Ambrose Arts

Master your craft.

Mature your character.

Make the culture.

a mbroSe ambrose arts

Bachelor of Music • BA in Music • Diploma in Acting • Dance Minor An Overview

AMBROSE ARTS: CULTIVATING THE UNIQUE ARTIST Do you feel joy when performing?

Would you like to expand and deepen your performance skills?

Do you want to create a new play, dance or musical composition?

Would you like the arts to become a permanent part of your life?

Do you want to tell the world something through your art?

Ambrose Arts is passionate about unveiling, unmasking, and celebrating the artist living in you. As an Ambrose Arts student, your courses are laboratories of ideas about how to reach audiences with your art—courses where we ask the big questions about what it means to be an artist in the 21st Century. Whether your plan is performance, graduate school, ministry, or just “not sure”, we will journey with you as you discover the depths of your art and soul.

Why study at Ambrose?

Individualized Learning: Ambrose Arts is a place of agency. Small class sizes, intentional mentor-style learning, and connections to the arts communities in Calgary and beyond prepare students for the specific and individual careers in the arts that they want to lead Performance Opportunities: Ambrose Arts students appear on campus and throughout the lively arts community in Calgary. From Jazz at the Ironwood, to the Edwin Gnandt Concerto Concert, to numerous music, theatre and dance events in the Ambrose Arts season, your opportunities to collaborate and perform are boundless.

Faith Integration: Ambrose Arts is a place of crucial intersections where personal faith meets artistic expression, and where intellect meets embodiment. Here you will explore both tradition and innovation with a broad community of peers, scholars and artists.

“

I am grateful for the way Ambrose professors encouraged me, supported my education, and challenged my ideas. I am honoured to have studied with such intelligent and thoughtful mentors.”

Bronwyn, Bachelor of Music alumna, and graduate of the Julliard School, New York

Your Introduction to the Professional Arts Community The Ambrose Arts faculty are award-winning artists, scholars and innovators. They have worked with some of the most prestigious arts organizations in Canada and around the world, including Theatre Calgary, Helsinki Philharmonic, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Fire Exit Theatre, Cowtown Opera Company, Corps Bara Dance Theatre, Banff Centre for the Performing Arts, The Shakespeare Company, and Stratford Festival, to name just a few. As an Ambrose Arts student, you will spend invaluable one-on-one time with them, and they will introduce you to the Calgary arts community. Their goal is for you to become their professional colleague.

An Ambrose

distinctive

SING, PLAY OR WRITE YOUR SONG: THE AMBROSE ARTS MUSIC PROGRAMS Bachelor of Arts in Music (3 and 4 years) Bachelor of Music (4 years) These programs offer rigorous training that provides a strong musical foundation, with broad-based instruction in performance, conducting, music theory, music history, and composition. As an Ambrose music student, you will develop your skills while receiving support and mentorship from award-winning instructors in a close-knit and supportive environment. You can choose between the classical and jazz streams, and then explore a rich selection of courses and experiences to custom-tailor a degree that enlarges your potential and sets you on a path for success in your chosen career.

Performance and Research As an Ambrose music student, your performance opportunities include: singing with a choral program which has toured across Canada and Europe; the chance to audition as a concerto soloist with the Ambrose Chamber Orchestra; placements in jazz combos or the Ambrose String Ensemble; and opportunities for mentorship in chamber music or conducting. You also have the opportunity to perform and collaborate with other artists from the Ambrose Theatre and Dance programs. Through these experiences, you will begin to build your professional network in this close community while learning from accomplished teachers and performers.

Ambrose also offers specialized courses in music theory and musicology where you can explore theoretical analysis and music in historical and contemporary culture. Music students regularly present their work at the annual Ambrose Research Conference, and go on to study in graduate programs across Canada and the U.S. Careers include: Performance musician

Private lesson instructor

Conductor

Musicologist

Classroom music teacher

Music retail

Music therapist

Sound engineering

STUDENT - FACULTY INTERACTIONS Fourth-year students at Ambrose report significantly higher interaction with faculty than their counterparts in universities across Alberta and Canada.

