Media

OTTAWA, December 16, 2010  —  The University of Ottawa, in collaboration with CHUO 89.1 FM, its bilingual campus community radio station, is proud to announce a partnership with Astral to encourage uOttawa students to participate in extracurricular activities, as part of Astral’s Beyond the Classroom initiatives.

Starting this January, students in the Department of Communication will put their radio journalism skills to the test through the Astral Radio Journalism Challenge. Students will compete to prove they can produce the best morning show-style radio segment. The top three participants (or teams) will each receive a prize, including a $6,000 award for the winning show. In addition, all finalists will be able to benefit from the wisdom and expertise of the CHUO 89.1 FM team, which will offer various hands-on mentoring sessions in preparation for the production of the segments.

As well, thanks to the Astral Artist Mentorship Program, master classes continue to be given in the School of Music! This program will allow musicians at the University of Ottawa to learn from high profile performing artists, who will take part in short-term on-campus residencies. The opportunity to play for these artists, share ideas with them and benefit from their valuable experience on an ongoing basis will greatly enhance the students’ learning by fostering the development of relationships that go deeper than what an individual master class experience can offer. The first master class occurred on Saturday, November 27, 2010 and featured renowned clarinetist James Campbell.

In celebration of these initiatives, Astral has generously created the Astral Scholarships in Continuing Education, the first ever scholarships offered to students in Continuing Education at the University of Ottawa. Starting this academic year, five scholarships of $1,000 will be offered to students enrolled in a continuing education program who demonstrate an interest in developing their skills in communication and/or music.

The University of Ottawa is looking forward to collaborating on these exciting student initiatives with one of the key players in Canadian media today. Founded in 1961, Astral is a leading Canadian media company, reaching people through a combination of highly targeted media properties in television, radio, outdoor advertising and interactive media. The company is the largest broadcaster of English- and French-language pay and specialty television services. It operates, on its own or with its partners, 20 television services, including The Movie Network/HBO Canada, Super Écran, Family, Canal Vie, Canal D, VRAK.TV and TÉLÉTOON. Astral is also Canada’s largest radio broadcaster, with 82 licensed radio stations in eight provinces, including NRJ, RockDétente, Virgin Radio, EZ Rock and The Bear.