Larry Ellsworth Lake (2 July 1943 – 17 September 2013) was an American–born Canadian composer,

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 ...

er,

freelance writer ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

on music,

radio broadcaster Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio signal, audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-b ...

, and

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure. Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

. As a composer he was primarily known for his

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroa ...

. His musical compositions are characterized by their integration of acoustic instruments with electronic ones in live performance. From 1985 until his death he served as Artistic Director of the

Canadian Electronic Ensemble The Canadian Electronic Ensemble (CEE) is a Canadian electronic music ensemble based in Toronto, Ontario. Founded in 1971 by David Grimes, David Jaeger, Larry Lake and James Montgomery, it is the oldest continuously active live-electronic p ...

, a group of which he was a founding member. For nearly 30 years he hosted and served as music consultant for the

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 ...

program '' Two New Hours''. An associate of the Canadian Music Centre (CMC), he was the chair of the CMC's Ontario Region Council and was an executive member of the CMC's national board. He was a member of both the Canadian Electroacoustic Community and the

Canadian League of Composers The Canadian League of Composers is an organization formed in 1951 of Canadian composers primarily interested in raising awareness and acceptance of Canadian music. Its activities are overseen and directed by an executive, and by a National Counci ...

. His compositions received multiple awards from the CMC (1982, 1984, 1987) and from the Major Armstrong Foundation. He received three Juno Award nominations for his work as a record producer.

Life and career

Larry Lake was born to

Mennonite Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radi ...

parents in

Greenville, Pennsylvania Greenville is a borough with home rule status in northwestern Mercer County, Pennsylvania, United States. Located along the Shenango River, it lies roughly 80 miles from both Pittsburgh and Cleveland. It is 1.89 square miles in area, and had a ...

. He grew up in Florida and Georgia. In 1960 he entered Florida State University but transferred to the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, i ...

(UM) early on in his college education. At the UM he studied trumpet with Harry Glantz, former principal trumpet of the Philadelphia Orchestra. He earned three degrees from the UM: a

Bachelor of Music Bachelor of Music (BM or BMus) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. In the United States, it is a professional degree, and the majority of work consists of pre ...

(1964), a

Master of Education The Master of Education (MEd or M.Ed. or Ed.M.; Latin ''Magister Educationis'' or ''Educationis Magister'') is a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. This degree in education often includes the following majors: curriculum a ...

(1968), and a Master of Music in musicology (1970). In 1968 he studied electronic music at

Southern Illinois University Southern Illinois University is a system of public universities in the southern region of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its headquarters is in Carbondale, Illinois. Board of trustees The university is governed by the nine member SIU Board of Tr ...

with Will Gay Bottje,

Lejaren Hiller Lejaren Arthur Hiller Jr. (February 23, 1924, New York City – January 26, 1994, Buffalo, New York)Lejaren Hi ...

, Hubert S. Howe Jr, and

Robert Moog Robert Arthur Moog ( ; May 23, 1934 – August 21, 2005) was an American engineer and electronic music pioneer. He was the founder of the synthesizer manufacturer Moog Music and the inventor of the first commercial synthesizer, the Moog synthesi ...

. In 1970 Lake moved to Canada to pursue further studies in electronic music with

Gustav Ciamaga Gustav Ciamaga (April 10, 1930 – June 11, 2011) was a Canadian composer, music educator, and writer. An associate of the Canadian Music Centre and a member of the Canadian League of Composers, he was best known for his compositions of electroni ...

at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...

(UT). In 1972 he abandoned his studies at the UT to become a music producer for

. He left that position in 1975 but began working as a music consultant and producer for the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

in 1977. The programs he worked on for the CBC included '' MusicScope'', '' Themes and Variations'', '' Music Alive'', and ''Symphony Hall''. In 1978 he became the music consultant for the CBC Radio program '' Two New Hours'', a position he maintained until 2007 and was Two New Hours host from 1995 to 2007. In 2002 he and David Jaeger were honoured with the Friends of Canadian Music Award by the

Canadian Music Centre The Canadian Music Centre was founded in 1959 by a group of Canadian composers who saw a need to create a repository for Canadian music. It now holds Canada's largest collection of Canadian concert music, and works to promote the music of its As ...

for their work on that program. In 1971 Lake co-founded the

(CEE) with Jaeger, David Grimes, and James Montgomery, and from 1985 he served as the Artistic Director of the group. The CEE is the oldest continuously active live-electronic performing group in the world. Lake remained artistic director of the CEE up until his death in 2013. In addition to his work with the CEE, Lake maintained a career as a concert trumpeter. He performed as a soloist with a variety of musical ensembles, including Arraymusic, L'Association pour la création et la recherche électroacoustique du Québec,

Espace Musique Ici Musique (stylized as ICI Musique) is the French-language music radio service of Canada's national public broadcaster, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (''Société Radio-Canada''). It is the French equivalent of the English CBC Music, al ...

Music Inter Alia Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

, the Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal, the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra, the

Toronto Symphony Orchestra The Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario. Founded in 1906, the TSO gave regular concerts at Massey Hall until 1982, and since then has performed at Roy Thomson Hall. The TSO also manages the Toronto ...

, Vancouver New Music, and the

Vancouver Symphony Orchestra The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (VSO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The VSO performs at the Orpheum, which has been the orchestra's permanent home since 1977. With an annual operating budget of $16 million, it is ...

. He appeared more than 80 times on CBC Radio and Television as a chamber musician and soloist. Larry Lake died in 2013 after developing leukemia. He was 70.

Partial list of works

Stage and Multi Media music *''Choros'' 1971. Tape, colour organ, strobe lights *Tis Pity'', opera. 1980. Live-elec. Ms Chamber music *''No More Blues'', 1976. Trb, 2 synthesizer, tape. Ms *''Slowly I Turn'', 1982. Va, percussion, 2 synthesizer, vibraphone, elec. Ms *''Sticherarion'', 1984. Acc, tape, digital delay lines. Ms ''Psalm'', 1985. Ob, tape. Ms. Centrediscs CMC-CD-3288 *''Three Bagatelles'', 1986. Gamelan, synthesizer. Ms. Arjuna AR-001 (Evergreen Club) *''Five Pieces for Eight Synthesizers'', 1987 *''Israfel'', 1987. Fl, 8 synths. Trappist CD-9003/4-ACM 37 (Cram fl) *''Ulalume'', 1987. Rec, synthesizer. Ms *''Filar il Tuono'', 1988. 14 instr. Ms *''Helices'', 1988. Bsn, synthesizer. Ms *''Partita'', 1989. Cl, synthesizer. Ms Electroacoustic music *''Eight Studies for Electronic Tape'', 1971. Tape *''Homage'', 1979. Tape. *''Sonata No. 2.'', 1981. Tape. Vocal music *''The Columbine'' (1980) text by Jones Very for soprano, columbine, tape *''The Devil in the Desert'' (1980) a setting of five poems by Steven Crane for soprano, vocoder, 4 synthesizer, and delay line

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lake, Larry 1943 births 2013 deaths Canadian Broadcasting Corporation people Canadian male composers Canadian electronic musicians Canadian writers about music Canadian record producers Canadian trumpeters Male trumpeters CBC Radio hosts People from Greenville, Pennsylvania Southern Illinois University alumni University of Miami Frost School of Music alumni University of Toronto alumni 20th-century Canadian composers 20th-century trumpeters 20th-century Canadian male musicians University of Miami School of Education alumni