Canadian Music Centre - Prairie Region - Composer Database

Born in Iassy, Romania, in 1942, in a family of musicians, the parents both concert pianists, the father, Radu Constantinescu being the founder of the "Moldova" Philharmonic Orchestra and Opera, Yleesh Constant holds his M.A. in music from the University of Bucharest. He was Principal Cello with the National Radio-Television Symphony Orchestra of Romania, cello and piano soloist in Concerts and Chamber music Recitals, and he has been touring as soloist and teaching in many countries. His works in composition include instrumental music, chamber music and orchestra as well as didactical works, The Method of Thumb practice for Cello in three Books and other Etudes.

Gyula Csapó is one of the most prominent of the composers who came out of the composition class (1983-87) of the late Morton Feldman. He is also a protégé of the late John Cage, upon whose recommendation ("I admire his work... He would very much enliven the musical life of whatever city in which he lives, and those to which he would go") he came to Canada in 1990 as a Permanent Resident. Csapó is Assistant Professor of Composition and Music Theory at the Department of Music, University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, and Artistic Co-director of the fledgling annual Saskatoon New Music Festival he helped to establish.

Jason Cullimore was born in Regina, Saskatchewan. As a child Jason took six years of piano and organ performance lessons and played flute in his school band (after achieving the only perfect score ever earned in the school board’s aptitude test). His early interests included sciences as much as music and the arts, however, and he went on to earn his B.Sc. in Biology (with honors) from Queen’s University.

Neil Currie is a composer, pianist, conductor, and lecturer who obtained Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in Experimental and Clinical Psychology before obtaining his Doctorate in Musical Arts from University of British Columbia in Canada in 1999.

He studied with Peter Sculthorpe at the University of Sydney and has completed two composer residencies with symphony orchestras in Adelaide and Saskatoon (Canada). His commissions include those from London guitarist John Williams and organist Simon Preston. His music appears on nine commercial CDs, including Passionscape, which is devoted entirely to his orchestral music and Rollin' Down #1, which netted Land's End Chamber Ensemble (Calgary) a Western Canada Music award for best classical recording in 2006.

David Dahlgren was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba on the 18th of August,

1947 He obtained a B. Mus. in composition from the University of Manitoba and a B. Ed. from the University of Winnipeg. After teaching for a number of years he continued his studies in composition at the University of Leeds.

Brent Dutton is a musician of diverse interests and pursuits. He has an amalgam of careers as composer, performer, teacher, arranger and conductor. His musical studies began at age nine in his native Canada. He began composing at age ten. He attended the Royal Conservatory of Music while still in highschool and received his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.
Dutton has an extensive list of publications and performances in North America and abroad. He has published over 50 works for a wide array of instruments and ensembles from solo viola to full symphony orchestra. His music has been recorded by Deutsche Grammaphone, The Canadian Broadcasting Corp., Crystal Records, Kanda Records, Good Vibrations Records and PBS.

DAVID KAPLAN (b. 1923) was a Professor of Music at the University of Saskatchewan. Besides his composing and teaching activities, he also performed and conducted, having been the principal conductor of the Saskatoon Symphony, 1962-1972. His compositions ran the full gamut of musical genres, with the exception of opera and electroacoustic music.

David Kaplan passed away in 2015 at the age of 91.

Playful and witty, passionate and tuneful, rhythmic, tender and moving - all describe the music of David Leroy McIntyre. Since the 1970s he has created an impressive body of concert, pedagogical, and church music that continues to be received enthusiastically by performers and audiences alike. Whether music for solo piano or organ, voice or chorus, chamber ensemble or full orchestra, it is a music that stirs deep emotion, hope and zest for life.

Born in Cap-Santé, near Quebec City, ALAIN PERRON studied oboe and composition in Trois-Rivières and Quebec City. He obtained his Master Degree in 1989 at Laval University under the supervision of François Morel. In 1993 he received two prestigious grants, one from SSHRC (Canada) and one from FCAR (Québec), to study with the renowned composer and conductor Krzysztof Penderecki at the Academy of Music in Cracow, Poland, where he received his doctorate in 1996.

aura Pettigrew received her Masters and Bachelor of Music in Composition from the University of Regina. studying with Dr. Tom Schudel. Laura is an Associate Composer of the Canadian Music Centre, member of the Canadian League Composers, SOCAN, International Women’s Brass Conference and member/Prairie representative of Association Canadian Women Composers. She is an internationally published composer and musician who has received numerous commissions and awards for her works and accomplishments. As a true romantic her works feature lush melodies, rich harmonies as she expresses the innermost feelings of her soul evoking emotion in the audience.

DR. MONTE KEENE PISHNY-FLOYD was born in Oklahoma City in 1941. At six, he wrote his first composition. He attended Oklahoma City elementary and secondary schools, Oklahoma City University (B.Mus.,1964), University of Oklahoma (M.Mus., 1965) and Eastman School of Music (Ph.D. in composition, 1972).

DR. THOMAS SCHUDEL was born in 1937 in Defiance, Ohio, moved to Canada in 1964 and became a Canadian citizen in 1974. His wife Jane is a flutist and piccolo performer with the Regina Symphony. Their daughter Emily is a double bass performer and their son Michael is a jazz guitarist.
Schudel received his Bachelor and Master degrees at Ohio State University studying composition with Dr. Marshall Barnes. His Doctor of Musical Arts degree was awarded by the University of Michigan where he studied composition with Prof. Ross Lee Finney and Dr. Leslie Bassett. He joined the faculty of the Department of Music, University of Regina in 1964 and teaches composition, harmony, counterpoint and analysis classes.

Jonathan Ward is a composer, performer and educator who has contributed to the musical life of Regina since 1989. In the position of Principal Viola with the Regina Symphony Orchestra and the Regina Symphony Chamber Players, he has performed a vast quantity of orchestral and chamber music, including many contemporary Canadian compositions. This experience has allowed him to become familiar with various compositional techniques ranging from the eighteenth century to the present. The self-taught composer has used this knowledge to create a body of work that includes Starry Night for string orchestra and Rincon Overture for orchestra, which have both been performed recently by the Regina Symphony Orchestra