Michael Matthews (composer)

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Michael Matthews (born August 28, 1950 in Gander , Newfoundland and Labrador ) is a Canadian conductor , composer and professor at the University of Manitoba .

Life

Matthews was born in Canada in 1950 to American parents. He received his Bachelor of Music from California State University, Northridge in 1975 and his Master of Arts from California State University, Sacramento in 1979 . Until 1982 he studied composition with Larry Austin at the University of North Texas . He finished his studies with a Ph.D. His teachers also include Aurelio de la Vega and Ben Glovinsky (composition) as well as Anshel Brusilow and Lawrence Christianson (conducting).

From 1982 to 1987 he worked at the University of Manitoba. From 1983 to 1985 he worked as an assistant at Mokwon University in Seoul . He then founded the Manitoba Institute for Music Technology and in 1987 became director of the computer music studio there .

He is a founding member of the Thira Ensemble and Artistic Director of Ground Swell . In 1994 he was the first Canadian composer to receive a commission from the International Computer Music Association . He was also resident at the Electronic Music Studio (EMS) in Stockholm and worked at the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) at Stanford University and the Centro Mexicano para la Música y las Artes Sonoras in Morelia, Mexico. In 1999 he took part in the International Bartók Seminar and Festival in Szombathely, Hungary. In 2000 he worked at the Bellagio Center of the Rockefeller Foundation in Italy. From 2002 to 2004 he was composer in residence with the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra (SSO).

His works have been performed around the world, including Away in 2005 , Tear Away at the Festival Internacional Cervantino in Mexico and The Skin of Night at the World Saxophone Congress in Ljubljana in 2006 . In 2005 he conducted the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra for the premiere of his Cello Concerto . Several recordings were made, such as the Symphony No. 1 , conducted by Virko Baley .

Currently (as of 2010) he is working with the German Ensemble Sortisatio , the American pianist Duane Cochran and the Mexican flautist Alejandro Escuer .

Prices

  • 1978: Prize at the Sigma Alpha Iota Composition Contest (Sacramento)
  • 1980: Texas Music Educators' Association Award
  • 1984: Music Inter Alia Prize
  • 1984: Prize at the Premio città di Trieste ( Italy )
  • 1997: Third Prize at du Maurier Arts Ltd New Music Festival Canadian Composers Competition
  • Awards from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Manitoba Arts Council
  • Dr. John M. Bowman Memorial Winnipeg Rh Institute Foundation Award

Discography (selection)

  • 1994: The First Sea
  • 1995: Between the Wings of The Earth
  • 1996: Of Time and Sky
  • 1997: Scattered Mirrors
  • 1997: In Emptiness, Over Emptiness
  • 2001: Postlude

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Matthews, Michael
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian composer and conductor
DATE OF BIRTH August 28, 1950
PLACE OF BIRTH Gander