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School of Music, flutist playing in the University Wind Ensemble
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Home / E-Music Newsletter / Music Newsletter

Welcome to E-Music

 

Prof. Richard Householder, Acting director, School of MusicGreetings Everyone

 
        Welcome  to  this,  the  first  NEWS  &  NOTES   e-newsletter. Thanks to Susan McKee, our creative and hard-working Marketing/Publicity Coordinator (and editor of NEWS & NOTES) we are taking advantage of a popular current technology to reach you. We would be interested in your comments and opinions about the newsletter in general, and about receiving it in e-format instead of a printed copy. And this is not the only adventure into 21st –century communications for us – we also have a Facebook page for alumni, "University of Windsor School of Music," that we use from time to time. If you are not already a fan and wish to join, try it out at our "Connect on Facebook" page in this e-newsletter.
 
Some of the news about us you will read elsewhere in this newsletter, but I want to highlight what is being said about Professor David Palmer’s retirement: no one will be missed more than David when he is not here every day. In a department where everyone pulls their own weight, David is truly first among equals for pitching in and helping out. He has always been willing to take on extra assignments, whether filling in on a jury, accompanying a student, faculty member or guest artist, sitting on yet another committee or contacting and counseling numerous students. He started in the Music Department some forty years ago this September, and was a part time instructor for a year before that, so he has seen it all in the School of Music. He’s not disappearing, but from now on he and wife Lonny will be found from time to time traveling in a remote part of the continent or another part of the world.
 
I’m very pleased to tell you that the newest member of our full time faculty, Dr. Nicholas Papador (now properly called Father Papador with the arrival of son Avery last November) will succeed Prof. Palmer as Performance Area Chair. His start in the job will be delayed by several weeks while he takes parental leave until the middle of November.
 
I expected in that in this newsletter I would write about what a wonderful time I had as Acting Director this past year and to say goodbye to all of you. But only half of that is true. I have had  a wonderful time, but it has worked out that I will be Acting Director for one more year. I want to take this opportunity to say thank you to all my fellow faculty, staff and students for helping me get through the year in fine fashion, and I look forward to another year of working with all of you.
 
We welcome three new Sessional Instructors arriving this fall. Robert Rival, a composer who is finishing up his doctorate at the University of Toronto, will take over the Basic Skills classes and will also teach a pair of relatively new courses for us: Voice Leading and Arranging I & II. They replace the old arranging courses that many of you took.
 
Makoto Mikawa, a native of Japan who is finishing his doctorate at Western Ontario, will teach the first semester of the first theory course in Dr. Papador’s absence, and will also teach both second year theory courses.
 
Also of note, Amanda Cole is the new conductor of the Wind Ensemble. Dr. Janice Waldron, who has conducted it for the past three years, will remain on faculty but will teach full time in Music Education and World Music courses. Amanda holds a Master’s degree in conducting from the University of Toronto (where she studied with Gillian MacKay) and is the instrumental music teacher for the Windsor Centre for the Creative Arts at Walkerville Collegiate.
 
We will also say hello to three new Special Instructors. Dr. Durval Cesetti, a Brazilian-Canadian pianist who has his doctorate in piano performance from McGill University, replaces Veena Kulkarni as special instructor in piano. Andrew McIntosh, principal cellist with the Windsor Symphony Orchestra, is our new cello teacher. And we are in the interview process for a new tuba and euphonium instructor.
 
But most of our full time faculty as well as sessional and special instructors will be returning for the coming year, bringing stability to our teaching ranks. In this time of difficulty and turmoil it very important that we are able to offer continuity in teaching to our students, even as we face severe budgetary constraints and increasing pressures to do more with fewer resources. The successes so many of you have had in your work causes us to believe that we must have been doing something right all these years. I am very proud of our teachers and staff, all of whom work very hard to make the School of Music relevant in these times and to provide an excellent education to our current students.
 
We also appreciate hearing from you. Some of you are around frequently as teachers or parents of current students or as fellow musicians and educators in the Greater Windsor community. Others live all over the land but write to us from time to time. I had a long and wonderful letter a few months ago from Ian Levstein (B.M.A. ’78) that included a copy of a Collegium Musicum concert that the school gave in 1977. The list of performers included Thomas Green, director; Mary Morgan, soprano; Gail Stoneman, Susan Belleperche and Vicki Godden, altos, Tom Green and Ian Levstein, tenors, Ron Reaume, bass; Ed Kovarik, cello and Robert Mavrinac, lute. The people of the School of Music, past and present, make life in this school richer, and we would love to have more shared experiences from you.
 
Best wishes for the coming year,
 
Acting Director