What nourishes you? Us? Our planet? What happens when life necessities are absent? Food, water and ice, song, dance and play, community and solitude - Elation's debut album explores SUSTENANCE at its source.
Elation Pauls Violin, Serouj Kradjian Piano
With Guests David Braid Piano, Karen Sunabacka Narration
Karl Stobbe Session Producer and Audio Editing
David Braid Audio Editing and Mixing
Dennis Patterson Recording Engineer and Mastering
SPEKTRAL Label
Iman Habibi (b. 1985) Offering of Water for Violin and Piano (2023)
Dedicated to Lucia Lin. Co-comissioned by: Lucia Lin, Elation Pauls and the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music with partial funding support from the Canada Council for the Arts.
1. of life
2. yasna
3. purify
4. it shall flow if from tears
5. to life
David Braid (b. 1975) Interior Castles for Violin and Piano (2005)
David Braid, Piano
Kelly-Marie Murphy (b. 1964) FIRE-AND-ICE-BODIED-DOUBLED-UP-WITHDRAWAL-ANXIETY for Violin and Piano (2023)
I. Mellifluous, heart-rending
II. Agitated and possessed
Commissioned by Elation Pauls with support from the Canada Council for the Arts.
Carmen Braden (b. 1985) Foxy Fox’s Musical Games for Violin and Piano (2018)
Commissioned by the 2018 Eckhardt-Gramatté National Music Competition. Dedicated to the Little One.
Karen Sunabacka (b. 1975) Jack the Fiddler for Violin, Piano and Narrator (2023)
Text by Joyce Clouston in collaboration with Karen Sunabacka. Karen Sunabacka, Narrator
Dedicated to Elation Pauls and all my Métis relations who loved my grandfather Jack. Comissioned by and written for Elation Pauls with the generous support of SOCAN, the Canada Council for the Arts (CCA), Manitoba Arts Council (MAC) and the Academic Development and Research Fund (ADRF) at Conrad Grebel University College.
Serouj Kradjian (b. 1973) Sari Aghtchig (Girl from the Mountain) for Violin and Piano (2023)
For Elation Pauls, commissioned with support from the Canada Council for the Arts.
Cris Derksen (b. 1981) Country Food for Violin and Tape (2023)
Commissioned by Elation Pauls with support from the Canada Council for the Arts.
David Braid (b. 1975) Without Words for Violin and Piano (2023)
David Braid, Piano
Serouj Kradjian (b. 1973) Tango Melancolico for Violin and Piano (2011)
Elation Pauls Violin, Serouj Kradjian Piano
With Guests David Braid Piano, Karen Sunabacka Narration
Karl Stobbe Session Producer and Audio Editing
David Braid Audio Editing and Mixing
Dennis Patterson Recording Engineer and Mastering
SPEKTRAL Label
Iman Habibi (b. 1985) Offering of Water for Violin and Piano (2023)
Dedicated to Lucia Lin. Co-comissioned by: Lucia Lin, Elation Pauls and the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music with partial funding support from the Canada Council for the Arts.
1. of life
2. yasna
3. purify
4. it shall flow if from tears
5. to life
David Braid (b. 1975) Interior Castles for Violin and Piano (2005)
David Braid, Piano
Kelly-Marie Murphy (b. 1964) FIRE-AND-ICE-BODIED-DOUBLED-UP-WITHDRAWAL-ANXIETY for Violin and Piano (2023)
I. Mellifluous, heart-rending
II. Agitated and possessed
Commissioned by Elation Pauls with support from the Canada Council for the Arts.
Carmen Braden (b. 1985) Foxy Fox’s Musical Games for Violin and Piano (2018)
Commissioned by the 2018 Eckhardt-Gramatté National Music Competition. Dedicated to the Little One.
Karen Sunabacka (b. 1975) Jack the Fiddler for Violin, Piano and Narrator (2023)
Text by Joyce Clouston in collaboration with Karen Sunabacka. Karen Sunabacka, Narrator
Dedicated to Elation Pauls and all my Métis relations who loved my grandfather Jack. Comissioned by and written for Elation Pauls with the generous support of SOCAN, the Canada Council for the Arts (CCA), Manitoba Arts Council (MAC) and the Academic Development and Research Fund (ADRF) at Conrad Grebel University College.
Serouj Kradjian (b. 1973) Sari Aghtchig (Girl from the Mountain) for Violin and Piano (2023)
For Elation Pauls, commissioned with support from the Canada Council for the Arts.
Cris Derksen (b. 1981) Country Food for Violin and Tape (2023)
Commissioned by Elation Pauls with support from the Canada Council for the Arts.
