Meet the artists of Composer's Kitchen 2022

Meet the artists of Composer’s Kitchen 2022!

The Composer's Kitchen call for applicants created a lot of excitement this year, and we had to make some heartbreaking choices given the quantity and particularly high quality of submissions, a sign of a promising new generation of music creators. It is with great pleasure that we unveil the participants today:

Composers Christina Volpini, Anders Hannevold, James Lowrie and Elise MacMillan will join Quatuor Bozzini and mentors Cassandra Miller and Nils Henrik Asheim in April 2022 for a residency beginning in Oslo as part of an international partnership between Quatuor Bozzini and nyMusikk Norge.

Christina Volpini is a Hamilton-/Toronto-based composer whose music has been described as "richly textural, physical, and affecting" (Martin Arnold), "very nuanced, rustling and whispering" (Neomemoire), and "focused intently on the subtle sounds that fall between the cracks." (Ludwig Van Toronto). Her music manifests affective timbral and temporal spaces that gradually unfold, opening into the experience of a fragile, breathing present. Imbued with an aqueous, ephemeral character, her work explores subtle variation in intonation, found objects, instrumental textures, and liminal spaces. She develops pieces through a process of creative discovery with other artists, crafting works for specific spaces and performers.

"The opportunity to participate in this workshop truly represents a significant milestone in my career as a composer. Quatuor Bozzini’s body of work has played an important role in my practice, shaping my musical sensibilities. They have championed composers who have been profound influences. The members of the quartet truly stand among the most highly regarded musicians in Canada, and they are uniquely skilled in articulating the music I wish to create. I am eager to have my work presented abroad as part of this program, bringing my music to an entirely new audience. It will be an incredible privilege to receive feedback from and build relationships with the quartet, participating composers, and mentors, and I am certain that this program will have a significant impact on my career today and for years to come. " - Christina Volpini

Anders Hannevold is a composer of contemporary music, a classical pianist, and a music pedagogue, currently residing in Bergen, Norway. He studied composition (MA, BA) at the Grieg Academy with Dániel Péter Biró. He also studied Japanese aesthetics, philosophy, folk and contemporary music at Kyoto City University of the Arts with Noriko Nakamura, and classical piano at Barratt Due Institute of Music with Einar Steen-Nøkleberg. As a pianist, Anders has been working freelance for more than the 15 years. He has performed as a concert pianist, soloist, and in chamber groups with both classical and contemporary music. Anders is also a sought-after accompanist.

"A central theme in my compositional process is the intertwining of conceptual and sounding material. I am taken with exploring the edges of musical concepts, with a special interest in semiotics and semiosis. Currently I am focusing on the connection between the intra- and extramusical, and how this connects to score-writing.

Like Kagel, I want the musical structure of the work to be integrated into the concept, rather than for it to be choreographed into the work. In other words - to 'be' the concept, instead of 'being about' the concept. The music is often built on multiple pillars, enabling it to be perceived from multiple angles. One such pillar could for instance be the perceptional breaking point for humans between polyphony and cacophonous masses."
- Anders Hannevold

James Lowrie's music looks to make serious things funny and funny things serious. He is interested in "iconic music material," and finding new ways to present familiar sounds. Often, he takes harmony from pop’s past and present as a starting point, while on the lookout for musical specificity. James is interested in what is expected of a composer when asked to write a piece, and of a piece when it is asked to be written by a composer. Can the composer, performer, audience, and music all find new ways to get along?James has also worked as a stand up comedian. Careful sleuthing around Youtube might even unearth a few of his performances in this capacity.

"For this string quartet, I’m interested in exploring the audience/ performer/composer dynamic without recourse to narrative or theatricality. A string quartet is one of the most iconic instrumental ensembles and comes with a tremendous amount of baggage. How can I dive into this baggage and unpack it a little bit? I’m going to unfold those musical garments and see if I can’t find some new ways to put them on.

It certainly helps to be working with the Bozzini Quartet, who are unlike any other quartet in the world. As well as being world-class musicians, their curation of 21st century music through their collaborations has introduced me to many of my favourite composers, Cassandra Miller being high on that list. I also look forward to working with Nils Henrik Asheim. " - James Lowrie

Violonist and composer Elise Macmillan composes and improvises with strings and live processing. Since moving to Norway in 2015 to play Hardanger Fiddle, her work has been presented at by nyMusikk Bergen; Land, Kansas City; the Embassy of Foreign Artists, Geneva; in Oslo at Atelier Nord, Løvens Hule, Memphis, Destiny’s, KAFÉ HÆRVERK and Kunstnernes Hus; IRL, Brooklyn NY; Landmark at Bergen Kunsthall and Shedhalle, Zurich. Releases include Night Blooming Planet, Felix Onyx (LA), Fog Net Hotline, Laup (Oslo) with upcoming projects on Breton Cassette (Oslo) and Spacetime Tapes (Chicago). She was recently a musician in residence at the Embassy of Foreign Artists in Geneva and guest composer at EMS Elektronmusikstudion, Stockholm.

"My music and sound installations begin as memories of acoustic spaces. I undo and unravel familiar sounds in search of varied timbres, textures, and patterns. A recent multichannel sound installation, LOSSY (2021) draws attention to talkative ghosts of the everyday and the loss that occurs in language, recording, and symbolic communication. Overhead directional speaker sculptures hang from the ceiling. Voicemail messages, whispering, ambient washes, choral fugues, and passing music from car stereos form overlapping sound bubbles. " - Elise Macmillan

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Creation residencies, commissions, recordings, multidisciplinary projects, creation workshops (via the Composer's Kitchen, the Bozzini Lab, the Performer's Kitchen), educational workshops in primary and secondary schools, CEGEPs as well as universities, all benefit from this financial support.

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