The Department of Music presents numerous performances each year, including recitals by faculty members, students, and guest artists, and concerts by large and small ensembles.
Each Wednesday afternoon at 4 p.m. throughout both terms, we present our Collegia Musica, free public concerts that provide frequent opportunities for our students to perform, and Colloquia Musica, lectures, presentations, and workshops by faculty members, students, and guests on a wide variety of musical topics.
Tickets and Subscriptions
Single Tickets - Adults $15 Seniors and non-MtA students $10 Family $30
Subscriptions - Adults $60 Seniors and non-MtA students $30 Family $90
All concerts are free for current Mount Allison students with valid ID card.
Student Recitals, Master classes, Ensemble Concerts, Collegia/Colloquia - Free Admission, all are welcome
Proceeds from these ticket and subscription sales support Music Department student scholarships. Tickets and subscriptions may be purchased through the Music Department and at the door.
Some events listed in this calendar are not presented by the Department of Music or are ticketed separately. Tickets for these events are sold separately by their sponsors.
Sackville Festival of Early Music - visit sackvilleearlymusic.com
If an event is cancelled for any reason, a notice will be posted at mta.ca/music and sent via email. If you wish to receive notices or updates to our Calendar of Events, please contact music@mta.ca.
Fall 2024
Faculty Gala Concert: We launch the 2024-25 season with a concert featuring performances by faculty members of the Department of Music. Brunton, 7:30 p.m.
SEPTEMBER 11-15 - Sackville Festival of Early Music / Festival de musique ancienne
Colloquium Musicum: “All the Feelings: The Embodiment of Passion in the String Quartet.” Join the Eybler Quartet for a lively investigation of their creative process, which draws not only upon the music of the 18th century, but also uses the aesthetic, interpretive tools of the period. Using musical examples from Mozart’s “Dissonance” quartet to animate the discussion, the Eyblers will explore the emotional content of the music and its physical embodiment. Brunton, 4:00 p.m.
Concert: The internationally renowned Eybler Quartet will perform early string quartets by W. A. Mozart, J. Haydn, and black composer Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-George. Patricia Ahern and Julia Wedman (violins), Patrick Jordan (viola), Margaret Gay (cello). For details and tickets, visit http://www.sackvilleearlymusic.com or call (506) 878-3786. Brunton, 7:30 p.m.
Concert: A collaboration of local early European music specialists Alexander Dobson (baritone), Jimin Shin Dobson (violin), and Christina Haldane (soprano) with Juno award-winning guest artists from Québec Mélisande Corriveau (gamba) and Eric Milnes (organ/harpsichord), featuring a representative and engaging sampling of German sacred works by Weckmann, Handel, Bach, and more. [Artist website: https://www.facebook.com/dobshinarts/.] For details and tickets, visit http://www.sackvilleearlymusic.com or call (506) 878-3786. Brunton, 7:30 p.m.
Concert: “Private Musick – English Chamber Music under the Stuarts.” Quebec ensemble Les Boréades will offer a delightful program of early English music by Locke, Purcell, and others. Francis Colpron (flûtes à bec et traversière), Julie Rivest (violon), Mélisande Corriveau (cello and gamba), Dorothéa Ventura (organ/harpsichord). For details and tickets, visit http://www.sackvilleearlymusic.com or call (506) 878-3786. Brunton, 3:00 p.m.
Celebration of Student Research: Mount Allison Independent Student Research Grant recipient Jacob Richard (BA Joint Major in Computer Science and Music ’25) shares his summer work in a presentation titled “From Image to Sound: Transforming Digital Image Data into Algorithmic Music.” This research was generously supported by the J.E.A. Crake Foundation. Brunton, 4 pm.
Colloquium Musicum: “Beyond Maestro: The Real Lenny and His Five Careers.” Paul Laird provides a view of Leonard Bernstein's life divided into his work as a pianist, conductor, composer of concert music, composer of dramatic music, and collaborator in video activities. Brunton, 4:00 p.m.
