The Laurier Academy of Music and Arts offers intergenerational programs in group settings for adults 18+ designed to foster community engagement and support skill building. Specific goals for our adult programming include promoting social interaction, emotional wellbeing and enhancing quality of life.

Jukebox Hits!

*FULL*

Led by the fabulous Mary-Catherine Pazzano, Jukebox Hits is an opportunity for 18+ to sing in a choral setting while also exploring a bunch of musical genres: pop, jazz, soul, Motown, and Musical Theatre! Learn how to apply and adapt your singing voice in different styles and grooves, while also improving your sense of pitch with singing vocal harmonies. You'll also get to sing with a small band! Finally, we'll explore how to have stage presence as a group, and how feeling the music in your body can help bring the music alive!

• Location: 190 Lester Street, Waterloo
• Dates: Sept. 13 - Nov. 29
• Time: Wednesdays from 7 - 9 p.m.
• Cost: $150
• Ages: 18+

Laurier Concert Choir 

The Laurier Concert Choir is opening enrollment to the community!

Join the Laurier Concert Choir for a unique and exciting choral experience! Sing with university-trained Laurier voice students in the newly-renovated Savvas Chamberlain Building at Wilfrid Laurier University.

A vocal interview is required. Choristers should be able to match pitch and read music capably. Prior choral singing is an asset, but not required.

Rehearsals are Wednesday evenings from 6:30-9:30 p.m. in room 431 of the Savvas Chamberlain Building – 75 University Ave. W, Waterloo.

• Location: 75 University Ave. West 
• Start date: Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023
• Rehearsal times: Wednesdays from 6:30 - 9:30 p.m.
• Performance dates:
  • Sat. Nov. 18, 2023 -  3 p.m.
  • Wed. April 3, 2024 - 7:30 p.m.
• Cost: $250 per term (Sept. - Nov.) or $325 for the full year (Sept. - April)
• Ages: 16+

Register

Adult Improv Ensemble

There is an art to "making it up as you go". This ensemble will introduce participants to the art of improvisation using the Blues and Jazz as the framework to explore improvisation techniques. The knowledge gained is applicable to any style of music. All instrumentalists and vocalists are welcome! A working knowledge of your instrument is required. Led by Dave O'Neill. 

A PA, piano, vibraphone, drum set and hand percussion will be provided. All other instruments will need to be supplied by the student, including amplifiers.

Session One:

• Location: 190 Lester Street, Waterloo
• Dates: Sept. 11 to Dec. 4, 2023 (12 weeks) *No session Oct. 9
• Time: 7 - 8:30 p.m.
• Cost: $350
• Ages: 15+

Register

Session Two:

• Location: 190 Lester Street, Waterloo
• Dates: Jan. 8 to April 8, 2024 (12 weeks) *No session Feb. 19, April 1
• Time: 7 - 8:30 p.m.
• Cost: $350

*Registration opens in Fall 2023

Session Three:

• Location: 190 Lester Street, Waterloo
• Dates: April 15 to June 24, 2024 (10 weeks) *No session May 20
• Time: 7 - 8:30 p.m.
• Cost: $300

*Registration opens in Winter 2024

A Community Consort

Daniel Cabena and LAMA cordially invite you to participate in our Community Consort. We’re a small group of players & singers who explore early music & historically inspired music-making. Thus far, our Community Consort has included violas da gamba, baroque violins, recorders, voices, lute, sackbuts, harpsichord, organ, and a shawm! So, whatever you may play or sing, do come along!

In the winter of 2023, our Community Consort will be exploring early music through the lens of English literature, and we’ll be commemorating the deaths (in 1623) of William Byrd, Thomas Weelkes & William Shakespeare. Our explorations will culminate in a merry musical masque, which we will devise & perform together.

Possible special events: continuo workshop & text workshop; details to be confirmed.

• Location: 190 Lester Street, Waterloo
• Dates: TBD
• Time: Tuesdays at 6:30 - 8 p.m.
• Cost: $180 (sliding scale fee structure available; contact LAMA@wlu.ca) 
• Ages: 16+

Contact the school directly to register. 

Fiddle Jams

Led by Shane Guse, join us for a monthly fiddle jam! This is a drop-in event. This is a fun and supportive group setting where you play when you can, listen when you can't, and make sure to take note of new tunes you hear and want to explore. This is open to players of all ages and levels. If you have never played fiddle before, this is a great opportunity to try it out. The goal is to have fun, build confidence and repertoire, and hopefully introduce fiddling to those who have never had the opportunity to try it. 

• Location: 190 Lester Street, Waterloo
• Dates: TBD
• Time: 7:15 - 8:15 p.m.
• Cost: $5 for non-BSL students; free for BSL students
• Ages: All (should have minimum basic proficiency on your instrument)