Meet the composers

Fun facts about the incredible composers featured in our upcoming Kids Events!

Be sure to try the portrait puzzle link for each composer!

Valerie Coleman (1970 – )

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FIVE FUN FACTS:

  1. She was born in Louisville, Kentucky, in the same neighbourhood as the legendary boxer Mohammed Ali.
  1. As a young girl she pursued two of her passions: playing the flute and composing. By her early teens she had composed three full-length symphonies.

That’s a lot of music!

  1. She made her Carnegie Hall (New York) debut as flutist and composer in 2004. (FYI – playing in Carnegie Hall is the dream of most musicians.)
  2. She created the Imani Winds chamber ensemble. “Imani” is the Swahili work for “faith”. The Imani Winds showcases the talents of African American wind players.
  3. Her signature work, Umoja, has been named among the “Top 101 Great American Works”. The title is the Swahili word for “unity”.

Check out Umoja for yourself. It’s a fun piece of music!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23Yx9gWHh0E

You will have the chance to hear “7 o’clock Shout” in the upcoming GSO concert, April 29, 7:30pm, River Run Centre

 

Richard Wagner (1813-1883)

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FIVE FUN FACTS:

  1. Wagner was a German composer who was born in the city of Leipzig. This city was the home to many famous musicians in the past, including Johann Sebastian Bach and Felix Mendelssohn.
  2. He loved opera and spent his life writing operas in the German language.
  3. Long before J.R. Tolkien wrote his Lord of the Rings, Wagner composed the four-opera saga called The Ring of the Nibelung, an epic story involving gods and goddesses, mortal warriors, magic rings, and more. The Ring takes 16 hours to perform – that’s a lot of singing!
  4. He built his own opera theater in Bayreuth, Germany. Since it’s opening in 1876, the theater has

dedicated itself solely to the works of Wagner. But if you want to see one of Wagner’s operas in this theater, you better get line. It can take up to 12 years to score tickets!

  1. Wagner’s music has been featured in countless movies and cartoons, including the famous Bugs Bunny/ Elmer Fudd cartoon, Kill Da Wabbit! [include video clip]

Kill Da Wabbit…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZTE9MDoaLs

You will have the chance to hear Wagner’s music in the upcoming GSO Kinderconcert: Robin Hood and Ms. Marion

 

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

ecff4e692b347f6 | I’m a Puzzle (im-a-puzzle.com)

 

FIVE FUN FACTS: 

  1. Growing up in Hamburg, Germany, Brahms proved to be a child prodigy on the piano.
  2. During his teenage years he travelled around Germany performing concerts with the famous violinists Eduard Remeny and Joseph Joachim. By the age of 20, Brahms was a household name, thanks to a magazine article celebrating his talents as a pianist and composer.
  3. Like most musicians, Brahms adored the music of Beethoven. When Brahms completed

his first symphony, critics hailed the work as worthy of being called Beethoven’s “10th”. – a supreme compliment!

  1. Long before Starbucks existed, there was the Tavern of the Red Hedgehog in Vienna. Brahms liked to hang out there enjoying a tankard of cool ale after a long day of composing.
  2. Of the many works composed by Brahms, the most easily recognized work is his This song, composed originally for voice and piano, has been arranged for every combination of instruments imaginable. You might enjoy hearing the piano version of this famous song…

                        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awBv1SQ6DEA

            You will have the chance to hear Brahms’s music in the upcoming GSO concert, on April 2, 3pm at the Basilica of Our Lady.

Dinuk Witjeratne

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FIVE FUN FACTS:

  1. Dinuk is a Sri Lankan born Canadian composer, pianist, and teacher.
  2. While he currently makes his home in Ottawa, Ontario, he has performed all over the world.

He made his Carnegie Hall debut in 2004 when he performed with legendary cellist YoY o Ma and his Silk Road Ensemble.

