Paul Steenhuisen (born 1965 in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, British Columbia) is a Canadian composer working with a broad range of acoustic and digital media. His concert music consists of orchestral, chamber, solo, and vocal music, and often includes live electronics and soundfiles. He creates electroacoustic, radio, and installation pieces. Steenhuisen's music is regularly performed and broadcast in Europe, Asia, Australia, and North America. He contributes all audio content and programming to the ''Hyposurface'' installation project, based in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

Education

Steenhuisen obtained his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in composition from 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 ...

, where he studied with

Keith Hamel Keith Hamel (born 1956 in Morden, Manitoba, Canada) is a composer, software designer, and professor of music. His music consists of orchestral, chamber, solo, and vocal music, often focussing on live electronics and interactivity between acou ...

. Between academic degrees, he studied with

Louis Andriessen Louis Joseph Andriessen (; 6 June 1939 – 1 July 2021) was a Dutch composer, pianist and academic teacher. Considered the most influential Dutch composer of his generation, he was a central proponent of The Hague school of composition. Although ...

and

Gilius van Bergeijk Gilius van Bergeijk (born The Hague, 7 November 1946) is a Dutch composer. Taught by Kees van Baaren and Dick Raaymakers (electronic music), Gilius van Bergeijk is a highly respected teacher at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague.Royal Conservatory of The Hague The Royal Conservatoire ( nl, Koninklijk Conservatorium, KC) is a conservatoire in The Hague, providing higher education in music and dance. The conservatoire was founded by King William I in 1826, making it the oldest conservatoire in the Netherl ...

. While living in Amsterdam, he worked with

Michael Finnissy Michael Peter Finnissy (born 17 March 1946) is an English composer, pianist, and pedagogue. An immensely prolific composer, his music is "notable for its dramatic urgency and expressive immediacy". Although he rejects the label, he is often r ...

in Hove, England. He was one of ten composers selected to take part in the Cursus de Composition et Informatiques at

IRCAM IRCAM (French: ''Ircam, '', English: Institute for Research and Coordination in Acoustics/Music) is a French institute dedicated to the research of music and sound, especially in the fields of avant garde and electro-acoustical art music. It is ...

(Paris, 1996/97), where he had lessons with

Tristan Murail Tristan Murail (born 11 March 1947) is a French composer associated with the "spectral" technique of composition. Among his compositions is the large orchestral work ''Gondwana''. Early life and studies Murail was born in Le Havre, France. His fa ...

. He attended master classes and individual lessons with

Mauricio Kagel Mauricio Raúl Kagel (; 24 December 1931 – 18 September 2008) was an Argentine-German composer. Biography Kagel was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, into an Ashkenazi Jewish family that had fled from Russia in the 1920s . He studied music, his ...

Helmut Lachenmann Helmut Friedrich Lachenmann (born 27 November 1935) is a German composer of contemporary classical music. His work has been associated with "instrumental musique concrète". Life and works Lachenmann was born in Stuttgart and after the end of ...

Jean-Claude Risset Jean-Claude Raoul Olivier Risset (; 13 March 1938 – 21 November 2016) was a French composer, best known for his pioneering contributions to computer music. He was a former student of André Jolivet and former co-worker of Max Mathews at Bell L ...

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 ...

Pierre Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 1925 – 5 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war Western classical music. Born in Mont ...

Brian Ferneyhough Brian John Peter Ferneyhough (; born 16 January 1943) is an English composer. Ferneyhough is typically considered the central figure of the New Complexity movement. Ferneyhough has taught composition at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg and ...

Frederic Rzewski Frederic Anthony Rzewski ( ; April 13, 1938 – June 26, 2021) was an American composer and pianist, considered to be one of the most important American composer-pianists of his time. His major compositions, which often incorporate social an ...

Magnus Lindberg Magnus Gustaf Adolf Lindberg (born 27 June 1958) is a Finnish composer and pianist. He was the New York Philharmonic's composer-in-residence from 2009 to 2012 and has been the London Philharmonic Orchestra's composer-in-residence since the begin ...

, and others.

