OnCampus
Pianist Barbara Bryson and composer/director Zach Florence Photo: Clare O’Hara
Zach Florence, a student in the Contemporary Studies and theatre programmes, is a young playwright and show director. He recently staged William Finn’s Elegies and will premier it this month at Dalhousie University. On opening night the American composer will be attending himself, a dream come true for Florence. “I can’t figure out whether he is terrifyingly wonderful or wonderfully terrifying but he has been an inspiration for me, his work speaks so personally to me,” he says. Florence, 21, wrote scores for the King’s Theatrical Society and has completed three shows at Dalhousie. In his first year he directed Woody Allen’s
God, which led to his directing Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia, for which he also wrote the music. In June 2004, he began composing for a company called Canstage in Toronto. “I was always going to see shows with my parents or relatives and I knew right from the beginning that I wanted to do this for the rest of my life,” said Florence. “It just happened to be something that I was good at and people kept hiring me. Bryson, who credits her success to her piano teacher — Dalhousie music professor Lynn Stodola, received a scholarship to study at Quebec’s Orford Music Academy last summer with pianists Richard Raymond and André LaPlant. Last June another of her role models, pianist Marc Hamelin, came to Halifax for the Scotia Festival and Bryson was able to have a lesson with him on the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No.2 — the same piece she played with the Youth Orchestra. “That was one of the most surreal ‘dream-come-true’ moments in my life,” she says. This summer Bryson, 20, will continue to play piano for The Three Churches Chamber Music Series in Mahone Bay, N.S., and focus on her MCAT exam. “Music is something that connects you to your soul. There’s something that is divine and profound about it and I know that it will always be with me,” she says.
Player of the Year for Men’s soccer. Matthew is the first student in the history of King’s to receive this honour in any sport. This is a great finish for Matthew, who has a history of winning, and a great cap to his career at King’s. He was King’s Rookie of the Year in
2001, and has been All Canadian three years running. In addition to being a star athlete, off the soccer field Matthew is on the President’s List. This has been a remarkable year for men’s soccer at King’s. The school’s fifth place finish at the National Conference is its best standing since 1988.
Students on stage By Clare O’Hara Two King’s students are making names for themselves on the performance stage and behind it. Classics student Barbara Bryson was asked to play as a soloist with the Nova Scotia Youth Orchestra. In January she performed Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No.2 in C Minor, an experience she says was unique. “Usually young pianists don’t get that opportunity to play with an orchestra. It is really hard to find an orchestra that will play with you because professional players are the ones invited. It was a great privilege to be up there,” she says.
SOCCER STAR Matthew Fegan, a fourthyear student in the Honours Journalism programme, was named the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association’s
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Tidings
Spring 2005