Janina Macalalad
Give a brief bio about yourself/your background/your history.
I grew up in Winnipeg after my family immigrated to Canada from the Philippines when I was six years old. My parents decided to move to Canada with the hopes of giving my older brother and I a better future through the opportunities that would become available to us in Canada. Through their sacrifice, I was fortunate enough to attend schools that valued and appreciated music, further nurturing the natural curiosity I had for it. I first learned to play guitar through watching YouTube videos, which then led me to joining band in middle school. From there, I picked up the alto saxophone and eventually bass, which would become my primary instrument.
Aside from music, I have always been interested in creating through technology. Whether it be editing videos, audio, or simply exploring different creative programs, I find it enjoyable and a great challenge to learn the many processes of creating various digital media.
What education have you taken?
I graduated from Sisler High School in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 2018 and I am currently in my 4th year of the 5-Year Concurrent B. Mus./B. Ed. Degree at the School of Music.
How did you become interested in your field/area of study?
I have always loved playing, listening to, and learning about music for as long as I can remember. Growing up, however, I was also very interested in the sciences and was encouraged by adults around me to pursue studies in the science field. Despite my interest and adoration for music, I had not considered pursuing it until my senior year of high school when I had a deep realization of how impactful the experiences I had with music were to me, particularly my musical experiences through the band classrooms I was fortunate to be a part of. Upon becoming a student at the BU School of Music, I also realized how integral music education was to my musical experiences. Had it not been for the encouragement and support of my previous band teachers (my middle school band teacher Alain Guilmette and my high school band teacher Alexis Silver), I would not have been able to explore my passion for music to grow as much as I did as a musician and as an individual. After experiencing a few opportunities to teach music myself, I quickly became inspired to foster music-making in others as my previous band teachers did with me.
What accomplishments are you most proud of?
One of my proudest accomplishments is pursuing music at the BU School of Music. My decision to pursue music was not an easy and simple decision at first. Due to certain expectations that were put on me, I felt that I would be disappointing those around me who had other prospects for me. Now as I am 4 years into my degree, I can confidently say that I am proud in myself to have followed the path I felt most right for me.
Where do you see yourself in the future? What do you hope to undertake or accomplish once you leave BU?
Once I graduate from BU, I see myself being in a band classroom sharing, creating, and making music with students who share the same passion and love as I do for music. I also hope to inspire them beyond music-making and towards being good people, as I work towards modelling this myself.
What is your philosophy in life?
My philosophy in life is to always keep an open mind and an open heart.
In one sentence, how will you #EmbraceEquity?
I will #EmbraceEquity by lifting up the women in my life through my words and through my actions.
First Nominator’s Comments:
Members of the 2022-2023 Brandon University Student Music Educators Association (BUSMEA) council are five intelligent, industrious, and engaged women who are committed to music education and who demonstrate leadership in the field. BUSMEA is a student-run association that organizes, plans, and fundraises for clinics and professional development opportunities, including Da Capo, an annual one-day conference held in the School of Music with professional development opportunities for pre-service and current music educators. Attendees at this year’s highly successful in-person conference came from Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and South Dakota.
This exceptional group of women have addressed the unique challenges faced by music educators in a post-pandemic world, all while navigating their own education that was interrupted by the pandemic. It is rare at such an early stage in a young person’s education to see them balance their diverse responsibilities. Yet these women already realize the crucial role their contributions will make in the rebirth of music education, and they recognize the value of working with their peers and future colleagues in their ongoing education to continue adapting to a post-pandemic world. Their commitment to leadership within the School of Music has provided opportunities to share their experiences and educational resources with their peers, fostered avenues of collaboration among their peers and with future colleagues, and created meaningful professional engagement opportunities to prepare students for careers in music education.
Second Nominator’s Comments:
While I realize that it is customary to nominate outstanding women as individuals, I feel that it is necessary to nominate this stellar team as one unit. They work together to advance their pre-professional community while excelling as individual students on campus at Brandon University.
Responsible for organizing professional development opportunities for BUSMEA members, Abby, Faith, Leeanne, Kendra, and Janina serve Brandon University, the School of Music, and the Music Education Community with unique and thoughtful initiatives. Following on the successful programs of past BUSMEA Councils, they are successfully negotiating change following the challenges of the 2020-2022 academic years. They are working to reunite a professional community and reinvigorate a discipline and a community of learners that has experienced unique obstacles because of shutdowns and strict guidelines.
Other significant issues are also at the forefront of Council discussions. They have sought to contribute meaningfully to BUSMEA programming through discussions of accessibility, equity, and social justice in music. Despite these students’ diverse interests, backgrounds, and goals, they collaborate to advance the development and engagement of their colleagues in music and education. The 2022-2023 BUSMEA Council is a model of strength through cooperation.