BIOGRAPHY
Paul Steenhuisen (born Vancouver, Canada, 1965) is an independent composer working with a broad range of acoustic and digital media. His concert music consists of orchestral, chamber, solo, and vocal music, and often includes live electronics and soundfiles. Additionally, he creates electroacoustic, radio, and installation pieces. Steenhuisen obtained his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in composition from the University of British Columbia, where he studied with Keith Hamel. Between academic degrees, he studied with Louis Andriessen and Gilius van Bergeijk at the Royal Conservatory of Music, The Hague. While living in Amsterdam, he also worked with Michael Finnissy in Hove, England. Subsequently, he was one of ten composers selected to take part in the Cursus de Composition et Informatiques at IRCAM (Paris, 1996/97), where he had lessons with Tristan Murail. He also attended masterclasses and individual lessons with Mauricio Kagel, Helmut Lachenmann, Jean-Claude Risset, Luciano Berio, Pierre Boulez, Brian Ferneyhough, Frederic Rzewski, Magnus Lindberg, and others.
During his student years, Steenhuisen was a laureate of more than a dozen national and international awards. These include four prizes in the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) Young Composers Competition, seven in the PROCAN/SOCAN Competition, first prize in the Vancouver New Music Composers Competition, and the Governor General of Canada Gold Medal as the outstanding student in all faculties (UBC, 1990). In 2011, Paul Steenhuisen was awarded the Victor Martin Lynch-Staunton Award (Canada Council for the Arts) as the outstanding mid-career artist in music.
Steenhuisen’s music was also selected for competition at the Gaudeamus Music Week. After a winter residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts, he became Composer in Residence with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (1998-2000, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Music Director). At the behest of the TSO, he wrote the chamber work “Ciphering in Tongues”, and orchestral pieces “Airstream”, and “Pensacola” (a melodrama for orchestra, computer, and spatialized brass). “Pensacola” has also been performed by the Esprit Orchestra, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal (Roberto Abbado, conductor), and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra (with Alexander Mickelthwate). During this time, Bramwell Tovey and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra commissioned another orchestral piece, “Your Soul is a Bottle Full of Thirsting Salt”.
“Wonder”, for orchestra, tape, and soprano, was commissioned by the CBC for the CBC Vancouver Radio Orchestra, and selected to represented Canada at the International Rostrum of Composers (UNESCO, Paris). It was ranked third in the world, and ascribed the honour of ‘recommended’ work, with subsequent broadcasts in twenty-five countries. As a result, the Austrian Radio Philharmonic also performed the work (Arturo Tamayo, conductor) and commissioned Bread for Sylvain Cambreling and Klangforum Wien to perform at MuzikProtokoll in Graz, Austria. “Bread” was also performed at the 2001 ISCM World Music Days in Yokohama, Japan, by the Tokyo ensemble COmeT, and at the BONK festival (Tampa, USA), where Steenhuisen was a frequent guest. In 2003, Dr. Steenhuisen was appointed Assistant Professor of Composition at the University of Alberta, where he was the founder of the Electroacoustic Research Studios (UA-EARS). He served as director of the new studios until his resignation in 2007. UA-EARS studios were created with major project funding from the Endowment Fund for the Future, the Faculty of Arts, and the Canada Foundation for Innovation. In early 2009, the University of Alberta Press published its first music text, Steenhuisen’s Sonic Mosaics: Conversations with Composers, a collection of interviews with thirty-two composers.
