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Postcards to Schulich: The Summer 2019 Edition

Every summer, a number of Schulich School of Music students are awarded travel funding to help them take part in exciting opportunities around the world. Throughout the summer we featured some of these students in a new “Postcards to Schulich” series. 

Travel funding for Schulich School of Music students includes Enriched Educational Opportunities (EEO) funding for undergraduates to pursue learning opportunities outside of the classroom; Graduate Travel Awards intended for field research, conference presentations and performances, archival and collaborative research; and Graduate Mobility Awards for longer-term graduate research outside of Montreal. 

These postcards and sentences from students highlight some of the exciting work that happened during this past summer:


Lex French, DMus Student
Graduate Travel Award

"It was a great pleasure to return to NZ with CODE Quartet for this year’s Wellington Jazz Festival. Performing as a headline act in my hometown with my Canadian colleagues fills me with an enormous sense of pride and achievement. Schulich has played a huge role in my musical development, first during my Master’s degree and again now as I complete my doctorate, and this trip simply wouldn’t have been possible without the support I’ve enjoyed personally, academically, and financially from McGill."


Elisabeth St-Gelais, BMus Student
Enriched Educational Opportunity funding (EEO)

"It's a pleasure to be in Toronto for one month this summer to play Marcellina in Le Nozze di Figaro at the Low Reach Opera Workshop. Discovering this sublime city full of different cultures as well as improving my experience with opera is a wonderful opportunity. I can't wait to do other travel like this! "


Francisco Luis Reyes, PhD Candidate
Graduate Travel Award

"I traveled to Malmö to present a poster at the 'The School I’d Like' conference hosted by the European Association for Music in Schools. My paper shed light on the relations between music institutions and future music educators, and received a lot of attention from participants. This was a unique experience, and looking at the European perspective allowed me to engage with a new vantage point."


Tyler Song, BMus Student
Enriched Educational Opportunity funding (EEO)

"I'm thrilled to attend the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Institute again this year. It's always a pleasure to be in beautiful BC working with fellow students as well as being mentored by musicians from the Vancouver Symphony. Extremely grateful to have opportunities like this to further my musical training, and for the support I've received from McGill!"


Shanti Nachtergaele, PhD Candidate
Graduate Travel Award

“The award allowed me to present at the Music and the Moving Image conference held at NYU. This conference gave me the opportunity to dig deeper into a secondary research interest that I otherwise probably wouldn’t have had the chance to pursue past the end of the seminar I originally wrote the paper for. I also got to hear papers on a wide range of topics and see some of the leading scholars in the field present.”


Hannah Darroch, DMus Candidate
Graduate Mobility Award

"I spent three weeks at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, performing with an incredible group of people from around the world, premiering a lot of new music, and really considering the future of classical music as we move further into the 21st Century. Working with flutist Claire Chase, the International Contemporary Ensemble, and improvisors and composers including Tyshawn Sorey and Peter Evans was a dream, and I'm so grateful to have been awarded this funding!"


Katie Dunkle, BMus Student
Enriched Educational Opportunity funding (EEO)

"I attended the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, North Carolina. Working with talented faculty and musicians from around the USA benefitted both my ensemble playing and individual skills on the horn. It was an honour to perform iconic orchestral repertoire, including Tod und Verklärung by Richard Strauss, Holst’s The Planets, and Symphonie Fantastique by Berlioz. I also enjoyed playing in a brass sextet for the first time. I am grateful for McGill’s funding and the opportunity to attend EMF!"


Alice Néron, B.Mus./B.Ed. Student
Enriched Educational Opportunity funding (EEO)

"I had the opportunity to spend ten days at the Montreal Suzuki Institute for violin teacher training! It was a pleasure to work with incredibly dedicated teachers, and to learn new teaching strategies in such a stimulating environment. I am very grateful to have received support from McGill for this experience."


Henri Ferland, BMus Student
Enriched Educational Opportunity funding (EEO)

"I'm happy to be part of the 62nd edition of the Pommersfelden Collegium Musicum festival in Germany. Over four weeks I get to perform a wide range of repertoire - from orchestral masterworks to chamber music, and also traditional German brass band. I'm really grateful for this opportunity, made possible by McGill's financial support!"


Ay Kawasaki, BMus Student
Enriched Educational Opportunity funding (EEO)

"Two weeks flew by so fast at the Orford Academy of Music! Being surrounded by nature while attending lessons, lectures, concerts and masterclasses with Michael Cox, Robert Langevin, and Jocelyne Roy really made me focus on myself and my instrument while making so many amazing friends. I’m so thankful for this opportunity."


Mai Miyagaki, MMus Student
Graduate Mobility Award

"I made my first trip to Europe to participate in Kyoko Hashimoto's International Music Workshop and Festival in Germany. Through this intensive chamber music festival, I got to meet amazing musicians from all over the world and perform in a castle. I love chamber music-making even more now, and I'm really thankful for the Graduate Mobility Award that allowed me to have this opportunity!"


Christopher Knopp, BMus Student
Enriched Educational Opportunity funding (EEO)

“I have been told many times that I should look into being a repetiteur or a vocal coach, and this summer at Opera Nuova I got to dip my foot into the water of both of those career paths. It was invaluable to have the chance to work intensively with Michael McMahon, Benjamin Butterfield, Laura Loewen, Patrick Hansen and the many other wonderful professionals who were teaching and directing opera at Nuova, and thanks to their direction I feel now that I am much more equipped as a pianist to comfortably and confidently work with singers and opera directors in the future. I am very grateful to McGill University for the EEO funding which made this trip possible, and for allowing me to gain incredible memories and experience in Edmonton.”

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