 |
James Rolfe | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | James Simon Rolfe |
| Born | 23 July 1967 Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |
| Genres | Contemporary, chamber, orchestral, opera |
| Occupation(s) | Composer |
James Simon Rolfe (born 1961) is a Canadian composer of contemporary music. [1] [2]
|
James Rolfe | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | James Simon Rolfe |
| Born | 23 July 1967 Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |
| Genres | Contemporary, chamber, orchestral, opera |
| Occupation(s) | Composer |
James Simon Rolfe (born 1961) is a Canadian composer of contemporary music. [1] [2]
Rolfe was born in Ottawa, Ontario. He studied composition with John Beckwith at the University of Toronto and Jo Kondo in Japan.
Rolfe was the President [3] of the Canadian League of Composers (2007–11) and has won awards for his music, most recently the 2006 Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music and the 2009 SOCAN Jan V. Matejcek New Classical Music Award. [4] Rolfe lives in Toronto with his wife Juliet Palmer, who is also a composer.
Although Rolfe's chamber, vocal, orchestral, and piano works are widely performed, he has become most noted for his operas. Beatrice Chancy , an opera set in Nova Scotia during the 19th century (libretto by George Elliott Clarke), was produced in 1998 by Toronto's Queen of Puddings Music Theatre Company and was subsequently filmed for television by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in 2000. Rolfe has since composed the children's opera Elijah’s Kite (libretto by Camyar Chai), which explores bullying among children, and was co-produced by Tapestry New Opera Works and the Manhattan School of Music in New York City in 2006; Rosa (libretto by Camyar Chai), produced by Tapestry in Toronto in 2004; Swoon (libretto by Anna Chatterton), produced by the Canadian Opera Company in 2006; Orpheus and Euridice in 2003 (libretto by André Alexis) and Aeneas and Dido in 2007 (libretto by André Alexis). The last two works were both commissioned and produced by Toronto Masque Theatre as companion pieces to Marc-Antoine Charpentier's Descent of Orpheus to the Underworld and Henry Purcell's Dido and Aeneas . In February 2009 Rolfe's opera Inês (with libretto by Paul Bentley) was produced and performed in Toronto by the Queen of Puddings Music Theatre Company. Based on the story of the 14th century Galician Inês de Castro, it featured fado singer Inês Santos as the lead character. Rolfe is currently composing a new opera for the Canadian Opera Company with librettist Anna Chatterton.
Dido and Aeneas is an opera in a prologue and three acts, written by the English Baroque composer Henry Purcell with a libretto by Nahum Tate. The dates of the composition and first performance of the opera are uncertain. It was composed no later than July 1688, and had been performed at Josias Priest's girls' school in London by the end of 1689. Some scholars argue for a date of composition as early as 1683. The story is based on Book IV of Virgil's Aeneid. It recounts the love of Dido, Queen of Carthage, for the Trojan hero Aeneas, and her despair when he abandons her. A monumental work in Baroque opera, Dido and Aeneas is remembered as one of Purcell's foremost theatrical works. It was also Purcell's only true opera, as well as his only all-sung dramatic work. One of the earliest known English operas, it owes much to John Blow's Venus and Adonis, both in structure and in overall effect.
André Alexis is a Canadian writer who grew up in Ottawa and lives in Toronto, Ontario. He has received numerous prizes including the Windham-Campbell Literature Prize.
Louis Applebaum, was a Canadian film score composer, administrator, and conductor.
In Canada, classical music includes a range of musical styles rooted in the traditions of Western or European classical music that European settlers brought to the country from the 17th century and onwards. As well, it includes musical styles brought by other ethnic communities from the 19th century and onwards, such as Indian classical music and Chinese classical music. Since Canada's emergence as a nation in 1867, the country has produced its own composers, musicians and ensembles. As well, it has developed a music infrastructure that includes training institutions, conservatories, performance halls, and a public radio broadcaster, CBC, which programs a moderate amount of Classical music. There is a high level of public interest in classical music and education.
