Music at Laurentian University/Université Laurentienne

Music at Laurentian University/Université Laurentienne

Laurentian University/Université Laurentienne, Sudbury, Ont. Bilingual university with historical roots in the Roman Catholic church. In the 1959-60 academic year, a university federation was established, combining representatives from the Roman Catholic, United, and Anglican churches, with a bilingual constitution. The Federated Colleges include Huntington College (United), U of Sudbury College (Roman Catholic, descended from the Collège du Sacré-Coeur established by the Jesuits in 1913), and Thorneloe College (Anglican). Affiliated colleges are the Collège Universitaire de Hearst, Nipissing U College, and Algoma U College (in Sault Ste Marie). Laurentian University proper opened in 1960 and the main campus in Sudbury was established in 1964.

In 1978 members of the Music Dept at Cambrian College (a community college established in Sudbury in 1966) were commissioned to form a department of music at Laurentian's Huntington College. The standard three-year university model for a general BA was adopted. A four-year honours BA program in music was offered for the first time in 1983-4. A two-year certificate in church music is also offered. Douglas Webb was chairman 1982-7; he was succeeded by Charlotte A. Leonard 1987-90 and then resumed the post in 1990, at which time there were six regular and 19 auxiliary staff, including the jazz pianist Oliver Jones. Student enrolment was 44.

Laurentian's performing hall is the Horace J. Fraser Auditorium, and Huntington College sponsors a recital series of five or six concerts annually. Student performing groups include the Laurentian University Choir, the Laurentian Jazz Ensemble, the Laurentian Jazz Combo, the Laurentian Concert Band, and the Huntington Recorder Consort. A number of community ensembles are affiliated with Laurentian: the Bel Canto Chorus, Sudbury Chamber Singers, St Andrews Choir, Sudbury Symphony Orchestra, and the Sudbury Youth Orchestra. The university has a Department of Folklore which operates entirely in French. It was founded as a folklore studies program in 1975 by Father Germain Lemieux (who continued to teach until 1991), and became a department in 1981. The director in 1991 was Jean-Pierre Pichette. Courses offered relate to folksongs, folk customs, and legends. In 1991 no specific diploma was offered. The department has a substantial collection of field recordings, and has continued research work begun in 1948 by the Centre franco-ontarien de folklore.