Liann J. Kang’s L’amour pur Composer and vocalist Liann J. Kang’s composition L’amour pur won the Marcelle Deschênes Prize in Electronics Music / Prix Marcelle Deschênes pour la Musique Électronique in the 2025 Musicworks Electronic Music Composition (EMC) Contest. This donor-supported[...] Read more

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Nadah El Shazly’s Music from Invented Places You wouldn’t think ’80s punk rock, traditional vocal jazz, electronica, early-twentieth-century Egyptian pop, Ornette Coleman free jazz, and contemporary experimental music could have much in common or mix well with each other in a song. But they all live together quite amicably[...] Read more

Featured Article Mary Dickie Issue 134

Announcing the Winners of the 2022 Musicworks Electronic Music Composition Contest TORONTO, CANADA, April 20, 2023: Musicworks is thrilled to announce the winners of the 2022 Musicworks Electronic Music Composition Contest.   American composer, sound artist, and educator Leah Reid (left) has won first prize with her composition Reverie. “I am[...] Read more

Sound Notes STAFF

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

Curtis Running Rabbit-Lefthand Ignites the Rhythm of the People Blackfoot Confederacy member Curtis Running Rabbit-Lefthand is the founder and executive artistic director of Indigenous Resilience in Music (IRIM), a collective that supports Indigenous musicians and youth in their learning, performing, recording, and collaborating. The group’s[...] Read more

Sound Notes Kyra Kordoski Issue 136

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

Adam Basanta “I’ve always been interested in perception and apperception,” writes Montreal-based composer Adam Basanta in a recent e-mail correspondence. “This has led me, as a musician and composer, to centre my work on listening as a perceptual and psychological experience.[...] Read more

Sound Bite Nick Storring Issue 111

Giorgio Magnanensi in the Sonic Playground Admirers of Giorgio Magnanensi—composer, conductor, teacher, and the artistic director of Vancouver New Music Society—tend to be lavish in their praise of him. “Giorgio is singularly the best conductor of modern music, period,” says composer and Capilano University[...] Read more

Featured Article Nancy Lanthier Issue 117

Eliza Kavtion’s Call and Response In her spellbinding live show, Montreal-based multi-instrumentalist Eliza Kavtion twists threads from documentary films, punk-rock distortion, and hip-hop innovation together with her wailing, virtuosic guitar playing. She and guitar become one: a fury of fuzzy drones, rhythmic sputters, and[...] Read more

Sound Bite Peggy Hogan Issue 137

Myriam Bleau spins Soft Revolvers In a darkened room, an artist is manipulating four translucent circular objects on a tabletop, moving from one to another. Audience members gather around. The objects emit light. Their spinning motion activates deep tones and beats that crackle and whir, and snippets of voice that drop in[...] Read more

Visions of sound Deanna Radford Issue 120