  1. You’ve heard of Leonardi da Vinci’s famous painting, Mona Lisa, right? Dinuk composed an intriguing piece about a theft of that famous painting that took place in the early 1900s. Check out his captivating piece, The Disappearance of Lisa Gherardini.
  2. Dinuk is one of several contemporary composers featured in the new documentary What Would Beethoven Do? The film explores the exciting new directions that classical composers are moving in. Stuffy, shmuffy…classical music is rockin’ more than ever.
  3. Dinuk’s music celebrates global musical currents in the coolest way. Check out his trio, This Way Up⬇. It is scored for piano, clarinet, and tabla (a small pair of hand drums featured in classical Indian music.) In the opening measures you will see and hear how Dinuk uses the piano to create a shimmering sound, not to mention the virtuosic writing for the clarinet and tabla players. Check it out… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVuRWZPHAAs

You can hear more of Dinuk Witjeratne’s music played by the GSO in their upcoming concert on April 2, 3pm at the Basilica of Our Lady

 

Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)

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FIVE FUN FACTS:

  1. Grieg was born in the Norwegian city of Bergen. (He is also buried there.) Norway is very proud of this national composer. Many concert halls, schools, and choirs bear the composer’s name.

But his name extends far beyond the boundaries of Norway. Did you know that scientists even named a Martian crater after him?

  1. Having studied piano at the famous Leipzig Conservatory in Germany, he carved out a successful career as a concert pianist and composer. Like many European composers he turned to the folk music and folk tales of his native Norway for inspiration.
  2. In 1897, Gireg and his wife gave a private concert at Windsor Castle for Queen Victoria. In her youth, the queen was a talented pianist and singer, so the Grieg’s were performing for a most appreciative audience!
  3. Perhaps his most famous piece is In the Hall of the Mountain King. The story for which this music was written is filled with scary trolls, gnomes, and goblins. Fittingly, this piece is composed in a minor key. It uses staccato (short/crisp) playing along with a broad orchestral crescendo(the music gets and LOUDER) to create the scary interior of the Mountain King’s court.
  4. Grieg composed his famous Piano Concerto in A Minor in 1868. Curiously, this concerto was the first concerto ever to be recorded in 1909. Alas, because of the limitations of the technology of the time, the piece had to be shortened to fit the music into the recording.

 

If you want to hear Grieg’s music why not hop in Line Rider’s sled for a fun musical thrill…

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iq6-daicWh8

 

You will be able to hear Grieg’s music in the upcoming GSO Kinderconcert  on February 4th.

 

Florence Price (1887-1953)

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FIVE FUN FACTS:

  1. Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, Florence received her first piano lessons from her mother who was a music teacher
  2. Florence went on to study at the prestigious New England Conservatory, one of only a few advanced schools of music that welcomed African-American students.
  3. Florence Price was the first Black female composer to have her symphony performed by a major American orchestra. In 1933 the renowned Chicago Symphony Orchestra performed the world premiere of her Symphony No. 1 in E Minor to great acclaim.
  4. As a composer she blended the European music traditions which she had studied at the Conservatory with the music she grew up with in the American South, especially African American spirituals.
  5. In 2009 a large collection of her works was discovered on an abandoned house that Price had vacationed in decades earlier. Her music is being explored and celebrated by new generations of performers and audiences.

You can enjoy Florence Price’s musical style by listening to her Fanatasie Nègre, a solo piano piece that draws on the moving spiritual “Sinner, Please Don’t Let This Harvest Pass”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vf4x6s2APdY

You will get a chance to hear Florence Price’s music up close at the upcoming GSO concert on March 25th.

Nathanial Dett (1882-1943)

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FIVE FUN FACTS:

  1. Nathaniel Dett was a Black Canadian American composer who was born in Drummondville, Ontario (now Niagara Falls). In addition to being a composer, we was a celebrated organist, pianist, and choir director.
  2. He was the first first Black American student to complete a Bachelor of Music degree at the prestigious Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio.
  3. He maintained a lifelong interest in Black American folk music which he frequently incorporated into his original compositions.
  4. The church in Niagara Falls, Ontario, where Dett served as organist from 1898-1903 was renamed in his honor. In 2001 the church was designated as a National Historic Site of Canada.
  5. The Nathanial Dett Chorale is a Canadian choir that was formed in 1998. The choir specializes in Afrocentric music of all styles: classical, spirituals, jazz, and blues. In 2009 they were invited to perform at the inauguration of President Barack Obama.

You can enjoy Dett’s snappy piano writing in Dance: Juba one of his most popular compositions…  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq834hTosEw

The GSO will be playing music of Nathaniel Dett in their upcoming concert on March 25th.