Music by Paul Steenhuisen has been commissioned and performed by many outstanding and dedicated new music performers and presenters, including Esprit Orchestra, Arturo Tamayo,Sylvain Cambreling, Bramwell Tovey, Klangforum Wien, New Music Concerts, SMCQ, Soundstreams Canada, Trio Fibonacci, Ensemble 2e2m, Margaret Lancaster, Lori Freedman, Roger Admiral, Benny Sluchin, Irvine Arditti, Barbara Hannigan, Anne La Berge, Alain Trudel, John Hess, and others. Paul Steenhuisen’s music is regularly performed and broadcast in Europe, Asia, Australia, and North America. He also contributes all audio content and programming to the Hyposurface project, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Paul Steenhuisen (born Vancouver, Canada, 1965) is an independent composer working with a broad range of acoustic and digital media. His concert music consists of orchestral, chamber, solo, and vocal music, and often includes live electronics and soundfiles. Additionally, he creates electroacoustic, radio, and installation pieces. Steenhuisen obtained his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in composition from the University of British Columbia, where he studied with Keith Hamel. Between academic degrees, he studied with Louis Andriessen and Gilius van Bergeijk at the Royal Conservatory of Music, The Hague. While living in Amsterdam, he also worked with Michael Finnissy in Hove, England. Subsequently, he was one of ten composers selected to take part in the Cursus de Composition et Informatiques at IRCAM (Paris, 1996/97), where he had lessons with Tristan Murail. He also attended masterclasses and individual lessons with Mauricio Kagel, Helmut Lachenmann, Jean-Claude Risset, Luciano Berio, Pierre Boulez, Brian Ferneyhough, Frederic Rzewski, Magnus Lindberg, and others.
During his student years, Steenhuisen was a laureate of more than a dozen national and international awards. These include four prizes in the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) Young Composers Competition, seven in the PROCAN/SOCAN Competition, first prize in the Vancouver New Music Composers Competition, and the Governor General of Canada Gold Medal as the outstanding student in all faculties (UBC, 1990). In 2011, Paul Steenhuisen was awarded the Victor Martin Lynch-Staunton Award (Canada Council for the Arts) as the outstanding mid-career artist in music.
Steenhuisen’s music was also selected for competition at the Gaudeamus Music Week. After a winter residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts, he became Composer in Residence with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (1998-2000, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Music Director). At the behest of the TSO, he wrote the chamber work “Ciphering in Tongues”, and orchestral pieces “Airstream”, and “Pensacola” (a melodrama for orchestra, computer, and spatialized brass). “Pensacola” has also been performed by the Esprit Orchestra, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal (Roberto Abbado, conductor), and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra (with Alexander Mickelthwate). During this time, Bramwell Tovey and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra commissioned another orchestral piece, “Your Soul is a Bottle Full of Thirsting Salt”.
“Wonder”, for orchestra, tape, and soprano, was commissioned by the CBC for the CBC Vancouver Radio Orchestra, and selected to represented Canada at the International Rostrum of Composers (UNESCO, Paris). It was ranked third in the world, and ascribed the honour of ‘recommended’ work, with subsequent broadcasts in twenty-five countries. As a result, the Austrian Radio Philharmonic also performed the work (Arturo Tamayo, conductor) and commissioned Bread for Sylvain Cambreling and Klangforum Wien to perform at MuzikProtokoll in Graz, Austria. “Bread” was also performed at the 2001 ISCM World Music Days in Yokohama, Japan, by the Tokyo ensemble COmeT, and at the BONK festival (Tampa, USA), where Steenhuisen was a frequent guest. In 2003, Dr. Steenhuisen was appointed Assistant Professor of Composition at the University of Alberta, where he was the founder of the Electroacoustic Research Studios (UA-EARS). He served as director of the new studios until his resignation in 2007. UA-EARS studios were created with major project funding from the Endowment Fund for the Future, the Faculty of Arts, and the Canada Foundation for Innovation. In early 2009, the University of Alberta Press published its first music text, Steenhuisen’s Sonic Mosaics: Conversations with Composers, a collection of interviews with thirty-two composers.
