Benita Wolters-Fredlund
Dr. Benita Wolters-Fredlund
Office: Fine Arts Center 120B
Phone: (616) 526-6909
click on the photo for a high-resolution image
Curriculum Vitae
EDUCATION
Ph. D., 2005, Musicology, University of Toronto
Thesis: “We Shall Go Forward with our Songs into the Fight for Better Life”: Identity and Musical Meaning in the History of the Toronto Jewish Folk Choir, 1925-1959.
M. A., 1999, Musicology, University of British Columbia
Thesis: The Early Years of the Canadian League of Composers
B. C. S., 1996, Redeemer University College
Four-Year Liberal Arts Degree; Majors: Music and Philosophy
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
University Appointments:
Calvin College – Assistant Professor (2006-present)
Redeemer University College - Assistant Professor (Full-time Sessional) (2005-06)
Adjunct Lecturer (Part-time) (2001-2005); Lecturer (Part-time) (1999-2001)
Courses Taught:
History of Western Music Survey I and II
American Music
World Musics
Music in Culture
Understanding and Appreciating Music
Music Theory I and II
Aural Perception (Sight Singing and Ear Training) I and II
SCHOLARLY CONTRIBUTIONS
Refereed Articles
“‘We Shall Be Better Canadians by Being Conscious Jews’: Multiculturalism and the Construction of Canadian Identity in the Toronto Jewish Folk Choir,” Intersections: Canadian Journal of Music 25/1-2 (2005), 187-201.
“Leftist, Jewish and Canadian Identities Voiced in the Repertoire of the Toronto Jewish Folk Choir, 1939-1959,” Canadian Journal for Traditional Music 29 (2002): 19-31.
Non-Refereed Articles
“Report on Recent Research in Canadian Music – ‘We Shall Go Forward with our Songs into the Fight for Better Life’: Identity and Musical Meaning in the History of the Toronto Jewish Folk Choir, 1925-1959,” Institute for Canadian Music Newsletter 4/1 (January 2006), 8-10.
“Ethnic, Political, and National Identity as Expressed in the Singing of World Music by the Toronto Jewish Folk Choir, 1939-1959,” Published conference proceedings of the International Congress hosted by the Gesellschaft für Musikforschung, “Musik und kulturelle Identität” (Forthcoming).
“Criticism from the Inside Out,” Discourses in Music: An Online Journal for Music Graduate Students 4/1 (Fall 2002).
“Canada’s Lack of National Musical Identity: Thoughts in Response to Karen Pegley’s ‘Toronto 2000’,” Discourses in Music: An Online Journal for Music Graduate Students 2/1 (Fall 2000).
Reviews
Carry Me Home: The Story and Music of the Nathaniel Dett Chorale, Marquis Classics. WholeNote Magazine 10/5 (February 2005): 76.
Canadian Composers Portraits: Istvan Anhalt, Canadian Music Centre/Centrediscs. WholeNote Magazine 10/3 (November 2004): 70.
Louis Applebaum: A Passion for Culture, by Walter Pitman. Outlook: Canada’s Progressive Jewish Magazine 42/4 (July/August 2004): 37, 40.
Istvan Anhalt: Pathways and Memories, edited by Robin Elliott and Gordon Smith. Discourses in Music: An Online Journal for Music Graduate Students 3/3 (Spring 2002).
A Gift of Music: Great Composers and Their Influence, by Jane Stuart Smith and Betty Carlson. European Journal of Theology IX: 1 (2000): 75-76.
Select Conference and Colloquia Presentations
“Judas Maccabaeus as Revolutionary Jewish Hero: Progressive Jewish Readings of Handel’s Oratorio during the Holocaust,” Annual meeting of the American Musicological Society (Los Angeles), November 2006.
“Singing Solidarity with the Oppressed: Paul Robeson and the Toronto Jewish Folk Choir, 1946-1949,” Music and Social Justice, conference hosted by the Musicological Society of Australia, (Sydney, Australia), September 2005.
“‘We have drowned out the roar of hateful propaganda:’ Politics and Musical Meaning in the Western-World Premiere of Shostakovich’s Song of the Forests by the Toronto Jewish Folk Choir, 1951,” Meeting of the New York State-Saint Lawrence Chapter of the American Musicological Society (Toronto), 2 April 2005.
“Ethnic, Political, and National Identity as Expressed in the Singing of World Music by the Toronto Jewish Folk Choir, 1939-1959,” International Congress hosted by the Gesellschaft für Musikforschung, “Musik und kulturelle Identität” (Weimar, Germany), 16-21 September 2004.
“Music, Culture, Ethnicity and Nationalism: The Toronto Jewish Folk Choir and Conceptions of Canadian Multiculturalism,” Canadian University Music Society Annual Conference (Halifax, Nova Scotia), 30 May 2003.
“Conceptions of Canadian Musical Multiculturalism in Theory and Practice: The Toronto Jewish Folk Choir as a Unique Example,” Joint meeting of the Canadian University Music Society and the Finnish Society of Musicology (Turku, Finland), 17 May 2003.
“A Historical Context for the Western-World Premiere of Shostakovich’s Stalin-Blest Song of the Forests by the Toronto Jewish Folk Choir (1951),” Society for American Music Annual Meeting (Phoenix, Arizona), 2 March 2003.
“The Role of Political, Ethnic, and National Identities in the Repertoire of the Toronto Jewish Folk Choir, 1939-1959,” Canadian University Music Society Annual Conference (Toronto), 26 May 2002.
“‘God of Concrete:’ Elements of Modernism in the Canadian Hymn Tunes of The Hymn Book (1971),” Graduate Department of Music Colloquia Series, University of Toronto (Toronto), 23 November 2001.
AFFILIATIONS
American Musicological Society
Society for American Music
Canadian University Music Society
Society for Ethnomusicology