Donald Quan (born 1962) is a Canadian composer of film and world music, best known for writing the scores to television shows '' Relic Hunter'' and '' Mutant X''.

Career

Born in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, and schooled at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Quan was the recipient of the Joe Venuti scholarship for stringed instrument performance. After Quan left college, he ventured into pop/rock music with the Canadian rock band Lighthouse and played with them for three years. In 1988 Quan joined the Canadian rock group Eye Eye as a keyboardist and violist. He also performed as a multi-instrumentalist with the performance artist

Meryn Cadell Meryn Cadell is an American-Canadian writer and performance artist. He is an assistant professor of song lyrics and libretto writing in the Creative Writing Program at University of British Columbia. Cadell is a transgender man who transitioned ...

, the Celtic-rock band

Enter the Haggis Enter the Haggis is a Canadian Celtic rock band based in Toronto. The band was founded in 1995 by Craig Downie, the only remaining original member in the lineup, which currently consists of Downie ( highland bagpipes, vocals), Brian Buchanan (vo ...

, alt-rock band Cliché Verre and Juno nominated Afro-Canadian pop ensemble Kaleefah. Quan has been a long-time band member of Canadian singer

Loreena McKennitt Loreena Isobel Irene McKennitt, (born February 17, 1957) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and composer who writes, records, and performs world music with Celtic and Middle Eastern influences. McKennitt is known for her r ...

and has assisted in the production of several studio albums and recordings including the acclaimed ''

The Book of Secrets ''The Book of Secrets'' is the sixth studio album by Loreena McKennitt, released in 1997. It reached #17 on the Billboard 200. Its single "The Mummers' Dance," remixed by DNA, was released during the winter of 1997–98, and peaked at #18 on t ...

''. Quan collapsed on Saturday, August 8, 2009 playing keyboards with Derek Miller in Kitchener, Ontario for the Kitchener Bluesfest when he collapsed onstage. He has since fully recovered. Since 2007 Donald Quan's music shop of musical instrument curiosities MUSIDEUM has become known as a premiere concert venue for all genres of music from all over the world.

Music for film and television

Quan’s film music company Q Music Inc. has provided music services to hundreds of television, film, radio and multi-media productions including the popular television shows '' Relic Hunter'' (starring

Tia Carrere Althea Rae Duhinio Janairo (born January 2, 1967), known professionally as Tia Carrere (), is an American actress, singer and former model who got her first big break as a regular on the daytime soap opera '' General Hospital''. Carrere played C ...

for Fireworks Entertainment), '' Mutant X'' (Tribune Entertainment), '' Tracker'' (starring

Adrian Paul Adrian Paul Hewett (born 29 May 1959) is an English actor best known for the titular role of Duncan MacLeod on the television series '' Highlander: The Series''. In 1997, he founded the Peace Fund charitable organisation. Early life Paul was ...

for Lions Gate), ''

Starhunter ''Starhunter'' (and in the original Season Two ''Starhunter 2300'') is a Canadian science fiction television series that aired for two seasons. The series was produced in Canada by The Danforth Studios Ltd. (a D'or/Jackson Company)

'', and ''

The War Next Door ''The War Next Door'' is an American sitcom created by Will McRobb and Chris Viscardi. The show used non-canon humor as one of the two main characters dies at the end of each episode, only to reappear alive the following episode as if nothing ha ...

'', the notable Aboriginal TV drama ''

Moccasin Flats ''Moccasin Flats'' is a Canadian drama television series that ran for three full seasons. The show, which has aired on the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) and Showcase Television since 2004, is co-produced by Big Soul Productions ...

'' as well as feature films '' Expecting'', and

Eve Eve (; ; ar, حَوَّاء, Ḥawwāʾ; el, Εὕα, Heúa; la, Eva, Heva; Syriac: romanized: ) is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the ...

. Other notable projects include scoring the four-part documentary '' China Rises'' for CBC, one of the first HD-TV projects for the network. Quan is also responsible for the well recognized world music-tinged theme for CBC Radio's ''Metro Morning''. Recently (2020) Quan scored the feature documentary '' Gods In Shackles'' (with Janal Bechthold), and 3 Holiday MOVs ''

Mistletoe Magic Mistletoe is the common name for obligate hemiparasitic plants in the order Santalales. They are attached to their host tree or shrub by a structure called the haustorium, through which they extract water and nutrients from the host plant. T ...

'', '' A Very Corgi Christmas'' and '' Christmas By Chance'' (with Jim Gelcer). In 2019 he scored the documentaries ''

My Farmland My or MY may refer to: Arts and entertainment * My (radio station), a Malaysian radio station * Little My, a fictional character in the Moomins universe * ''My'' (album), by Edyta Górniak * ''My'' (EP), by Cho Mi-yeon Business * Mar ...

'' (CBC) and ''Running Home'' and the social feature documentary '' Queer Cooli-tudes'' In 2020 his scoring projects include ''

Herstory Herstory is a term for history written from a feminist perspective and emphasizing the role of women, or told from a woman's point of view. It originated as an alteration of the word "history", as part of a feminist critique of conventional his ...

