of Communications & Marketing
kkilbrei@cmu.ca; 204.487.3300 Ext. 621
Canadian Mennonite University
500 Shaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg, MB R3P 2N2
