Celebrating Years of Service Milestones
This week – March 8-12, 2021 – we are recognizing members of the CUE community who have shown kindness, empathy, and resiliency over the past year. We are also celebrating milestones and our retirees who have given their time and energy to our community, and impacted the lives of countless students and employees.
20 Years
Joy Berg
Department of Fine Arts
For 20 years, Dr. Joy Beg has enriched the CUE community with her wisdom, compassion, and passion for fine arts. During her time at CUE, Joy has conducted the Concordia Concert Choir and Community Chorus, and she was the founding director of Bella Voce Women’s Choir. As a professor, she has made outstanding contributions teaching CUE’s church music history courses, and, for many years, she was the cantor for daily chapel services. A fixture in the music community, Joy was an organizer and conductor in the Sacred Music Festival and she was instrumental in creating the Women’s Choral Festival at the annual Skirts A Fire Festival in the Alberta Avenue community. Joy has fostered a love of choral singing in her students, and she was the 2014 recipient of the “Companion of the Worship Arts” (CWA) for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada. She holds a Doctorate of Music degree in Choral Conducting as well as a Doctorate of Worship Arts. As a longtime church musician, she has focused her research in hymnody, liturgy, Canadian hymn-writers, and worship planning and is actively involved in national and synodical church events. She will be retiring this summer. Thank you, Joy!
Joy is undoubtedly a “people person” with the power of empathy to bond with others. She has that special way with students that builds community and closeness. Her contributions to the School of Music reach far beyond our thankful words. Dear friend, I wish you will enjoy your retirement to the fullest. I will miss your contagious laughter echoing through the hallways and your larger-than-life smile greeting everyone around you.
– Danielle Lisboa, Associate Professor of Music
I have been privileged to have Joy Berg as my colleague for the past twenty years and as my friend for several years before that. Dr. Berg has contributed immensely to Concordia’s music programs through her exceptional work with the Concordia Concert Choir and numerous other choral groups. She is an example to all of us for the selfless manner in which she has shared her musical gifts with her colleagues, her students, her church, and the wider community. I wish her a long and very fulfilling retirement.
– Neil Querengesser, Professor of English
I still remember the first time I met Joy. It was the summer just before I started at CUE, and as a mature student, stepping back in was a bit daunting. Right off the bat, her sense of style was so fun and her personality drew me right in. She made sure to introduce me to all the arts faculty that were available, and just was genuinely happy to meet me. I’m honoured that I have been able to work with Joy, and learn from her, and I am certain our paths will cross again.
– Annie Randal, Student and Member of Concert Choir
Congratulations Joy!
Thank you for your dedication to our students and CUE community.