'' (PBS)

Music style

Donald Quan is especially well known for his diverse work in the area of contemporary World Music. The Q Music studios house an instrument collection of over 400 indigenous instruments from 6 continents. His CDs Tear of the Sun (with

Ron Korb Ron Korb is a Grammy-nominated Canadian flutist (flautist) and composer. Musical style Korb is best known for writing culturally diverse music and his mastery of a wide array of world music wind instruments. His work spans a range of genres inc ...

) and Invocata (recorded at

Real World Studios Real World Studios is a residential recording studio complex founded by Peter Gabriel and situated in the village of Box, Wiltshire, England, near to the city of Bath. It is closely associated with the Real World Records record label, Real ...

) have garnered acclaim worldwide. Quan has toured China and Japan with longtime collaborators

and George Gao playing music dubbed New Chinese Jazz, a blend of jazz improvisation and traditional Chinese melodies. Quan has left his mark on the Canadian world music scene by collaborating with organizations such as the Toronto Tabla Ensemble, Brazilian-influenced percussion group Samba Squad, M-Do Kathak Dance Company and renowned First Nations choreographer Santee Smith (Kaha:wi Dance Theatre). Aboriginal music has always been a passion of Donald Quan and he has contributed greatly to the Canadian Aboriginal music scene. He has collaborated with theatrical company Red Sky Performance, Santee Smith,http://www.autochtones.ca/documents/candanse2008-en.pdf Kahawii Dance Theatre, created theme music for ''APTN'' and has composed numerous film scores for Big Soul Productions including the series By The Rapids and

, for which he was nominated for a Gemini award for "Best score in a dramatic series". He has worked intimately with Aboriginal recording artists for 10 years as musical director for the annual Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards. He has been a full-time member of the Derek Miller Band and has recently taught a course on film music composition on Manatoulin island as part of the Weengushk organization. As acknowledgement for his contributions, Quan was honoured in 2007 with the Music Industry Award at the 9th annual Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards.

Awards and nominations

Gemini Award Nomination 2002: Best Original Music Score for a Dramatic Series: ''Relic Hunter'' Gemini Award Nomination 2003: Best Original Music Score for a Dramatic Series: ''Mutant X'' Gemini Award Nomination 2006: Best Original Music Score for a Dramatic Series: ''Moccasin Flats'' Season III – The Other Side Gemini Award Nomination 2006: Best Original Music Score for a Documentary Program or Series: ''The In between World of M.G. Vassanji'' SOCAN International Television Series Award (2007/2006/2004): ''Relic Hunter'' Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards: Music Industry Award (2006) Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards Nomination: Best Score in an Aboriginal film/television program (2008)

Selected discography

''The Relaxations of Katt''
Q Music 2017
Donald Quan - Composer, Performer ''17 Minutes of Sleep''
Toronto Rehab Foundation 2010
Donald Quan - Composer, Performer Solitudes – ''Zen of Sleep''
Somerset 2007
Donald Quan - Composer, Performer Solitudes – ''Zen Relaxation''
Somerset 2006
Donald Quan - Composer, Performer Solitudes – ''Mysterious Places''
Somerset 2006
Donald Quan - Composer, Performer Hallmark - ''Feng Shui''
Somerset 2006
Donald Quan - Composer, Performer

/ Donald Quan - ''Seasons''
Humble Dragon 2005
Donald Quan - Composer, Performer, Producer (with

) Solitudes - ''Asian Spa''
Somerset 2004
Donald Quan - Composer, Performer

- ''Celtic Heartland''
Humble Dragon 2000
Donald Quan - Producer Loreena McKennitt - ''Live In Paris And Toronto''
Quinlan Road 1999
Donald Quan - Multi-Instrumentalist Loreena McKennitt - ''Book of Secrets''
Quinlan/Warner 1997
(Recorded at Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios)
Donald Quan - Multi-Instrumentalist/Assistant to Producer Loreena McKennitt - ''A Winter Garden''
Quinlan/Warner 1996
Donald Quan - Multi-Instrumentalist ''Myakudo Taiko'' (Traditional Japanese Music)
Independent 1992
Donald Quan - Producer Donald Quan - ''Invocata''
Oasis 1990
Donald Quan Composer, Performer Carol Lipson - ''Try And Imagine''
Donald Quan - Producer/Arranger

References

People at the Banff Centre - Donald Quan

Banff Centre Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, formerly known as The Banff Centre (and previously The Banff Centre for Continuing Education), located in Banff, Alberta, was established in 1933 as the Banff School of Drama. It was granted full autonomy as ...

. Accessed 2011-04-05.

External links

*
Donald Quan on Myspace
{{DEFAULTSORT:Quan, Donald 1962 births Living people Canadian film score composers Canadian rock musicians Canadian television composers Lighthouse (band) members Male film score composers Musicians from Toronto