In honour of the Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival, we’re pleased to feature Toronto composer Kevin Lau.  Piece: Between the Earth and Forever (2020) From the Composer: Between the Earth and Forever is, first and foremost, a work inspired by space exploration, and the intrepid explorers who dare venture beyond the boundaries of our planet,…  Read More

We’re pleased to be featuring composer Bruce A. Russell this February as part of Black History Month. Check in for deep dives on works specially chosen by him. Piece: Companion, for two pianos (2019) Watch: Companion, Bruce A. Russell from Arraymusic on Vimeo. From the Composer: Companion (2019) is written for two pianos and is…  Read More

We’re pleased to be featuring composer Bruce A. Russell this February as part of Black History Month. Check in for deep dives on works specially chosen by him. Piece: Kalimba Canon, for two alto kalimbas (1999) From the Composer: Kalimba Canon (1999) is written for two alto kalimbas. It began as a shorthand sketch in…  Read More

We hope you enjoy this edition of SoundStories, with a deep dive into the music of James Rolfe. Composer Spotlight: James Rolfe “One of our most gifted composers of new concert music.” – Wholenote Magazine Toronto-based composer James Rolfe is among the country’s most gifted composers writing for voice. Soundstreams has had the privilege of commissioning and…  Read More

We hope you enjoy this edition of SoundStories, with a deep dive into the music of Cecilia Livingston. Composer Spotlight: Cecilia Livingston “this vast and curious creative mind” – Wholenote Magazine  We’re pleased to feature Cecilia Livingston in this edition of SoundStories. In the upcoming 2020/21 season, she’ll be composing for 4 voices and instruments…  Read More

We hope you enjoy this edition of SoundStories, with a deep dive into the music of Morton Feldman. Composer Spotlight: Morton Feldman “Art in relation to life is nothing more than a glove turned inside out. It seems to have the same shapes and contours, but it can never be used for the same purpose….  Read More

We hope you enjoy this edition of SoundStories, with a deep dive into the music of Max Richter.  Composer Spotlight: Max Richter One of the classical repertoire’s best-known standards gives birth to a startling new creation: Max Richter’s reinvention of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons violin concertos. Here is violinist Daniel Hope performing ‘The Four Seasons Recomposed –…  Read More

We hope you enjoy this edition of SoundStories, with a deep dive into the music of Christopher Mayo. “I’m so grateful to have been given the opportunity to participate in the Seven Deadly Sins project with Soundstreams in 2019. It was hugely inspirational to see how all the artists involved had such diverse and varied approaches to the subject matter. I’m even…  Read More

We hope you enjoy this edition of SoundStories, with a deep dive into Ana Sokolović, recent Juno award winner for the classical composition of the year. Composer Spotlight: Ana Sokolović Composer Ana Sokolović was born in Belgrade and is now a professor of composition at the Université de Montréal, where she previously studied under José Evangelista. Her work, often influenced by Balkan asymmetric rhythms, is both rich and…  Read More

(the following is an article from the Winter 2012 edition of Listen Magazine, reprinted with permission) A short history of the people and gestures that made a movement. By Menon Dwarka Minimalism changed the listener’s experience to something much more akin to that of a museumgoer. When a pattern repeats, you have a few moments…  Read More

We hope you enjoy this edition of SoundStories, with a deep dive into the world of Steve Reich. Composer Spotlight: Steve Reich “American composer Steve Reich has strong links to Toronto: 2 original members of the Steve Reich Ensemble – Russell Hartenberger and Bob Becker – were also founding members of Canada’s illustrious percussion ensemble Nexus, famously described by the New…  Read More

by Soundstreams Staff We hope you enjoy this edition of SoundStories, with a deep dive into the music of John Cage. Composer Spotlight: John Cage “History of Western music can be divided into B.C. (Before Cage) and A.C. (After Cage).” – Yoko Ono Cage’s great revolution was removing the composer’s intention from music. This took many…  Read More