Ian Cusson

Ian Cusson is a composer of art, song, opera, and orchestral work. Of Métis (Georgian Bay Métis community) and French Canadian descent, his work explores the Canadian Indigenous experience, including the history of the Métis people, the hybridity of mixed-racial identity, and the intersection of Western and Indigenous cultures. 

He studied composition with Jake Heggie and Samuel Dolin and piano with James Anagnoson at the Glenn Gould School at the Royal Conservatory of Music. He has received numerous awards and grants, including the Chalmers Professional Development Projects grant, the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation Award, and several grants from the Canada Council for the arts, the Ontario Arts Council, and the Toronto Arts Council.

Ian was the inaugural Carrefour composer-in-residence with the National Arts Centre Orchestra from 2017 to 2019 and was Composer-in-Residence for the Canadian Opera Company from 2019 to 2021. He was a Co-Artistic Director of Opera in the 21st Century at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity and the 2021 recipient of SOCAN's Jan V. Matejcek Classical Music Award and the Johanna Metcalf Performing Arts Prize. Ian is an Associate Composer of the Canadian Music Centre and a member of the Canadian League of Composers. 

He lives in Oakville, Ontario, with his wife and four children.