• 2011 Winner
• 2010 Winner

2011 Competition

Winner:  Patrick Murray (Waterloo, ON) for The Echo

Patrick Murray
Patrick Murray is a multi-talented young composer, conductor and pianist. Patrick’s original works have premiered at the Gardiner Museum, the University of Toronto Faculty of Music, the KW Kiwanis Music Festival, The Varsity newspaper podcasts, and the Atlantic Music Festival in Maine (July 2011). As a conductor, Patrick recently completed a two-month apprenticeship with the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, receiving tutelage from Noel Edison and conducting works in rehearsal. A proud supporter of emerging artists in all disciplines, Patrick has conducted the premieres of many new works by young composers, guest conducted the Hart House Choir, and served as music director for community productions of the Broadway musicals Chicago and City of Angels. Patrick currently studies music at the University of Toronto with Henri-Paul Sicsic (piano), Norbert Palej and Gary Kulesha (composition), and Ivars Taurins (conducting). He is the recipient of the 2008 Lyrical Lines Arts Advocacy Scholarship and a KW Arts Award in the Leading Edge category. Patrick is a graduate of the International Baccalaureate diploma program at Cameron Heights in Kitchener. www.patrickmurraymusic.net

Notes on The Echo from composer Patrick Murray
"Choral music played an important role in my musical upbringing, and I'm continually drawn back to the medium as a vehicle for personal expression. In The Echo by Christina Rossetti - a powerful meditation on the passing of a loved one - I discovered such a complex depth of unresolved emotion that I felt compelled to explore its musical possibilities. The result is a haunting landscape of half-remembered fragments of melody and harmonies alternately sweet and brittle, an aural echo of fragility and loss as evoked by the poet. 

I am incredibly excited about the opportunity to work with Leonard Enns and DaCapo on this piece. Their commitment to artistic excellence and promoting new choral music is a continuous inspiration to composers across this country."

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2010 Competition

Winner:  Don Macdonald (Nelson, BC) for Tabula Rasa
Honorable Mention:  Christine Donkin (Ottawa, ON) for Candles and Jeff Enns (Elmira, ON) for To You, Before the Close of Day. 

Don Macdonald
Don Macdonald has a varied musical background that includes experience
as a performer, conductor, educator, and composer. He currently lives in
Nelson BC where he teaches at the Selkirk College Music Program.

Throughout his musical life composition has been Don’s main focus and
his credits include commissioned classical works, arrangements and
compositions for CD recordings and scores for award winning film and
television. He has received two Genie nominations and 5 Leo nominations
for his work in Canadian film and recently his score for “Fido” won the
prize for best soundtrack at the Gerardmer Film Festival in France.
Commissioned works for choir, orchestra and concert band have been
performed and recorded by ensembles in Canada and abroad.

His vocal background includes being a founding member of Musica Intima
and Chor Leone two of Canada's premiere vocal ensembles, freelance work
with the Vancouver Chamber Choir, and solo work with a variety of
ensembles including the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. His conducting
experience includes positions as Assistant Conductor of the Vancouver
Bach Choir, Musical Director of the Simon Fraser University Choir and
studio conductor for film and T.V. sessions. He has played saxophone
alongside artists such as Dee Daniels and Mike Stern and has performed
on violin for numerous CD recordings and live shows.

Notes on Tabula Rasa from composer Don Macdonald
"Blank Slate" - This is the translation of the title. It has multiple
meanings for me regarding the composition. It is a fitting title for the
Spanish text, written by my wife Allison Girvan, but it is also an apt
description  of my compositional process for the piece. Tabula Rasa was
written immediately after a very intensive 3 week period of writing
music for film.  In this calm after the storm I often just lay my
fingers on the piano and try to remove all external stimuli from the
creative process, to become a "blank slate". This is music therapy for
me. Each note, chord, rest is played purely for myself  to enjoy the act
of creation for creation sake. I wrote most of the notes for this piece
before the text was written, which is the reverse order for the
creation of most choral works. For some reason the first few chords to
me evoked a simple image of a mother and child.  A quiet moment when the
mother sees, as she has never seen, the potential of the precious life
she holds in her arms. A silent acknowledgement of her child and every
child as a "blank slate" with seemingly limitless potential. My wife was
able to put this vision into words in the most eloquent manner. The
grace and  fluidity of the Spanish language is a fitting choice for such
a moment.

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