Aaron Gervais is composer of new classical/avant-garde music, born in Edmonton, Canada, and represented by Art Music Promotion. He received a Bachelor of Music with Honours from the University of Toronto, and a Master’s degree from the University of California at San Diego. He has also pursued studies at the Koninklijk Conservatorium in the Hague, Netherlands. Aaron’s teachers have included Chan Ka Nin (CA), Chinary Ung (US), Philippe Manoury (FR), and Martijn Padding (NL), and he has also participated in masterclasses with renowned composers from around the world. Prior to studying composition, Aaron studied jazz drumming and Cuban folkloric percussion, including a summer of private study in Havana in 2002.

Aaron’s music has been performed by major ensembles in several countries, including the Nieuw Ensemble (NL), orkest de ereprijs (NL), the Ensemble contemporain de Montreal (CA), the Nouvel ensemble moderne (CA), Tapestry New Opera Works (CA), Toca Loca (CA), Continuum (CA), the Knights Orchestra (US), the London Sinfonietta (UK), and the Arditti Quartet (UK). His music has been broadcast on CBC Radio/Radio-Canada.

Prominent festivals have presented Aaron’s work, including Amsterdam’s prestigious Gaudeamus Music Week; Toronto’s New Wave, soundaXis, and SHIFT festivals; Aberdeen’s Sound Festival; and New York’s MATA Festival. He was additionally selected as a representative for Canada in the 2008 World Music Days in Lithuania. 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 was selected as the winner of the orkest de ereprijs’s International Young Composers Competition in the Netherlands in 2009. He has also received various other awards and grants, including an ASCAP Gould Award (2010), six prizes in Canada’s SOCAN Awards for Young Composers (2010, 2009, 2008, 2006, 2004, 2004), a Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Emerging Artist Award (2008), a SOCAN residency grant (2006), and numerous commissioning, travel, project, and study grants.

Long-term musical directions in Aaron’s composing include a focus on rhythm and time, a preoccupation with the social and cultural factors that influence listening and taste, an interest in found materials, an exploration of what in fact constitutes creativity, and a fascination with the ways that social technologies are changing listening habits, to name a few. His music incorporates a wide range of palettes, from rich microtonal textures and shimmering timbres to bright chipper counterpoint, upbeat rhythmic drive, blunt musical gestures, and light-hearted humour.

This is a reprint of the first edition of my e-mail newsletter.

For some time I’ve had a newsletter signup form on my website but this is the first time I’m actually sending a newsletter out!

I plan on doing this 2–3 times per year. For more frequent info, see my website or Twitter. Unsubscribe link at the bottom.

Contents

• Upcoming Concert: Halo Ballet Première – 24 Oct 2010 – Toronto
• Upcoming Concert: Hockey Story – 20 Jan 2011 – San Diego
• Oksana G. Opera Development Workshop
• Results of Experiment: Can I Avoid Choosing the Music I Listen to?
• Help Me Help You: Collaborative Audience Building

(more…)

I’m please to announce that I was awarded honorable mention in this year’s Morton Gould Awards. Founded in 1979, the awards are open to composers under 30 who are American citizens, permanent residents, or foreign students in the US. This year, there were 730 entries, making the Morton Gould Awards extremely competitive.

The piece I submitted was Kiss Around the World, commissioned by New Works Calgary for Ensemble Resonance in 2009.

The press release for the awards lists the judges and other recipients. Composer Carolyn Chen, who studied at UCSD with me, was also awarded honorable mention.

I’ve now offi­cially com­pleted my Master’s degree at UC San Diego. The last two years have been a lot of fun, edu­ca­tional, eventful… also really busy! I’m look­ing for­ward to seeing what the future holds. I’ve taken a major pro­fes­sional chal­lenge for the short term by decid­ing against purs­ing a doc­toral degree, at least imme­di­ately. Sev­eral plans are in the works, as well as projects stretch­ing into 2008 and beyond. One of these is that I will be par­tic­i­pat­ing in the Domaine Forget Academy’s pro­fes­sional devel­op­ment ses­sion in Quebec this summer, from 12–25 August. More details on other projects as they become avail­able.