Stacey Mortenson-Spokes and the Evan Hardy Drumline
Stacey Mortenson-Spokes is a graduate of the University of Saskatchewan and holds a Bachelor of Music in Music Education (with Distinction). As a French horn player and former member of the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra, Stacey’s teaching career began 26 years ago in Lloydminster, teaching Brass at Lakeland College and band and classroom music for Lloydminster Public School Division. Returning home to Saskatoon in 2006, Stacey has since taught music at Centennial Collegiate, Walter Murray Collegiate and is currently the music director at Evan Hardy Collegiate, where she directs three concert bands, three jazz bands, several jazz combos, the marching band and the choir. Stacey’s bands perform often and have traveled extensively across Canada, consistently receiving top awards at festivals including the National Festival, Musicfest Canada. Through the years. Stacey has thoroughly enjoyed conducting at SBA summer camps, conducting the SBA Junior honour band, adjudicating at Springfest Canada and workshopping touring bands. Stacey founded the Saskatoon Serenade, Saskatoon’s first all-female concert band of 40+ lovely musicians, in 2013. In 2016, Stacey received the Keith Mann Outstanding Canadian Band Director Award at Musicfest Canada, and in 2017, she was deeply honored to receive the Saskatchewan Band Association’s Distinguished Band Director Award. Ms. Mortenson-Spokes has always had a strong passion for music and the value of Music Education in shaping students’ lives and is excited to be here this weekend sharing music with dear colleagues.
Alicia Reschny
Alicia Reschny teaches elementary music, drama, and dance at Jack MacKenzie School in Regina. She has a Bachelor of Music Performance, Bachelor of Education, Artist Diploma in Orchestral Performance, Level III Orff Certificate, and is currently working on her Masters in Curriculum & Instruction. In the past year, she has facilitated workshops for SMEA, the Saskatchewan Orff Chapter, University of Regina undergraduate and graduate classes, Regina Public Schools Arts Education Community of Practice, and her school community. She also facilitated the keynote address, live Q & A, and the art gallery for the 2022 Teaching & Learning Convention at the University of Regina. Alicia is grateful to her mentors and colleagues who continue to inspire her work in the community.
Saskatchewan Intra-University Jazz Ensemble
The Saskatchewan Intra-University Jazz Ensemble (SIJE) is a special project designed for the Saskatchewan Music Conference. SIJE is comprised of university students from the University of Saskatchewan and the University of Regoina who are currently participating in their university jazz ensemble. Jazz Ensemble Directors Dean McNeill (U of S), and Dave Dick (U of R) are very grateful for this opportunity at our provincial music conference, which provides an excellent opportunity for university students to interact, collaborate, and get to know each other musically and socially. The Saskatchewan Intra-University Jazz Ensemble has been a highlight for musicians from both universities for many years and we are very pleased to have the opportunity once again to continue this project this fall. For more information on these ensembles please visit: U of R Jazz Ensemble: https://www.uregina.ca/mediaartperformance/programs/music/music-ensembles/jazz-band.html; U of S Jazz Ensemble: https://artsandscience.usask.ca/music/ensembles/jazz.php.
Nate Linsley
Nate Linsley of Saskatoon is a bagpiper with the Saskatoon Police Pipes and Drums. He performs regularly for local events and was happy to be invited to perform at this year’s Saskatchewan Music Conference. Nate will be performing traditional highland bagpipe music.
Lynelle Kratz
Lynelle Kratz (she/her) is a Master of Music (Music Theory) student studying under Dr. Gregory Marion at the University of Saskatchewan. Her graduate research explores World War One music from Winnipeg, Manitoba, utilized as recruitment propaganda. She also teaches beginner piano lessons.
Research Title:
"Music as Propaganda: A Study of Popular Compositions from Winnipeg, Manitoba during the Great War (1914-1918)."
Session Description:
What does it mean for music to be used as propaganda?
To answer this question, Lynelle takes an analytical approach that investigates select musical compositions from Winnipeg, Manitoba in the Great War era (1914-1918). The selected compositions served as propaganda for increasing recruitment and gaining public support for the War.
She will present that music utilized as propaganda romanticized the true realities of the War. Many of the compositions painted the sacrifice of Canadian soldiers in a few notable ways: far from home; filled with bravery; and heroic. However, these compositions also undermined other realities when enlisting in the war: loss of life and limbs; and battle-born traumas. She will explore these compositions from a music-analysis based approach, demonstrating how the musical rhetoric employed within the compositions was propagandic in nature.
She will also examine how two unique Winnipeg institutions (The University of Manitoba; and The Royal Winnipeg Rifles Battalion) juxtapose the romanticization found in the compositions. She will present the realities of the War for people who lived in these two contexts, while showing how music as propaganda undermined those realities.
Wilbur Sargunaraj
Wilbur Sargunaraj is the director of CQ World Wide Consulting, and offers interactive keynotes and workshops on Cultural Intelligence (CQ) for businesses, foundations and academic institutions. Apart from touring his educational photo exhibition Exploring CQ, he continues to use music and dance to share his message that every human being is a "Simple Superstar". His most recent album Dance Around The World is a cultural Intelligence themed Ukulele driven album for children. He has partnered with the SMEA and will be on tour with OSAC during the fall of 2023. Wilbur loves making new friends from around the world. He splits his time between Treaty 6 Territory, Canada and Tamil Nadu, India. His social media handle @wilburworldwide www. wilbur.asia.
Sargunaraj will be sharing the relevance of CQ and how this can be used so students become CQ Simple Superstars who are passionate about building bridges across cultures right here in Saskatchewan and around the world. In this brief introduction to CQ, he will be sharing a few songs and excerpts from his "Exploring CQ" school tour event with SMEA.
Brett Graham
Brett Graham (Vibraphone) is a Saskatoon percussionist that plays in a wide variety of styles, performing regularly as a solo artist and in jazz combos. He received his Bachelor's of Music degree in Performance from the University of Saskatchewan. Recently he has been studying solo vibraphone and free improvisation with a community of mallet enthusiasts led by Tony Micelli. Brett is a member of the Gerard Weber Group, a jazz-fusion band dedicated to performing the music of Pat Metheny. Other groups he has performed with include: : the Stonefrigate Jazz Band, the Rory Lynch Quartet, the Weber Graham Duo, the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra, and the Saskatoon Jazz Orchestra.
Ali Wrigley
I am a second-year graduate student of Music Education at the University of Saskatchewan. I convocated from this institution in 2020 with bachelor’s degrees in music and education. I felt the climate created by the pandemic presented a unique opportunity to continue studies in music education, and I am continually grateful for the multiple avenues it has opened for me.
I currently teach group keyboard lessons using the Music for Young Children curriculum, which re-affirms my passion for working with young learners by the day. Most recently, I have become interested in the cognitive capabilities of music, and the interplay between music and language.
Research Title: Informal Music Pedagogy for English Language Learners
Short Abstract:
This research seeks to explore a classroom music scenario that improves inclusivity for English Language Learners (ELL’s). An analysis of the current literature on the interdisciplinary study of music and language has revealed that: (1) music can be used as a source of social capital for ELL students who are coming into new classroom settings, and (2) can help music educators reconsider the typical structure of a traditional music classroom for the benefit of newcomer students.