Post by IAMCAPER on Apr 27, 2005 16:01:05 GMT -4
From the Cape Breton Post:
Sydney - A centre for Celtic music studies that’s being heralded as unique to the country could open as early as this September at Cape Breton University.
Estimated at a cost of $300,000, the Rotary Club of Sydney officially announced the project at its monthly meeting, Tuesday.
Rotary is partnering with the university to establish the centre, which will act as a permanent resource for Celtic music and the arts in Cape Breton.
The project was the brain child of the Rotary Club as the international organization prepares to celebrate 100 years of community service.
Folklore professor Richard MacKinnon laid much of the ground work for the Celtic Music Centre when he received a prestigious Canada Research Council chair grant last November worth $1.4 million over seven years.
MacKinnon said the centre will allow students to not only conduct research but to record music as well.
“The focus is on setting up a music room and a digitization lab that will allow researchers and students to work with the materials from our archive and gather new materials,” said MacKinnon, whose research involves studying, recording and interpreting significant cultural expressions of Cape Breton.
As many as 2,000 reel-to-reel tapes of Celtic music at the Beaton Institute will be recorded digitally at the centre.
The centre will offer programs in a bachelor of arts and bachelor of arts and community studies degrees in folklore with a minor in ethnomusicology, which is the study of music as a part of culture, social life and community.
“We’ve been madly working at trying to get this lab organized for the last few months. Once the lab is there, some of the projects will begin,” he said.
As many as 15 students could enrol in the Celtic programs once the university officially sanctions the centre, MacKinnon added.
Rotarian Lynn Ellis, co-chair of the Rotary Centennial project committee, said the Sydney club wanted to provide the community with a legacy that reflects Cape Breton’s Celtic heritage.
“Our Celtic music here in Cape Breton is unique in the world, it doesn’t exist anywhere else,” Ellis said.
Rotary is donating $25,000 in funding to help with costs to acquire audio lab equipment and archival material. The construction of the audio lab and music room within existing space at the university will also be partially covered by the Rotary donation.
Enterprise Cape Breton Corp. vice-president Rick Beaton, who was Rotary’s guest speaker Tuesday, said the agency will contribute $50,000 to the project.
MacKinnon said additional funds have been secured through the Canada Foundation for Innovation.
Sydney - A centre for Celtic music studies that’s being heralded as unique to the country could open as early as this September at Cape Breton University.
Estimated at a cost of $300,000, the Rotary Club of Sydney officially announced the project at its monthly meeting, Tuesday.
Rotary is partnering with the university to establish the centre, which will act as a permanent resource for Celtic music and the arts in Cape Breton.
The project was the brain child of the Rotary Club as the international organization prepares to celebrate 100 years of community service.
Folklore professor Richard MacKinnon laid much of the ground work for the Celtic Music Centre when he received a prestigious Canada Research Council chair grant last November worth $1.4 million over seven years.
MacKinnon said the centre will allow students to not only conduct research but to record music as well.
“The focus is on setting up a music room and a digitization lab that will allow researchers and students to work with the materials from our archive and gather new materials,” said MacKinnon, whose research involves studying, recording and interpreting significant cultural expressions of Cape Breton.
As many as 2,000 reel-to-reel tapes of Celtic music at the Beaton Institute will be recorded digitally at the centre.
The centre will offer programs in a bachelor of arts and bachelor of arts and community studies degrees in folklore with a minor in ethnomusicology, which is the study of music as a part of culture, social life and community.
“We’ve been madly working at trying to get this lab organized for the last few months. Once the lab is there, some of the projects will begin,” he said.
As many as 15 students could enrol in the Celtic programs once the university officially sanctions the centre, MacKinnon added.
Rotarian Lynn Ellis, co-chair of the Rotary Centennial project committee, said the Sydney club wanted to provide the community with a legacy that reflects Cape Breton’s Celtic heritage.
“Our Celtic music here in Cape Breton is unique in the world, it doesn’t exist anywhere else,” Ellis said.
Rotary is donating $25,000 in funding to help with costs to acquire audio lab equipment and archival material. The construction of the audio lab and music room within existing space at the university will also be partially covered by the Rotary donation.
Enterprise Cape Breton Corp. vice-president Rick Beaton, who was Rotary’s guest speaker Tuesday, said the agency will contribute $50,000 to the project.
MacKinnon said additional funds have been secured through the Canada Foundation for Innovation.