The Canadian Art Song Project (CASP) is a group that performs, records, promotes, and commissions the composition of Canadian vocal music in the tradition of

art song An art song is a Western vocal music composition, usually written for one voice with piano accompaniment, and usually in the classical art music tradition. By extension, the term "art song" is used to refer to the collective genre of such songs ...

and song cycles. The

contemporary classical music Contemporary classical music is classical music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 modern forms of post-tonal music after the death of Anton Webern, and included seria ...

group is based in Toronto and was founded by Lawrence Wiliford and Steven Philcox in 2011.

History

In 2007, after the sudden death of the General Director of the Canadian Opera Company (COC), Richard Bradshaw, Wiliford and Liz Upchurch, Music Director of the COC Ensemble Studio, organized a commission in Bradshaw's honour from British-Canadian composer Derek Holman. The resulting work was a song cycle, ''Four Seasons'', which premiered at the new Four Seasons Centre in the spring of 2009. Philcox was in the audience, and described the experience as having had "a profound impact" on him. Wiliford subsequently approached Philcox with a proposal for an organization to promote Canadian art song, leading to the founding of CASP in 2011.

Activity

CASP has commissioned Canadian composers including James Rolfe,

Christos Hatzis Christos Hatzis ( el, Χρήστος Χατζής; born 1953) is a Juno Award-winning Greek-Canadian composer. Many of his compositions are performed internationally, and he is a professor at the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto. Early ...

, Ana Sokolović, and

Cecilia Livingston Cecilia is a personal name originating in the name of Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of music. The name has been popularly used in Europe (particularly the United Kingdom and Italy, where in 2018 it was the 43rd most popular name for girls born ...

, Canadian poets including Anne Michaels,

André Alexis André Alexis (born 15 January 1957 in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago) is a Canadian writer who grew up in Ottawa and lives in Toronto, Ontario.

, and Christian Bök, and performed and recorded with Canadian classical singers including Measha Brueggergosman,

Brett Polegato Brett Polegato (born 1968 in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada) is an operatic baritone. History He performed in concert at ''Dido and Æneas'', de Purcell : the 6 of September 1995, Royal Albert Hall, Proms 59 (BBC). With Brett Polegato (Aeneas) ...

Krisztina Szabó Krisztina Szabó is a Hungarian-Canadian mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-sopran ...

, and

Emily D%27Angelo Emily may refer to: * Emily (given name), including a list of people with the name Music * Emily (1964 song), "Emily" (1964 song), title song by Johnny Mandel and Johnny Mercer to the film ''The Americanization of Emily'' * Emily (Dave Koz son ...

. Since 2022, CASP has also begun producing short film projects based on their commissions and prior Canadian art song repertoire.

References

{{reflist Classical music groups Canadian classical music groups Music of Canada Music organizations based in Canada Arts organizations based in Canada Musical groups from Toronto Organizations based in Toronto