UPCOMING
2007
August
I will be on a 1-year sabbatical from my position at Grant MacEwan College while I begin a PhD in Composition at the University of Edinburgh. I will return to Grant MacEwan College in the fall of 2008.
September
September 19 — Concerto for Trumpet and Piano performed by Larry Knopp (principal trumpet Vancouver Symphony) 12:00 noon UBC Recital Hall, School of Music.
September 27 — Dreaming of the Masters performed as part of the 2007 Colours of Music Festival.
–James Campbell, clarinet
–University of Toronto Wind Ensemble
October
Dreaming of the Masters performed by the South Asian Youth Orchestra and Wind Ensemble in Bangkok Thailand. James Campbell soloist, Gillian McKay, conductor.
Calgary Opera announces performance dates for Hannaraptor.
Dean McNeill performed my Concerto for Trumet and Piano as part of the Western Canadian Music Awards, Saturday October 19 in Moose Jaw Saskatchewan. He's also just finishing a CD that includes the Trumpet Concerto.
November
An orchestrated version of Roots, my solo piece for 6-String Electric Bass will be performed by John Pattitucci and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.
2008
February
February 22/23 - Premiere of Dreaming of the Masters II – Rhapsody GEB. This second work in my Dreaming series is a piano Concerto. It will be premiered by the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra with William Eddins as soloist and conductor at the Winspear Centre, Edmonton, Alberta Canada.
February 28 - repeat performance of Dreaming of the Masters II – Rhapsody GEB as well as Fantasia on themes from West Side Story. This work was written 2 years ago and features the great James Campbell on Clarinet.
March
The premiere broadcast of Dreaming of the Masters II from February 22/23. 2008 can now be heard at CBC Radio 2 - Concerts on Demand.
March/April
ZAPP, an incredible string quartet from Holland, will be touring The Netherlands, Canada and the US with clarinetist James Campbell. They will be performing Suite from the Sound which they recorded on my CD Collaborations and Wind Machine and new piece I wrote for ZAPP. They have just recorded a new CD called Peculiar which opens with Wind Machine.
April
The premiere broadcast of Dreaming of the Masters II from February 22/23. 2008 can now be heard at CBC Radio 2 - Concerts on Demand
The book trailer for "The Questory of Root Karbunkulus", which I wrote the music for, won a Covey Award for "Best Author Made Book Video". This award is judged by Readers Entertainment Television (REC TV), which includes award winning screen writers and directors. Their goal is to recognize Book Trailers that would make you interested in the book, make you stop and perhaps visit the authors website to read the excerpt. You can see the trailer in the Works-film scoring section of my web page.
May
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My first opera, Hannaraptor, is a one-act for young audiences with a libretto by Val Brandt. Hannaraptor was commissioned by Calgary Opera and performed by members of their Emerging Artist Development Program. It toured Calgary and southern Alberta schools and communities and then have 5 public performances at Vertigo Theatre in Calgary, May 2-4 2008. In all over 8,000 peolple (mostly children) saw this first run. SYNOPSIS A 12-year-old girl, Hanna, and her father discover a large fossil rock in a coulee that runs through their farm near the Alberta badlands. It appears to be a one-of-a-kind find: the skeleton of a theropod with wings. Soon after, Dad dies in an accident, Hanna’s 18-year-old brother, Jesse, heads off on a round-the-world adventure, her mother takes on two jobs to get by, and Hanna begins secretly chipping and scraping away at the rock. Five years later, Hanna is nearly finished uncovering her dinosaur skeleton, Jesse returns home with dreams of working the farm, and Mom is falling in love with a man who has an ambitious plan that will alter the land, the coulee and all of their lives forever. |
June
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MÉLANGE - New Music for Trumpet and Piano This excellent new CD from Canadian trumpeter Dean McNeill features the piano version of my Trumpet Concerto. Click here for complete details, excerpts and other information about this talented musician. |
Hannaraptor chosen to be showcased at OperaAmerica's 2008 conference in Denver Colorado. This amazing opportunity will bring this new 1-act to the attention of opera companies from North America and around the world..
October
Composer-in-Residence at the Colours of Music Festival in Barrie, Ontario. Works performed included;
Suite from the Sound - James Campbell, Graham Chapman, Bob Mills, Mark Fewer and Stephen Sylvestre
Winspear Fanfare and a new orchestration of my Fantasia - on themes from West Side Story - UofT Wind Ens.
Cancion - Jason Cutmore
Who Knew(world premiere)- Amabile boys and men's choir - Carol Benyon conductor
First Dance from Hannaraptor - A Night at the Opera
October 23 - American Premiere of Dreaming of the Masters II with the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra. William Eddins soloist and conductor.