David Braid (b. 1975) Without Words for Violin and Piano (2023)
David Braid, Piano
Serouj Kradjian (b. 1973) Tango Melancolico for Violin and Piano (2011)
SUSTENANCE marks a new life chapter born out of the days of isolation and silence of 2020. With the drastic and sudden all-encompassing change experienced, I was forced to spend much introspective time. Becoming deeply frustrated with the lack of societal contribution I was making as a violinist in the context of a new global crisis, I began exploring new avenues to provide beneficial offerings from within my artistic practice and calling.
With the encouragement of some close friends and colleagues, I gradually began to imagine a program of 21st century Canadian music for violin and piano based on the theme of sustenance, with the intention to commission new works that would augment the repertoire and express my desire to serve. In spring of 2023 I was awarded a Create and Explore grant from the Canada Council for the Arts and it is a great honour and privilege to work with the composers and pianists presented on my debut album to be released this fall. My hope is that in listening to and experiencing this music, you will re-imagine something old, contemplate something new and find an audible nugget of sustenance that you will want to share with others and hear again and again.
~ Elation
Artist Biographies
Canadian pianist and composer Serouj Kradjian has established himself as a versatile artist whose readiness to break boundaries and explore and merge different musical styles has made him an exciting voice on the international music scene. The New York Times has described Grammy- nominated and two-time Juno-award-winning Kradjian’s playing as a “persuasive balance between elegance and spirit,” while the Frankfurter Allgemeine noted that he has “a fiery temperament and elegant sound” with “technique to burn.”
Solo, chamber music recitals and premieres of his compositions have taken Mr. Kradjian from all major Canadian cities, via the U.S – New York (Carnegie Hall), Boston (Jordan Hall), San Francisco, Miami, Chicago and Los Angeles – to European concert halls in London (Wigmore Hall), Paris (Salle Cortot), Munich, Salzburg, Trondheim, Lausanne, Geneva, Madrid, Barcelona and Bilbao, to the Far East in China and Japan and to Latin America (Mexico & Brazil). He is regularly invited to the Luminato, Orford, Montreal Chamber Music, Ottawa Chamber Music, Bergen, Savannah, Rockport, Colmar and Cortona music festivals.
Serouj Kradjian is the co-artistic director and pianist of Canada’s acclaimed Juno winning Amici Chamber Ensemble and is active as a chamber music and vocal music/diction coach at Vancouver International Song Academy and Toronto’s Royal Conservatory of Music. His discography includes over 15 recordings, including the complete Transcendental Etudes and Piano Concerti by Franz Liszt, and Robert Schumann’s three sonatas for violin and piano (with Ara Malikian). He has recorded songs by Pauline Viardot- Garcia, which brought him international accolades and a 2006 Juno award for Classical Album of the Year. With the Amici Chamber Ensemble, he has recorded Inspired by Canada – Mon Pays, Armenian Chamber Music and Levant, which won the Juno for Best Classical Recording in 2013. His concerts have been broadcast by the CBC, Radio de la Suisse Romande, Radio and TV España, the BBC, the Süddeutsche Rundfunk and NHK Japan. Over 100 works commissioned, composed or arranged by Serouj have been performed by the Toronto, Vancouver & Madrid Symphonies, the Fresno and the Armenian Philharmonic, the Elmer Iseler Singers, Amadeus & Elektra Women’s Choir, the CBC, the Toronto International Film Festival.
Serouj Kradjian graduated from University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music, with a Bachelor in Piano Performance, studying with Marietta Orlov, and finished his post- graduate studies at the Hanover University of Music, Drama & Media in Germany, with Diplom Konzertsolist (MMus.) degree studying with acclaimed Norwegian pianist Einar Steen-Nøkleberg. A member of SOCAN as ASCAP, he has been awarded multiple grants from the Canada Council, the Ontario Arts Council and the Toronto Arts Council for his artistic activities.
~~~~~~~~~~
Hailed "one of Canada's true Renaissance men" (The Ottawa Citizen) composer, improviser, and pianist, David Braid is a ten-time nominee and four-time recipient of Canada's highest music prize (Juno Award). David Braid is a Steinway Artist, Composer-in-Residence for Sinfonia UK Collective, Guest Artist of the Danish National Music Conservatory, and Affiliate Artist of the University of Liverpool’s Interdisciplinary Centre for Composition and Technology.
