Archive for the Commissions Category

Anne of Green Gables

On January 29, 2024 / Birdsong, Commissions / Leave a comment

This project was an absolute dream come true! I was asked to write music for a new Audible audiobook of one of my childhood favourites, Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables, directed by Megan Follows (who to my mind is Anne of Green Gables herself!) I had to write 70 minutes of music in 2 months (this is more than I usually write in 2 years), but somehow I did it, and had a great time! Thank you to Ken Woods, Seb Lovell-Huckle, Tim Burton, and the amazing musicians of the English Symphony Orchestra (Laura Jellicoe, Alison Lambert, Suzanne Woods, Sarah Ewins, Carl Hill, Corinne Frost and Daniel King Smith for their beautiful recording on such short notice: it was a real pleasure working with them. You can hear the Audiobook here (Audible has many versions of Anne of Green Gables: the one I wrote music for is the one released Nov 30, 2023.) If you listen carefully, you may hear some transcriptions of PEI birdsongs embedded in the music!

Bowheads, performed by the Kapten Trio

On December 29, 2019 / Commissions, Concerts, Research, Whales / Leave a comment

Last year I was commissioned to write a piece for the Kapten Trio by Chamber Music Scotland. It was a fantastic experience from start to finish, with lots of discussions and rehearsals with the Kapten Trio throughout the creative process, and two amazing Creative Scotland residencies at Hospitalfield in Arbroath. My piece, called Bowheads, is based on songs of the Bowhead Whale. (Thanks to biologists Catherine Berchok and Stephanie Grassia for sharing recordings with me!) The Kapten Trio took Boweads (along with pieces by Shiori Usui, Mozart, Debussy, and Brahms) on a 6-concert tour of Scotland. This video (made by Anne Milne) is from the premiere, at the Barn in Banchory, as part of the Sound Festival.

Woodwings on 1 Track Podcast

On April 28, 2019 / Birdsong, Commissions, Interviews, Pieces / Leave a comment

Thank you to Anthony Lanman for inviting me to talk on his podcast 1 Track about my piece Woodwings. Woodwings was commissioned by the Fifth Wind Quintet in Halifax, Nova Scotia, as part of their Forecasting the Canadian Wind Project, funded by a Canada Council New Chapters grant, and premiered by Fifth Wind, Mistral 5, Choros, Blythwood Winds, and Ventos in September 2018. It’s based on the songs of 9 birds found across Canada, including the bobolink, the hermit thrush, the winter wren, snow geese, and five species of owls! If you’re interested in obtaining a score, you can do so by taking out a (free) membership in Wind Quintet International.

Premiere of Reedbird

On January 10, 2019 / Birdsong, Commissions, Concerts / Leave a comment

I’m really looking forward to the premiere of Reedbird by the Vancouver Symphony on January 19 as part of their New Music Festival. Reedbird is based on the song of the bobolink, a bird which is widespread across North America, and sings lively, bubbly, and ever-varying song. More info can be found here.

Listen to this bobolink song!

On July 17, 2018 / Birdsong, Commissions, Research / Leave a comment

I’m listening to a lot of bobolink song, as research for the new piece I’m writing for the Vancouver Symphony (to be premiered at the Vancouver Symphony New Music Festival in January 2019). Bobolink song sounds incredible when you hear it live (or on a full speed recording) — shiny, bubbly, almost metallic. But to me, it’s even more incredible when you slow it down so you can really hear the intricate interactions between the notes. Here is one example that you really should listen to right now! I’ve taken a fragment of a song and presented it at 1/8 speed, 1/4 speed, 1/2 speed, full speed, and finally the entire song at full speed. (The recording of this song was made by Andrew Spencer, and can be found on the Xeno-Canto website.)

Woodwings Preview

On June 1, 2018 / Commissions, Concerts / Leave a comment

I’m just back from a wonderful week of rehearsals and a public workshop of my newest piece, Woodwings, with the Fifth Wind Quintet in Halifax, NS. They’ll be co-premiering it in September, along with Blythwood Winds, Ventos, Choros, and Mistral 5, in programs which include works by Cris Derksen, Carmen Braden, Daniel Janke, and Cameron Wilson, in five cities across Canada. But if you want to hear a preview of it, you can watch the workshop here!

Woodwings

On April 23, 2018 / Commissions, Concerts / 1 Comment

I’ve just finished my first wind quintet, Woodwings, for Fifth Wind Quintet, of Halifax, NS, as part of their Forecasting the Canadian Wind project. Woodwings will be premiered in September by Fifth Wind, as well as Choros (Montreal), Blythwood Winds (Toronto), Mistral 5 (Saskatoon), and Ventos (Vancouver), along with premieres by Carmen Braden, Cris Derksen, Daniel Janke, and Cameron Wilson. (If you play in a wind quintet and would like to have access to these and other new works after their premiere, you can sign up at Wind Quintet International!)

Woodwings is based on the songs and calls of a number of birds that are fairly widespread in Canada – the Bobolink, Hermit Thrush, Snow Goose, Winter Wren, and a selction of owls (Boreal Owl, Northern Pygmy Owl, Hawk Owl, Northern Saw-whet Owl, and Western Screech Owl). It’s been a great pleasure to write this piece, both because I’m a (mostly former) oboist myself, and because the musicians in Fifth Wind are long-time friends, and in some cases my former teachers. (Oh dear – I’ve just calculated and realize I have known several of them for more than 30 years! Am I really that old?) I’m really looking forward to the rehearsals and workshops in May, and to the performance in September!

Recording of Field Music by the Fair Trade Trio

On March 13, 2018 / CD, Commissions, Concerts, Pieces / Leave a comment

I’m looking forward to the upcoming recording of my piece Field Music (2017) by the Fair Trade Trio on a CD which will also include works by Jennifer Higdon, Cheryl Frances-Hoad, Kaija Saariaho, and Molly Herron. Ashley Windle, violinist and founder of the Fair Trade Chamber Music Society talks more about this recording and other Fair Trade Trio Projects in an interview with with Lana Norris on I Care If You Listen.

Conversation

On February 20, 2018 / Commissions, Concerts / Leave a comment

The premiere of Conversation, based on the howls of grey seals and poetry by Eleonore Schoenmaier, will take place on February 21 at St Salvatore’s Chapel in St Andrews, Scotland. Conversation was commissioned by Bede Williams for the St Andrews New Music Ensemble, with funding from the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and researched with funding from the Culture and Animals Foundation. You can find out more about the ideas behind this piece and the process of writing it here. Please come along on February 25 as well, to hear James Turnbull and Eddy Hackett perform a program of new music for oboe and percussion, which includes my piece Social sounds from whales at night.

Fair Trade String Trio Premieres Field Guide

On June 26, 2017 / Commissions, Concerts, Pieces, Research / Leave a comment

The Fair Trade String Trio (Ashley Windle, Hannah Levinson, and Jeanette Stenson) will be premiering my newest piece, Field Guide, on July 20 through 26 on their second Pacific Northwest tour, with concerts in Vancouver BC, Victoria BC, Bellingham WA, and Portland OR. More details of the concerts can be found on their website. Field Guide is based on the songs of three birds which can be found in the Western US, the horned lark, the greater sage grouse, and the Western meadowlark. Though these birds aren’t currently endangered, they depend on the wild land of the US National Parks and Forests — and are one of the many, many reasons why we all need to be working to preserve these lands.