Composers Programme: June 22 - 28, 2010
“My participation in this program has been a highlight in my music education. I was excited to participate in the rehearsals of my composition ‘Nebula’ and to hear its performance by such a high-calibre ensemble. The various discussions that we had with the faculty, covering topics generally untouched in the typical university settings, were thought-provoking and beneficial. And it was very interesting to me to see what the other young composers, at a similar point in their career, are doing musically and what their musical views are.” Matthew Todd, 30, Gravenhurst, ON, Composers Program 2009 participant
NAC Award Composer, Gary Kulesha, returns to lead the 8th annual Composers Programme June 22 - 28, 2010 in Ottawa.
The National Arts Centre is pleased to announce that American composer George Tsontakis will be our Guest Composer this summer joining NAC Award Composer Gary Kulesha to provide leadership and instruction during the 1-week workshop.
George Tsontakis has been the recipient of the two richest prizes awarded in all of classical music; the international Grawemeyer Award, in 2005, for his Second Violin Concerto and the 2007 Ives Living, awarded every three years by the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
He studied with Roger Sessions at Juilliard and in Rome with Franco Donatoni. Born in Astoria, NY into a strongly Cretan heritage, he has, in recent years, become an important figure in the music of Greece. His music is increasingly performed abroad with dozens of performances in Europe every season. Most of his music, including eleven major orchestral works and four concertos has been recorded by Hyperion and Koch, leading to two Grammy Nominations for Best Classical Composition in 2009 and 1999. He has been Distinguished Composer-in-Residence at the Bard Conservatory and Composer-in-Residence with the Aspen Music Festival for decades, where he was founding director of the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, from 1991-99. He served for three years as Composer-in-Residence with the Oxford (England) Philomusica, continues a six-year Music Alive residency with the Albany Symphony and was the featured Composer-In-Residence with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in the 2008-09 season. He lives in New York State’s Catskill Mountains, in Shokan.
Five talented, emerging professional composers will be selected by application to participate in an intense programme of study this summer at the NAC for 7 days from June 22 – 28, 2010. Composing fellows will be required to write, in advance of the programme, a new work of 7 – 10 minutes in length for a professional ensemble of up to 12 parts. (flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, 2 violins, viola, cello, bass, piano, percussion). Each composition will be work-shopped in several sessions with a dedicated ensemble from l’Orchestre de la francophonie canadienne, led by its Music Director and Conductor Jean Philippe Tremblay.
Works by Kulesha, a guest composer and the composing fellows will be presented in a public concert as the culmination of the programme. Participants will take part in several informal discussions and information sessions during the 7-day programme. Composing Apprentices will be selected upon approval of applications and existing compositions to take part fully in all group discussions and lectures with the possibility of having one of their works read by the ensemble.
2010 Participants
Eugene Astapov (21, Canada/Ukraine)
Constantine Caravassilis (31, Canada/Greece)
Lan-Chee Lam (28, Hong Kong)
Duncan Schouten (27, Canada)
Gordon Williamson (36, Canada)
The NAC Summer Music Institute is made possible through the wonderful generosity of individual donors, corporations, and the NAC Foundation’s National Youth and Education Trust (Founding Partner TELUS), including major support from NAC Donors’ Circle, Astral Media, Galaxie, Nippon Music Foundation, Universal Music Canada, University of Ottawa and Yamaha Canada Music Ltd.