Symposium on Film: “Classical Music on Film: Leonard Bernstein.” Elizabeth Wells and Paul Laird will lead this symposium on the Bradley Cooper film Maestro and the many groundbreaking classical music films that featured Bernstein over the years. Brunton, 7:30 p.m.
Colloquium Musicum: Marcel Camprubi, “Unwriting Music History.” Musical notation has long been privileged as the point of departure for the historical study of music. This talk will focus on the Arabic context of tenth-century Baghdad, where notation was available to performers and music theorists yet remained largely unpursued, a circumstance that defies technologically deterministic narratives of music history. Brunton, 4:00 p.m.
Colloquium Musicum: Ross Osmun. “A Rock Star Retires: Franz Liszt and the Genesis of the B Minor Sonata.” Liszt’s retirement from the concert stage spawned some of the greatest compositions in the piano repertoire in the decades that followed. This talk will offer historical context, a brief analysis followed by a complete performance of the work. Brunton, 4:00 p.m.
Piano Master Class: Ross Osmun: Ross Osmun works with students from the Bachelor of Music program. Brunton, 7:30 p.m.
Collegium Musicum: Performances by students in the Bachelor of Music program. Brunton, 4:00 p.m.
***CANCELLED***Collegium Musicum: Performances by students in the Bachelor of Music program. Brunton, 4:00 p.m.
Voice and piano master class: Tracy Dahl, Monica Huisman, and Laura Loewen work with students from the Bachelor of Music program. Brunton, 5:15 p.m.
Strings master class: Minna Chung works with students from the Bachelor of Music program. Room 204, 5:15 p.m.
Guest Recital: Two sopranos, a cellist, and a pianist roll up their sleeves and deliver a robust program of “Grit + Grace.” Featuring Tracy Dahl, Monica Huisman, Minna Chung, and Laura Loewen, this recital will make you cry, evoke laughter, empower, and transform you. Brunton, 8:00 p.m.
***SOLD OUT*** Pops Matinée Concert: Performance by members of the Mount Allison Symphonic Band, featuring students, guests, faculty, and community members. Convocation Hall, 10:30 a.m.
Honour Band and Pops Concert: Students from across the Maritimes present the results of their one-day intensive band workshop, then join the Mount Allison Symphonic Band for their annual Pops Concert. Directed by Prof. James Kalyn. Convocation Hall, 5:00 p.m.
Collegium Musicum: Performances by students in the Bachelor of Music program. Brunton, 4:00 p.m.
OCTOBER 25-27 - Symposium: Music and War
* All Symposium Events are FREE to attend except Oct. 25 Guest Recital/J.E.A. Crake Concert and Oct 26 Faculty and Guest Recital. See above for pricing and information. *
“Mawagnutma’tinej: Sparking Dialogue Through the Arts.” Mount Allison University’s Prof. Marsha Vicaire delivers a talk for the Music and War Symposium. Windsor Grand Room, 1:30 p.m.
“Reflections on Music, Testimony, and War in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries.” City University of New York’s Dr. Abby Anderton delivers a talk for the Music and War Symposium. Brunton 4:30 p.m.
Guest Recital and 15th Annual J.E.A. Crake Concert: World renowned Tesla String Quartet perform a recital for the Music and War Symposium including Steve Reich’s “Different Trains” and George Crumb’s “Black Angels.” This concert is generously supported by the J.E.A. Crake Foundation. Brunton, 7:30 p.m.
“Britten’s Noye’s Fludde: Reflections on Children, War, and Memory.” University of Minnesota’s Dr. John Watkins delivers a talk for the Music and War Symposium. Brunton, 1:00 p.m.
“Resonances of War and Peace in the Age of Schütz.” University of British Columbia’s Dr. Alexander Fisher delivers a talk for the Music and War Symposium. Brunton, 4:00 p.m.
Faculty and Guest Recital: “Music in tempore belli: musical selections from the Seventeenth to the Twenty-First Century.” Mount Allison Music Faculty and guests perform a recital for the Music and War Symposium. Brunton, 7:30 p.m.