(From the 2020 National Survey of Student Engagement)

%

Discussed course topics, ideas or concepts with a faculty member outside of class “often” or “very often”

0

5

10

15

Canada University Seniors

20

25

Alberta University Seniors

30

35

40

45

Ambrose University Seniors

Music Sample Courses Basic Conducting

History of Keyboard Music

Advanced Theory and Form

Aural Skills

Composition I: Writing for Small Ensembles

Jazz Theory

Composition II: Arranging and Composition

Vocal Pedagogy

Music Structures History of Music

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Jazz History

I am beyond grateful for the lengths to which the faculty went in order to help meet the needs of each individual student. The highly customized Advanced Conducting course is a perfect example of this. The faculty knew their students well enough to find experiences that would help them grow in the direction of their individual gifts or interests. I am so appreciative of that, and I know I had opportunities that I would never have received anywhere else.”

From a survey of Ambrose Arts music alumni

TELL YOUR STORY: THE AMBROSE ARTS THEATRE PROGRAMS The Ambrose Arts Diploma in Acting (2 years) Why acting?

The role of theatre is to ask big, often unanswerable, questions and create a space where conversations emerge outside of everyday life. Actors are the engine of theatre, serving as catalysts for social good by embodying stories that stimulate audiences’ response to the most elemental human questions.

Acting benefits the performer in countless ways. Trained actors are skilled listeners, empathetic, adventurous and able to express fully their point of view. Because theatre is the most collaborative of the art forms, actors require and gain a deep understanding of human interaction, as well as exceptional self-awareness. Actors use the entirety of their body, mind and spirit in their work.

Is acting for me?

A career in the arts may not be the easiest career path, but for those who know they are called to the theatre, the rewards are great. A preparatory program like the Ambrose Diploma in Acting can help you get started. As a theatre student at Ambrose, you will be pushed to discover your true capabilities and reveal your fullest self; you will master the challenges and acquire the craft necessary for a rewarding life in the arts.

The disciplined environment at Ambrose promotes accountability and collaboration. You will join a cohort of fellow student-actors who assist each other throughout the diploma program, resulting in deep and supportive relationships. Faculty members walk alongside their students, intentionally present throughout their journeys while they move from student to professional colleague. Regardless of the career path you choose—actor, director, writer, designer—you will learn the art and craft of storytelling, a foundational and life-changing skill.

“

I am so glad this program exists. My professors have provided the guidance and tools that I need to thrive in this industry. They have stretched me beyond what I believed I was capable of.”

Ainsley, Ambrose Theatre Diploma alumna

The Ambrose Acting Program is: Unique to Canada Intense training that helps students develop the rigour needed to create good stories, along with the personal fortitude required for a life in the arts Craft-focused, instilling a working knowledge of the fundamentals required to create performance-based stories Career-focused, utilizing our urban location to introduce students to the theatre community in Calgary and beyond, as well as hiring instructors who are working professionals Reflective, with an aim to creating perceptive, knowledgeable, and intuitive human beings who live self-examined lives Dedicated to developing Culture Makers, those who pursue honesty in all that they do, and who ultimately will transform their culture through their art.

Acting Sample Courses Movement

Collective Creation

Rehearsal and Performance

Voice and Speech

Script Analysis

Stage Combat

Vocal Production

Technical Theatre

Art and Faith

“

Through theatre, we are pulled into stories with high stakes, with characters willing to risk. Win or lose, they are never the same.

This is why we go on the journey of watching our hero go from being scared to being brave, from greedy to generous, arrogant to humble. It’s about character transformation. Theatre teaches us about life, where we are changed through conflict and uncomfortable situations that force us to be brave or kind or altruistic.”

Val Lieske, Associate Director of Theatre; Founder and Managing Artistic Director of Fire Exit Theatre Calgary’s only faith-based theatre company

DANCE YOUR STEPS: THE AMBROSE ARTS DANCE MINOR The artistic medium of dance is one of the oldest and most natural forms of human expression. People are designed to move! Here at Ambrose Arts, we celebrate dance as a foundational artistic discipline that complements programs in theatre and music. Students in many other disciplines, including kinesiology, education, and worship arts, also find the Dance Minor to be a valuable accompaniment to the work of their major academic discipline.

The Ambrose Dance Program is: A concentrated study of physical expression and use of the human body as artistic expression Taught by highly experienced and respected professionals in their field A building block approach to dance, moving from technique to performance to choreography The first of its kind at a Christian post-secondary institution in Canada An excellent creative-expression and physical-fitness option for all majors Is dance for me?

