Convocation 2013: five creative leaders to watch

The joy of song, the perfect word at the right time. Art can be life-changing and for five University of Toronto students graduating this Convocation season, it has been a way to connect with the world.

As Ailie Fraser, Emma Cancelliere, Emily Kruspe, Jesse Morrison and Moshiur Rahman prepare themselves for their debut on the global stage.

Emily Kruspe and Jesse Morrison

Musicians Emily Kruspe and Jesse Morrison are graduating U of T’s Bachelor of Music (Performance) program with their instruments as their tools of trade.

Kruspe (violin) and Morrison (viola) are members of the The Arkadas Quartet, a chamber music ensemble with two other U of T students. The quartet, which won the Felix Galimir Award, recently played at the Canadian Opera Company. The two have also attended the Banff summer chamber music festival.

"My experience at U of T shaped how I think and feel my music, and it helped me become more convincing with sharing my musical ideas to an audience," says Morrison, who will be attending the Glenn Gould School of Music. “I received coaching and master classes with great musicians internationally, and performed in many concerts.”

Kruspe, who won the Orford String Quartet Scholarship, the U of T Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition and many other awards, plans on teaching young artists, and joining a professional orchestra or small chamber ensemble.

Kruspe agrees with Morrison about the opportunities provided by U of T. “I’ve grown a lot, overcome a lot of nerves and insecurities through bonding with other musicians, and the professors are amazing.”

Ailie Fraser

Go to where art meets science and you’ll find Ailie Fraser standing there with a microphone.

“Music and math have a lot in common,” says Fraser, who is graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree, specializing in math and its applications in computer science with a music major.

“Both subjects are very logical in their own ways, and yet each has a huge range of creative freedom.”

Fraser spent her time at U of T exploring that creativity. An alto singer with Onoscatopoeia, the Hart House Jazz Choir, Fraser was also a member of TBA - Tunes Beats Awesome, a campus a cappella choir that made it to the semifinals of the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella competition in Michigan.

She worked to make life easier for new students by sitting on a committee to improve first-year Math and Science courses and working with FAStanswers. FAStanswers is an online Arts & Science service that provides first-year students with quick and reliable information about campus.

Fraser is planning to take a year to work and travel before applying to graduate schools in computer science.

Emma Cancelliere

For a primatologist committed to social responsibility (and with a sense of humour), “To gibbon is better than to receive.”

For Emma Cancelliere (pictured left), graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Anthrology, this sums up her philosophy on life. As a student, she conducted primate fieldwork in Uganda, about which the Jane Goodall Institute asked her to lecture. She also worked in the Royal Ontario Museum’s paleo lab, a “childhood dream come true.”

Cancelliere is a student researcher and blogger for the Jane Goodall Institute Canada, where she writes about sustainability, ethical consumerism and primate conservation.

She's also a children’s author. Her first book, Liam’s Letters, is about how fair trade affects the lives of children around the world.

Cancelliere will soon begin a PhD program at the New York Consortium of Evolutionary Primatology with field research in Uganda. Her work will focus on the intersection of primate behaviour and nutritional ecology.

“The research opportunities I've had through U of T prepared me to dive right in to graduate work,” she says. “I think U of T's emphasis on research also taught me how to apply my theoretical knowledge to 'real life'; beyond academia and into areas like international development, primate conservation, and public education.”

Moshiur Rahman
As he leaves the University of Toronto Scarborough’s Arts Management (co-op) program this June, Moshiur Rahman is happy to bring his training to the arts community in Toronto.

“I’m looking forward to helping small to mid-sized arts organizations develop new-media strategies to enhance their outreach and marketing efforts, while considering Toronto’s vibrant cultural diversity,” he says.

Rahman’s U of T degree provided plenty of opportunities to help him reach his goal. He was project manager for the inaugural issue of Transcend, an e-magazine to showcase UTSC’s artistic community. He was also the studio director for ARTSIDEOUT, UTSC’s largest multi-disciplinary arts festival.

As well as his work with arts management, Rahman hones his own art. His poetry was featured in the U of T Magazine and he hopes one day to be a published poet.

“My time at U of T allowed me to hone online marketing and communications skills that are integral in today’s technological environment,” he says. “I have been able to critically study the realm of social media communications – and how it can be effectively used to outreach and market arts and cultural initiatives within Toronto’s multicultural environment.”