This piece was inspired by a quote from Solar Storms – one of Linda Hogan’s novels: “tears have a purpose, they are what we carry of the ocean, and perhaps we must become the sea, give ourselves to it, if we are to be transformed.” One of the greatest living poets, Hogan can in one phrase dissolve the barriers...
I was going through my Facebook notifications in November 2018, when I noticed that Frank Wallace had come through a difficult year of health issues. Through Frank’s postings over the years, I noted that we shared similar interests, like writing for guitar and voice, or being inspired by medieval music, so I was...
Classical piano competition for our young pianists in the GTA and only one uniquely remarkable pianist, in each category, may claim to be a Phoenix. Come and listen to the sound of our future virtuoso piano players. If not by family ties, come as a fan. They will enjoy having you!
L’année 2017 en est une de célébrations pour le Canada qui fête le 150e anniversaire de sa confédération.
Saint-Hyacinthe le soulignera en grand le 18 novembre, alors qu’un concert rendant hommage aux plus belles compositions canadiennes sera proposé à la cathédrale.
Editing creates more and more sense out of a work or text. Everything in a piece is there for more than one reason; a chord might support the melody and develop a counter melody. An inner voice might give breathing room to the main tune but add a small, unexpected surprise to the texture.
I am thinking about the ways we teach music in private studios. Often we quickly learn how to read before proceeding to learn pieces from a graded collection. The thinking is that works of a similar level of difficulty are nice when grouped together. From an early age we study varied repertoire because that makes...
The next set of blog posts will reflect a recent work I have composed. Each song from the project will be presented in turn. Because singing sends thoughts into the soul of another person, the choice of text is vital. I look for texts that reflect my notion of the sacred: the wonder of life, love of children, and...
I was thinking about Narciso Yepes going blind at the end of his career and how he must have learned music differently. He would have needed to memorize chunks of it after first reading and this reading would have been by looking at the score with a large magnifier. Doing he would have registered the music as...
