Local News
Winnipeg-born musician Rosalyn Dennett comes full circle
By MYRON LOVE After 15 years away, the stars have aligned and Winnipeg-born folk musician Rosalyn Dennett has come home again.
It would seem that the daughter of Susan Israel and Alistair Dennett was always fated to be a musician – specifically, a folk musician. Both of her parents are folk musicians and her brother, Isaac, although an engineer by profession, founded the local funk/soul/R&B band “The Solutions.”
Even as a youngster attending the Hebrew Bilingual program at Centennial School, Rosalyn Dennett stood out for her musical talent. She was often asked to perform at school functions. She recalls that while she did take Suzuki lessons early on and studied jazz at the University of Manitoba’s School of Music, she was always drawn to folk music.
In her mid-20s, Dennett became a member of the Winnipeg-based string band “Oh My Darling” – a foursome that combined Appalachian, old time, bluegrass, country, funk and Franco-folk music. Since then it has been quite a ride for Dennett. Over a period of 10 years, she reports, the band produced three critically-acclaimed albums – featuring all original numbers – that were nominated for Western Canadian music awards in the Roots category. The foursome was featured regularly on CBC and university radio stations.
“We did several cross-Canada and European tours,” Dennett recalls. “We were on stage in England, Ireland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Czech Republic and more. It was a great way to see the world.”
But times have changed, she notes. Few people buy CDs anymore. With most people getting their music via streaming now, it is more difficult for musicians to earn a living.
Dennett moved to Toronto fifteen years ago and, while she continued to perform on stage – on a free freelance basis – with different bands, she began her transition to the administrative side of the music business. Her first job was Membership Co-ordinator for the Canadian Independent Music Association (CIMA) and MusicOntario. She then went on to roles as data manager for Music Canada and the Canadian Live music Association and then, five years working for the Canadian Federation of Musicians (Musician union).
At the same time, she was elected as a board member of both Folk Music Ontario and Folk Alliance International. The latter is an international arts nonprofit and National Arts Service Organization based in Kansas City – founded in 1989 – and composed of artists, managers, agents, DJs, festivals, record labels and other that seeks to keep the tradition of folk music thriving through preservation, presentation, and promotion.
Folk Music Ontario (at the time Dennett joined the board) was Canada’s largest provincial organization devoted to the folk, roots, and traditional music community. Incorporated in 1987, its mission was to “support the growth and development of the folk music community and industry across Ontario and Canada through the annual Folk Music Ontario Conference, Developing Artist Program, Festivals’ Retreat, Export Development Program, Peer Sessions, Ontario Folk Music Awards, Folk in Film Festival, Year-round Professional Development Seminars and more”.
In 2018, Dennett was appointed as Folk Music Ontario’s interim executive director. She subsequently applied to fill the position full time and was hired the next year. The organization, she reports, was responsible for anything to do with Ontario’s folk music scene.
At the same time that Dennett became the Folk Music Ontario’s executive director, the organization was in merger negotiations with Folk Music Canada, a national music export association. The merger was delayed, she notes, by the Covid lockdowns in 2020, but came to fruition within the next couple of years – with Dennett as executive director of the now national body, Folk Canada.
Folk Canada, she points out, “is now one of the largest music-based organizations in Canada. The membership includes artists as well as folk festivals, organizations, companies and presenters from across the country.
Although Dennett says that she loved living in Toronto and developed a strong community there, the merger of Folk Music Ontario with Folk Music Canada presented an opportunity for Dennett and her family – her husband, including fellow musician Rob MacLaren – and children, ages 6. and 4 – to come home to Winnipeg .
The family moved back to Winnipeg about a year ago. “Most of my family is here,” she says.
While Folk Canada’s head office is in Ottawa, she notes, there are advantages for her to be leading the national organization from the more centrally-located Winnipeg.
“I still do quite a bit of traveling,” Dennett notes. “I try to get to all the folk festivals I can across the country. And while we conduct national meetings via Zoom, I still have to go to Ottawa from time to time. Thankfully, between Rob and myself, our schedules are flexible so that one of us can always be home with the children.”
She reports that coming up for her is Folk Canada’s annual conference scheduled this year for October 15-19 in Ottawa.
“I love being back in Winnipeg,” she observes.. “It has been great reconnecting with family and friends and being able to participate again in our city’s vibrant folk music scene.”
For more information on Folk Canada, visit www.folkcanada.com.
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Local News
First year medical student Tim Rozovsky founds new association for local Jewish medical students
By MYRON LOVE In the face of a concerning surge in antisemitism over the past nearly three years, I am happy to report a good news story in that regard. Tim Rozovsky, the founder of the new Jewish Medical Students’ Association of Manitoba, reports that he and his fellow Jewish students enrolled in the University of Manitoba’s Max Rady College of Medicine are not experiencing any significant issues involving antisemitism.
