Susan Alcorn’s Vibrant Deviations Susan Alcorn moves through life in methodical motion, a few beats slower than the usual rapid flow. At the 2020 edition of Toronto’s Women From Space festival, held in mid March, the pedal steel guitarist’s entrancing performance made the Burdock Tavern feel as if clocks had frozen[...] Read more

Featured Article Jesse Locke Issue 137

Another Timbre’s Canadian Composers Series “I earn my living as a sound recordist on TV programs,” Simon Reynell relates. “I don’t put creative energies into that, but it’s well paid, so I don’t have to work more than an average of six days a month, which allows me to spend most of my time on the[...] Read more

Sound Notes Julian Cowley Issue 128

Glenn Buhr FULL-TEXT AVAILABLE IN PRINT EDITION ONLY   Definitions of personal style don’t get any clearer with life experience. This becomes obvious during my interview with Canadian composer and pianist Glenn Buhr. It also becomes clear however, that personal style[...] Read more

In the Works Gloria Lipski Issue 115

Colin Stetson's Sound Story Stories in which the protagonist blossoms, finds themselves, or rediscovers their roots appear everywhere. Their ubiquity makes it awfully tempting to replicate this narrative when telling the story of a solo artist who has arrived at a uniquely focused sound world. Yet sometimes it’s more[...] Read more

Featured Article Nick Storring Issue 116

Gregory Oh On the first Sunday in March 2011, at the Betty Oliphant Theatre in Toronto, Gregory Oh performed in a concert featuring the works of British composer Jonathan Harvey. Oh wore a grey-collared shirt and black pants. His Fluevog shoes were shiny black with aqua laces, which even under his[...] Read more

Featured Article Matthew Pioro Issue 110

Sam Shalabi and the Evolution of a Global Aesthetic Sam Shalabi’s insightful musical take on the world can provoke both discomfort and laughter. On his numerous solo albums, he meshes guitar, oud, and field recordings into an electroacoustic collage. He leads a wide variety of small and midsize groups that encompass a who’s who of[...] Read more

Featured Article Lawrence Joseph Issue 130

Ocean Bug and Bird Songs BORN CONFUSED. FLY AT LIGHT. Tonight you June bugs pelt my office window in a relentless barrage—desperate wings fanning air that will not hold and tap-tap-tap-tap-tap on the glass. I turn off the lights, sneak outside, guide you through the yard by the glow of my phone. A conductor of[...] Read more

Sonic Geography Darcy Spidle Issue 125

Artificiel’s "Three Pieces With Titles" “I had never seen such new things before. I didn’t even know what a new object could be,” the poet and art critic André Salmon wrote, after visiting the studio of Pablo Picasso in the spring of 1914. Of particular interest to Salmon was Guitar, a wall-mounted 3-D[...] Read more

Visions of sound Greg J. Smith Issue 128

Los Arroyos in Stereo A springtime hike through the hills of the Sierra Nevada, Andalucía, Spain. I follow my guide, Neftali, scrabbling up switchbacks, sweat from the raw sun cooling in the alpine breeze swishing my neck.   The hike has been filled with talk. Neftali pointing out species[...] Read more

Sonic Geography J. R. McConvey

Meet the Winners of the 2024 Musicworks Electronic Music Composition Contest TORONTO, CANADA, May 29, 2025:   Musicworks is pleased to announce that Lyon-based composer Rocío Cano Valiño (photo by © Deni Ríos) has won first prize in the 2024 Musicworks Electronic Music Composition Contest for her stereo electroacoustic[...] Read more

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