October 14, 2022

Day 4 - 
AKOUSMAtique Competition
7:30pm


       

Music Multimedia Room, McGill University
527 Sherbrooke Street West, Montréal, QC

The jury and the public awarded the prizes for the Montreal Immersive Multitrack Music Composition Competition.


It was a jury chaired by Robert Normandeau (composer) and made up of Louis Dufort (composer, artistic director of Akousma), Jessica Ekomane (composer) and Roxanne Turcotte (composer), who awarded the Francis Dhomont Prize last Friday to the composer JOHN YOUNG for his piece Le Chant en dehors (2022). The award is endowed with 4,000$.

The Micheline Coulombe Saint-Marcoux Prize, endowed with $1,500, was awarded following a public vote to NICOLA GIANNINI for his piece Rebonds (2021).

PANAYIOTIS KOKORAS, who presented his piece AI_Phantasy (2020), received a participation prize of $500.

It was the very first edition of the AKOUSMAtique Competition, dedicated to immersive multitrack music.

54 registrations from 21 countries were recorded following the call for tenders launched last February.

The concert of the finalists was coproduced with Le Vivier and the CIRMMT.

JURY

Under chairmanship of Robert Normandeau (composer)

  • Myriam Bleau (composer)
  • Louis Dufort (composer, artistic director at Akousma)
  • Jessica Ekomane (composer)
  • Vincent Gagnon (audio director at Ubisoft)
  • James O'Callaghan (composer)
  • Roxanne Turcotte (composer)


Mentions


Gustavo Chab
Composer of mostly electroacoustic works that have been performed in the Americas and Europe. He composed his first electroacoustic piece in 1993, specializing in composition techniques in electroacoustic. His compositions, including works for instrumental, electronic music, and performances. Frequently explores the spatialization of sound in composition, mixing fixed media acousmatic and sound generation in real time.

James Harley
James Harley is a Canadian composer teaching at the University of Guelph. He obtained his doctorate at McGill in 1994, after six years (1982-88) in Europe (London, Paris, Warsaw). His music has been awarded prizes in Canada and internationally, and has been performed/broadcast around the world. Recordings include Neue Bilder (Centrediscs, 2010) and ~spin~: Like a ragged flock (ADAPPS DVD, 2015), Experimental Music for Ensembles, Drums, and Electronics (ADAPPS CD, 2019). As a performer, Harley has a background in jazz, and works as an interactive computer musician.

Zach Thomas
Zach Thomas is a composer and media artist whose work is characterized by impulse, restlessness, and precision. Zach currently teaches courses in Composition and New Media at the University of Louisville where he also directs the annual UofL New Music Festival. Zach serves as co-director of the new music non-profit, Score Follower and creator of the scorefol.io platform. As a composer, he works often in mixed-media contexts, and is author of numerous concert works, installations, and software tools. 



Finalists 


Nicola Giannini
Nicola Giannini is an electroacoustic music composer based in Montreal. His practice focuses on immersive music, both acousmatic and live. His works have been presented in North America, South America and Europe. He received the first prize at the 2019 JTTP competition organized by the Canadian Electroacoustic Community and an honorable mention at the XII Fundación Destellos competition. He was also a finalist in the 2018 Città di Udine competition. Originally from Italy, he is a doctoral student under the supervision of Robert Normandeau at the Université de Montréal, where he is also a research assistant at the Groupe de recherche en immersion spatiale (GRIS) and a lecturer.

Program: Rebonds (2021)




Credit : Louis Cummins


Panayiotis Kokoras
Kokoras is an internationally award-winning composer and computer music innovator, and currently Professor of composition and CEMI director (Center for Experimental Music and Intermedia) at the University of North Texas. Born in Greece, he studied classical guitar and composition in Athens, Greece and York, England; he taught for many years at Aristotle University in Thessaloniki. Kokoras's sound compositions use sound as the only structural unit. His concept of "holophonic musical texture" describes his goal that each independent sound (phonos), contributes equally into the synthesis of the total (holos). 

Program: AI_Phantasy (2020)





John Young
John Young is a Professor of Composition at the Music, Technology and Innovation Research Centre at De Montfort University, Leicester, having previously been Director of the Electroacoustic Music Studios at the Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. His output includes multi-channel electroacoustic pieces, radiophonic work, and music combining instruments and electroacoustic sounds. His main interest in composition continues to be in acousmatic music—particularly forms based on the interplay between recognizable natural sound sources and computer-based studio transformations. 

Program: Le Chant en dehors (2022)




Credit : Amalia Young

Prizes


  • Francis Dhomont Jury Prize (4 000$)
  • Micheline Coulombe-Saint-Marcoux Audience Prize (1 500$)
  • Participation Grant (500$)