John Wiebe, DMus, ARCT
Pronouns: he, him his
Contact
Director of Music, Director of Choral Activities, Augustana - Fine Arts & Humanities
- jhwiebe@ualberta.ca
- Phone
- (780) 994-6539
Overview
Area of Study / Keywords
Choral Music Conducting Theory Recording Administration
About
In addition to helping run the Music Area at Augustana, as the Director of Music, my main energies go into leading a dynamic choral program, conducting three of our campus choirs and teaching and mentoring young choral conductors in our program. For the official word, here is my bio:
Dr. JOHN WIEBE is an award-winning choral conductor, pianist, orchestral conductor, singer, educator, adjudicator and clinician from Edmonton Alberta. Known for the energy, craftsmanship and passion he brings to his music making, John has multiple recordings, awards and broadcasts to his credit.
After completing a B.Mus.-Honours in Piano Performance at Wilfrid Laurier University John moved to Edmonton to complete his M.Mus and D.Mus in Choral Conducting. His conducting teachers include Leonard Ratzlaff, Debra Cairns, Malcolm Forsyth, Noel Edison, Howard Dyck, Frieder Bernius, and Salvador Mas Conde . His numerous awards include the H.Leslie Staebler Award for Piano Performance; Beryl Barnes Memorial Award; Gordin Kaplan Graduate Award; William Rea Scholarship and the Province of Alberta Graduate Fellowship. John’s conducting mentorship has a significant international component – in 2000 John studied with Frieder Bernius (Stuttgart, Germany) at the Manitoba Summer Choral Academy (one of only six active conductors chosen from across North America) and in 2002 was awarded the Johann Strauss Foundation Scholarship for Study in Austria, which allowed him to study orchestral conducting at the Wiener Meisterkurse (Vienna, Austria) with Maestro Salvador Mas Conde.
John Wiebe completed his doctoral studies at the University of Alberta in 2006, where his dissertation focused on the choral music of Carl Czerny, a 19th century Biedermeier composer. This dissertation research has resulted in numerous awards (Andrew Stewart Memorial Graduate Prize for Doctoral Research (2005); University of Alberta Dissertation Fellowship (2005); Austrian Canadian Council Dissertation Prize (2008)), publication by the University of Rochester Press (2008), and presentations (Alberta Music Conference 2007, University of Regina 2011).
John is the Director of Choral Activities and the Director of Music at the University of Alberta – Augustana Campus. For 21 years he was the conductor of the Edmonton Youth Choir, and the Artistic Director of the Edmonton Youth & Children’s Choirs. Choirs. Choirs under his dynamic leadership have recorded eight CD’s, been heard many times on CBC Radio, performed coast-to-coast across Canada and around the world (Europe, Russia, South America, China and Africa), and have received awards for their performances locally, nationally and at the Langollen Music Festival and the World Choir Games. John has presented numerous conference sessions and led choirs in performances at provincial and national conferences, including PODIUM, the national conference for Choral Canada.
Dr. Wiebe is active in the choral community as a clinician and adjudicator for events as diverse as; the Western Canadian Music Awards, the National Youth Choir Apprentice Conductor Program, Kiwanis Music Festivals, Federation of Canadian Music Festivals, and has served as chair of the Edmonton Arts Council Grant Jury. John has served on numerous boards and is a past-president of Choral Canada, the national arts service organization for the Canadian choral community. When not busy making music, John enjoys spending time hiking with his family, renovating his house, and running.
Research
Publications
- Distracted by Beauty. The Augustana Choir, John Wiebe conductor. October 2023.
- Embers. Edmonton Youth Choir, John Wiebe conductor, 2019.
- Playing with Fire, Edmonton Youth Choir, John Wiebe conductor, 2017.
- “Carl Czerny and Post-Classicism,” in Beyond “The Art of Finger Dexterity”: Reassessing Carl Czerny, ed. David Gramit, Eastman Studies in Music (Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press, 2008).
Teaching
- AUMUS X40: The Augustana Choir - Augustana Chamber Choir
- AUMUS X42: Sangkor - Augustana Treble Choir
- AUMUS X42: Mannskor - Augustana Low Voice Choir
- AUMUS 160: Music Theory I
- AUMUS 235: Introduction to Conducting
- AUMUS 236: Choral Literature and Techniques
Courses
AUMUS 140 - Augustana Choir
Performance of choral music for mixed choir, including required participation in a performance tour which may follow the winter term. Prerequisite: Consent of Instructor based on audition. Notes: a 1.5 unit course over the winter term. Requires payment of additional student instructional support fees. Refer to the Tuition and Fees page in the University Regulations section of the Calendar.