Career

During his student years, Steenhuisen was laureate of more than a dozen national and international awards for his music. These include four prizes in 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. ...

Young Composers Competition, seven in the PROCAN/SOCAN Competition, first prize in the Vancouver New Music Composers Competition, and the Governor General of Canada Gold Medal as the outstanding student in all faculties (UBC, 1990). Music by Steenhuisen was selected for competition at the Gaudeamus Music Week. After a winter residency at the

Banff Centre for the Arts 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 ...

, Steenhuisen became Associate Composer in Residence with 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 ...

(1998–2000). At the behest of the TSO, he wrote the chamber work ''Ciphering in Tongues'', and orchestral pieces ''Airstream'' and ''Pensacola'' (a melodrama for orchestra, computer, and spatialized brass). ''Pensacola'' has been performed by the Esprit Orchestra,

Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal The Montreal Symphony Orchestra (french: Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, or OSM) is a Canadian symphony orchestra based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The orchestra’s home is the Montreal Symphony House at Place des Arts. It is the only orche ...

, and the

Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra (WSO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Its primary concert venue is the Centennial Concert Hall, and the orchestra also performs throughout the province of Manitoba. The WSO presents an average ...

. During this time,

Bramwell Tovey Bramwell Tovey (11 July 1953 – 12 July 2022) was a British conductor and composer. Life and career Tovey was educated at Ilford County High School, the Royal Academy of Music and the University of London. His formal music education was as ...

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 ...

commissioned another orchestral piece, ''Your Soul is a Bottle Full of Thirsting Salt''. ''Wonder'', for orchestra, tape, and soprano, was commissioned by the CBC for the

CBC Radio Orchestra The CBC Radio Orchestra was a Canadian orchestra based in Vancouver, British Columbia, that was operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Until the early 1980s CBC had a number of orchestras located in Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal, an ...

, and was selected to represent Canada at the

International Rostrum of Composers The International Rostrum of Composers (IRC) is an annual forum organized by the International Music Council that offers broadcasting representatives the opportunity to exchange and publicize pieces of contemporary classical music. It is funded by c ...

(UNESCO, Paris). It was ranked third in the world, and ascribed the honour of recommended work, with subsequent broadcasts in twenty-five countries. As a result, the Austrian Radio Philharmonic performed the work and commissioned ''Bread'' for Sylvain Cambreling and

Klangforum Wien The Klangforum Wien is an Austrian chamber orchestra, based in Vienna at the Konzerthaus, which specialises in contemporary classical music. Founded by composer and conductor Beat Furrer in 1985, it is run on collective principles, having no o ...

to perform at MuzikProtokoll in

Graz Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popul ...

, Austria. ''Bread'' was also performed at the 2001 ISCM World Music Days in Yokohama, Japan, by the

Tokyo Ensemble The Tokyo Ensemble is a chamber orchestra composed of the best Japanese bowed string instruments and if necessary completed with wind instruments. It is one of the few chamber orchestras in the world that can perform without a conductor because, due ...

COmeT, and at the BONK festival (Tampa, Florida), where Steenhuisen was a frequent guest. In 2003, Dr. Steenhuisen was appointed Assistant Professor of Composition at the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexander Cameron Rutherfor ...

, where he was the founder of the Electroacoustic Research Studios (UA-EARS). He served as director of the new studios until his resignation in 2007. In early 2009, the University of Alberta Press published its first music text, Steenhuisen's ''Sonic Mosaics: Conversations with Composers'', a collection of interviews with thirty-two composers. In 2011 Steenhuisen was awarded the Victor Martyn Lynch Staunton Award as the outstanding mid-career artist in music by the

Canada Council The Canada Council for the Arts (french: Conseil des arts du Canada), commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown corporation established in 1957 as an arts council of the Government of Canada. It acts as the federal government's principal i ...

Affiliations

Steenhuisen is an associate composer of 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 ...

, served on the Council of 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 ...

(2000–2008), and was president of the

International Society for Contemporary Music The International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) is a music organization that promotes contemporary classical music. The organization was established in Salzburg in 1922 as Internationale Gesellschaft für Neue Musik (IGNM) following the ...

