Anita Sleeman (née Andrés) (December 12, 1930 – October 18, 2011) was a Canadian contemporary classical music composer. She was also a conductor, arranger, educator, and performer.

Biography

Life

Born Anita Andrés December 12, 1930, in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

, to Alejandro Andrés from

Salamanca Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritag ...

, Spain, and Anita Dolgoff from

Stavropol Stavropol (; rus, Ставрополь, p=ˈstavrəpəlʲ) is a city and the administrative centre of Stavropol Krai, Russia. As of the 2021 Census, its population was 547,820, making it one of Russia's fastest growing cities. It was known as ...

, Russia, Sleeman began taking piano lessons at age three and took up

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

and

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...

at school in San Francisco. While there, her music teachers noted her exceptional abilities at an early age (she began to show a talent for composition at age eight). Sleeman attended Placer Junior College as a music student. She met her future husband, Evan Sleeman, in

Placer County Placer County ( ; Spanish for "sand deposit"), officially the County of Placer, is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 404,739. The county seat is Auburn. Placer County is included in the Great ...

and they married in 1951. They purchased a ranch in

Elko County, Nevada Elko County is a county in the northeastern corner of Nevada, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 53,702. Its county seat is Elko. The county was established on March 5, 1869, from Lander County. Elko County is the fourth ...

, and along with their six children immigrated to Canada in 1963. They lived on a ranch in the remote

Anahim Lake :''The subject of this article should not be confused with Anaham, which is a different community located nine kilometres east of Alexis Creek, British Columbia, which is in the same area.'' Anahim Lake is a small community in British Columbia. ...

area near Bella Coola. In 1967, the couple relocated to

Tsawwassen Tsawwassen ( ) is a suburban, mostly residential community on a peninsula in the southwestern corner of the City of Delta in British Columbia, Canada. It provides the only road access to the American territory on the southern tip of the peninsul ...

, Metropolitan Vancouver. Throughout her life she played the French horn in a variety of stage and concert bands and performed as a keyboardist in jazz ensembles.

Career

At age 19 Sleeman composed a march that was played at her community college's commencement in 1950 (the first public performance of her work). Sleeman taught music appreciation at the

elementary school. While in Anahim Lake she played piano and organ at many community gatherings. Sleeman resumed music studies at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

, earning a BMus in 1971, and MMus (on a graduate fellowship) in 1974. At UBC she was a pupil of

Jean Coulthard Jean Coulthard, (February 10, 1908 – March 9, 2000) was a Canadian composer and music educator. She was one of a trio of women composers who dominated Western Canadian music in the twentieth century: Coulthard, Barbara Pentland, and Violet ...

and during that time she taught at the electronic music lab, co-founded the Delta Youth Orchestra, and was involved in the establishment of the music program at the

Capilano College Capilano University (CapU) is a teaching-focused public university based in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, located on the slopes of the North Shore Mountains, with programming that also serves the Sea-to-Sky Corridor and the Sunshin ...

in North Vancouver as a member of its music faculty. She returned to California to complete her doctorate (1982) at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

attending master classes with

Luciano Berio Luciano Berio (24 October 1925 – 27 May 2003) was an Italian composer noted for his experimental work (in particular his 1968 composition ''Sinfonia'' and his series of virtuosic solo pieces titled ''Sequenza''), and for his pioneering work ...

Luigi Nono Luigi Nono (; 29 January 1924 – 8 May 1990) was an Italian avant-garde composer of classical music. Biography Early years Nono, born in Venice, was a member of a wealthy artistic family; his grandfather was a notable painter. Nono beg ...

, and

Charles Wuorinen Charles Peter Wuorinen (; June 9, 1938 – March 11, 2020) was an American composer of contemporary classical music based in New York City. He performed his works and other 20th-century music as pianist and conductor. He composed more than ...

. She also attended the

Dick Grove Richard Dean Grove (1927 – December 26, 1998) was an American musician, composer, arranger, and educator. He is best known as the founder of the Dick Grove School of Music. Its students include Michael Jackson, Linda Ronstadt, and Barry Manilow ...

School of Jazz. For 17 years she served as

musical director A music(al) director or director of music is the person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert band, the ...

and conductor of

West Vancouver West Vancouver is a district municipality in the province of British Columbia, Canada. A member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District, West Vancouver is to the northwest of the city of Vancouver on the northern side of English Ba ...

's Ambleside Orchestra, retiring in 2010. Her compositions have been premiered in London, England and Fiuggi, Italy as well as in Ottawa, Windsor and Vancouver; commissions include

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

Vancouver Community College Vancouver Community College is a public community college in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Founded in 1965, it is the largest and oldest community college in British Columbia, offering 91 certificate programs, 31 diploma programs, and 3 ba ...

, the Delta Youth Orchestra, the Galiano Trio, and others. At an early age Sleeman was introduced to the music of

Olivier Messiaen Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithologist who was one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex; harmonically ...

, whose inspiration has been important in her development. Other influences are Varèse,

Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century clas ...

, Koechlin, Lígeti, and Bartók. Her diversity of style has also been enhanced by her Spanish and Russian background and her love of jazz. She admired the work of

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by wikt:nonconformity, nonconformity, Free improvisation, free-form improvisation, sound experimen ...

, to whose memory she dedicated selected performances of her work.

List of additional performances

*February 1997: The Galiano Trio (flute, clarinet, bassoon) presented a concert of Sleeman's works, as part of the Little Chamber Series That Could season. This performance featured her Legend of the Lions and was enhanced by dance, and projected scene design by her daughter Cynthia Sleeman. *September 1997: Sleeman was selected to represent Canada at the Donna in Musica festival in Fiuggi, Italy. *September 1999: Picasso Gallery II was chosen for performance at the International Association of Women in Music Festival in London, England. *January 2002: Cantigas (commissioned by ACWC) was premiered in Ottawa by the Quatuor Arthur- Leblanc at the Then, Now and Beyond series sponsored jointly by Association of Canadian Women Composers and the Ottawa Chamber Music Society. The performance piece was repeated August 6, 2002, at the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival, again performed by the Quatuor Arthur-Leblanc, in the presence of Her Excellency the Governor-General

Adrienne Clarkson Adrienne Louise Clarkson (; ; born February 10, 1939) is a British Hong Kong, Hong Kong-born Canadian journalist who served from 1999 to 2005 as Governor General of Canada, the List of Governors General of Canada#Governors General of Canada, 1 ...

. *July 2006: a new piece commissioned for the CBC, Rhapsody on Themes by Dohnányi, was premiered in Ottawa, Ontario, at the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival, and performed again in 2007.

Death

Sleeman died early in the morning of October 18, 2011, at her home in North Vancouver,

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. A memorial service for her was held on November 26, 2011, at St. Christopher's Anglican Church,

Critical reception

Critic Ken Winters of ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'' praised Sleeman's work ''Cantigas'' as "remarkable", continuing, "It's as resourceful as Bartók in exploiting string techniques and sound potentials, and just as vigorous musically."

References

;Citations {{DEFAULTSORT:Sleeman, Anita Andres 1930 births 2011 deaths Musicians from San Jose, California USC Thornton School of Music alumni University of British Columbia alumni Canadian classical composers Musicians from British Columbia People from North Vancouver Women classical composers Academic staff of Capilano University 21st-century American musicians 21st-century classical composers 20th-century Canadian composers 20th-century American musicians 20th-century American women musicians 21st-century American women musicians 20th-century Canadian conductors (music) 20th-century women composers 21st-century women composers American women academics Canadian women composers American women conductors (music) Canadian women conductors (music) 20th-century Canadian women musicians 21st-century Canadian women musicians