Music by Paul Steenhuisen has been commissioned and performed by many outstanding and dedicated new music performers and presenters, including Esprit Orchestra, Arturo Tamayo,Sylvain Cambreling, Bramwell Tovey, Klangforum Wien, New Music Concerts, SMCQ, Soundstreams Canada, Trio Fibonacci, Ensemble 2e2m, Margaret Lancaster, Lori Freedman, Roger Admiral, Benny Sluchin, Irvine Arditti, Barbara Hannigan, Anne La Berge, Alain Trudel, John Hess, and others. Paul Steenhuisen’s music is regularly performed and broadcast in Europe, Asia, Australia, and North America. He also contributes all audio content and programming to the Hyposurface project, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
COMPOSITION AWARDS
Victor Martin Lynch-Staunton Award as the outstanding mid-career artist in music (Canada Council for the Arts)
Recommended Work, International Rostrum of Composers, for Wonder
1st Prize, CBC Young Composers Competition (Electroacoustic Category), for Enclaves Intèrieures
2nd Prize, CBC Young Composers Competition (Electroacoustic Category), for Tube Shelter Perspective
3rd Prize, CBC Young Composers Competition (Orchestral Category), for Exegesis
3rd Prize, CBC Young Composers Competition (Chamber Music Category), for Corpus Inconnu
1st Prize, Vancouver New Music Competition, for Stipe
1st Prize, SOCAN Foundation Competition for Young Composers (Choral Category), for Two Rivers
2nd Prize, SOCAN Foundation Competition for Young Composers (Choral Category), for Between Lips and Lips There are Cities
2nd Prize, SOCAN Foundation Competition for Young Composers (Orchestral Category), for Exegesis
2nd Prize, SOCAN Foundation Competition for Young Composers (Solo Category), for Foundry
2nd Prize, SOCAN Foundation Competition for Young Composers (Chamber Music Category), for Enclaves Intèrieures
3rd Prize, SOCAN Foundation Competition for Young Composers (Chamber Music Category), for Corpus Inconnu
3rd Prize, SOCAN Foundation Competition for Young Composers (Chamber Music Category), for millennia
Finalist for Gaudeaumus Music Prize, for Between Lips and Lips There are Cities
Governor General of Canada Gold Medal as the outstanding student in all faculties (UBC)
Honourable Mention, Bourges Electroacoustic Music Competition (Résidence Category), for Deep Mountain
Killam Doctoral Fellowship (UBC)
University Doctoral Fellowship (UBC)
Commonwealth Scholarship
Selected for participation in IRCAM Composition Course
BC Ministry of Culture Senior Arts Award
Car-Mel Prize for music notation, Darmstadt, for Enclaves Intèrieures
Victor Martin Lynch-Staunton Award as the outstanding mid-career artist in music (Canada Council for the Arts)
Recommended Work, International Rostrum of Composers, for Wonder
1st Prize, CBC Young Composers Competition (Electroacoustic Category), for Enclaves Intèrieures
2nd Prize, CBC Young Composers Competition (Electroacoustic Category), for Tube Shelter Perspective
3rd Prize, CBC Young Composers Competition (Orchestral Category), for Exegesis
3rd Prize, CBC Young Composers Competition (Chamber Music Category), for Corpus Inconnu
1st Prize, Vancouver New Music Competition, for Stipe
1st Prize, SOCAN Foundation Competition for Young Composers (Choral Category), for Two Rivers
2nd Prize, SOCAN Foundation Competition for Young Composers (Choral Category), for Between Lips and Lips There are Cities
2nd Prize, SOCAN Foundation Competition for Young Composers (Orchestral Category), for Exegesis
2nd Prize, SOCAN Foundation Competition for Young Composers (Solo Category), for Foundry
2nd Prize, SOCAN Foundation Competition for Young Composers (Chamber Music Category), for Enclaves Intèrieures
3rd Prize, SOCAN Foundation Competition for Young Composers (Chamber Music Category), for Corpus Inconnu
3rd Prize, SOCAN Foundation Competition for Young Composers (Chamber Music Category), for millennia
Finalist for Gaudeaumus Music Prize, for Between Lips and Lips There are Cities
Governor General of Canada Gold Medal as the outstanding student in all faculties (UBC)
Honourable Mention, Bourges Electroacoustic Music Competition (Résidence Category), for Deep Mountain
Killam Doctoral Fellowship (UBC)
University Doctoral Fellowship (UBC)
Commonwealth Scholarship
Selected for participation in IRCAM Composition Course