Alexina Diane Louie, is a Canadian composer of contemporary art music. She has composed for various instrumental and vocal combinations in a variety of genres. She has fulfilled a number of commissions, and her works, which have been performed internationally, have earned her a number of awards, including the Order of Canada and two Juno Awards.
Beatrice Chancy is a Canadian chamber opera in four acts composed by James Rolfe. The libretto by George Elliott Clarke is based on his verse play of the same name. The opera was premiered in Toronto on 18 June 1998 by the Queen of Puddings Music Theatre Company with Measha Brueggergosman in the title role.
Linda Catlin Smith is a Canadian composer based out of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2005 she became the second woman to win the Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music.
John Estacio is a contemporary Canadian composer of opera, orchestral and choral music.
Didon (Dido) is a tragédie lyrique in three acts by the composer Niccolò Piccinni with a French-language libretto by Jean-François Marmontel. The opera is based on the story of Dido and Aeneas from Virgil's Aeneid as well as Metastasio's libretto Didone abbandonata. Didon was first performed at Fontainebleau on 16 October 1783 in the presence of the French sovereigns, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. After being remounted at court twice, the opera had its Paris public premiere on 1 December 1783. It proved to be the composer's greatest success and was billed almost every year till 1826, enjoying a total of 250 performances al the Paris Opera. Didon had some influence on Berlioz's opera on the same theme, Les Troyens.
Gareth Patrick Williams is an Irish composer based at Edinburgh College of Art. He was the first composer in residence for Scottish Opera from 2012 to 2015. His work spans from opera and music theatre to chamber music.
Aaron Gervais is a Canadian composer of contemporary classical music who lives in San Francisco.
Dido, Queen of Carthage was an opera in three acts by Stephen Storace. Its English libretto by Prince Hoare was adapted from Metastasio's 1724 libretto, Didone abbandonata, which had been set by many composers. Storace's opera premiered on 23 May 1792 at The King's Theatre in London combined with a performance of his masque, Neptune's Prophecy. The story is based on that of Dido and Aeneas in the fourth book of Virgil's Aeneid. The opera was not a success and was never revived after its original run of performances. The score has been lost.
The Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music is a Canadian contemporary classical music award given to composers in recognition of quality new works of chamber music. Granted annually since 1978, the prize is won through a competition administered by the Canadian Music Centre. Prior to 1991, the competition had been administered by the Canadian Music Council.
Omar Daniel is a Canadian composer and pianist, and an associate professor of composition at the Western University.
Patrick Saint-Denis is a Canadian composer based in Montreal. His works have been performed at music festivals in North America, Europe, and Asia. His composition, Les dits de Victoire, was awarded first prize in the SOCAN young composers competition in 2003 and the Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music in 2004. He also won the SOCAN competition in 2002 for his orchestral work, Le discours aux animaux and received honors for his Berceuse pour enfants perdus for chamber orchestra and female voice in 2003.
As an old form of art in a new country, opera came to Canada relatively late. Although the first composition can be traced back to the seventeenth century it was not until 150 years later that Canadian opera caught up. Canadian opera became especially fashionable on Canada's 1967 centennial year. These celebrations set off an interest in operas among Canadian composers that was never seen before. This interest in opera, among composers and audience alike, is noticeable until today. However, most Canadian operatic works are not known internationally since many of them specifically concern Canadian themes and are small in scale.
New Chamber Opera is a professional opera company located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It specialises in the fields of chamber opera and music theatre, and produces rarely performed works from the Baroque era to the present. It is a member of the Opera and Music Theatre Forum. New Chamber Opera has received financial support from the Arts Council of Great Britain and The National Lottery.
Ana Sokolovic is a Canadian music composer based in Montreal, Quebec, whose contemporary pieces have won several awards in Canada.
Paul Richard Bentley is a British stage, film and television actor, perhaps best known for playing the High Septon in the television series Game of Thrones. He is also a writer.
Dáirine Ní Mheadhra is a cellist, conductor, and founder of the Queen of Puddings Music Theatre.
| General | |
|---|---|
| National libraries | |
| Other | |
