Sacred Choral Music Summer Program

Maestro Uwe Lieflander,
Fine Arts Instructor

Maestro Uwe Lieflander has had over 3 decades of experience in musical performance and pedagogy as an instrumentalist and choral conductor. Uwe is particularly drawn to the art of sacred music and has dedicated most of his life to refining this artistry. In his post-secondary years, he studied at Regensburg Akademie für Kirchenmusik (Academy for Church Music) and at the Royal Conservatory of Music, University of Toronto, in the Orchestral Training Program. He was particularly drawn to the study of organ music, singing, composition, and choral conducting.

Not only was Uwe inspired by complex and challenging orchestral and choral arrangements, but he was also drawn by the simple beauty of gregorian chant. Currently the head of the music department at Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Academy, Uwe particulary enjoys teaching youth. He has developed a child's program for learning sacred and traditional music called the Sparrows Method. He is Music Director of the Sacred Music Society, a world-renowned performing arts and educational society specializing in choral programs for adults and children. An important component of his work involves a training program for the formation of future Sacred Music Society instructors. Uwe has composed numerous motets and has put music to psalms in the interest of making liturgical music more beautiful and engaging.

Sean Collins,
Liberal Arts Instructor

Originally from Edmonton, Alberta, Sean travelled to the USA to study liberal arts at Thomas Aquinas College, California, receiving his Bachelor of Arts in 1979. He continued his education at Laval University in Quebec where he obtained his M.A. and Ph.D. in philosophy. Sean was a fellow with the Foundation de l’Université Laval from 1982–1984 and a teaching assistant in Philosophy at Laval University from 1985–1987. He became a tutor at St. John's College (Santa Fe) and taught in the St. John's College Graduate Institute. In 1994, after 7 years in Santa Fe, Sean returned to his alma mater to become a tutor at Thomas Aquinas College, a post he holds at present. In addition to his positive contributions to TAC campus life, Sean regularly produces articles that reflect his diverse background and interests. Sean and his wife, Cathy, reside near Ojai, California, with their eight children. His special loves are family, faith, music (especially playing classical guitar), science and philosophy.

Alexander McCune,
Program Assistant

Alexander McCune has spent his life immersed in music. He has played the piano since childhood, enjoying classical, jazz and many other styles, and in recent years has extended his interest to the pipe organ. Choral singing began at age six, and after over a decade of choral training and performance, Alexander toured Germany and Wales with the award-winning Edmonton Youth Choir under the direction of Dr. John Wiebe. In Ontario, Alexander studied choral and orchestral conducting with Maestro Uwe Lieflander and accompanied and sang with the Ontario Sacred Music Society.

In 2010, Alexander became the assistant director of Maestro Lieflander's Sparrows Choir School, which taught over 2,500 children in the Ottawa Catholic School system. Returning to Edmonton in 2011, Alex was selected as Apprentice Conductor for the Alberta Youth Honour Choir. He is involved in five separate choirs among other musical endeavours in Edmonton, and is thrilled to be spreading the remarkable Sparrows Method of music education, a unique system created by Lieflander especially for Catholic churches and schools.