Alan Wildeman, Cody Weldon, Melanie Paul TanovichUWindsor president Alan Wildeman (left) and Orchestra Breva director Melanie Paul Tanovich (right) congratulate Cody Weldon, recipient of the Common Ground Scholarship.

Scholarship establishes common ground with community orchestra

The recipient of a scholarship rewarding cross-discipline cultural endeavours to promote peace said the money came at a good time for him.

Recent grad Cody Weldon (BMus 2018) was between part-time jobs when he received the “Common Ground Scholarship,” drawn from funds raised during a special concert in May 2017 celebrating the history of the University of Windsor and Assumption University.

“This really helped me through a hard time,” he said Monday as he met with Melanie Paul Tanovich, director of Orchestra Breva, which presented the fundraising concert.

Tanovich called Weldon a “worthy recipient” of the award, which she said honoured UWindsor president Alan Wildeman’s leadership, inspiration, and service to the University of Windsor and the communities of Windsor-Essex.

“How fitting that this year’s beneficiary of the Common Ground Scholarship is a student of the new School of Creative Arts, where unity is promoted through cross-disciplinary exchange among all arts,” she said.

The scholarship’s name refers to a lyric from Dr. Wildeman’s song Hidden from View.

“It is our hope that this honour will instill in its recipients the spirit of his professionalism, breadth of perspective, and commitment,” said Tanovich.

She said her orchestra looks forward to partnering with the University to cultivate the creativity of future generations.