Special Projects

The Conservatory is committed to building a strong and engaged arts community. Our Special Projects provide opportunity for the Conservatory to be a catalyst for inspired practices and unique performing arts opportunities. We hope through building connections between artists in our community with learners and arts educators, we can strengthen and empower our arts community.

Intercultural String Exchange Project

The University of Regina Conservatory of Performing Arts is proud to present the Intercultural String Exchange, a multicultural string music project.

Led by Karley Parovsky (violin) in partnership with the Conservatory, this project sought to bring together string players in Regina to learn new repertoire from a variety of Guest Artists across Canada. Each Guest Artists brought with them expertise in a different cultural style of string playing. Guest artists included Tristen Durocher, Wanes Moubayed, and Elizabeth J. Rodríguez.

As part of the grant, we received funding to put on six performances with a Regina-based String Quartet. Our players include Heng-Han Hou (violin), Joel MacDonald (cello), Karley Parovsky (violin/viola), and Yeganeh Sotudehnia (violin/viola).

The six performances will happen in public libraries and schools with a finale at Darke Hall in June 2023.

The performances in libraries and schools are a shortened 50-min program with the Darke Hall show being an extended 90-min program. All shows include musical selections curated by our Guest Artists and played live by our String Quartet. Performances also include special multimedia contributions from our Guest Artists.

With the exception of the Darke Hall performance, all library and school performances are able to be offered for free thanks to our grant funding from both SK Arts and the Saskatchewan Orchestral Association.

Tickets for the final concert open to the general public are available on the Darke Hall Website.

Learn more about the project and our String Quartet players and Guest Artists: Intercultural String Exchange Project Information Booklet.

Out of the Darke Project

Operating since January 1929, Darke Hall is a performing arts venue that is a jewel on the prairies located at the University of Regina College Avenue Campus.

In celebration of the building renewal and reopening in 2022, the University of Regina Conservatory of Performing Arts created a literary and multimedia project called Out of the Darke to share untold oral stories and unwritten histories of this historic performing arts venue. The audio series was created and hosted by Paul Dechene in partnership with the Conservatory.

The final audio series aired on 91.3FM CJTR Regina Community Radio. The first broadcast of each episode was on Wednesdays from 9-10am CST with a rebroadcast on Sundays from 8-9pm CST. Episodes aired from April 20 - June 12, 2022. Video versions (with archival images of Darke Hall) are posted on the Conservatory of Performing Arts YouTube Channel.

A free digital publication about the project can be downloaded here: Out of the Darke Project Booklet.

We want to thank the Regina Symphony Orchestra, 91.3FM CJTR Regina Community Radio, and the University of Regina Archives & Special Collections for their help and support with this project.

Thanks to all of the participants for the stories you shared, the words you wrote, the music you played, and the memories you recounted.

Watch & Listen to the Episodes on YouTube: The Out of the Darke Project YouTube Playlist

The Music & Dance Project

In this unique interdisciplinary program, student musicians, music educators, and dancers worked together with dancer and choreographer Karen Rose to interpret her work through music. These projects culminated in two performances.

Winter 2019

Musicians and dancers rehearsed in studio under the direction of Karen Rose to prepare a second installment of the Music & Dance Project. Musicians included Valerie Hall (soprano), Allison Luff (piano), Joel MacDonald (cello), and Think Fast (with members from the University of Regina New Music Ensemble: Daniella Ceron, Trevor Flemings, and Jasmine Tsui). Dancers included Pamela Arter, Melinda Irvine, Carleigh Macdonald, Larissa Shasko, Paula Skotnitsky, and David Coulombe. They presented a show on Sat, Mar 30, 2019 to a sold out audience at the Artesian on 13th.

Fall 2017

The first Music & Dance Project took place from August - November 2017. Find more information about this project by looking through our Music & Dance Project Information Sheet 2017 and the Performance Program 2017. Program support provided by the Artesian and the Faculty of Education.

Funders & Contact

For more information or questions about these above projects, please contact Erika Folnović, Program Coordinator. These projects are made possible through the financial support of the Saskatchewan Orchestral Association (Intercultural String Exchange only) and SK Arts (all projects), made possible through funding provided by the Government of Saskatchewan, and the financial support of SaskCulture Inc., made possible through funding provided by the Saskatchewan Lotteries Trust Fund for Sport, Culture and Recreation.