News
2022
November 28
The Violin Channel will livestream the Azrieli Music Prizes Gala Concert from October 20 today at 7pm EST.
November 19
It’s been over 10 years since the Victoria Symphony patiently read through my first orchestral attempts at the Hugh Davidson Reading Sessions. I’m so happy to be back to work with them professionally this week. A big thank you to everybody in the orchestra! The concert was fabulous!
Thank you to Alexander Varty for the great program notes. Maestro Giuseppe Pietraroia, Matthew White, Matthew Baird, Rodney Sharman… thank you!
October 21
The Azrieli Prize Gala Concert with works by Aharon Harlap, Iman Habibi, and me (Birds Calling… from the Canada in You) will be available on Medici.TV for the next 90 days.
October 20
So grateful for the entire year of support and encouragement from the Azrieli Music Prizes – AMP to compose my concerto for sho, sheng/suona and orchestra. BIG thanks to Jason Van Eyk and everyone at the The Azrieli Foundation! Naomi Sato, Zhongxi Wu, Orchestre Métropolitain, and Alexandre Bloch… you were all fantastic!
Congratulations to Aharon Harlap and Iman Habibi, my fellow AMP laureates. Sharon Azrieli… you are an angel. Thank you to everyone who came to see the show both in person and online. What a warm and enthusiastic response. Big thank you to the numerous friends, supporters and mentors who helped and encouraged me put ink to paper… Prof Richard Rijnvos, Dr James Weeks, Andrew James Brown, Katie Rife, Vern Griffiths, Ali A. Levesque and Rodney Sharman… I could not have done it without you all. Now flying home with heart full of love and music. Until next time…
October 15
A visit with Issui Sachi Minegishi sensei, ichikenkin master… Beautiful instrument performed by a master in a fabulous wooden hall built for the instrument…
Made possible through the generous support from the Canada Council for the Arts.
#BringingTheArtsToLife
October 11
Chikuzen biwa session with Tahara Junko sensei and Ms Rieko Fujitaka… what a very beautiful instrument.
Made possible through the generous support from the Canada Council for the Arts.
#BringingTheArtsToLife
October 10
Jam-packed sessions with Megumi Masaki these past two weeks meeting and learning from so many fabulous artists… Thank you Sakurai Akiko sensei (Satsuma biwa), Umeya Kichisaburo sensei (tsuzumi), and Kiyoshi Ohira sensei (saz).
Made possible through the generous support from the Canada Council for the Arts.
#BringingTheArtsToLife
October 8
A fabulous collaboration concert between contemporary biwa and saz @U-ma神楽坂. Congratulations Sakurai Akiko sensei and Kiyoshi Ohira sensei. I learned so much…
October 4
Found this great composer towel in Tokyo… So happy to see a woman on it – Tekla Bądarzewska-Baranowska, the composer of The Maiden’s Prayer. Now, if I can be squeezed in somewhere at the bottom below Bach and Beethoven…
September 30
Spent the last 2 days rehearsing Birds Calling… from the Canada in You with Naomi Sato (sho). Looking forward to the premiere in Montreal on October 20.
September 29
It’s been a whirlwind week in Japan with my travel-collaborator Megumi Masaki meeting musicians, ensembles, and composers in Nagoya, Kyoto, Kobe, and Tokyo. Many thanks to Naomi Sato, Takashi Tajima, Ernest Rombout, Yuji Nakagawa, Shingo Matsuura, 黒田鈴尊, Chikage Imai, and Daryl Jamieson. Now onto Tokyo for more concerts and meetings…
Made possible through the generous support from the Canada Council for the Arts.
#BringingTheArtsToLife
September 28
In Winnipeg and Brandon for the Canadian premiere of If Only Raindrops with GroundSwell and Ensemble Télémaque of Marseille. A big thankyou to everyone who made this tour happen at last!
Made possible through the generous support from the Canada Council for the Arts.
#BringingTheArtsToLife
September 18
Photos from the revised Hummingbird Lovers double violin concerto performed by the Turning Point Ensemble conducted by Owen Underhill with soloists Domagoj Ivanovic and Joan Alison Blackman… a big thanks to Steve Denroche! I can really feel the love from an ensemble when members go out of their way to build an instrument just for the performance. Thank you everyone for everything…