Dr. Benita Wolters-Fredlund
Dean for the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (HASS)
Education
- BCS, Music and Philosophy, Redeemer University College, 1996
- MA, Musicology, University of British Columbia, 1999
- PhD, Musicology, University of Toronto, 2005
Research
Articles and Book Chapters
- “The Ducks are Hazards in the Classroom: Learning to Listen with Perception and Grace,” in Practically Human: College Professors Speak from the Heart of Humanities Education, ed. Gary Schmidt and Matthew Walhout (Grand Rapids: Calvin Press, 2012).
- “A ‘League Against Willan?’ The Early Years of the Canadian League of Composers, 1951-1960,” Journal of the Society for American Music 5/4 (November 2011): 445-480.
- “Experiencing Beauty in the Music of the Holocaust,” The Cresset: A review of literature, the arts and public affairs 72/4 (Spring 2009): 21-31.
- “‘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.
Presentations
- “The ‘Western-World Premiere’ of Shostakovich’s Song of the Forests by the Toronto Jewish Folk Choir (1951),” Red Strains: Music and Communism outside the Communist Bloc (London, UK), January 2011.
- “Hearing Torture and Control: The Music of Concentration Camps and Beyond,” Faculty Lectureship Award, Calvin College, November 2010.
- “Playing the Part: Dehumanizing Music in Concentration Camps,” in panel session “Music in Jewish Life During and After the Third Reich,” Annual Meeting of the American Musicological Society (Philadelphia), November 2009.
- “A ‘League Against Willan’ versus a League for All: Constructing an Identity for the Canadian League of Composers,” Annual meeting of the Society for American Music (Denver), March 2009.
- “Beauty and Suffering in the Music of the Holocaust,” Plenary speaker for Lily Fellows Network Conference, Seattle Pacific University, October 2008.
- “Celebrating Jewish Resistance: Max Helfman’s post-Holocaust Cantata Di Naye Hagode,” Annual meeting of the Canadian University Music Society (Vancouver), June 2008.
- “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.
Performances & Exhibitions
Selected Performances
- Grace Episcopal Church (Grand Rapids, MI), soprano section leader (2009-present)
- Calvin Oratorio Society, assistant director (2006-2008)