News - Canadian Music Centre

Video Premiere: Land’s End Ensemble & Ben Reimer Perform “Twister” by Vincent Ho

"Today’s video premiere features Land’s End Ensemble and percussionist Ben Reimer performing “Twister” by composer Vincent Ho from their upcoming album Kickin’ It 2.0. The second album from the Calgary-based ensemble (John Lowry, violin; Beth Root Sandvoss, cello; Susanne Ruberg-Gordon, piano; Vincent Ho, Artistic Director), Kickin’ It 2.0 is dedicated to new works by contemporary Canadian [...]

By Andrea Ayotte|2019-10-11T14:28:40-04:0011 October 2019|Categories: News|Tags: Analia Llugdar, Derek Charke, Land’s End Ensemble, Omar Daniel, Vincent Chee-Yung Ho|

Yellowknife composer named Classical Composer of the Year at BreakOut West music festival

Festival hosted Western Canadian Music Awards Thursday night in Whitehorse "Yellowknife composer Carmen Braden had something to celebrate in Whitehorse Thursday night — she was named classical Composer of the Year at the Western Canadian Music Awards. The ceremony is part of BreakOut West music festival, which runs through this weekend. Braden said it feels [...]

By Andrea Ayotte|2019-10-07T10:48:41-04:007 October 2019|Categories: News|Tags: Carmen Braden|

Yellowknife’s Carmen Braden named top composer in Western Canada

"When Carmen Braden’s name was called from the shortlist of five nominees at the 2019 Western Canadian Music Awards in Whitehorse on Oct. 3, she was so surprised that she didn’t know how to react. Having been selected as composer of the year, edging out two of her own teachers, Braden said she was both [...]

By Andrea Ayotte|2019-10-07T10:58:44-04:007 October 2019|Categories: News|Tags: Carmen Braden|

Alexina Louie gets a rare honour for a Canadian composer: glory while she’s alive

"Has anyone even heard of such a thing? An entire concert devoted to the piano music of a living Canadian composer? Well, they had in Calgary last month, when the Honens Piano Festival titled one of its featured events Alexina Louie at 70. Aside from the indelicacy of referring to the Toronto composer’s age, it [...]

By Andrea Ayotte|2019-10-07T10:59:24-04:007 October 2019|Categories: News|Tags: Alexina Louie|

Carmen Braden named western Canada’s composer of the year

Yellowknife's Carmen Braden was named classical composer of the year at the Western Canadian Music Awards in Whitehorse on Thursday night. Braden, who just released her second studio album, was selected from a shortlist of five – including two of her former teachers, Allan Bell and Laurie Radford. "There are heavyweights on that list. When [...]

By Andrea Ayotte|2019-10-07T11:00:13-04:004 October 2019|Categories: News|Tags: Carmen Braden|

Orchestra shines spotlight on Salmon Arm composer

Kamloops Symphony opens Nexus show with music of Jean Ethridge "Kamloops Symphony treated Shuswap classical music lovers to an aural feast. Called Romantic Elements, the season opener, held at the United Church on Friday, Sept. 27, featured works by Mendelsshon, Tchaikovsky and Salmon Arm composer Jean Ethridge. The concert opened with the premiere of Ethridge’s [...]

By Andrea Ayotte|2019-10-07T10:57:27-04:001 October 2019|Categories: News|Tags: Jean Ethridge|

Linda Catlin Smith Lets In the Light

"It’s 2004. I am taking my first composition course at Mount Allison University. I have recently become enamoured of new music and am catching up on a long list of listening in the basement of the Alfred Whitehead Memorial Music Library. I come across Memory Forms (2001), a serene-looking disc with a still-life pear standing [...]

By Andrea Ayotte|2019-10-01T10:14:03-04:001 October 2019|Categories: News|Tags: Linda Catlin Smith, Monica Pearce|

This podcast episode looks at Indigenous appropriation in Canadian art music

The Canadian Art Song Project welcomes Marion Newman and Ian Cusson for a compelling discussion "Conversations with CASP is the podcast of the Canadian Art Song Project, an organization dedicated to creating and celebrating Canadian art song, and its latest episode takes a close look at the appropriation of Indigenous story and song in Canadian [...]

By Andrea Ayotte|2019-09-30T12:53:04-04:0030 September 2019|Categories: News|Tags: Ian Cusson, Lawrence Wiliford|

Changing the past: How composer Ian Cusson rewrote part of the famous Louis Riel opera

"The 1967 opera Louis Riel is often cited as Canada's most important operatic work, but the original version includes a lullaby based on music from a sacred traditional lament of the Nisga'a First Nation — and it was used without the community's consent. In what's being hailed as a first in the world of classical [...]

By Andrea Ayotte|2019-09-30T12:33:15-04:0020 September 2019|Categories: News|Tags: Harry Somers, Ian Cusson|

The best classical music works of the 21st century

Over the coming week, the Guardian will select the greatest culture since 2000, carefully compiled by critics and editors. We begin with a countdown of defining classical music compositions, from X-rated opera to high-tech string quartets.

By Andrea Ayotte|2019-09-13T08:44:19-04:0013 September 2019|Categories: News|Tags: Cassandra Miller, Linda Catlin Smith|