Save Our Conservatory

From the earliest days of my childhood, Mount Royal College (as it was called back then) was where we always went for piano exams and recitals, and it is vital to the music scene in Calgary, not just in the classical field, but in popular music and jazz as well. As an adult, I sang for years in the Mount Royal Kantorei, and became a better musician in the process. Music is important in our life, so we must not let the Conservatory at Mount Royal University fall behind.

I support the claims of this petition, it is really a shame that MRU has decided to take this direction. Very misguided and unrepresentative of the Calgary music community.

Maybe we can save the Languages Institute as well!

Consultation with all stakeholders should precede any changes. This is the very basis of accountability. It appears that consultation with all the primary stakeholders signing this petition did not take place, and that our views have not been taken into account. Please review your processes immediately and take corrective actions.

Mount Royal needs to get back to doing what it has historically done best in order to become the viable and successful institution it has been up to now. The definition of that success is an institution that has recognized its strengths and built on those in order to meet a niche in the community that has been there and continues to be there!

Please reinstate artists and educators at Mount Royal Conservatory. My son graduated from the Academy Program for Gifted Youth. Sincerely, Agnieszka Sokolowska-Kijak, Calgary.

MRU has made a grave error in their decisions regarding the advertising of courses vis a vis the actual content and instructors. Don't let them get away with it.

I find the systematic dismantling of cultural institutions, especially in music, abhorrent and counterproductive. These institutions – including the Conservatory at Mount Royal – are the backbones of what Western Civilization means. It is suicidal to refer to "market values" in dismantling everything that is far more than just "mass appeal" – which is the moral backbone of what makes us human. I protest the demotion of my colleagues for reasons having to do with a barbarian world view : profits, profits, profits. Profits for what, if no human music is left?! Support it, because anything truly interesting and creative NEEDS your money, as it will repay it multifold in terms of peace, culture and social cohesion. Any society that attacks high culture is condemned to disintegration. Gyula Csapo, Ph.D., Dr. Habil. composer; Professor of Music

The Conservatory, under Paul Dornian, began to attract international students, namely from China, at a time when no other music school was doing this. Bill van der Sloot and John Kadz are star teachers and highly respected nationally and internationally. These two most recent dismissals are very troubling and I strongly support this call to reinstate them both. (I am the Former Director of Music Education at Canada's National Arts Centre in Ottawa)

I'm very concern with the direction the Conservatory administration is taking. They seem not to understand at all the nature of our work and our roll into our community.

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I live in Switzerland, have been European based for decades, and before that I was based in Chicago. I have no connection to Calgary, and yet I have known about the existence of the Mount Royal conservatory for decades, and have been significantly impressed by their quality. Their graduates keep popping up in the classical music world. The administrator who considers killing such a program would be very foolish indeed. It would be much more intelligent to pay attention to this PRESTIGEOUS institution in order to better understand how it's impressive reputation can improve a college that is not otherwise on the radar

Keep giving youth the opportunity to pursue the Arts. We need this in Calgary. It would truly be a shame and a disservice to many.... Keep the "Arts" alive and let it continue to grow ...

Please, let the conservatory live.

It is important that universities prioritize quality and this conservatory is well known as a very high quality program. Without it, Mount Royal's national and international reputation will suffer.

As a former Calgarian and alumnus of Mount Royal Conservatory currently serving as Principal Cellist of the Winnipeg Symphony, I am shocked and outraged by these inexplicable and myopic decisions. John Kadz and Bill van der Sloot are two of the finest string teachers on the continent. Together they have brought immeasurable good through their tireless efforts in promoting high quality musical education in Calgary. They have overseen the development of what was once a respectable local conservatory into what has now become a world-class institution housed in a splendid facility, attracting fine students and top name artists (not to mention financial investment) from across the globe. Their pedagogical record is enviable. Each has taught countless numbers of students who have gone on to successful careers: performing as soloists the world over; playing in the finest chamber ensembles and occupying some of the most coveted orchestral chairs in North America. Mssrs. Kadz and van der Sloot's commitment to developing the musical community in Calgary has inspired their students to go out and do the same. Their students are bringing up thousands more young musicians--at conservatories and universities spread across the continent--according to the sound principles that they learned at MRU Conservatory under the tutelage of their mentors. In other words, their students have not only pursued their musical aspirations as performers, but have become pedagogues and leaders in their own right in the communities in which they live and work. It is hard to estimate the impact that Mr. Kadz in particular had on my own career. He turned my playing around completely and set me on an artistic path that led to my being able pursue music professionally. It is no exaggeration to say that he is primarily responsible for releasing my musical potential. His example inspired me to become a successful teacher myself, and to model my own humble efforts at developing what is becoming a thr

I have been an Ottawa piano teacher for many years and have always been aware of the excellence of the Mount Royal University Conservatory. The Conservatory should be preserved as it was and the staff reinstated. Please do not destroy excellence where it exists.

I was dismayed to learn that you have plans to terminate the positions of long-standing personnel whose vision and whose labour of love it has been to put this conservatory on the world stage as a legacy of Calgary and the University. particularly considering the fact that you have this beautiful new facility. Both of my children benefited immeasurably from their experiences at the Conservatory, and one of them is a professional musician who teaches at MRU. His career path was largely influenced by his MRU experience. PLEASE don't destroy this programme!

It's with extreme sadness that I hear of these firings, and the apparent want to destroy the Conservatory program at MRC. So many obvious questons:......Whose brainstorm was this? Something from a previous, or current, provincial party leadership? Something that has been 'in the works'? Is there some politically powerful cultural group that doesn't believe in music trying to change the education system? Did someone's child not graduate from the program and they have a grudge? Is some politically connected trustee wanting to start something new with one of their relatives at the helm? ..... these are the kinds of questions that must be asked, because it is immoral to cut away arts and music programs that are part of our being human and alive. I grew up in Calgary, and MRC benefited me in so many ways as I was growing up.... music classes, arts, theatre, sports, pre-university classes, summer university classes, etc. etc. It's so sad to see politicians and their cronies try to inflict cultural damage on the people that are paying their salaries.