Award-winning doctor and journalist Brian Goldman will deliver a keynote address June 3 at the CSWA annual conference.
Taking Action
A place to listen and to be heard
If music is the heartbeat of a city, Windsor has a pulse all its own.
Whether it’s taking in a chamber quartet in the Music Building’s Recital Hall or dancing in the Basement Pub to the hottest bhangra, there is something for every taste.
The University boasts an active performance program with concerts and recitals by students and faculty members both on- and off-campus. The School of Music organizes a wind ensemble, a jazz ensemble, and a percussion ensemble, as well as several vocal groups—including the Women’s Chamber Choir, national winner in its category of the 2008 CBC Radio choir competition.
Many of the university’s music instructors perform professionally with the Windsor Symphony Orchestra, whose musical excellence has earned a number of awards and accolades—most recently a Juno nomination for its recording of Peter and the Wolf and Last Minute Lulu, a new work with music composed by music professor Brent Lee.
The orchestra and the music school also partner to present the Windsor Canadian Music Festival, an annual exploration of contemporary Canadian music.
Among the other important contributors to Windsor’s music scene are
- the Windsor Folk Music & Arts Society, which sponsors a series of concerts and open-mic events;
- Bluesfest International, bringing the best of the world of blues to Windsor’s riverfront every summer; and
- the Carrousel of Nations, a celebration of the region’s cultural diversity.
Windsor’s nightlife is renowned for its vibrant downtown, home to many dance clubs. However, the city provides opportunities to hear live music too, from the WFCU Centre, a 6900-seat concert and entertainment venue that opened just this year to the St. Clair Centre for the Arts with its spectacular views of the Detroit skyline; from Caesar’s Windsor, which books headline acts from around the world to intimate café spaces like the 60-seat Phog Lounge—whose indie line-up earned it the title "best live music club in Canada" in a nationwide poll on CBC Radio 3.
And no discussion of Windsor’s music scene would be complete without mentioning the benefits afforded by proximity to Detroit. The Motor City gave rise to the Motown and techno sounds, and has produced artists as varied as Madonna and Eminem, Aretha Franklin and the White Stripes, Bob Seger and Ted Nugent.
The city is home to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the Detroit Opera House. Its theatres and concert halls—including the Fisher, the Fox, the Masonic Temple, the Fillmore Detroit, the Music Hall Centre for the Performing Arts, and Saint Andrews Hall—make it a destination for every major music tour.