Categories
Articles Graduates 2011 Video

Alumni Profiles – Erin Weaver (CMU ’11)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0Wfw5rtMt0&feature=channel_video_title[/youtube]This video features Erin Weaver at at In Gratitude, April 16, 2011, a graduation weekend event that celebrates CMU graduates by inviting class members to share their experiences through spoken word or musical performance. The event brings together family members, graduates, students, faculty, and staff.

Erin Weaver
Bachelor of Arts, 4 year, Major: International Development Studies

Video Production: Laura Tait, Communications & Media Student (2011)
 

Categories
Articles Graduates 2011 Video

Alumni Profiles – Amanda Bruneau-Schroeder (CMU ’11)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlk3YlYryXs&feature=channel_video_title[/youtube]This video features Amanda Bruneau-Schroeder at In Gratitude, April 16, 2011, a graduation weekend event that celebrates CMU graduates by inviting class members to share their experiences through spoken word or musical performance. The event brings together family members, graduates, students, faculty, and staff.

Amanda Bruneau-Schroeder, soprano with Rachelle Reinhart, piano
The Girl in 14G Jeanine Tesori and Dick Scanlan
Bachelor of Music, Concentrations: Performance, Music Education

Video Production: Laura Tait, Communications & Media Student (2011)

Categories
General News News Releases

This Hidden Thing By Dora Dueck Wins 2011 McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award

CMU Press is pleased to announce that Dora Dueck’s novel This Hidden Thing has been named the McNally Robinson Book of the Year, as announced at the Manitoba Book Awards held April 17, 2011 at the Franco-Manitoban Cultural Centre in St. Boniface.

This Hidden Thing is the first novel to be published by CMU Press, which is an academic publishing initiative of Canadian Mennonite University.

“If you are surprised, so am I,” said Dueck in her acceptance speech. “I’m happy to be in the company of these wonderful writers.” Dueck, who lives in Winnipeg, also paid tribute to local booksellers McNally Robinson for their dynamic support of Winnipeg’s literary community.

This Hidden Thing is a “humane and fully satisfying depiction of times, places [and] communities,” according to jurors Joan Barfoot, Trevor Cole , and Richard Lebrun. Elsewhere, the jury for the Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction, for which This Hidden Thing was shortlisted, describes Dueck’s novel as “a testament to the pleasure of pure storytelling.”

Dueck’s novel follows almost the entirety of the life of Maria Klassen, a young Mennonite woman who immigrates to Manitoba in the 1920s. Maria works for a prosperous family while navigating the intricate experience of life in a new country. The story examines the powerful themes of silence and hiddenness within the Mennonite community, as well as offering realistic portrayals of passion, poverty, war, and family – the everyday experiences of an ordinary yet remarkable woman.

The Manitoba Book Awards are organized annually by the Manitoba Writers’ Guild (MWG) and the Association of Manitoba Book Publishers (AMBP). This Hidden Thing was nominated for the Book of the Year Award alongside Curiosity by Joan Thomas, A Cycle of the Moon by Uma Parameswaran, Out of Grief Singing: A Memoir of Motherhood and Loss by Charlene Diehl, and Walking to Mojácar by Di Brandt. The award is sponsored by McNally Robinson Booksellers. It is awarded each year to the author of the English-language book by a Manitoba author that is judged the best-written by a jury comprised of writers, scholars, publishers, and journalists. The prize carries with it a cash value of $5,000.

To order, visit or contact any of the following:

CMU Bookstore
Tel. 204.487.3300; toll free 1.877.231.4570

Email: cmubookstore@cmu.ca
Visit:  http://www.cmu.ca/cmupress for information, including book club questions

Mennonite Publishing Network

Visit: www.mpn.net

McNally Robinson

Tel. 204.475.0483
1120 Grant Avenue, Winnipeg, MB

For CMU PRESS information, contact:
cmupress@cmu.ca
204.487.3300
Canadian Mennonite University
500 Shaftesbury Blvd.
Winnipeg, MB   R3P 2N2

For CMU information, contact:
nkampen@cmu.ca

Categories
General News News Releases

Outtatown Celebrates Experiences of Students Returning from International Sites

GuatemalaAfter three months of service and learning in some very challenging and rewarding situations, 64 Outtatown students and eight leaders returned home in April from South Africa and from Guatemala, completing a challenging and rewarding eight-month Outtatown program. They were joined by their families and friends and CMU staff during a weekend of dialogue and celebrations, closing with their Outtatown graduation service on April17 at CMU.South Africa

“Change was evident in each one of our students – change that went deeper than the tans and the smiles on their faces,” says Paul Kroeker, Dean of International Programs and Outtatown Director. “These students had been challenged deeply as they encountered beauty and brokenness in so many different ways along their journey. It was evident in their eyes as they began to share what they had learned and experienced.”

