 WALTMANSEARLY AND CONTEMPORARY MUSIC |
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AARON GERVAIS (CA) About my musical ideas: "Musicians today face a new kind of challenge: for the first time, the major problem for listeners is not access to music, but organizing the enormous quantity of music that surrounds us. This means that new works have to do more than just be good (if there is such a thing as a good work); they must find a place within communities of listeners and their rituals. For this reason, a lot of my work addresses issues of how music is used, who uses it and where, and how we separate ourselves from other groups that use music differently. This has led me to write music that, among other things, uses fragmented musical materials and forms, employs quotations and humour, and often juxtaposes different aesthetic ideas or clichés." BIOGRAPHY: Composer Aaron Gervais (Edmonton, Canada,1980) studied composition at the University of Toronto (B.Mus Honours 2005) and the University of California at San Diego (MA 2007), in addition to further studies at the Koninklijk Conservatorium in the Hague (composition) and in Havana (Cuban folkloric percussion). Teachers include Chan Ka Nin, Chinary Ung, Philippe Manoury, and Martijn Padding, as well as masterclasses with composers such as Gilles Tremblay, Mario Davidovsky, Denys Bouliane, François Paris, and Helmut Lachenmann. Aaron has had performances and commissions from ensembles in several countries, including the Nieuw Ensemble, the Ensemble contemporain de Montreal, the Nouvel ensemble moderne, the University of Alberta's Academy String Orchestra, Tapestry New Opera Works, Toca Loca, Continuum, the Knights Orchestra, and the Arditti Quartet. His music has been performed in Canada, the USA, Cuba, Germany, and the Netherlands. Radio broadcasts include CBC Radio 2, Radio-Canada, and Toronto's CIUT. Aaron's music ranges from chamber, opera, and orchestral works, to amplified pieces for non-traditional venues and 30-second miniatures. It has been presented in festivals such as Amsterdam's Gaudeamus Music Week, Toronto's New Wave Festival, and New York's MATA Festival. He was additionally selected as a representative for Canada in the 2008 World Music Days in Lithuania. Furthermore, one of his solo pieces, Flüsse-Einflüsse, was chosen as a required exam piece for the graduating accordion students at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik, Trossingen in 2006. Aaron has received various awards and grants, including four prizes in Canada's SOCAN Young Composers' Competition (2004, 2006, 2008), and numerous residency, commissioning, travel, and study grants. www.aarongervais.com |
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