November
Jason Cutmore will give the America premiere of Cancion Friday, November 7, 2008, in New York City. For more information about this wonderful pianist visit his site at jasoncutmore.com.
Sylvia Shaddick-Taylor will play Cancion Nov. 13 in Grande Prairie, Alberta.
Premiere of "Connections". A work commissioned by The Ismaili Council for Canada, to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of the Imamat of His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan.
December
December 2 - Jubilee Auditorium - Fall Fanfare premiered by 100 brass players from Strathcona and Wagner Composite High Schools.
2009
January
January 21 - Suite from the Sound performed by James Campbell and the Lafayette String Quartet. University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia.
February
February 13 - Loch na Beiste performed by the University of Alberta Wind Ensemble. Ovations/Kilburn Memorial Concert, University of Alberta. Edmonton, Alberta Canada.
February 27 - Fantasia on themes from West Side Story performed by the New Edmonton Wind Sinfonia. Originally written for Clarinet and Chamber Orchestra, this will be the premiere of a new orchestration for wind band. Winspear Centre for Music, Edmonton, Alberta Canada.
March
March 15 - Cloths of Heaven performed by I Coristi. First Presbyterian Church, Edmonton, Alberta Canada.
The Edinburgh String Quartet will record a CD of new music by the PhD composers at the University of Edinburgh. I will have a work included on that CD as I'm currently pursuing a PhD in Composition at the University of Edinburgh.
April
I have been commissioned by the Centre for the Arts at Grant MacEwan College to compose a work the music department. It will feature our Big Band, Percussion Ensemble, Guitar Band and vocalists and will be recorded at the end of April. This multi-movement work will form the centre piece of the departments next CD, to be released in the fall of 2009
May
Edmonton Symphony Orchestra announces 2009/10 season which will inlcude performances of Loch na Beiste Nov. 19/21 and Shadows and Light June 11/12, 2010 which will be recorded and broadacast by CBC Radio 2.
I've been commissioned to compose a work for Trumpet and Wind Band to be premiered May 13 by the National Youth Band, Dean McNeill soloist at the Moose Jaw International Band Festival, Moose Jaw Saskatchewan. Click on this link to hear the premiere performance with Dean McNeill and the National Youth Band.
June
Recording sessions for MacEwan Suite, commissioned by Grant MacEwan's Centre for the Arts and written for our world class faculty and alumni. This new work will featute our Big Band, Guitar Band, Percussion Ensemble and Vocalists and will form a susbstanial part of a new music deparment CD to be released at Christmas time.
The Candian Music Centre has added a feature on my piece On the Shouders of Giants to their Influences of Many Musics site. This wonderful new addition to the CMC site contains profiles in the form of video interviews, bios, scores, program notes and audio examples.
July/August
I Coristi Chamber Choir will perform The Cloths of Heaven when they tour Ireland this summer.
I will be returning to the Festival of the Sound in Parry Sound, Ontario for a 3rd time as Composer-in-Residence. The Festival Gala will open with my Winspear Fanfare performe
d by the Hannaford Street Silver Band and the Canadian Brass. Other works being performed inlcude Wind Machine and Rumba Ronda. August 1, will be the premiere of Young Suite commissioned by the Festival of the Sound. This new piece is written for legendary jazz bassist Dave Young and his Octet.
August
First workshops in Banff for my next opera. Working again with librettist Val Brandt and Calgary Opera this new full-length opera will begin it's life at Banff and then continue in February 2010 with a worshop in Toronto with the Canadian Opera Company
I have contributed two songs to the musical Peoples which premiered at the 2009 Edinburgh Fringe.
November
November 19/21 The Edmonton Symhony Orchestra will perform "Loch na Beiste"
December
Workshops continue on my second opera "The Untimely Death of Whatisname". The full length opera is again being produced by Calgary Opera and I'm working again with librettist Val Brandt.
2010
January
January 8 The newly reformed CBC Radio Orchestra, now called the National Radio Orchestra, will premiere the orchestral version of "Kalla" with Jens Lindemann as the soloist and Alain Trudel conducting.February
Workshop on Untimely Death of Whatis Name with the Canadian Opera Company.March
March 6, Antonio Peruch will premiere my Concerto for Accordion and String Orchestra in Havana, Cuba with the Camerata Romeu.April
Premiere of Concerto for Baroque Orchestra commissioned by the Alberta Baroque Ensemble to celebrate their 30th anniversay.June
June 11/ 12 The Edmonton Symhony Orchestra will perform "Shadows & Light"