First emerging as an "Ace Jazz Pianist" (The New York Observer) Braid turned to composing chamber music prioritizing narrative, colour, rhythm, spontaneity, and inclusion of musical techniques absorbed from over twenty years of international artistic collaboration. Concertizing throughout the UK, Scandinavia, Europe, Russia, Central Asia, The Far East, Australia, Brazil, and Canada his original music is described as: "brilliant" (Montreal Gazette), "enchanting" (The Age, Australia), "une force poétique" (Le Soleil), and "hauntingly beautiful" (The Globe & Mail).
His first instrumental chamber music album, FLOW (Steinway & Sons Label) with the Epoque Quartet (Prague) is described by the Los Angeles Examiner as “an exceptional work... created with patience, love and understanding of the human condition, form, and structure”. His first choral composition, “Corona Divinae Misericordiae” was nominated for Classical Album of the Year in Canada, and his first film score won two CSAs (Canadian Screen Awards) for “Best Original Score” and “Best Original Song".
Braid’s brief foray into writing dramatic music includes arrangements and compositions for the Chet Baker-inspired bio-pic, "Born to Be Blue" starring Ethan Hawke, considered by The Telegraph (UK) as one of the top jazz films of all time. Braid's jazz score was praised for its "contemporary patina without sacrificing period authenticity" (The Times, UK). He also received a CSA nomination for his orchestra score to the 2022 film, “Delia’s Gone” starring Stephan James and Marisa Tomei. Braid is a recipient of the Ontario Foundation for the Arts’ prestigious prize: "Paul de Hueck and Norman Walford Career Achievement Award for Keyboard Artistry".
~~~~~~~~~~
Iman Habibi, D.M.A. (University of Michigan), is an Iranian-Canadian composer and pianist, and a
founding member of the piano duo ensemble, Piano Pinnacle. Hailed as “a giant in talent” (the Penticton Herald), “whose technical mastery is matched by his musical and cultural literacy,” (Hudson-Housatonic Arts), Iman has been commissioned by The Boston Symphony Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, The Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Prince George Symphony Orchestra and The Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music, and has collaborated with The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Dearborn Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Philharmonic Orchestra, Hamilton Philharmonic, Kamloops Symphony, The Standing Wave Ensemble, The Aventa Ensemble, The Calidore String Quartet, JACK Quartet, The Chiara Quartet, Del Sol String Quartet, The Emily Carr String Quartet, The Vancouver Bach Choir, DaCapo Chamber Choir, conductors Yannick Nézet- Séguin, Andris Nelsons, Bramwell Tovey, John Adams, Jerry Blackstone, Eugene Rogers, Alexander Mickelthwate, Leonard Enns, Leslie Dala, Anthony Elliott, and Bruce Pullan, among many others
Dr. Habibi’s music and performances have been programmed by The Carnegie Hall and The Marilyn
Horne Foundation (New York), Tanglewood Music Festival (Massachusetts), The Canadian Opera
Company and Tapestry Opera (Toronto), New York Festival of Song, Saratoga Springs Performing Arts
Center, Vox Novus (New York), Atlantic Music Festival (Maine), the BCScene Festival (Ottawa), and the Powell Street Festival (Vancouver), among many others
He has received numerous awards including First Prize at the SOCAN Foundation’s Awards for Young
Audio Visual Composers for two consecutive years (2011-2012), The International Composers’ Award at the Esoterics’ POLYPHONOS (2012), The Vancouver Mayor’s Arts Awards for Emerging Artist in Music (2011), Brehm Prize in Choral Music (2016), as well as numerous grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, and BC Arts Council. He also received second prize at the 2008 Vancouver Bach Choir’s national Competition for Large Choir Works for his work “Erroneous Kudos,” and first prize for his work “Black Riders” at the 2009 Guelph Chamber Choir’s national competition. His music and interviews are broadcast regularly and have been heard on CBC radio one, CBC radio two (Canada), NPR, South Carolina Public Radio, WRTI and WQXR. Iman Habibi is an associate composer of the Canadian Music Centre, and is represented by SOCAN in Canada.
~~~~~~~~~~
Award-winning contemporary composer and singer/songwriter Carmen Braden is a dynamic force in the world of new music, hailing proudly from Yellowknife NWT. Carmen is a “multi-talented artist” (BK on the Scene) recognized as an “acoustic ambassador of the Canadian Subarctic” (Musicworks). She has played intimate theatres and main stage folk festivals, and smoothly jumps between genres of songwriting and composing. Her contemporary classical compositions are nationally recognized, with commissions and performances by world class ensembles and performers including the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, James Ehnes and the Canadian Chamber Choir. Carmen has released three studio albums: Seed Songs (2021), Songs of the Invisible Summer Stars (2019) and Ravens (2017). Carmen has been nationally recognized, winning the Western Canadian Music Award for Classical Composer of the Year in both 2020 and 2019. Additional nominations include Classical Album of the Year 2020 (East Coast Music Award – Songs of the Invisible Summer Stars), Classical Artist of the Year (WCMA 2019), and Classical Composition of the Year (WCMA 2017).
