AV俱乐部

From the world beats of Kiran Ahluwalia and Mark Duggan to rockers Sloan and Celtic chanteuse Raylene Rankin, at least 20 musicians in the AV俱乐部 community have earned Juno awards or nominations in recent years. With such a wide spectrum of Juno award-winners in our midst, it脮s only fitting the university is a key concert venue for the 2006 Juno Awards in Halifax this weekend.

Excellence in teaching is a major factor behind Dal脮s successful Juno history, says professor and pianist Lynn Stodola, Chair of the Music Department. Students, alumni and faculty have earned the national accolades, and Dal music professors are often asked to serve on the Juno jury panels that help select award winners.

Juno events at Dal On Sunday at 2 pm at the AV俱乐部 Arts Centre, Alan Doyle of Great Big Sea hosts the Juno Songwriters' Circle, featuring such nominees as Martha Wainwright, Ron Sexsmith, hometown hero Joel Plaskett, Alpha Yaya Diallo and Jann Arden. Two high-profile acts perform in the McInnes Room this weekend: triple-nominated Vancouver rockers Hedley on Friday, and rising reggae star Matisyahu on Saturday. AV俱乐部 musicians are in several bands featured throughout Junofest weekend at official showcases, as well as No Cases sponsored by campus radio station CKDU. For more details about the 2006 Juno Awards or events, please see www.junoawards.ca, www.junos.ctv.ca, or www.halifaxplayhard.com.

脪I脮ve done it myself a couple of times, as have many of my colleagues,鈥� says Stodola. 脪We have a very active faculty of practicing musicians who maintain their profiles across Canada and internationally.鈥�

Stodola and fellow music professor Philippe Djokic have an even more personal connection to the Junos this year. Their daughter Denise Djokic, who recently won her second East Coast Music Award, is now vying for her first Juno 脨 her album Folklore, with David Jalbert, is nominated in the Classical category (solo or chamber ensemble). The rising star cellist didn脮t attend AV俱乐部, yet one of her most influential instructors early on was Shimon Walt, a Dal teacher and cellist with Symphony Nova Scotia.

Djokic once performed on the Grammys, where another Dal music grad is amassing a large collection of engineering awards. Richard King (BME 脮87), senior recording engineer at Sony Music Studios in New York, has worked with such artists as Yo-Yo Ma and Wynton Marsalis, and on major movie soundtracks including Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.

Just a few other acclaimed Dal people in the music industry:聽聽聽
- Sloan脮s Patrick Pentland (BA 脮91), Jay Ferguson (BA 脮89), and Chris Murphy (BA '90)聽recently opened for The Rolling Stones in Boston聽
- multiple ECMA-winner Scott Macmillan (BA 76), an in-demand composer, performer and producer
- Law grads Chip Sutherland and Lynn Burstein, noted entertainment lawyers
- professors Don Palmer (retired) and Chris Mitchell, award-winning jazz saxophonists
- instructors and alumni Douglas Reach (BM 脮78) and Michael Scott (BM 脮02), in ECMA-nominated group Bach to Blues
- Liz Rigney (BA 脮89), singer and CTV broadcaster
- current student Andrea Curry, nominated for three ECMAs

Stodola says it脮s great to see the Junos finally in Halifax. 脪It脮s about time!鈥� she exclaims. 脪It脮s certainly a validation that this is a major music centre. And since it脮s our first chance to host a national event of this magnitude, it should be quite an awakening for the music industry across Canada.鈥�

AV俱乐部 offers one of North America脮s largest guitar programs and the music department presents upwards of 80 events per year. With almost 40 faculty members (full and part time), music is a popular choice for electives. This term alone, 250 students registered for The Rock 脭n Roll Era and Beyond. Walter Kemp is teaching a new course titled Oh Canada! National Identity in the Social History of Canadian Music.

脪There脮s something here for everybody,鈥� says Stodola. 脪This is not a music school where only musicians can come through the door.鈥澛