Last Thursday I was up in Kelowna for the Okanagan Symphony readings of seven works by young composers, all members of the Okanagan Youth Orchestra, mentored by Jennifer Butler. CMC BC was able to sponsor this workshop thanks to a grant from the Deux Mille Foundation. It was deeply rewarding to hear the highly original works created by students from Grade 8 – 12, many of whom had never written for orchestra before, some composing for the first time, including William Li, Julian Cucinschi, Amina Hakam, Owen McNeill, Xilo Rader, Nicholas Covaser, and Haylie Lundgren.

 

When I thought about all the organization and effort that had gone into making this workshop possible for these brilliantly creative students, all of the adults that had devoted time, effort and money to make it possible — the volunteers and donors of the orchestra, the Province of BC, the city of Kelowna, the musicians, the conductor, Jennifer Butler, the parents and teachers supporting these students — I realized that the reason we are all involved in these programs is because we are committed to creating a better world. A more peaceful, tolerant, creative future. A world in which originality and creativity is fostered and celebrated. And I left full of hope that these students might well help us get there.

 

On Saturday I was in Victoria for the Victoria Symphony’s Hugh Davidson Readings, conducted by Yariv Aloni and curated by Rodney Sharman, Victoria Symphony’s Composer in Residence. Featured composers included Simon Rasmussen, a young alumnus of CMC BC’s very first Jean Coulthard String Quartet Readings. as well as Glenn Sutherland, Leslie Opatril, David Foley, Taras Luka, Ashton Latimer, Joanne S. Na, recipient (below) of this year’s CMC BC Ann Southam prize, Nicholas Marriott, Christian Sutton, and Brad Howland.

 

 

And on Monday, I joined the composition class and faculty at UBC School of Music for the final composition concert of the school year, to present three scholarships. The new $2500 Adaskin Prize for a graduate student of composition is made possible by an endowment funded by Dorothea Adaskin, Murray’s widow, and was awarded to Mark Marinic. The $1500 Pentland Prize, sponsored by Dr. Geoffrey Newman, who teaches at the UBC Sauder School of Business and founded the Vanclassical Music website — https://www.vanclassicalmusic.com/, was awarded to Hope Salmonson. The $1,000 Southam Prize, sponsored by the Martha Lou Henley Foundation was awarded to Joanne Na. Each year CMC BC’s scholarships rotate between the three BC universities with graduate programs in composition. Next year, the scholarships will be awarded to composition students at the University of Victoria.

 

 

At the end of the concert, featuring works by Eora Umemura, Hope Salmonson, Ryan Swaryandana, Jimuel Dave Dagta, and Jacqueline Boudin, the 2023-2024 composition cohort at UBC gathered onstage with faculty for a year-end photo.