Carmen has been called “a talented, bold musician” (Up Here Magazine). About her music: “a spacious and rich journey into how we as humans internalize and connect to our environment (The Sound Cafe – for Seed Songs). “Braden’s music is clear and it is bright...this recording is captured psychogeography.” (Whole Note – for Songs of the Invisible Summer Stars); and her songwriting is “quirky and clever...a la Joni Mitchell” (The WholeNote – for Ravens). As an educator, Carmen regularly gives workshops, individual instruction, guest lectures and collaboration facilitation ranging from elementary-level to university graduate level, both online and in-person. Carmen has most recently begun work as a producer in Yellowknife, and a presenter of unusual music concerts including Longshadow Music Festival.
~~~~~~~~~~
Composer Karen Sunabacka often finds inspiration from puzzles, stories and her Métis and mixed European heritage. She has deep roots in the Red River Settlement (what is now known as Manitoba, Canada) and feels a strong connection to the Métis, Scottish, Swedish and Finnish cultures. This mix of cultural connections sometimes creates conflicts and new perspectives which she finds both interesting and challenging. Her music reflects this cultural mix through the exploration of the sounds and stories of the Canadian prairies.
She often collaborates with her Métis mother, Joyce Clouston, who is a writer, an Indigenous Cultural Carrier, and social worker. Together they have completed numerous works that explore family stories and the intersections of Indigenous -Settler relations and philosophies. Pieces they have completed include: Mama’s Painting: Louis Riel’s Dream for piano quartet (2015), I Wasn’t Meant for This for viola d’amore and percussion (2019), English Horn Concerto: In Memory of Beverly Clouston (2019) …our inner lives were entwined…embroidered with the same pattern for solo piano (2021) and The Place Where the Creator Rests (2022) for piano trio and spoken voices.
Karen’s compositions have been commissioned and premiered by the Montreal Metropolitan Orchestra, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, the Regina Symphony Orchestra, Park Sounds, Andromeda Trio, the Indigo Trio, and many other ensembles and solo artists. Recent commissions include The Place Where the Creator Rests (2022) for Piano trio and spoken voices commissioned and premiered by the Andromeda Trio; A Reel Watlz (2022) for string trio, commissioned and premiered by the Indigo Trio, Gloria (2020) for SATB choir commissioned and premiered by the Winnipeg Singers; a piece for viola and cello titled Ripples (2019) commissioned, recorded and premiered by Ames Asbell and Karla Hamelin based at Texas State University; and Wandering (2020) for solo bass clarinet and premiered by Kathryn Ladano during an online NUMUS concert.
Inspired by the natural beauty of Manitoba winters she wrote #DryColdConversations (2018) which was commissioned and premiered for the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. The Montreal Metropolitan Orchestra premiered her work “The Prairies” which was part of a bigger piece called De Natura Sonorum (2017), a commissioned work with four other composers to celebrate 150 years of Confederation. De Natura Sonorum was nominated in Québec’s 21st Prix Opus in the category Création de l’année (composition of the year). In 2009 she won the CMC Prairie Region Emerging Composers’ Competition with her work And There Was a Great Calm about a Prairie storm, which was premiered by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.
In demand as a composer, Karen enjoys the challenge of finding a balance between teaching, composing, performing, and keeping up with her favourite science fiction and fantasy series. Karen is an Associate Professor of Music at Conrad Grebel University College at the University of Waterloo.
~~~~~~~~~~
Juno nominated Cris Derksen is an Internationally respected Indigenous Cellist and Composer. In a world where almost everything — people, music, cultures — get labelled and slotted into simple categories, Cris Derksen represents a challenge. Originally from Northern Alberta she comes from a line of chiefs from NorthTall Cree Reserve on her father’s side and a line of strong Mennonite homesteaders on her mother’s. Derksen braids the traditional and contemporary, weaving her classical background and her Indigenous ancestry together with new school electronics to create genre-defying music.
