For the Record by Marcia Porter
When Sheilagh O'Leary photographed soprano Dr. Jane Leibel for the cover of the singer's first CD, she wanted a bold, powerful image to match Dr. Leibel's soaring voice and her repertoire of music. Dr. Leibel, an associate professor at Memorial University's School of Music, seems to rejoice as she looks out at the Narrows with her arms reaching wide.
This is how Dr. Leibel felt about the debut of her first CD adventure, Songs and Sonnets, created with pianist and music school colleague Kristina Szutor. It's one of several CD's released this year by Memorial's School of Music and the Centre for Music, Media and Place.
Releases include an archival collection of Newfoundland and Labrador traditional music, Dr. Paul Rice's compilation of baroque cantatas, an exploration of Canadian repertoire for voice by Dr. Caroline Schiller, Duo Concertante's release of new music commissioned just for them, and Rob Power's and Paul Bendzsa's no-holes-barred experimentation in sound for clarinet and percussion. Maureen Volk's solo piano CD is also set for release.
These recordings have a national distribution, winding up in the hands and on the CD players of some interesting and influential people. Songs and Sonnet sended up on the desk of York University music professor emeritus and composer David Lidov, who was so impressed with the quality of Dr. Leibel's voice he invited her to perform some of his original music.
"There is certainly a buzz around the school with each new CD release," says Dr. Tom Gordon, director of the School of Music. "But I think that the buzz is being felt further afield as several of our recordings have gotten favourable national reviews."
While CD-worthy musicians have always resided at the music school, a number of factors have helped inspire a flurry of musical recordings. These include renovations to the D.F. Cook Hall, already a favourite venue for its amazing acoustics, and the March 2005 opening of Petro-Canada Hall. The new facility was equipped with a multi-track recording studio.
The program was developed five years ago in response to concern about how university musicians could get their research — their performances — into the public ear.
"A CD is a performing musician's business card," Dr. Gordon said. "It's a way of building a reputation and generating performance opportunities, but it's also a great research vehicle."
And the latter is certainly true for the recently-released Newfoundland and Labrador Folklore, a collection of songs, fiddle tunes and recitations co-produced by the Centre for Music, Media and Place and Memorial's Folklore and Language Archive (MUNFLA).
It's the second in an archival series and though it's practically brand new, the compilation reflects many years of field work gathering songs, stories and tunes from across the province.
"We've made it our priority to make this archival material available to communities again," said Dr. Bev Diamond, the Canada Research Chair in Traditional Music/Ethnomusicology. "People from all over Newfoundland and Labrador have been exceedingly generous in allowing folklore students and faculty to record their songs, stories, oral histories, etc. This is giving back to them."
It's a great research document, and potential teaching tool, but it's also a great listen, with performances by Emile Benoit (LLD ?88), Rufus Guinchard, Annie Walters and many more — there's a great range of styles.
Ethnomusicologist Dr. Peter Narváez worked on the project with help from folklore students Jessica Grant and Justin Partycka.
Drs. Diamond and Gordon are keen to get the message out about the numerous CD projects on the go. Not only because it raises the university's profile; it's also a way of reaching out to the larger community.
"We'll be announcing some new projects and I promise they'll be as exciting and diverse as the recordings you've heard to date," said Dr. Gordon. "It's proof that the school of music is populated by excellent, dedicated and thoughtful musicians."