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Rosamunde Summer Music Academy’s Second Season at CMU

Released August 15, 2012 – Faculty Concert and New Masterclass Series among Program Highlights – The Rosamunde Summer Music Academy (RSMA), one of Canada’s newest summer strings programs co-hosted by Canadian Mennonite University, launches an exciting second season on August 18. The 2012 program features concerts and a series of masterclasses which are open to the public on the CMU campus as well as private workshops and classes for aspiring string musicians.

RSMA, launched in 2011, was established by Artistic Director Yuri Hooker and Managing Director Elation Pauls to develop and inspire string musicians by drawing on the expertise and talents of top local musicians as well as bringing in renowned guest artists from farther afield. This year the Academy welcomes 80 music students from across the country to study with some of the world’s finest string teachers at CMU.

“We have a number of exciting events open to the public this year,” says Pauls.  “Our opening recital on August 18 will feature many of the 19 talented faculty members we have drawn to Manitoba both from the extraordinary pool of performers we have here in Winnipeg, as well as from Quebec and Berlin. As part of our Distinguished Guest Artist Masterclass Series, Manitoba’s own violin star James Ehnes is coming up from his home in Florida to teach for a day, as are Israeli cellist Uri Vardi, and violist Gerald Stanick, who is coming out of retirement to lead masterclasses on Aug. 22. Mr. Stanick grew up in Elmwood and played in the WSO before becoming one of the world’s most distinguished viola pedagogues. We’re thrilled to be able to bring such august and cosmopolitan performers to Winnipeg in August!”

Hooker, well known to Manitoba audiences as the Principal Cellist with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and for his many chamber and solo appearances, is pleased to again offer string players an opportunity to learn in an intense yet supportive program again this year.  “The Academy is designed to challenge students at every level in a nurturing, non-competitive environment. Excellence is always the goal, but it’s important that students achieve it in a healthy way. Without balance, the progress you make can quickly erode under the glaring light of the concert stage. We’re committed both to pushing the students to their limits as well as giving them the coping strategies that they will need to thrive under that pressure. ” says Hooker.

Adds Pauls, “We are very grateful for the support of the community, of our Honorary Patron, James Ehnes, and for the help of our main RSMA sponsors: the Winnipeg Foundation, the Winnipeg Arts Council, the Manitoba Arts Council, the Kuhl Foundation, and of course CMU!”

The Rosamunde Summer Music Academy 2012 offers a number of Public Events.  All concerts take place on the CMU campus at 500 Shaftesbury Boulevard:

Rosamunde Summer Music Academy Opening Concert, Saturday, August 18, 7 p.m. featuring the RSMA’s internationally acclaimed faculty playing Brahms and Mendelssohn.  The concert will be held in the Laudamus Auditorium, CMU north campus. Tickets are $20 for adults, with school-aged children and Rosamunde participants attending free.

Distinguished Guest Artist Masterclass Series (free to the public)
Wed., Aug. 22, 9 a.m. – 12 p.m., 1-2 & 3-4 p.m. Viola masterclasses with Gerald Stanick
Thurs. Aug. 23, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. Cello/Feldenkrais Technique masterclasses with Uri Vardi
Fri. Aug. 24, 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. Violin masterclass with James Ehnes

Student Concerts (free to the public)
Thursday, August 22, 4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Advanced solo repertoire in the Laudamus Auditorium and Great Hall
Friday, August 24, 1:30 p.m.
Orchestra and chamber music in the Great Hall and Chapel 

Call 204.261.3063 or visit www.rosamunde.ca for more information
 For RSMA information, contact: info@rosamunde.ca

Distinguished Guest Artist Series

James Ehnes, Rosamunde’s Honorary Patron
Hailed as “the Jascha Heifetz of our day”  (Globe and Mail), violinist James Ehnes is widely considered one of the most dynamic and exciting performers in classical music. He has performed in over 30 countries on five continents, appearing regularly with many of the world’s most well-known orchestras and conductors.

Gerald Stanick
George Stanick is one of the world’s pre-eminent violists and beloved pedagogues. Besides performing regularly and widely as a chamber musician, Mr. Stanick appeared as a soloist with many Canadian and US orchestras, and taught for many years at the University of British Columbia. His pupils have included Neal Gripp, Douglas McNabney, and Leslie Robertson, Rennie Regehr and Rosamunde’s own Daniel Scholz!

Uri Vardi
Uri Vardi has performed as a recitalist, soloist, and chamber player across the United States, Europe, South America, and his native Israel. His teachers have included Janos Starker, Aldo Parisot, Eva Janzer, and Uzi Wiesel. In his teaching Vardi puts great emphasis on the choreography of playing and the relationship between movement and sound. In order to further his understanding of this approach, Vardi has specialized in the Feldenkrais Method, for which he received the 1999 UW-Madison Arts Institute Faculty Development Award.