Providence is excited to announce that Pierre Desorcy, a 3rd year music composition student, has won the Manitoba Composition Competition for his work 40 Days and Nights. The competition, which is open to composers from throughout Manitoba, is part of the annual Provincial Music and Arts Festival organized by Associated Manitoba Arts Festival, held this year on May 25-26, 2019.
40 Days and Nights is written for narrator, violin and piano. Desorcy, wanting to incorporate Scripture with music, wrote the piece using one of Olivier Messiaen’s modes of limited transposition. The winning composition was chosen based on artistic merit, suitability for festival performance and pedagogical principles.
“It’s wonderful to have our students recognized in such a forum for the hard work that they do,” says David Sawatzky, Associate Professor of Music. “And it speaks to the value of our music program.”
About the theme, Desorcy explains, “I chose one of the recurring themes in Scripture, forty days and forty nights. For example, after Noah boarded the ark with his family, it rained forty days and nights on the earth. Also, forty days and nights is the time Moses spent on Mount Sinai receiving the law from God. This theme often represents a time of trial, where God’s people need to wait and depend on him, to ultimately reach the final goal, which is the kingdom of God.”
Providence is thrilled to see students integrating faith and learning with academic excellence. Growing in knowledge and character for leadership and service, our students are becoming difference-makers for Christ!
About Providence:
Providence is an accredited, interdenominational, multi-cultural, Christian institution that offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in Arts, Biblical Studies, Business, Professional Studies and Science. A learning community that transforms students into difference-makers, Providence teaches people to grow in knowledge and character for leadership and service.
