Save Our Conservatory

Bill is a fantastic mentor to so many up and coming musicians and free speech is what the university advocates but in a disagreement with your controlling freak of a Dean he gets the booth after also bringing in students and money to the university? Outragious! Reinstate Bill And do yourself a favour Dismiss the controlling freak of your Dean. Thanks!

As a lover of the arts in Calgary and Canada, I am shocked and appalled at this decision. This can only have negative effects on our wonderful conservatory and its programs. P:LEASE do the right thing, reconsider, and reverse this decision.

As a Calgarian who has followed Mt. Royal University (and its Conservatory program) from afar -- I can not fathom the rationale for the continuing dismantling of the Conservatory.

The Conservatory provides music instruction for all students at every level of learning. For the musicians who wish to master their instrument, the Academy and Advanced Performance Program helps them to do just that. Bill van der Sloot, with his exceptional management, has enabled students to reach a goal for all their hard work. He has introduced many to fine universities and many of those have established themselves in rewarding careers. Music lessons are important but having a ladder to climb is what distinguished the Conservatory from other music schools in Canada. Students have come from all over to take advantage of what Mr van der Sloot has created. Please reinstate him.

Mount Royal conservatory and Academy allumni- will not stand for these injustices.

This is such a disappointing thing to happen to this school. I watched my theatre program crumble to the ground and now i have to watch the slow destruction of this beautiful program. I really used to look to this school as an innovative institution that fostered the arts, now it seems like a greedy machine that wouldn't even blink and back stabbing amazing faculty members. No one seems to be respecting the voice of the students and the people who are really upset by this .. This is supposed to be a school that helps us learn to survive in the real world, without music, without art, without trust... it will just be a place to me that sucks up my money and gives me nothing back. This is no longer a school I am proud to be a part of.

Aside from the fact that this was a crazy move which will ruin MRU, it was done two weeks before term starts. Pretty deceptive to students already enrolled! A huge loss for MRU and for Calgary. They fired (or didn't renew contracts) for the wrong people!

SAVE THE CONSERVATORY!!!!!!!!

These actions are deplorable. A reader might be excused for concluding that the Conservatory is deliberately distancing itself from its connection to the education of the serious artist. Its reputation will be pretty much in tatters after actions like these. (violist, National Arts Centre Orchestra)

Calgary: Music Lives Here. NOT!

Disgraceful.

The professional expertise and deep commitment to quality music sets special teachers apart. Their direction is sought after and makes all the difference in the nurturing of young artists. The Conservatory is a beacon of talent on a global level and a bright star for Calgary. Without it, the world is a darker place indeed.

I previously studied here for violin lessons and these new actions are outrageous.

I have a friend who came to Calgary specifically to study with Professor Kadz and think it was outrageous that she was misled by this institution and wasted her time and money to study here.

WHY??

Toutes les coupures dans le domaine des arts et de la culture, plus particulièrement ici en musique, sont d'une lamentable tristesse pour les générations futures.

You guys are working towards a good cause. Keep it up and you'll show everyone what's important.

This is an insult to students. The people making these decisions should be talking to everyone isn't program before making this decision.

It's hard to believe that the MRU administration would so quickly move to dismantle a long-standing arts institution like the Mount Royal Conservatory. As a current graduate student in Music Performance, I owe a great debt of gratitude to the inspirational teachers I encountered as a young violinist in the Mount Royal Orchestras. In addition to the world-class musical education I received, I had the opportunity to travel and perform in Austria and the Czech Republic with the Calgary Youth Orchestra. That university administrators are denying future generations of musicians the chance to experience such life-changing things is absolutely outrageous. While I cannot attend the upcoming protests on MRU campus, I will be imploring friends and family in the area to attend in my stead. We cannot allow petty inter-departmental conflict to result in a complete shut-down of the conservatory.

Graduate of Western University, and how dare they. As a teacher for several influential institutes between Watford and London, I'll be spreading the word. Supporting the arts saves future creativity and positive, progressive thinking. How dare they. And if this petition doesn't work, I want answers from them.