, Canadian Section (2003–2008). He serves on the editorial board of the ''World New Music Magazine''.

Writing

Since 1987, Paul Steenhuisen has made contributions to numerous magazines and journals, including ''Discorder'' (CiTR Radio, Vancouver), ''MusicWorks'', ''Circuit'', ''Wholenote Magazine'', ''Anjelaki: Journal of the Theoretical Humanities'', Contemporary Music Review, and others. ''Sonic Mosaics: Conversations with Composers'' (UA Press, 2009) is a 314-page collection of interviews with composers.

Works

; Orchestral : ''Pensacola'' (2001/2002) Orchestra, spatialized brass, computer : ''Your Soul is a Bottle Full of Thirsting Salt'' (2001) large orchestra : ''Airstream'' (1999) orchestra : ''Wonder'' (1996) orchestra, tape, soprano : ''Exegesis'' (1990) string orchestra ; Ensemble : ''Intaglio sulla cervello'' (2010) piano trio : ''Copralite Culture and Analysis Results #1–20'' (2008–09) percussion and piano : ''Material / Ultramaterial'' (2005) eight instruments and soundfiles : ''Sommes-nous pilotées par nos genes?'' (2005) septet : ''Vorwissen'' (2004) piano trio : ''Hobo Action Figures'' (2003) jazz quintet and soundfiles : ''Bread'' (1999) thirteen instruments and soundfiles : ''Ciphering in Tongues'' (1998) twelve instruments : ''Mycenaean Wound'' (1992) quintet : ''Your Golden Hair Margarethe ...'' (1991) two violas : ''Corpus Inconnu'' (1991) octet ; Solo : ''Revolutions per Minute'' (2009–2010) : ''Every Joy Pop Turbo'' (2008–09) piano : ''Toneland Security'' (2005) bass flute : ''Recipes for the Common Man'' (2001) oboe and CD : ''Cette obscure clarté qui tombe des étoiles'' (2000) flute and CD : ''Pomme de terre'' (1999) piccolo or E-flat clarinet : ''Now Is a Creature'' (1997, revised 2003) trombone and live electronics : ''Plea'' (1995) piano : ''Huskless (Freedman Etudes)'' (1994) 12' bass clarinet : ''Tract'' (1992) harp : ''Foundry'' (1990) flute : ''Amaranth'' (1989) cello ; Voice : ''Les enfers éternels des gens désespérés'' (2003) four male voices and electronics : ''A Book From The Harbour, Chapter III'' (1995) soprano and piano : ''On a Pin's Point My Love is Spinning'' (1994) women's choir : ''A Book From The Harbour, Chapter II'' (1994) soprano and piano : ''Between Lips and Lips There Are Cities'' (1993) two 8-part antiphonal choirs : ''Millennia'' (1991) soprano, violin, piccolo : ''Two Rivers'' (1989) choir : ''A Book from the Harbour, Chapter I'' (1988) soprano and piano ; Electroacoustic and installation works : ''LoK8Tr'' internet project (2010) audio and video with live telematic improvisation : ''Blueblood'' (2008) soundtrack for art installation : ''Hyposurface Interactive Audio'' (2007–) architectural installation : ''dECOi I'' (2006) : ''Frank O. Lunaire #10: Raub'' (2005) : ''There's a Glacier in our Sink'' (2004) radio documentary : ''Circumnavigating the Sea of Shit'' (1996) : ''Poland is Not Yet Lost'' (1992) : ''Tube Shelter Perspective'' (1991) : ''Enclaves intèrieures'' (1990) three percussionists and tape : ''Deep Mountain'' (1989)

References

External links

Paul Steenhuisen – composer website

"Soundlab New Music Podcast"
hosted by Paul Steenhuisen

CD: Miniatures concrètes

"Sonic Mosaics: Conversations with Composers"

CD: ''Huskless''

Radio Documentary: ''There's a Glacier in our Sink''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steenhuisen, Paul 1965 births Canadian contemporary classical composers Canadian male classical composers Living people Musicians from Vancouver Pupils of Louis Andriessen Royal Conservatory of The Hague alumni