As a student in the dance minor, you will work with others in small studio classes, benefitting from personalized instruction that caters to your unique body type and interests. Your laddered growth in dance will begin with fundamentals in both modern and ballet techniques. Then in the upper levels of the minor, you will explore a broad range of dance styles that augment your basic skills. A final rung in the ladder is instruction in choreography, where you will participate in creating your own, as well as dance the work of professional choreographers.

There are numerous opportunities to participate in university productions during the Ambrose Arts production season, as well as attend professional dance performances.

Ambrose faculty use a holistic approach, combining praxis with theology, emotional life with physicality, and spirituality with story and abstract expression. Through this approach, you will consider where personal faith and worldview intersects with the creative work of dancers.

Dance Minor Sample Courses Dance Fundamentals

Introduction to Choreography

Movement I & II

Variations in Contemporary Choreography

Ballet Technique I & II

Collective Creation I & II

Modern Technique I & II

Art and Faith I & II

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO APPLY? Five Grade 12-level courses with a minimum overall average of 60%: English Math (30-1 for AB) Two academic courses One additional course In addition for music: resume, audition, theory placement test, and interview In addition for theatre: resume, essay, references, interview and audition

Visit ambrose.edu for full admission and program requirements

FACULTY Barrett Hileman, MFA Chair, Ambrose Arts; Associate Professor of Theatre

Barrett is a multidisciplinary theatre-maker with directing, creation, dramaturgy, and acting credits across North America, including Hit & Myth, Badlands Passion Play, Corps Bara Dance Theatre, Theatre of Consequence, Theatre BSMT, Smoke Signal Media, and Alberta Playwright’s Network.

Mark Bartel, DMA Associate Professor of Music

Mark is the Chorus Master with Calgary Philharmonic, the Artistic Director of the Spiritus Chamber Choir, and a past recipient of the Canada Council’s prestigious Sir Ernest Macmillian Prize in Conducting.

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Alyssa Michaud, PhD Assistant Professor of Music

Alyssa is a musicologist who works at the intersection of music, technology and culture in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. She has presented her work at conferences in Canada, the U.S. and Japan.

Michalis Androniko, PhD Sessional Faculty: Theory and Composition

Michalis has composed music for small and large ensembles, theatre plays, art exhibits, and movies. His works have been released on seven CDs. He is an associate composer of the Canadian Music Centre, and a member of the Canadian League of Composers.

After studying theatre in London, England, I appreciate more deeply my experience in the Ambrose theatre program. The faculty focus on the student artists and their hearts, but more importantly, they point to the end goal of Christ’s Kingdom. My training at Ambrose continues to impact me on my journey, and I am forever grateful.”

Jeff, Ambrose Theatre Minor alumnus

Jennifer Lee Arsenault, MFA Sessional Faculty: Technical Theatre

Krzystof Jablonski, DDMus Sessional Faculty: Piano; Classical Music Coordinator

Jennifer has worked with theatres across Canada including, the Stratford Festival, The Banff Centre, Cowtown Opera and Chromatic Theatre. She is a member of the Associated Designers of Canada

Krzystof has appeared with the Helsinki Philharmonic, National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra and Orchestra of the 18th Century.

Chantal Gandar, MA Sessional Faculty: Dance Dance Area Coordinator

Chantal studied with Douglas Nielsen, formerly with Batsheva Dance Company, and Michael Williams, jazz dancer with Gus Giordano Dance Company.

She currently choreographs for Corps Bara Dance Theatre and Crossings Youth Dance Company.

Tyler Hornby, MMus Sessional Faculty: Jazz Drum, Jazz Ensemble; Jazz Music Coordinator

Tyler has studied with Grammy Award winning pianist Chip Stevens, and collaborated with Wycliffe Gordon, Tommy Banks, Bob Minyzer and Inred Jensen.

John Knight, MFA Sessional Faculty: Stage Combat, Introduction to Theatre

John has worked with Calgary Opera, The Shakespeare Company, and The Banff Centre. He is a certified Fight Director with The Academy of Fight Directors of Canada.

Haysam Kadri Sessional Faculty: Performing Shakespeare

Haysam graduated from Stratford Festival’s Birmingham Conservatory for Classical Theatre and was a company member for six years. He is the Artistic Director of The Shakespeare Company, as well as being a performer, director, fight choreographer and educator.

Faith Inspired Learning Ambrose University 150 Ambrose Circle SW Calgary, Alberta Canada T3H 0L5 1 (403) 410-2900 www.ambrose.edu