“Tracing Colville: A Musical Exploration of the War Art of Alex Colville.” Queen’s University’s Dr. Dean Burry delivers a talk for the Music and War Symposium followed by a short concert of student compositions inspired by the war art of Alex Colville. Brunton, 1:00 p.m.
Student and Ensemble Recital: Mount Allison students, ensembles, and chamber music groups perform as part of the Music and War Symposium. Brunton, 3:00 p.m.
Film Screening: Excerpts from “Canada at War: Turn of the Tide” (1962), with music by Canadian composer Robert Fleming. Introductory remarks will be presented by Prof. Berkeley Fleming. Brunton, 7:30 p.m.
*New Time* OPEN REHEARSAL: Mount Allison Choral Society rehearses with Truro’s Cantabile Singers for the world premiere of Nova Scotia composer Paul Aitken's Missa Pro Terra, a mass for the earth. This will be a working rehearsal open to observers. Brunton, 8:00 p.m.
Collegium Musicum: Performances by students in the Bachelor of Music program. Brunton, 4:00 p.m.
Mount Allison Elliott Chorale: “The Dark: A Procession of Music and Light.” Illuminated by lanterns and featuring an original choral composition, this open-air staging of a local poem takes us out into the night of the salt marshes to meditate on our emplacement and mortality. For tickets and event information, visit the Eventbrite link. Sackville Waterfowl Park, 7:30 p.m.
Guitar Master Class: Steve Cowan works with guitar students from the Bachelor of Music program. Brunton, 12:30 p.m.
Collegium Musicum: Performances by students in the Bachelor of Music program. Brunton, 4:00 p.m.
Piano and Voice Master Class: Pianist Yolanda Tapia of the Obsidiana Duo works with voice and piano duos from the Bachelor of Music program. Brunton, 12:30 p.m.
Collegium Musicum: Celebrating Canada Music Week with a focus on music by Canadian composers in performances by students in the Bachelor of Music program. Brunton, 4:00 p.m.
Entre Amis: featuring student performers from Mount Allison University and l’Université de Moncton. Salle Neil-Michaud, U de Moncton, 7:00 p.m.
Faculty Recital: Jimin Shin Dobson (violin) and Gayle Martin (organ) perform “Bach and his Contemporaries: Sonatas for Violin and Keyboard.” A recital of Baroque sonatas for violin and organ or harpsichord. Music by JS Bach and some of his contemporaries. Brunton, 7:30 p.m.
MtA Concerto Competition. Brunton, 11:30 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Entre Amis: featuring student performers from Mount Allison University and l’Université de Moncton. Brunton, 7:30 p.m.
Faculty and Guest Recital: “Echoes.” Contemporary works by women composers on isolation, displacement, loss, transformation, community and hope for the future. Performers include Christina Haldane (soprano), Nadia Francavilla and Danielle Sametz (violins), Mark Kleyn and Susan Sayle (viola), Joël Cormier (percussion), Norman Adams (cello), Karin Aurell (flute), Richard Hornsby (clarinet), and Carl Philippe Gionet (piano/organ). Brunton, 8:00 p.m.
Collegium Musicum: Performances by students in the Bachelor of Music program. Brunton, 4:00 p.m.
Mount Allison Jazz Ensemble: An evening of jazz, directed by award-winning saxophonist Joel Miller. Brunton, 7:30 p.m.
Chamber Music Collegium: Chamber Music performances by students in the Music program. Brunton, 11:30 a.m.
Mount Allison Choral Society and Elliott Chorale present “Winter Night.” Celebrate the beauty of winter as the MtA choral ensembles paint vivid pictures of ice, snow, and wind through sound. Works by R. Murray Schafer, Diane Loomer, Gordon Lightfoot, Edward Elgar, and Andrew Balfour offer a varied sonic palette. Brunton, 8:00 p.m.
Collegium Musicum: Performances by students in the Bachelor of Music program. Brunton, 4:00 p.m.
Mount Allison Chamber Orchestra: Brunton, 8:00 p.m.
