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Biography
The compositions of Andrew Paul MacDonald have won many prestigious prizes, including the 1995 Juno Award for “Best Classical Composition” for his Violin Concerto. His many compositions have been performed across the country by such notable ensembles as the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, l'Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, the Esprit Orchestra, l'Orchestre symphonique de Québec, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, Symphony Nova Scotia, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the CBC Vancouver Orchestra, the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra, the Regina Symphony Orchestra, the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra, The Evergreen Club and the I Musici de Montréal. He has had works commissioned by outstanding orchestras, chamber ensembles, solo performers, music competitions, the Canadian Opera Company and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. His works are frequently broadcast on CBC and Société Radio-Canada, and have been performed in Australia, China, England, France, Germany, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Taiwan, Turkey, the United States, Ukraine and Canada. Thirty-three of his compositions have been recorded on nineteen compact discs to date, and two for violin and piano on the ATMA and Centrediscs labels were both nominated for the 2005 East Coast Music Award. Of these, Jasper Wood's recording of MacDonald's works won that award, as well as the 2005 Canadian Independent Music Award. MacDonald's second opera, Mary's Wedding, premiered by Pacific Opera Victoria in 2011 and broadcast on CBC's Saturday Afternoon At The Opera, was recently taken on tour in British Columbia as part of the WWI centenary. The Orchid Garden, a concerto for saxophone and orchestra, was recently premiered at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, and the composer was the featured soloist in the Orchestre symphonique de Sherbrooke premiere of Electric Pleasures, his concerto for electric guitar and orchestra, directed by Stéphane Laforest. MacDonald also has a passion for writing jazz and blues compositions which he has recorded and performed frequently in public.
Past Vice-President and Council member of the Canadian League of Composers and founding Artistic Director of Ensemble Musica Nova, MacDonald performs in concert as guitarist, lutenist and conductor, and is professor of composition at Bishop's University in Sherbrooke (Lennoxville), Québec. Biographical articles on MacDonald are to be found in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (2ed., 2001), the Encyclopedia of Music in Canada (www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com) and the Canadian Who's Who.
OPERA America/Opera.ca Grants Awarded
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| GRANT NAME | YEAR | Opera Fund/Canadian Opera Creation Fund | 2011 | Opera Fund/Canadian Opera Creation Fund | 2010 | Opera Fund/Canadian Opera Creation Fund | 2009 |
Productions
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Artist Information
All information is derived from OPERA America's Season Schedule of Performances and titles databases which date back to 1991. OPERA America is constantly updating this data. If you feel that a work or an artist has been omitted or that information is incorrect, please use the linked forms below. Title Information Form Artist Information Form
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