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The music school at Canadian Mennonite University marked a significant milestone last week as it presented the 20th edition of the Verna Mae Janzen Music Competition.
The competition was founded in 2006 by Peter Janzen in memory of his wife Verna Mae, who was deeply embedded in the Mennonite music community before her death in 1989.
"This competition is a small way that my mom and dad could give back to CMU and Winnipeg," said Peter and Verna Mae’s child CJ Janzen in a statement. “Throughout her 13-year battle with cancer, music was her balm, her joy, and comfort."
The competition is an annual highlight for students in CMU’s music community, including this year’s winner, soprano Julia Norris.
“It felt totally surreal,” she said reflecting on the moment she was announced the winner last week. “I was just so honoured to be in the competition, so it just felt, like, totally surreal.”
A third-year psychology student from Winnipeg, Norris first started studying voice as a way to improve her singing to lead worship better in her church community. As Norris got more into her studies, Norris found herself diving more and more into the world of classical voice. Her winning program featured a wide range of music by Johannes Brahms, Enrique Granados, Stephen Sondheim, and Canadian composer Jeff Smallman.
Despite the competitive atmosphere, Norris was eager to point out how supportive the school’s music community can be in this time. “Everybody is just supporting each other and, like, loving on each other,” she smiles. “Everybody who is competing in the competition... they all really just kind of came together and it was just a really lovely thing to be a part of.”
Norris notes that her psychology studies plays a huge part in her artistry. “This is a little bit nerdy,” she laughs, citing the polyvagal theory of emotion as a key part of her performance practice. “When you take three deep breaths, you’re activating your vagus nerve, which brings you into a ventral vagal. And that’s basically like when you’re very happy, you feel calm and relaxed. So I’m just always thinking like, ‘OK, ventral vagal’... just practicing my breathing.”
Norris says that she hopes to split both of her fields of study into a career once she’s completed her post-secondary education. “I feel like my dream job would be to worship lead [or] pastor at a church, and then half [time]... be a psychologist. There’s so many options, but I always want music to be a big part of my life.”