On the days following their arrival back in Manitoba, the teams and leaders took time to debrief and share their experiences.

“Their eyes glistened as stories began to pour out of them, sharing insights which had transformed them on this journey. They had stayed with families who lived in houses smaller than their bedroom back home, but who hosted them in that humble setting with love, joy, and acceptance,” says Kroeker. “This had been very moving to receive and experience. They saw extremes in wealth and poverty, and knowing which group they were in, had to ask some profound questions about international justice and the basic question that was once asked of Jesus, “and who is my neighbour?”

Kroeker notes that, for most of the Outtatown students, Christian community was the most significant part of the journey. It helped to define the transformational learning that had taken place. Within the context of a well mentored experience, each student had been challenged to new levels of self-acceptance, and accountability. “They had learned to deal with the issues of beauty and brokenness within, just as they were dealing with similar issues in the world around them,” says Kroeker. “This combination gave hope that the change was not superficial, nor momentary, but something which they would continue to process in the years to come.”

Graduation on Sunday, April 17 concluded the program’s debriefing process and gave opportunity for a celebration of learning and achievement. In addition to students and leaders, countless ministry partners across Canada, in Guatemala, and in South Africa were part of the journey.

“Through stories, music and in the spirit of the place, God’s grace and goodness was celebrated by parents and friends who came to the graduation,” says Kroeker. “They had been part of a large prayer support network throughout the year, and wanted to be part of the process as one story of transformation came to its conclusion, and the next story of God’s grace would begin.

The Outtatown Discipleship School is a unique and enriching program for students seeking a life-changing experience of adventure, travel, service, and Christian studies.

Outtatown’s mission is to inspire and nurture students in their life of discipleship with Jesus Christ… in a journey towards: Knowing God in truth and relationship; Knowing yourself in personality, character, abilities and gifts; Knowing the world in its beauty, diversity and pain. Outtatown offers two-semester programs at site locations in Guatemala and South Africa, for which students may earn up to 18 credit-hours, and new in Fall 2011, a one-semester program with a French Africa site location.

Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) is a Christian university in the Anabaptist tradition, offering undergraduate degrees in arts and science, and such disciplines as business and organizational administration, communications and media, peace and conflict resolution studies, music and music therapy, theology, and church ministries, as well as graduate degrees in Theological Studies and Christian ministry. CMU is a Member of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC). Located in Manitoba, CMU has over 1,700 students at its Shaftesbury Campus in Southwest Winnipeg, at Menno Simons College in downtown Winnipeg, and enrolled through Outtatown.

For information, contact:
Nadine Kampen
Communications & Marketing Director
Tel. 204.487.3300 Ext. 621
nkampen@cmu.ca
Canadian Mennonite University
500 Shaftesbury Blvd.
Winnipeg, MB R3P 2N2

Categories
Alumni Profiles Articles Graduates 2011 Video

Alumni Profiles – Joel Peters (CMU ’11)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hk1BIrCnfgY&feature=channel_video_title[/youtube]This video features Joel Peters at In Gratitude, April 16, 2011, a graduation weekend event that celebrates CMU graduates by inviting class members to share their experiences through spoken word or musical performance.  The event brings together family members, graduates, students, faculty and staff.

Joel Peters, organ
Trivium Arvo Pärt
Bachelor of Music, Concentration: Performance

Video production by Laura Tait, Media Workshop student.

Categories
General News News Releases

Students End Academic Year with Parting Gift

Boxes of Books Collected and Donated for Better World Books

Kirsten Hamm, CMUSC 2010-2011 President

Amidst the pressures of finishing essays and studying for finals, CMU students found time in April to look up from their books and conduct a book drive for

those with fewer resources, lending their support to “Better World Books.”