Hopefully, the matter of the notorious Med school Valedictorian who used his podium to attack Israel was a one-off.
“My goal in forming the Jewish Medical Students’ Association of Manitoba,” says the first year medical student, “was to create a safe, supportive environment for my fellow Jewish medical students.”
He reports that the current first year class at the school has eight Jewish students – an increase over more recent years – with maybe a dozen more in the other years.
For a new medical student, Rozovsky already has an impressive resume. He was born in Russia and grew up in Israel. After the completion of his army service in 2018, the then-22-year-old rejoined his parents, Dr. Katya and Alexander, who had moved to Winnipeg a few years before.
Prior to coming to Winnipeg, Rozovsky had completed a personal trainer program out of The Academic College at Wingate in Jerusalem. Some readers may know the young man from his work as a Master Personal Trainer at the Rady JCC.
Shortly after arriving here, he enrolled in a kinesiology program at the University of Winnipeg. He graduated with a BKin Honours in 2023 and did post graduate work at the University of Manitoba. Last fall, he received his MSc in Physiology and Pathophysiology – earning two gold medals, along with 32 awards and scholarships in the process.
Rozovsky says that it was his mother who inspired him to pursue a career in medicine. Dr. Katya Rozovsky is an associate professor at the University of Manitoba and an attending radiologist, specializing in pediatric diagnostic imaging.
(Tim also adds that his wife, Irina Gelzin, whom he married about a year ago, is training to be a nurse.)
Insofar as the Jewish Medical Students’ Association of Manitoba is concerned, Rozovky reports that the group gets together multiple times a year. One of its programs was a joint Chanukah celebration with the Jewish Physicians Association of Manitoba.
There was also a joint program with the Christian Medical and Dental Students’ Association of Manitoba.
“More recently, we have been helping prospective Jewish medical students with their applications,” he says. “Hopefully we will be able to get together over the summer with the incoming Jewish students.”
As to his own future plans, Rozovsky notes that it is too early for him to be deciding on a specialty. “My goal,” he says, “is to work hard and get good grades and become the best doctor that I can be.”
Local News
Gray Academy to Represent Manitoba at National Reach for the Top Competition
By NOAH STRAUSS Posted June 6) Gray Academy’s Reach for the Top team is headed to Moncton, New Brunswick, to represent Manitoba at the National Reach for the Top tournament.
Reach for the Top is a Canadian school league that quizzes teenagers on a variety of different topics, from science and history to pop culture. Reach started out in 1961 in Vancouver, where a local CBC station broadcasted the new show; it eventually became a national broadcast starting in 1966. Alex Trebek, who famously hosted Jeopardy!, started out by hosting Reach for the Top.
Gray Academy’s very own team, made up of Grade 7 and 8 students, will travel to Moncton, New Brunswick, to compete as Team Manitoba. By winning the provincial Reach tournament, they secured their spot in the national competition.
Faculty members at Gray Academy are very supportive of the program. The Jewish Post spoke with three different staff members at the school. Coach and high school teacher Danielle Miller says she is excited for the trip; although she will not be accompanying the team herself, shehas coached them all year.
“This year we had over 20 students come to the club to join us, they practice twice a cycle at lunch,” Miller said. Due to the large turnout this year, two teams had to be formed. At lunch practices, students split into two teams of four where each player has a buzzer. The two teams compete to see who can answer the most questions correctly.
One of the two teams did exceptionally well at various tournaments throughout the year and will be traveling to nationals as the sole team representing Manitoba.
Co-coach Micah Doerksen described Reach as a great academic competition where young minds are tested on various topics through quick,fast-paced questions.
High school guidance counselor Lindsey Leipsic said, “We have athletes, non-athletes, we have students who are really involved and students who are not as involved at school, and we have quiet leaders, and we’ve seen friendships be built in Reach.” Some of her favorite memories of Reach involve seeing students from across Winnipeg come to Gray Academy and bond with one another. Lev Chisick, who is competing at nationals, agreed, saying, “Moncton is going to strengthen our school spirit and make us a better team.”
As the junior team makes their way to Moncton, the senior team will head to provincials. Later this week, students from the senior team will travel to Virden, Manitoba, to compete at the provincial level. The team qualified after placing high enough at their most recent tournament, which took place at St. Paul’s.
Confidence is high as the school heads into these final tournaments. When Nath Goldenberg, who is also competing at nationals, was asked what he is most looking forward to, his answer was short and sweet:“Winning.”