As composer Derksen has a foot in many worlds, 2020 Compositions include: Napi and the Rocks -A Symphonic story commissioned by the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Same Wave- An 8 Part Choral Piece, commissioned by Camerata Nova Choir, The Triumph of the Euro-Christ an 8 part choral piece commissioned by the Art Gallery of Ontario. 2019 compositions include: Maada’ookii Songlines- a Mass Choral piece for 250 singers Commissioned by Luminato Festival. Rebellion - a short symphonic piece commissioned by the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra. Iron Peggy - a Theatre piece commissioned by the Vancouver Children’s Festival. A new performance art piece commissioned by the National Art Gallery of Canada, Ikumagiialit. 2018 works include: DORA Award for Best Sound Design for Theatre 2018; Kiinalik: these sharp tools, TIFF Premier Biidaaban (the dawn comes) Short Animation Film by Amanda Strong, Ka:hawai Dance Company production of BloodTides, Kamloopa Theatre production, 2018 Banff Centre for the Arts String Quartet Residency White Mans Cattle And Wood Quintet International 5 bucks per head.
As a performer Derksen performs Nationally and Internationally solo and with some of Canada’s Finest Including; Tanya Tagaq, Buffy Sainte Marie, Naomi Klein, and Leanne Simpson to name a few. Recent destinations include Hong Kong, Australia, Mongolia, Sweden, and a whole lot of Canada; the place Derksen refers to as home.
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With music described as “breathtaking” (Kitchenter-Waterloo Record), “imaginative and expressive” (The National Post), “a pulse-pounding barrage on the senses” (The Globe and Mail), and “Bartok on steroids” (Birmingham News), Kelly-Marie Murphy’s voice is well known on the Canadian music scene. She has created a number of memorable works for some of Canada’s leading performers and ensembles, including the Toronto, Winnipeg, and Vancouver Symphony Orchestras, The Gryphon Trio, James Campbell, Shauna Rolston, the Cecelia and Afiara String Quartets and Judy Loman.
In addition to many academic scholarships awarded in Canada and England, Dr. Murphy has also won prizes for her music, dating back to 1992. Her career was launched when she won first prize and the People’s Choice Award at the CBC Young Composer’s Competition in 1994 (string quartet category). Since then, Dr. Murphy’s music has been performed around the world by outstanding soloists and ensembles, and has had radio broadcasts in over 22 countries. Her music has been interpreted by renowned conductors such as Sir Andrew Davis, David Brophy, Bramwell Tovey and Mario Bernardi, and has been heard in iconic concert halls such as Carnegie Hall in New York and the Mozarteum in Salzburg.
Kelly-Marie Murphy was born on a NATO base in Sardegna Italy and grew up on Canadian Armed Forces bases all across Canada. She began her studies in composition at the University of Calgary with William Jordan and Allen Bell and later received a Ph. D in composition from the University of Leeds, England, where she studied with Philip Wilby. After living and working for many years in Washington, D.C. are where she was designated “an alien of extraordinary ability” by the US Immigration and Naturalization Service, she is now based in Ottawa.
~~~~~~~~~~
With the encouragement of some close friends and colleagues, I gradually began to imagine a program of 21st century Canadian music for violin and piano based on the theme of sustenance, with the intention to commission new works that would augment the repertoire and express my desire to serve. In spring of 2023 I was awarded a Create and Explore grant from the Canada Council for the Arts and it is a great honour and privilege to work with the composers and pianists presented on my debut album to be released this fall. My hope is that in listening to and experiencing this music, you will re-imagine something old, contemplate something new and find an audible nugget of sustenance that you will want to share with others and hear again and again.
~ Elation
Artist Biographies
Canadian pianist and composer Serouj Kradjian has established himself as a versatile artist whose readiness to break boundaries and explore and merge different musical styles has made him an exciting voice on the international music scene. The New York Times has described Grammy- nominated and two-time Juno-award-winning Kradjian’s playing as a “persuasive balance between elegance and spirit,” while the Frankfurter Allgemeine noted that he has “a fiery temperament and elegant sound” with “technique to burn.”
Solo, chamber music recitals and premieres of his compositions have taken Mr. Kradjian from all major Canadian cities, via the U.S – New York (Carnegie Hall), Boston (Jordan Hall), San Francisco, Miami, Chicago and Los Angeles – to European concert halls in London (Wigmore Hall), Paris (Salle Cortot), Munich, Salzburg, Trondheim, Lausanne, Geneva, Madrid, Barcelona and Bilbao, to the Far East in China and Japan and to Latin America (Mexico & Brazil). He is regularly invited to the Luminato, Orford, Montreal Chamber Music, Ottawa Chamber Music, Bergen, Savannah, Rockport, Colmar and Cortona music festivals.