Mount Allison Symphonic Band: Band Standards – Part 8: Three great works for band, spanning three eras of band composition, and representing three countries that have produced a wealth of music for the genre. Gustav Holst’s foundational First Suite in E-flat (1909), John Barnes Chance’s magnum opus, the Symphony No. 2 (1972), and Yasuhide Ito’s 1990 masterpiece Gloriosa – Symphonic Poem for Band. Convocation Hall, 7:30 p.m.
New Music @ Mount Allison: Presenting brand-new compositions by Mount Allison student composers, performed by students and guests. Brunton, 3:00 p.m.
Christmas Collegium: Celebrate the holidays with the students and faculty of the Department of Music. M.Y.B. Conservatory Foyer, 4:00 p.m.
Winter 2025
Colloquium Musicum: “New Songs for Soprano and Jazz Trio.” Dr. Christina R. Haldane discusses the creative process behind an exploratory project that fuses Western art music and jazz aesthetics. The project, funded by an internal SSHRC Explore grant, features new arrangements by Ross MacIntyre of “Tu la mia stella” from Giulio Cesare by G. F. Handel, “An die Musik” by F. Schubert, and a new commission by Cecilia Livingston, all set for soprano and jazz trio. Brunton, 4:00 p.m.
Faculty and Guest Recital: “Rhythms of Renewal,” performed by Joël Cormier (percussion) and Carl Philippe Gionet (piano). An evening of piano and percussion duets featuring Stravinsky's Rite of Spring reimagined for piano and marimba. Also featuring works by Emmanuel Séjourné and John Luther Adams. Brunton Auditorium, 7:30 p.m.
* CANCELLED * Mid-Week Music: “Baroque Masterpieces PLUS.” Rob Haskins, (harpsichord), Professor and Chair of the Department of Music, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, USA, will present a harpsichord recital of works by Louis Couperin, François Couperin, Frescobaldi, and Bach, PLUS a North American premiere of one of Haskins’ own compositions (for harpsichord and narrator). Brunton, 4:00 p.m.
* CANCELLED * Workshop: Rob Haskins presents a workshop on the harpsichord for students from the Bachelor of Music program. Brunton, 7:30 p.m.
Colloquium Musicum: “Introducing the SUMR Time Lab.” Alan Dodson presents a paper authored by himself and students Anna Gagné, Anna Gordon, and Kiran Steele. How can we represent the rhythm in a recording that lacks a clear and regular meter? We worked on this problem collaboratively in the summer of 2023 through a series of case studies on solo recordings from around the world: a “farewell song” from Korea, an adhan (Islamic call to prayer) from Tanzania, two African American field hollers from the Deep South, and a “love song for flute” from the Meskwaki Nation in Tama, Iowa. In this presentation, we demonstrate a new approach to visual representation that combines staff notation, analytical animations, and audio. This colloquium is an expanded version of a presentation we gave at the Eighth International Conference on Analytical Approaches to World Music in June 2024. Brunton, 4:00 p.m.
Faculty Recital: "Winter's Journey." Alexander Dobson (baritone) and Stephen Runge (piano) perform Franz Schubert's towering masterpiece Winterreise, settings of 24 poems by Wilhelm Müller that trace a dark journey of loss and despair, accompanied by photographs by John Haney. Brunton, 7:30 p.m.
JANUARY 28 - FEBRUARY 2 Bragg Artist-in-Residence Week
Details TBA
Bragg Artist Colloquium Musicum: “My Life in Music.” Brunton, 4:00 p.m.
Bragg Artist-in-Residence Guest Recital: Brunton, 7:30 p.m.
Collegium Musicum: Performances by students in the Bachelor of Music program. University Chapel, 4:00 p.m.
Faculty Recital: "Songs for Guitar." Alexander Dobson (baritone), Christina Haldane (soprano), and Adam Cicchillitti (guitar), join forces to present a recital program that highlights the mesmerizing soundscape of voice and guitar. Robert Schumann's classic Dichterliebe is given new colours within this setting, alongside Benjamin Britten's Songs from the Chinese, Atlantic Canada based composer Jason Noble's Insomnia Songs, and jazz inspired songs by French composer Cyril Achard. Brunton, 7:30 p.m.