Student Council members launched their book campaign as a way to support world-wide literacy while also helping people find a way to recycle text books, novels, and other books they no longer planned to keep.

“Better World Books is an organization that partners with Books for Africa, Invisible Children, Worldfund, and the National Center for Family Literacy to promote literacy around the world,” explained the Student Council 2010-2011 President Kirsten Hamm. “Any donated books that cannot be used directly in classrooms are sold and the proceeds are used to fund teaching programs in Africa.”

Students established two collection stations on the Shaftesbury campus, and collected a total of 30 boxes with more than 1,000 books donated by students, faculty, staff, and friends of CMU.

“What better way to end the semester than by getting rid of books that you don’t need, for others in need?” asks Hamm.

Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) is an accredited Christian university offering undergraduate degrees in the arts, music, music therapy, theology, and church ministries, and master degrees in theological studies and Christian ministry. CMU is a member of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC). Located in Manitoba, CMU has over 1,700 students at its Shaftesbury Campus in Southwest Winnipeg, at Menno Simons College in downtown Winnipeg, and enrolled through Outtatown, CMU’s adventure and discipleship program.

www.betterworldbooks.com

For information contact:
Nadine Kampen, Communications and Marketing Director
nkampen@cmu.ca
Tel. 204.487.3300, Toll free 877.231.4570
Canadian Mennonite University, 500 Shaftesbury Blvd.
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3P 2N2

Categories
News Releases

Canadian Author Dr. Rudy Wiebe, OC Addresses CMU Class of 2011

On April 17, 2011 Canadian Mennonite University held its annual Convocation, celebrating the accomplishments and earned degrees of 78 graduates. CMU President Gerald Gerbrandt, faculty, staff, and guests joined in celebrating their successes. Guest speaker for the Graduation Service was distinguished Canadian author and CMU alumnus Rudy Wiebe (MBBC ’61).

At the morning’s Baccaluareate Service, graduates David Attema and Jill Siemens shared reflections with fellow students, and retiring professor, Dr. Titus Guenther, used the theme Living in Bold Humility, based on 1st Timothy 1:7, the text chosen by the graduating class. CMU’s Worship Band, Men’s Chorus, Women’s Chorus, and Jazz Band contributed to the celebration.

At the Graduation service President Gerald Gerbrandt addressed an audience of CMU students, families and friends. “We offer our congratulations to the graduates, in the hope that their journey at CMU has helped prepare them for exciting futures. Graduation is the harvest, one might say, to the academic year. It is a day of joyous celebration, a day of fellowship, a day of praise to God for what God has done. Graduation is an important milestone and a significant occasion in the life of this year’s graduates.”

Of particular note was the presentation of the inaugural President’s Gold Medal to Rebecca Reesor (BA Music, with concentrations in Performance and Music Ministry) and Erin Weaver (BA 4-Yr. in International Development Studies) in recognition of their scholarship, leadership, and service. Other Graduation Service highlights included the Valedictorian Address by graduate Michael Harms, performances by the CMU Combined Choirs and the Graduation Address, “Working in Hope,” by Dr. Rudy Wiebe.

Gerbrandt remarked on the significance of having Dr. Rudy Wiebe as this year’s Graduation speaker as it is 50 years since Wiebe graduated from Mennonite Brethren Bible College (MBBC, a founding college of CMU). “It is a privilege and honour to welcome Rudy Wiebe to CMU as our guest speaker,” he said. “I suspect he is one of a very few who graduated from MBBC already having earned a Masters degree from the University of Alberta.”

Gerbrandt also noted Wiebe’s significant professional accomplishments. Following his first novel Peace Shall Destroy Many, published while Wiebe was editor of the Mennonite Brethren Herald, and two subsequent novels : First and Vital Candle; and The Blue Mountains of China, in 1973 Wiebe was awarded his first Governor General’s Award for fiction for The Temptations of Big Bear. In 1994, he won a second Governor General’s Award for A Discovery of Strangers and in 2000 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. After teaching four years at Goshen College, in 1967 Wiebe moved to the University of Alberta to teach English and creative writing. He was made Professor emeritus there in 1992.