Serouj Kradjian is the co-artistic director and pianist of Canada’s acclaimed Juno winning Amici Chamber Ensemble and is active as a chamber music and vocal music/diction coach at Vancouver International Song Academy and Toronto’s Royal Conservatory of Music. His discography includes over 15 recordings, including the complete Transcendental Etudes and Piano Concerti by Franz Liszt, and Robert Schumann’s three sonatas for violin and piano (with Ara Malikian). He has recorded songs by Pauline Viardot- Garcia, which brought him international accolades and a 2006 Juno award for Classical Album of the Year. With the Amici Chamber Ensemble, he has recorded Inspired by Canada – Mon Pays, Armenian Chamber Music and Levant, which won the Juno for Best Classical Recording in 2013. His concerts have been broadcast by the CBC, Radio de la Suisse Romande, Radio and TV España, the BBC, the Süddeutsche Rundfunk and NHK Japan. Over 100 works commissioned, composed or arranged by Serouj have been performed by the Toronto, Vancouver & Madrid Symphonies, the Fresno and the Armenian Philharmonic, the Elmer Iseler Singers, Amadeus & Elektra Women’s Choir, the CBC, the Toronto International Film Festival.
Serouj Kradjian graduated from University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music, with a Bachelor in Piano Performance, studying with Marietta Orlov, and finished his post- graduate studies at the Hanover University of Music, Drama & Media in Germany, with Diplom Konzertsolist (MMus.) degree studying with acclaimed Norwegian pianist Einar Steen-Nøkleberg. A member of SOCAN as ASCAP, he has been awarded multiple grants from the Canada Council, the Ontario Arts Council and the Toronto Arts Council for his artistic activities.
~~~~~~~~~~
Hailed "one of Canada's true Renaissance men" (The Ottawa Citizen) composer, improviser, and pianist, David Braid is a ten-time nominee and four-time recipient of Canada's highest music prize (Juno Award). David Braid is a Steinway Artist, Composer-in-Residence for Sinfonia UK Collective, Guest Artist of the Danish National Music Conservatory, and Affiliate Artist of the University of Liverpool’s Interdisciplinary Centre for Composition and Technology.
First emerging as an "Ace Jazz Pianist" (The New York Observer) Braid turned to composing chamber music prioritizing narrative, colour, rhythm, spontaneity, and inclusion of musical techniques absorbed from over twenty years of international artistic collaboration. Concertizing throughout the UK, Scandinavia, Europe, Russia, Central Asia, The Far East, Australia, Brazil, and Canada his original music is described as: "brilliant" (Montreal Gazette), "enchanting" (The Age, Australia), "une force poétique" (Le Soleil), and "hauntingly beautiful" (The Globe & Mail).
His first instrumental chamber music album, FLOW (Steinway & Sons Label) with the Epoque Quartet (Prague) is described by the Los Angeles Examiner as “an exceptional work... created with patience, love and understanding of the human condition, form, and structure”. His first choral composition, “Corona Divinae Misericordiae” was nominated for Classical Album of the Year in Canada, and his first film score won two CSAs (Canadian Screen Awards) for “Best Original Score” and “Best Original Song".
Braid’s brief foray into writing dramatic music includes arrangements and compositions for the Chet Baker-inspired bio-pic, "Born to Be Blue" starring Ethan Hawke, considered by The Telegraph (UK) as one of the top jazz films of all time. Braid's jazz score was praised for its "contemporary patina without sacrificing period authenticity" (The Times, UK). He also received a CSA nomination for his orchestra score to the 2022 film, “Delia’s Gone” starring Stephan James and Marisa Tomei. Braid is a recipient of the Ontario Foundation for the Arts’ prestigious prize: "Paul de Hueck and Norman Walford Career Achievement Award for Keyboard Artistry".