AUMUS 141A - The Augustana Choir
Performance of choral music for mixed choir, including required participation in a performance tour which may follow the winter term. Prerequisite: Consent of the instructor, based on audition. Notes: Not open to a part-time student who has less than one year of the degree program completed. A 3 unit course over the full year. Requires payment of additional student instructional support fees. Refer to the Tuition and Fees page in the University Regulations section of the Calendar.
AUMUS 141B - The Augustana Choir
Performance of choral music for mixed choir, including required participation in a performance tour which may follow the winter term. Prerequisite: Consent of the instructor, based on audition. Notes: Not open to a part-time student who has less than one year of the degree program completed. A 3 unit course over the full year. Requires payment of additional student instructional support fees. Refer to the Tuition and Fees page in the University Regulations section of the Calendar.
AUMUS 142 - Choral Ensemble
Performance of choral music. Prerequisite: Consent of Instructor. Notes: a 1 unit course over the fall term. The course does not require participation in a performance tour. Requires payment of additional student instructional support fees. Refer to the Tuition and Fees page in the University Regulations section of the Calendar.
AUMUS 143 - Choral Ensemble
Performance of choral music. Prerequisite: Consent of the instructor. Notes: A 1 unit course over the winter term. The course does not require participation in a performance tour. Requires payment of additional student instructional support fees. Refer to the Tuition and Fees page in the University Regulations section of the Calendar.
AUMUS 160 - Theoretical and Analytical Studies I
Study of common-practice harmony: scales and modes, intervals, triads, figured bass, cadences, phrases, periods, sentences, nonharmonic tones, harmonic progression and rhythm, part-writing, seventh chords, diatonic modulation, playing simple harmonic progression formulae on piano. Prerequisites: AUMUS 100 or a score higher than 70% in the Music Theory Placement Examination (MTPE), and completion of the Keyboard Skills Interview (KSI).
AUMUS 240 - Augustana Choir
Performance of choral music for mixed choir, including required participation in a performance tour which may follow the winter term. Prerequisite: Consent of Instructor based on audition. Notes: a 1.5 unit course over the winter term. Requires payment of additional student instructional support fees. Refer to the Tuition and Fees page in the University Regulations section of the Calendar.
AUMUS 241A - The Augustana Choir
Performance of choral music for mixed choir, including required participation in a performance tour which may follow the winter term. Prerequisite: Consent of the instructor, based on audition. Notes: Not open to a part-time student who has less than one year of the degree program completed. A 3 unit course over the full year. Requires payment of additional student instructional support fees. Refer to the Tuition and Fees page in the University Regulations section of the Calendar.
AUMUS 241B - The Augustana Choir
Performance of choral music for mixed choir, including required participation in a performance tour which may follow the winter term. Prerequisite: Consent of the instructor, based on audition. Notes: Not open to a part-time student who has less than one year of the degree program completed. A 3 unit course over the full year. Requires payment of additional student instructional support fees. Refer to the Tuition and Fees page in the University Regulations section of the Calendar.
AUMUS 242 - Choral Ensemble
Performance of choral music. Prerequisite: Consent of Instructor. Notes: a 1 unit course over the fall term. The course does not require participation in a performance tour. Requires payment of additional student instructional support fees. Refer to the Tuition and Fees page in the University Regulations section of the Calendar.
AUMUS 243 - Choral Ensemble
Performance of choral music. Prerequisite: Consent of the instructor. Notes: A 1 unit course over the winter term. The course does not require participation in a performance tour. Requires payment of additional student instructional support fees. Refer to the Tuition and Fees page in the University Regulations section of the Calendar.
AUMUS 340 - Augustana Choir
Performance of choral music for mixed choir, including required participation in a performance tour which may follow the winter term. Prerequisite: Consent of Instructor based on audition. Notes: a 1.5 unit course over the winter term. Requires payment of additional student instructional support fees. Refer to the Tuition and Fees page in the University Regulations section of the Calendar.
AUMUS 341A - The Augustana Choir
Performance of choral music for mixed choir, including required participation in a performance tour which may follow the winter term. Prerequisite: Consent of the instructor, based on audition. Notes: Not open to a part-time student who has less than one year of the degree program completed. A 3 unit course over the full year. Requires payment of additional student instructional support fees. Refer to the Tuition and Fees page in the University Regulations section of the Calendar.