Flute and Guitar Master Classes: Duo Beija-Flor works with students from the Bachelor of Music program. Brunton (flute) and Conservatory Room 004 (guitar), 12:30 p.m.
Mount Allison Choral Society and Elliott Chorale present “Landscapes and Heritages,” exploring our connections to the land, our histories, and one another in this concert featuring music by Marie-Claire Saindon, Trent Worthington, and others. Brunton, 8:00 p.m.
Collegium Musicum: A focus on music by BIPOC composers with performances by students in the Bachelor of Music program. Brunton, 4:00 p.m.
Mount Allison Symphonic Band: Chamber Music Concert. Brunton, 8:00 p.m.
Collegium Musicum: Performances by students in the Bachelor of Music program. Brunton, 4:00 p.m.
Faculty and Guest Recital: Brahms' beloved Trio anchors a program that includes three contemporary works for clarinet, cello, and piano by Robert Muczynski, Jörg Widmann, and Karim Al-Zand, featuring James Kalyn (clarinet), Paul Pulford (cello), and Stephen Runge (piano). Brunton, 7:30 p.m.
Collegium Musicum: A focus on music by women composers with performances by students in the Bachelor of Music program. Brunton, 4:00 p.m.
Faculty Recital: “In my Love, In my Song!” Christina Haldane (soprano) and Stephen Runge (piano) present a rich program of German Lieder by composers living and working in Vienna during the late 1800s and early 1900s, a vibrant time known for the creative evolution of art, music, architecture, and ideas. Music includes Franz Schubert's passionate Suleika Lieder, Gustav Mahler's meaningful Rückert Lieder, Richard Strauss' ethereal Mädchenblumen, and a selection Hugo Wolf's whimsical and dramatic works. Brunton, 7:30 p.m.
Collegium Musicum: Performances by students in the Bachelor of Music program. Brunton, 4:00 p.m.
Teiya Kasahara Workshop: Nikkei-Canadian settler Teiya Kasahara joins voice students for two interactive workshops open to the public, that will explore and guide the creative process from a joy-centered approach. Brunton, 5:15 p.m.
Teiya Kasahara Workshop: Nikkei-Canadian settler Teiya Kasahara joins voice students for two interactive workshops open to the public, that will explore and guide the creative process from a joy-centered approach. Brunton, 6:00 p.m.
Guest Recital: Teiya Kasahara: Nikkei-Canadian settler Teiya Kasahara (they/them) is a queer/trans non-binary opera singer and theatre creator based in Tkarón:to (Toronto, Canada). Kasahara, heralded as a "force of nature" is joined by collaborative pianist Jennie Del Motte for a special performance especially curated for the MtA community, that draws upon the joy-centered approach explored in the workshop sessions. Brunton, 7:30 p.m.
Collegium Musicum: Performances by students in the Bachelor of Music program. Brunton, 4:00 p.m.
Collegium Musicum: Performances by students in the Bachelor of Music program. Brunton, 4:00 p.m.
Groovin’ at Gracie’s: The Mount Allison Jazz Ensemble takes another tour of the styles that built the jazz tradition over a period of 125 years, directed by jazz saxophonist and composer Joel Miller. Gracie’s Café, McCain Student Centre, 9:00 p.m.
New Music @ Mount Allison: Presenting brand-new compositions by Mount Allison student composers, performed by students and guests. Brunton, 8:00 p.m.
Mount Allison Choral Society and Elliott Chorale: “Play.” Let the MtA choral ensembles entertain you with music themed around games and play. Works by Tracy Wong, Pēteris Vasks, and others. Brunton, 8:00 p.m.
Collegium Musicum: Performances by students in the Bachelor of Music program. Brunton, 4:00 p.m.
Mount Allison Symphonic Band: Convocation Hall, 8:00 p.m.
Mount Allison Chamber Orchestra: Brunton, 8:00 p.m.
Convocation Weekend Recital: Performances by students of the Department of Music. Brunton, TIME TBD