~~~~~~~~~~
Iman Habibi, D.M.A. (University of Michigan), is an Iranian-Canadian composer and pianist, and a
founding member of the piano duo ensemble, Piano Pinnacle. Hailed as “a giant in talent” (the Penticton Herald), “whose technical mastery is matched by his musical and cultural literacy,” (Hudson-Housatonic Arts), Iman has been commissioned by The Boston Symphony Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, The Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Prince George Symphony Orchestra and The Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music, and has collaborated with The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Dearborn Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Philharmonic Orchestra, Hamilton Philharmonic, Kamloops Symphony, The Standing Wave Ensemble, The Aventa Ensemble, The Calidore String Quartet, JACK Quartet, The Chiara Quartet, Del Sol String Quartet, The Emily Carr String Quartet, The Vancouver Bach Choir, DaCapo Chamber Choir, conductors Yannick Nézet- Séguin, Andris Nelsons, Bramwell Tovey, John Adams, Jerry Blackstone, Eugene Rogers, Alexander Mickelthwate, Leonard Enns, Leslie Dala, Anthony Elliott, and Bruce Pullan, among many others
Dr. Habibi’s music and performances have been programmed by The Carnegie Hall and The Marilyn
Horne Foundation (New York), Tanglewood Music Festival (Massachusetts), The Canadian Opera
Company and Tapestry Opera (Toronto), New York Festival of Song, Saratoga Springs Performing Arts
Center, Vox Novus (New York), Atlantic Music Festival (Maine), the BCScene Festival (Ottawa), and the Powell Street Festival (Vancouver), among many others
He has received numerous awards including First Prize at the SOCAN Foundation’s Awards for Young
Audio Visual Composers for two consecutive years (2011-2012), The International Composers’ Award at the Esoterics’ POLYPHONOS (2012), The Vancouver Mayor’s Arts Awards for Emerging Artist in Music (2011), Brehm Prize in Choral Music (2016), as well as numerous grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, and BC Arts Council. He also received second prize at the 2008 Vancouver Bach Choir’s national Competition for Large Choir Works for his work “Erroneous Kudos,” and first prize for his work “Black Riders” at the 2009 Guelph Chamber Choir’s national competition. His music and interviews are broadcast regularly and have been heard on CBC radio one, CBC radio two (Canada), NPR, South Carolina Public Radio, WRTI and WQXR. Iman Habibi is an associate composer of the Canadian Music Centre, and is represented by SOCAN in Canada.
~~~~~~~~~~
Award-winning contemporary composer and singer/songwriter Carmen Braden is a dynamic force in the world of new music, hailing proudly from Yellowknife NWT. Carmen is a “multi-talented artist” (BK on the Scene) recognized as an “acoustic ambassador of the Canadian Subarctic” (Musicworks). She has played intimate theatres and main stage folk festivals, and smoothly jumps between genres of songwriting and composing. Her contemporary classical compositions are nationally recognized, with commissions and performances by world class ensembles and performers including the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, James Ehnes and the Canadian Chamber Choir. Carmen has released three studio albums: Seed Songs (2021), Songs of the Invisible Summer Stars (2019) and Ravens (2017). Carmen has been nationally recognized, winning the Western Canadian Music Award for Classical Composer of the Year in both 2020 and 2019. Additional nominations include Classical Album of the Year 2020 (East Coast Music Award – Songs of the Invisible Summer Stars), Classical Artist of the Year (WCMA 2019), and Classical Composition of the Year (WCMA 2017).
Carmen has been called “a talented, bold musician” (Up Here Magazine). About her music: “a spacious and rich journey into how we as humans internalize and connect to our environment (The Sound Cafe – for Seed Songs). “Braden’s music is clear and it is bright...this recording is captured psychogeography.” (Whole Note – for Songs of the Invisible Summer Stars); and her songwriting is “quirky and clever...a la Joni Mitchell” (The WholeNote – for Ravens). As an educator, Carmen regularly gives workshops, individual instruction, guest lectures and collaboration facilitation ranging from elementary-level to university graduate level, both online and in-person. Carmen has most recently begun work as a producer in Yellowknife, and a presenter of unusual music concerts including Longshadow Music Festival.
~~~~~~~~~~
Composer Karen Sunabacka often finds inspiration from puzzles, stories and her Métis and mixed European heritage. She has deep roots in the Red River Settlement (what is now known as Manitoba, Canada) and feels a strong connection to the Métis, Scottish, Swedish and Finnish cultures. This mix of cultural connections sometimes creates conflicts and new perspectives which she finds both interesting and challenging. Her music reflects this cultural mix through the exploration of the sounds and stories of the Canadian prairies.
She often collaborates with her Métis mother, Joyce Clouston, who is a writer, an Indigenous Cultural Carrier, and social worker. Together they have completed numerous works that explore family stories and the intersections of Indigenous -Settler relations and philosophies. Pieces they have completed include: Mama’s Painting: Louis Riel’s Dream for piano quartet (2015), I Wasn’t Meant for This for viola d’amore and percussion (2019), English Horn Concerto: In Memory of Beverly Clouston (2019) …our inner lives were entwined…embroidered with the same pattern for solo piano (2021) and The Place Where the Creator Rests (2022) for piano trio and spoken voices.
Karen’s compositions have been commissioned and premiered by the Montreal Metropolitan Orchestra, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, the Regina Symphony Orchestra, Park Sounds, Andromeda Trio, the Indigo Trio, and many other ensembles and solo artists. Recent commissions include The Place Where the Creator Rests (2022) for Piano trio and spoken voices commissioned and premiered by the Andromeda Trio; A Reel Watlz (2022) for string trio, commissioned and premiered by the Indigo Trio, Gloria (2020) for SATB choir commissioned and premiered by the Winnipeg Singers; a piece for viola and cello titled Ripples (2019) commissioned, recorded and premiered by Ames Asbell and Karla Hamelin based at Texas State University; and Wandering (2020) for solo bass clarinet and premiered by Kathryn Ladano during an online NUMUS concert.
