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Biography
The music of composer Benton Roark has been described as “visionary” (The Vancouver Sun), “ardent and soaring” (The National Post), and and “an experience of deep and darkling beauty” (The Austin Chronicle). His work has been commissioned and performed by Tapestry Opera, the Bozzini Quartet, TorQ Percussion, Redshift Music, the Victoria Guitar Trio, Fugue Theatre, and Triplepoint Trio, among other groups. Roark has also enjoyed critical acclaim as a bandleader and solo artist with projects such as The Benton Roark Band (“magisterial” The Vancouver Sun), Rollaway (“backwoods choir elegance” The Georgia Straight), and Arkora (“the standout event of Vancouver's spring music season” Vancouver Observer).
Recent years have seen Roark at the centre of a number of experimental music theatre projects. No fewer than four of his operas have seen full productions on Canadian stages, including Tapestry Opera's Augmented Opera (“gorgeous Straussian vocal writing” The Globe and Mail) and Bandits in the Valley (“lots of site-specific fun” NOW Toronto), Vancouver Pro Musica/Tomoe Arts's Shadow Catch (“rich with haunting characters…an evocative score” The Bulletin), and Fugue Theatre's Off Leash (“one of the most unique theatrical experiences currently on Vancouver Stages” Vancity Buzz). Other dramatic works include Tapestry Opera's Tap:Ex Revolutions (“a fluid, riveting experience” Schmopera), and Songs from the Rainshadow's Edge, a narrative exploration of depersonalization disorder (“a mysterious landscape of instrumental timbre” The WholeNote). Nominated as Classical Composition of the Year by the Western Canadian Music Awards, the Rainshadow cycle has been presented across North America by Redshift Music (Vancouver), Sound Symposium (St. John's), Ear Heart Music (New York), and Church of the Friendly Ghost (Austin).
In many ways, this cycle explores similar ground to Roark's work as a songwriter in the realm of jazz and experimental rock. His 2010 record The Return of the Lonesome Coyote Patchwork Pulpit, and Sundry Other Tales from the Rainbow's End was released to glowing reviews, inviting comparisons to Neko Case, Fleet Foxes, The Band, and My Morning Jacket (“if he keeps making records as good as this one, Roark is welcome to stay here as long as he likes” The Georgia Straight). The Return was Roark's fourth record of original work in a songwriting career that has spanned multiple projects and locales, including his native Atlanta, New York, Vancouver, and his current home base of Toronto. His latest record - Rollaway's Modern Epic (2019) - drew comparisons to the Stax/Volt catalogue, Sea Level, and the Allman Brothers, and and was called “superb both in its instrumental explorations and its soaring harmonies” (The Vancouver Sun).
Roark's work can also be heard on a number of chamber music recordings, including the Victoria Guitar Trio's Concentric Rings, the Bozzini Quartet's À chacun sa miniature, flutist Mark Takeshi McGregor's Sins and Fantasies, Arkora's Songs from the Rainshadow's Edge, and Redshift Records' 2017 compilation XV. Ongoing projects include The Handless Maiden, a new opera being developed with Tempest Flutes, Dystopia Lost, a cycle for chamber choir and ensemble written for Arkora's Transfigured Light project, and the creation of a series of microtonal percussion instruments including the Lumiphone, a glass marimba in 31-tone equal temperament.
Roark has been a resident artist at the Banff Centre, the Atlantic Center for the Arts, Sound Symposium, Avaloch Farm, the Erasmus Foundation, and the American Conservatory at Fontainebleau, where he was co-recipient of the Tournon Branley Prize for collaborative work in architecture and music. He has studied at the Konservatorium Winterthur in Switzerland, and he holds degrees from Oberlin College and Conservatory and the University of British Columbia, where he received his Doctor of Musical Arts. Roark has served as President of Vancouver Pro Musica and Associate Artistic Director of Redshift Music in Vancouver, BC, where he also taught theory and composition from 2015-2019 at the Vancouver Academy of Music. He is currently Co-Artistic Director of Arkora Music and makes his home in Toronto, ON.
Productions
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| COMPANY | TITLE | DATES | Tapestry Opera | Bandits in the Valley | 9/2/2017 - 9/30/2017 |
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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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