Staniland / Guth / Switzer

Go by Contraries Staniland / Guth / Switzer

Celebrated Canadian composer Andrew Staniland's latest recording project is comprised of three major vocal works: Peter Quince at the Clavier on the poetry of Wallace Stevens, Execution Songs based on a folk ballad, and Earthquakes & Islands, a collaboration with Toronto poet Robin Richardson. In each of these cycles, Andrew crafts a psychological journey. He weaves soaring vocal lines and innovative textures in the piano. He creates bold and soul-searching atmospheres, utterly and unmistakably his own. He is not afraid to experiment with extremes of range, the resonant capacities of the grand piano, the twisting of harmonic pathways, in order to create sound worlds that reveal the truth of a poetic moment. His absolute reverence for text-setting is transformed into a meditation, a triangulation of musical, emotional, and spiritual thought. Composer Andrew Staniland has firmly established himself as one of Canada's most important and innovative musical voices. Described by Alex Ross in the New Yorker magazine as "alternately beautiful and terrifying", his music is regularly heard on CBC Radio 2 and has been performed and broadcast internationally in over 35 countries. Andrew is the recipient of the 2009 National Grand Prize in EVOLUTION, presented by CBC Radio 2/Espace Musique and The Banff Centre, top prizes in the SOCAN young composers competition, and the 2004 Karen Keiser Prize in Canadian Music. As a leading composer of his generation, he has been recognized by election to the Inaugural Cohort of the College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists Royal Society of Canada in 2014. Andrew is currently on faculty at Memorial University in St John's, Newfoundland.