BC Ministry of Culture Senior Arts Award
Car-Mel Prize for music notation, Darmstadt, for Enclaves Intèrieures
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GUEST LECTURES AND PANEL DISCUSSIONS
ISCM World Music Days, Australia University of British Columbia University of Victoria University of Toronto Massachusetts Institute of Technology Banff Centre for the Arts McGill University Queen’s University IRCAM University of Huddersfield University of Western Ontario University of Windsor Wilfrid-Laurier University University of Guelph Douglas College Open Ears (Kitchener, Ontario) Vancouver International New Music Festival MusikProtokoll (Graz) SoundaXis (Toronto) Winnipeg New Music Festival Montréal Nouvelles Musique Made in Canada (Toronto) Soundstreams Canada New Music Concerts (Toronto) Now Hear This (Edmonton) Sonic Boom (Vancouver Pro Musica) ADJUDICATION COMMITTEES Canada Council for the Arts Ontario Arts Council Manitoba Arts Council Dept. of Music Scholarship Committee (UA) Support for the Advancement of Scholarship ISCM Canadian Section Jury (chair) ISCM Young Composers Competition SOCAN Competition for Young Composers CLC/CMC Friends of Canadian Music Award Jury CMC New Music for Young Musicians Jury West Coast Music Awards JUNO Awards IAMIC Young Composers Competition |
GRANTS, COMMISSIONS, AND OTHER FUNDING
University Fellowship (UBC) Killam Fellowship (UBC) Canada Council for the Arts Commissions Ontario Arts Council BC Arts Council Commissions Canada Council Long-Term Project Grants Canada Council Arts B Grant (with Paris studio) Endowment for the Future Fund (UA) Support for the Advancement of Scholarship SOCAN Foundation Short Term Residency (Soundstreams Canada) SOCAN Foundation Short Term Residency (Vancouver Pro Musica) SOCAN Foundation Publication Grant Laidlaw Foundation Commission Canada Council Residency Program (TSO) Canada Council Travel Grants CBC Commissions Canada Foundation for Innovation Grant Alberta Creative Development Initiative Grant Edmonton Arts Council Alberta Foundation for the Arts Commissions Roger D. Moore commission Daniel Cooper commission SERVICE WORK Canadian League of Composers (Board Member) 2000-2008 Support for the Advancement of Scholarship Committee (UA) 2004-2006 Department of Music Scholarship Committee (UA) 2003-2006 International Society for Contemporary Music, Canadian Section (Past President) 2003-2008 Canadian Music Centre (coordinator, New Music for Young Musicians) Canadian Music Centre (coordinator, New Music Reading Sessions, National) Editorial Board, World New Music Magazine 2004- present Associate Composer, Canadian Music Centre 1991- present |
SELECTED LIST OF PERFORMERS
Orchestras: Esprit Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Austrian Radio Philharmonic, CBC Vancouver Radio Orchestra, The Composer’s Orchestra, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony
Conductors: Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Roberto Abbado, Arturo Tamayo, Sylvain Cambreling, Walter Boudreau, Bramwell Tovey, Owen Underhill, Alex Pauk, Gary Kulesha, Kunitake Kokaji, Alexander Mickelthwate, Robert Aitken
Ensembles: Klangforum Wien, New Music Concerts (Toronto), SMCQ, Vancouver New Music, Hilliard Ensemble, Continuum, Ensemble Offspring, Ensemble Télèmaque, Soundstreams Canada, New Works Calgary, Kovalis Duo, Trio Fibonacci, Ensemble 2e2m, Ensemble Tokyo COmeT, Musica Verticale, Hard Rubber Orchestra, Gryphon Trio, Battery Park Percussion, Netherlands Chamber Choir, Elektra Women’s Choir, Phoenix Chamber Choir
Soloists: Margaret Lancaster, Lori Freedman, Roger Admiral, Catherine Dubosc, Benny Sluchin, Valdine Anderson, Guido Arbonelli, Irvine Arditti, Marc Couroux, Barbara Hannigan, Marshall McGuire, Elizabeth Skillings, Corey Hamm, Kathryn Cernauskas, Laura McPheeters, Anne La Berge, Kathleen Corcoran, Laurel Rudd, Alain Trudel, John Hess, Jane Archibald, Mark McGregor, William H. Street, Charles Stolte, Allison Ballcetis, Lawrence Cherney
OTHER FESTIVAL PERFORMANCES
Gaudeamus Music Week, IRCAM, ISCM World Music Days, Sound Symposium, Montréal Nouvelles Musique, Darmstadt Summer Course , Massey Hall New Music Festival, Three-Two (New York), Sydney Spring Festival, Ought One, Santa Fe New Music Festival, Spoleto Festival, and BONK!