Wiebe congratulated the Class of 2011, commenting on their chosen theme, “Living in Bold Humility.” He stated: “We celebrate you on this memorable day for who you are and for what you have achieved. After years of hard work, you are graduating from a school of venerable tradition, of excellent learning, of serious questioning of the status quo, of living and working in the world with an Anabaptist Christian commitment. You face the future not in the spirit of timidity, but in a spirit of power, love, and of self-discipline. That is a truly courageous commitment to make in this year 2011.”

Wiebe shared with the graduates how his university experiences helped shape his career direction. It was while studying at the University of Alberta that he was challenged by a professor to write a novel about his people, the Russian Mennonites in Canada. Out of this grew his first published work, “the book that began my writing life,” says Wiebe. And looking back to his graduation with a Bachelor in Theology from MBBC, Wiebe noted: “It is impossible to imagine my life of writing without MBBC.”

Commencement, he said, is both an ending and a beginning, and in keeping with the challenge he received many years ago, he issued his own challenge to the Class of 2011.

“Is there something specific that you feel within yourself that you are called to do?” he asked. “Find that, face that, dare to explore that gift, that intimation of calling, that God has given specifically to you. Fan into flame the gift of God that is in you. You and you alone can develop that gift into its most blazing expression.”

Wiebe concluded by reading a verse of poetry from Emily Dickinson, then paraphrased in closing: “This is my wish and prayer for you – hope, singing its continuous and wordless song in our souls, as we steadily work our way forward, each one of us, into our unique God-gifted future.

Wiebe and his wife Tena, whom he met at MBBC, have one daughter and one son, also alumni of MBBC.

A Christian university in the Anabaptist tradition, CMU offers undergraduate degrees as well as two graduate degree programs. CMU has over 1,700 students, including MSC and Outtatown students, and is a member of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC). CMU operates a number of schools and institutes, including The School of Writing at CMU and the Canadian School of Peacebuilding.

For information, contact:
Nadine Kampen CMU Communications & Marketing Director
nkampen@cmu.ca; 204.487.3300 Ext. 621
Canadian Mennonite University
500 Shaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg, MB R3P 2N2

Categories
General News News Releases

CMU Co-sponsors New Rosamunde Summer Music Academy

Canada’s Newest Summer Strings Program Features Top Instructors

Music students of all ages have the opportunity this summer to study with some of Canada’s finest string teachers at CMU as it hosts the inaugural Rosamunde Summer Music Academy, Canada’s newest summer music program. RSMA, which will run from August 21 to 26, 2011 is the brainchild of Yuri Hooker, Artistic Director, and Elation Pauls, Managing Director.

“I have always wanted to offer Manitoba’s aspiring string players an opportunity to learn in an intense and supportive program,” says Hooker, who also serves as Principal Cellist with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and Manitoba Chamber Orchestra. “I’m very excited about the possibilities that our partnership with CMU will inspire.”

RSMA is attracting students from across the country, Hooker says.  It is the first program of its kind in Winnipeg, emphasizing each student’s individual growth with an eye to inspiring them with new ideas and approaches as well as setting them on a good path for their year of musical study. Qualities that make the program unique are its inclusiveness and its holistic philosophy to music making.

The RSMA offers programs for string players of all ages and skill levels, from young ones just starting out through to advanced teenagers and university age students all the way to keen adult amateurs.

“I love the idea of young kids being mentored by the older students, and the mutual inspiration that will be sparked between the more mature and the younger students,” says Pauls, Assistant Principal Second Violin in the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.

“I want students to see how music can be an integral part of their daily lives, regardless of whether they choose to pursue it as a career,” she says. “Often times, young kids and adults don’t get the opportunity to study with performers/teachers at the top of their career—when I’ve seen it happen it has invariably sparked a greater joy in their music making as well as a depth and freshness of experience that they can then take back to their studies with their primary teachers.”

Pauls and Hooker believe music should flow as an outpouring of each individual’s daily experience. For that reason, they’ve devised a schedule that will emphasize the development of music as a natural part of daily life, as an infectious expression of the soul. Before the official start each morning, drop-in yoga classes will be offered on campus.

Hooker enthuses: “Yoga helps people to get in touch with what is essential: breathing well, moving through space thoughtfully, thinking clearly, observing oneself objectively. At RSMA, students will have an opportunity to begin each day meditatively with a progression toward the more interactive large ensemble rehearsal at the end of the day.” Hooker notes that individual study can often be an isolating experience, and the work alone is essential, but adds, “What we’re aiming to do is to bind everyone’s solo efforts together in music-loving community throughout each day of study.”

