Paul Levesque, BA 57, centre, received a Her Majesty Queen
David John Pike, BComm 89, recently released a classical
Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal on October 20. Paul is a former Canadian Olympic luge athlete and coach, and a long-time New York City-based financial advisor and volunteer for the Concordia University Alumni Association’s New York Chapter. Senator and former hockey great Frank Mahovlich, left, bestowed the medal at a private reception at the Ottawa residence of John McNab, right, former Canadian deputy consul general in New York.
music CD, Whither Must I Wander? English Songs by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Gerlad Finzi and Roger Quilter (Signum Classics). David, a baritone, is earning a growing reputation as an operatic and concert soloist who covers early music, oratorio, symphonic, opera and commissioned works. He lives with his family in Luxembourg. “After Concordia, I became a chartered accountant and eventually a partner with a ‘Big Four’ firm in Switzerland, and all the while singing. I now have my own company, the Professionals Network (theprofessionalsnetwork.com), which affords me the flexibility to give singing my ‘full’ attention while keeping active on the business front.” davidjohnpike.com
also shortlisted for a 2012 Rogers Writers’ Trust of Canada Fiction Prize. As one of the five finalists, Rawi was invited to read at the International Festival of Authors in Toronto in October. His previous novels are De Niro’s Game (2005) and Cockroach (2008). He lives in Montreal.
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Oana Avasilichioaei,
MA (Eng. lit. & creat. writ.), is a Montreal poet, translator and creative writing teacher. She won the A.M. Klein Prize for Poetry for We, Beasts (Wolsak and Wynn Publishers) from the Quebec Writers’ Federation in November. Oana’s previous books of poetry include Feria: a poempark (2008). She was founder and curator of the Atwater Poetry Project reading series in Montreal.
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Sasson Khazzam,
BFA, appeared in the play The Widow Schwartz, staged in November by the Hudson Players Club, a community-based amateur
group in Hudson, Que. Sasson lives in Montreal.
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Massimo Farina, BFA,
launched his business Static Pixels at the 2012 annual International Startup Festival at Montreal’s Old Port in July. Static Pixels prints Instagram photos on five-inch squares made of light-weight cardboard of certified renewable and recycled materials. Massimo was invited to speak at the 2012 Art Directors Club Start Up Conference in Manhattan in September. staticpixels.com
Russ Makofsky, BComm, was
featured in a short BBC travel video called One Day in New York City. Russ is founder of New York City Chess Inc., which operates scholastic programs, tournaments and events throughout Manhattan. He is co-president of the Concordia University Alumni Association’s New York Chapter.
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Mustafa Yunus, BA, is currently pursuing a master’s degree in management at Harvard University in Boston. concordia university magazine winter 2012/13 | 43