Inspired by the natural beauty of Manitoba winters she wrote #DryColdConversations (2018) which was commissioned and premiered for the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. The Montreal Metropolitan Orchestra premiered her work “The Prairies” which was part of a bigger piece called De Natura Sonorum (2017), a commissioned work with four other composers to celebrate 150 years of Confederation. De Natura Sonorum was nominated in Québec’s 21st Prix Opus in the category Création de l’année (composition of the year). In 2009 she won the CMC Prairie Region Emerging Composers’ Competition with her work And There Was a Great Calm about a Prairie storm, which was premiered by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.
In demand as a composer, Karen enjoys the challenge of finding a balance between teaching, composing, performing, and keeping up with her favourite science fiction and fantasy series. Karen is an Associate Professor of Music at Conrad Grebel University College at the University of Waterloo.
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Juno nominated Cris Derksen is an Internationally respected Indigenous Cellist and Composer. In a world where almost everything — people, music, cultures — get labelled and slotted into simple categories, Cris Derksen represents a challenge. Originally from Northern Alberta she comes from a line of chiefs from NorthTall Cree Reserve on her father’s side and a line of strong Mennonite homesteaders on her mother’s. Derksen braids the traditional and contemporary, weaving her classical background and her Indigenous ancestry together with new school electronics to create genre-defying music.
As composer Derksen has a foot in many worlds, 2020 Compositions include: Napi and the Rocks -A Symphonic story commissioned by the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Same Wave- An 8 Part Choral Piece, commissioned by Camerata Nova Choir, The Triumph of the Euro-Christ an 8 part choral piece commissioned by the Art Gallery of Ontario. 2019 compositions include: Maada’ookii Songlines- a Mass Choral piece for 250 singers Commissioned by Luminato Festival. Rebellion - a short symphonic piece commissioned by the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra. Iron Peggy - a Theatre piece commissioned by the Vancouver Children’s Festival. A new performance art piece commissioned by the National Art Gallery of Canada, Ikumagiialit. 2018 works include: DORA Award for Best Sound Design for Theatre 2018; Kiinalik: these sharp tools, TIFF Premier Biidaaban (the dawn comes) Short Animation Film by Amanda Strong, Ka:hawai Dance Company production of BloodTides, Kamloopa Theatre production, 2018 Banff Centre for the Arts String Quartet Residency White Mans Cattle And Wood Quintet International 5 bucks per head.
As a performer Derksen performs Nationally and Internationally solo and with some of Canada’s Finest Including; Tanya Tagaq, Buffy Sainte Marie, Naomi Klein, and Leanne Simpson to name a few. Recent destinations include Hong Kong, Australia, Mongolia, Sweden, and a whole lot of Canada; the place Derksen refers to as home.
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With music described as “breathtaking” (Kitchenter-Waterloo Record), “imaginative and expressive” (The National Post), “a pulse-pounding barrage on the senses” (The Globe and Mail), and “Bartok on steroids” (Birmingham News), Kelly-Marie Murphy’s voice is well known on the Canadian music scene. She has created a number of memorable works for some of Canada’s leading performers and ensembles, including the Toronto, Winnipeg, and Vancouver Symphony Orchestras, The Gryphon Trio, James Campbell, Shauna Rolston, the Cecelia and Afiara String Quartets and Judy Loman.
In addition to many academic scholarships awarded in Canada and England, Dr. Murphy has also won prizes for her music, dating back to 1992. Her career was launched when she won first prize and the People’s Choice Award at the CBC Young Composer’s Competition in 1994 (string quartet category). Since then, Dr. Murphy’s music has been performed around the world by outstanding soloists and ensembles, and has had radio broadcasts in over 22 countries. Her music has been interpreted by renowned conductors such as Sir Andrew Davis, David Brophy, Bramwell Tovey and Mario Bernardi, and has been heard in iconic concert halls such as Carnegie Hall in New York and the Mozarteum in Salzburg.
Kelly-Marie Murphy was born on a NATO base in Sardegna Italy and grew up on Canadian Armed Forces bases all across Canada. She began her studies in composition at the University of Calgary with William Jordan and Allen Bell and later received a Ph. D in composition from the University of Leeds, England, where she studied with Philip Wilby. After living and working for many years in Washington, D.C. are where she was designated “an alien of extraordinary ability” by the US Immigration and Naturalization Service, she is now based in Ottawa.
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