The overall program structure is based on the model that Hooker refined during the four years of his Winnipeg Summer Cello Institute, which RSMA now replaces. Each student will have the opportunity to participate in daily technique and master classes, a generous amount of private lesson time, accompanying sessions with experienced coaches, chamber music and string orchestra rehearsals, and Alexander technique sessions.

“Having performed and taught at summer music festivals around the world, I am a great believer in their power to inspire students to new heights of music making and give them a great head start on their studies,” says Gwen Hoebig, one of RSMA’s faculty members and Concertmaster of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. “I am thrilled to see the establishment of the Rosamunde Summer Music Academy here in Winnipeg and I’m excited to be a part of this new project!”

“A week of intensive study in this kind of nurturing environment can really fire up a student’s interest and commitment level, sustaining them throughout the year,” adds Pauls. “The rate and quality of improvement during one intense week is often miraculous.”

Out of town students will stay at CMU’s excellent dormitory facilities. The week will kick off with a faculty recital on August 21 and culminate with a student recital on August 26.

RSMA 2011 Faculty (See online biographies at www.rosamunde.ca)

Elation Pauls, Violin/Managing Director Assistant Principal Second Violin, Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra

Gwen Hoebig, Violin Concertmaster, Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra

Daniel Scholz, Viola Principal Viola, Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra

Yuri Hooker, Cello/Artistic Director Principal Cello, Winnipeg Symphony Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra

Andrea Bell, Cello Cellist, Rembrandt String Quartet

Meredith Johnson, Double bass Principal Bass, Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra

Michelle Mourre, Conductor/Collaborative Piano & Ensemble Coordinator Former Conductor-in-Residence, Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra

The vision of the Rosamunde Summer Music Academy is:

tune: to tune in, tune the body, tune the instrument, fine-tune abilities, harmonize musical and interpersonal relationships

train: to be afforded the opportunity to learn with innovative teachers at the top of their careers who are dedicated to the development of the whole musician

try: to gird up each student as they try out new ideas, letting them fail or succeed in a supportive, non-competitive environment, finally enabling each student to

“Tear It Up!”

Visit www.rosamunde.ca

Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) is a Christian university in the Anabaptist tradition, offering undergraduate degrees in arts and science, business and organizational administration, communications and media, peace and conflict resolution studies, music and music therapy, theology, and church ministries, as well as graduate degrees in Theological Studies and Christian Ministry. Located in Manitoba, CMU has over 1,700 students at its Shaftesbury Campus in Southwest Winnipeg, at Menno Simons College in downtown Winnipeg, and enrolled through its Outtatown discipleship school. CMU is a member of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC).

For RSMA information, contact: info@rosamunde.ca

For CMU information, contact:
Nadine Kampen, Communications & Marketing Director
nkampen@cmu.ca

Tel. 204.487.3300  Ext. 621
Canadian Mennonite University | 500 Shaftesbury Blvd. Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3P 2N2

Categories
Student Projects Video

CMU presents The Mikado

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quJT3rXh0sY&hd=1[/youtube]
From March 3-6, 2011 people who attended the CMU Opera Workshop’s production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado: The Town of Titipu, were transported to Japan, where the opera was set.

The Mikado is a comic-opera about a minstrel, Nanki-Poo who had banished himself from the town of Titipu because of his love for the maiden, Yum-Yum who was already engaged.  Nanki-Poo returns when he learns that Yum-Yum’s fiance has been sentenced to death for the capital crime of flirting, and hilarity ensues upon his return.

Video produced by Rachel Bergen and Laura Tait, Media Workshop class.

Categories
Audio Outtatown Sunday@CMU Radio

Steve Klassen – Outtatown South Africa Site Leader

Steve Klassen
Outtatown South Africa Site Leader
Interview Date: April 25, 2011

In this interview, Steve shares with David Balzer – host of Sunday@CMU Radio, a moment in South Africa where his mentoring role became very real and personal.

[audio:http://www.cmu.ca/media_archive/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/20120115SteveKlassen.mp3|titles=20120115SteveKlassen]
Play/Download Here 

For more information about Outtatown, CMU’s one-year discipleship program, click here