AUMUS 341B - The Augustana Choir
Performance of choral music for mixed choir, including required participation in a performance tour which may follow the winter term. Prerequisite: Consent of the instructor, based on audition. Notes: Not open to a part-time student who has less than one year of the degree program completed. A 3 unit course over the full year. Requires payment of additional student instructional support fees. Refer to the Tuition and Fees page in the University Regulations section of the Calendar.
AUMUS 342 - Choral Ensemble
Performance of choral music. Prerequisite: Consent of Instructor. Notes: a 1 unit course over the fall term. The course does not require participation in a performance tour. Requires payment of additional student instructional support fees. Refer to the Tuition and Fees page in the University Regulations section of the Calendar.
AUMUS 343 - Choral Ensemble
Performance of choral music. Prerequisite: Consent of the instructor. Notes: A 1 unit course over the winter term. The course does not require participation in a performance tour. Requires payment of additional student instructional support fees. Refer to the Tuition and Fees page in the University Regulations section of the Calendar.
AUMUS 440 - Augustana Choir
Performance of choral music for mixed choir, including required participation in a performance tour which may follow the winter term. Prerequisite: Consent of Instructor based on audition. Notes: a 1.5 units course over the winter term. Requires payment of additional student instructional support fees. Refer to the Tuition and Fees page in the University Regulations section of the Calendar.
AUMUS 441A - The Augustana Choir
Performance of choral music for mixed choir, including required participation in a performance tour which may follow the winter term. Prerequisite: Consent of the instructor, based on audition. Notes: Not open to a part-time student who has less than one year of the degree program completed. A 3 unit course over the full year. Requires payment of additional student instructional support fees. Refer to the Tuition and Fees page in the University Regulations section of the Calendar.
AUMUS 441B - The Augustana Choir
Performance of choral music for mixed choir, including required participation in a performance tour which may follow the winter term. Prerequisite: Consent of the instructor, based on audition. Notes: Not open to a part-time student who has less than one year of the degree program completed. A 3 unit course over the full year. Requires payment of additional student instructional support fees. Refer to the Tuition and Fees page in the University Regulations section of the Calendar.
AUMUS 442 - Choral Ensemble
Performance of choral music. Prerequisite: Consent of Instructor. Notes: A 1 unit course over the fall term. The course does not require participation in a performance tour. Requires payment of additional student instructional support fees. Refer to the Tuition and Fees page in the University Regulations section of the Calendar.
AUMUS 443 - Choral Ensemble
Performance of choral music. Prerequisite: Consent of the instructor. Notes: A 1 unit course over the winter term. The course does not require participation in a performance tour. Requires payment of additional student instructional support fees. Refer to the Tuition and Fees page in the University Regulations section of the Calendar.
AUMUS 540 - Augustana Choir
Performance of choral music for mixed choir, including required participation in a performance tour which may follow the winter term. Prerequisite: Consent of instructor based on audition. Notes: a 1.5 unit course over the winter term. Requires payment of additional student instructional support fees. Refer to the Tuition and Fees page in the University Regulations section of the Calendar.
AUMUS 541A - Augustana Choir
Performance of choral music for mixed choir, including required participation in a performance tour which may follow the winter term. Prerequisite: Consent of the instructor, based on audition. Notes: A 3 unit course over the full year. Requires payment of additional student instructional support fees. Refer to the Tuition and Fees page in the University Regulations section of the Calendar.
AUMUS 541B - Augustana Choir
Performance of choral music for mixed choir, including required participation in a performance tour which may follow the winter term. Prerequisite: Consent of the instructor, based on audition. Notes: A 3 unit course over the full year. Requires payment of additional student instructional support fees. Refer to the Tuition and Fees page in the University Regulations section of the Calendar.
AUMUS 542 - Choral Ensemble
Performance of choral music. Prerequisite: Consent of Instructor. Notes: a 1 unit course over the fall term. The course does not require participation in a performance tour. Requires payment of additional student instructional support fees. Refer to the Tuition and Fees page in the University Regulations section of the Calendar.
AUMUS 543 - Choral Ensemble
Performance of choral music. Prerequisite: Consent of the instructor. Notes: A 1 unit course over the winter term. The course does not require participation in a performance tour. Requires payment of additional student instructional support fees. Refer to the Tuition and Fees page in the University Regulations section of the Calendar.