2011‑2022, and is preserved here for archival purposes.
Russell Kuykendall says the musical dismissed by some as white bread civics lite brings hip hop attitude to U.S. constitutional history.
The musical Hamilton poses the question of how the American Revolution might have unfolded had the principals been people of colour. All principal roles portraying Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Burr, Lafayette, Laurens and the Schuyler sisters ar...
Susan Korah introduces Convivium readers to an Ottawa-based Polish opera star who has lent her voice to better pandemic communication with the world’s disadvantaged.
She is Poland’s gift to Canada. Maria Knapik’s silvery soprano voice has filled some of the world’s most prestigious auditoriums such as New York’s Carnegie Hall, where she was the soloist at a concert honouring Beethoven’s 175th anniversary in 2002.
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As spring has sprung, Fr. Raymond de Souza reflects on how the Kingston Symphony’s melded-together performance of two vastly different compositions show that while man and nature often collide, God’s creation is still a garden.
It’s springtime. Let the crocuses – but not the viruses – bloom. And if it is not possible to get outdoors to enjoy the spring in this coronavirus season, why not listen to it? I did just that six weeks ago, courtesy of the Kingston Symphony.
The ver...
While listeners puzzle over what to make of Kanye West’s new Gospel album, Jesus is King, Aaron Neil argues that Ye’s Christianity has been part of his music all along.
Kanye West is not a typical celebrity. The producer, rapper, fashion designer, and entrepreneur repeatedly dizzies fans with eruptive interviews, award show antics, and innovative albums. His recent conversion to Christianity broadcast on his latest album, ...
Collin Pierlott hears the presence of God in music – even when words are absent.
I often turn to music, as many do, as an avenue of prayer to God. However, I also listen to pieces of music without lyrics and have found these lyricless pieces to be quite effective for reflection and prayer. I sometimes find the artistic expressions of hu...
Montreal actor, singer and writer Alisha Ruiss reflects on the way a collaborative event she long dreamed of creating was given flesh by musical theatre artists at the city’s Segal Centre this past spring.
“The feminine is that which receives inspiration, grace, life, holds it within the body, and gives it existence. Woman is the receiver through whom God transmits the life-giving signal of His love into the world. The mediatrix. The medium in His will made m...
Canadian musician Steve Bell sits down with Convivium's Hannah Marazzi to talk about his sources of inspiration and the geography found beyond physical parameters.
You released your first album, Comfort My People, in 1989 and have released a subsequent 20 albums, the most recent of which – The Pilgrim Year Companion CD – was released last year. How did you first begin your career in ...
Musician Brian Doerksen sits down with Convivium to discuss how music shaped him, how the needs of his family shaped his music, and how, in the end, collaboration is life.
Convivium: Your songs were in many ways the accompaniment to my childhood. I would come to church many Sundays just in time to have you lead our congregation in worship. Take us back to the beginning of your musical journey.
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Through often painful moments listening to a broken man at an Ottawa drop-in centre, Joyce Deng began to hear God’s voice in the briefest of encounters.
“When you homeless, you don’t wanna hear much of that, cause it’s like, when you get through talking about Jesus, I gotta go back to living in this empty building, you know?"
- Mitch Albom, Have a Little Faith
Last year, I w...
Through often painful moments listening to a broken man at an Ottawa drop-in centre, Joyce Deng began to hear God’s voice in the briefest of encounters.
“When you homeless, you don’t wanna hear much of that, cause it’s like, when you get through talking about Jesus, I gotta go back to living in this empty building, you know?"
- Mitch Albom, Have a Little Faith
Last year, I w...