Ronald Beckett (born 1956) is a Canadian Composer, conductor,

choir director A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

, and the founder/

artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since the ...

of the

Arcady Ensemble The Arcady Ensemble is a Canadian musical ensemble based in Brantford, Ontario founded in 1998 by composer and artistic director Ronald Beckett. The organization serves as an arts training organization that combines professional singers and instru ...

Early life and education

Beckett grew up in Simcoe, Ontario, and received his early piano training from Raymond Daniels who also encouraged him with his composing career which began at the age of eleven. His original compositions and arrangements formed the basis of annual

Christmas Eve Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas Day, the festival commemorating the birth of Jesus. Christmas Day is observed around the world, and Christmas Eve is widely observed as a full or partial holiday in anticipation ...

home concerts held for neighbours and friends. He later graduated from McMaster University with a Bachelor of Music degree in History and Theory and received a Master of Music degree in Composition from Western University. He is an associate of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Piano Performance and was inducted into the McMaster Alumni Gallery in 2004 in recognition of his contributions to music and the community.

Career

Beckett's compositions are performed throughout Ontario and are frequently heard on classical radio throughout North America and Europe. He has written a trilogy of operas entitled ''Ruth'', ''John'' and ''I Am...'' that have been fully staged by Arcady Ensemble and Queen's Student Opera. He has written additional large-scale works for orchestra, orchestra and choir,

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

, pieces for piano and

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

, and some two hundred songs for soloists and youth chorus. In 1998, Beckett transformed his existing ensemble into the present day Arcady Ensemble - an internationally-acclaimed collective of 150 singers,

instrumentalists A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who ...

, and

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

rs based in Ontario, Canada dedicated to the mentorship of emerging artists and the performance of new music by Ronald Beckett as well as Arcady’s emerging artist and affiliated composers. He is a member of SOCAN, the Canadian League of Composers 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 A ...

Arcady Ensemble

Arcady Ensemble has released three CD recordings on the Crescendo label: ''A Baroque Messiah'' (1999), ''Welcome Yule! (''2001), and ''Ruth'' (2007). ''Welcome Yule!'' is a collection of Ronald Beckett’s original holiday season compositions and arrangements which are frequently heard in Arcady’s annually staged concerts entitled ''There’s a Song in the Air''. Most of Arcady’s performances are full scale choral-orchestral productions derived from the CDs, including another annual Arcady concert entitled ''Voices of Summer''. Beckett has also arranged and conducted Ruby Productions’ CD entitled Peace on Earth (2000). In 2002, Phoenix Records released the CD A Beckett Miscellany – another collection of Beckett’s instrumental music performed by Arcady and The Essex Winds. Beckett is known for his contributions to historically informed concerts and most recently the directing of numerous Handel’s ''Messiah'' productions performed by Arcady Ensemble each year.

''Ruth'' (opera)

''Ruth'' is a musical drama in 12 sections running 72 minutes. It is based upon the

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

book of Ruth. Beckett wrote the opera in 1996 in collaboration with librettist Roger Bayley of Brantford, Ontario. Since then, Ruth has been performed more than twenty times throughout Ontario. It has also been broadcast in Romania and Israel. The work incorporates ten soloists and three choruses – a female chorus depicting the women of

Moab Moab ''Mōáb''; Assyrian: 𒈬𒀪𒁀𒀀𒀀 ''Mu'abâ'', 𒈠𒀪𒁀𒀀𒀀 ''Ma'bâ'', 𒈠𒀪𒀊 ''Ma'ab''; Egyptian: 𓈗𓇋𓃀𓅱𓈉 ''Mū'ībū'', name=, group= () is the name of an ancient Levantine kingdom whose territo ...

, a male chorus of Elders, and a youth chorus that appears in the final section and symbolizing the 44 generations from Abraham to Christ. The work is scored for

string orchestra A string orchestra is an orchestra consisting solely of a string section made up of the bowed strings used in Western Classical music. The instruments of such an orchestra are most often the following: the violin, which is divided into first ...

and keyboard. On June 23, 2017, ''Ruth'' was performed in Brantford, Ontario following a two-week intensive summer program for international emerging artists. It was made possible by a grant from Ontario Trillium Foundation. On March 8, 2018, the opera, whose story features a strong female lead and primarily female cast, was performed for International Women’s Day in Cambridge, Ontario. In March 25 and 27 2022, Ruth received its first two US performances, staged by the College of Music & Performing Arts at Troutt Theatre at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. On May 28, 2022,

Arcady Junctions is a software package by Transport Research Laboratory. It incorporates the previously separate programs ARCADY, PICADY and OSCADY. The latest version, Junctions 10, was launched Wednesday 3 February 2021. ARCADY ARCADY (Assessment o ...

gave the opera its first outdoor performance at Whistling Gardens in Wilsonville, Ontario.

References

External links

* http://www.ronaldbeckettmusic.com/ * http://arcady.ca {{DEFAULTSORT:Beckett, Ronald 20th-century Canadian composers 1956 births Canadian classical composers Canadian opera composers Canadian male classical composers Living people Male opera composers McMaster University alumni 20th-century Canadian male musicians