Nicole Lizée (born 7 April 1973) is a Canadian composer of

contemporary music Contemporary music is whatever music is produced at the current time. Specifically, it could refer to: Genres or audiences * Adult contemporary music * British contemporary R&B * Christian adult contemporary * Christian contemporary hit radio * Con ...

. She was born in Gravelbourg,

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

and received a MMus from

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

. She lives in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

. At one time, she was a member of The Besnard Lakes, an indie rock band from Montreal.

Career

Nicole Lizée has been described by the

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

as a "brilliant musical scientist". She takes her inspiration from various sources including early

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

videos,

rave A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mus ...

culture, films by

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...

and

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American filmmaker and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Stanley Kubrick filmography, his films were nearly all adaptations of novels or sho ...

and 1960s

psychedelia Psychedelia usually refers to a Aesthetics, style or aesthetic that is resembled in the psychedelic subculture of the 1960s and the psychedelic experience produced by certain psychoactive substances. This includes psychedelic art, psychedelic ...

. She has composed pieces for the

Kronos Quartet The Kronos Quartet is an American string quartet based in San Francisco. It has been in existence with a rotating membership of musicians for 50 years. The quartet covers a very broad range of musical genres, including contemporary classical musi ...

, the

San Francisco Symphony The San Francisco Symphony, founded in 1911, is an American orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980 the orchestra has been resident at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall in the city's Hayes Valley, San Francisco, Hayes Valley ne ...

, the

National Arts Centre Orchestra The National Arts Centre Orchestra (NAC Orchestra) is a Canadian orchestra based in Ottawa, Ontario. The NAC Orchestra's primary concert venue is Southam Hall at the National Arts Centre. Since its inception, the Orchestra has commissioned more ...

, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the

Montreal Symphony Orchestra The Montreal Symphony Orchestra () is a Canadian symphony orchestra based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The orchestra’s home is the Montreal Symphony House at Place des Arts. History Several orchestras were precursor ensembles to the curren ...

, the Gryphon Trio, the Société de musique contemporaine du Québec, the Australian Art Orchestra, So Percussion and Eve Egoyan. Her music has been performed at international venues including

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

, the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

, the

Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ ( English: "Music Building on the IJ") is the main concert hall for contemporary classical music on the IJ in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The building opened in 2005 and is located above the IJtunnel, a ten-minute walk from ...

in Amsterdam and the

Cité de la Musique The Cité de la Musique (, "City of Music"), also known as Philharmonie 2, is a group of institutions dedicated to music and situated in the Parc de la Villette, 19th arrondissement of Paris, France. It was designed with the nearby Conservatoi ...

in Paris. In 2013, she was awarded the Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music and, in 2017, she received the

Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) is a Canadian performance rights organization that represents the performing rights of more than 175,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers. The organization collect ...

's Jan V. Matejcek Award for new classical music. Lizée is a fellow of the Civitella Ranieri Foundation. In 2016, she received a Lucas Artists Fellowship Award. Her composition ''This Will Not Be Televised'' placed in 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 ...

' Top 10 Works in 2008. Her ''Hitchcock Études'' was featured at 2014 Music Days in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. She was nominated for a

Juno Award The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's mu ...

in 2016 and a in 2013. She received the Robert Fleming Prize from the

Canada Council for the Arts The Canada Council for the Arts (), commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown corporation established in 1957 as an arts council of the Government of Canada. It is Canada's public arts funder, with a mandate to foster and promote the study a ...

in 2002. She was named composer in residence for

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 cit ...

's Music on Main festival from 2016 to 2018. She also received a

Dora Mavor Moore Award The Dora Mavor Moore Awards (also known as the Dora Awards or the Doras) are awards presented annually by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA), honouring theatre, dance and opera productions in Toronto. Named after Dora Mavor Moor ...

for opera. In 2021 she created the symphonic short film "A Guide to the Orchestra" for the

National Arts Centre The National Arts Centre (NAC) () is a Arts centre, performing arts organization in Ottawa, Ontario, along the Rideau Canal. It is based in the eponymous National Arts Centre (building), National Arts Centre building. History The NAC was one ...

CBC Gem CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...

series '' Undisrupted''. In 2024 she received a Juno Award for Classical Composition of the Year. Nicole Lizee Film Set

Discography

Solo studio albums * ''This Will Not Be Televised'' (2008), Centrediscs * ''Bookburners'' (2014), Centrediscs Collaborative albums * ''Gravitron'' for

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

(1997) * ''RPM'' for large ensemble and solo

turntablist Turntablism is the art of manipulating sounds and creating new music, sound effects, mixes and other creative sounds and beats, typically by using two or more turntables and a cross fader-equipped DJ mixer. The mixer is plugged into a PA syste ...

(1999). icc. fl., fl., ob., cl. (+b. cl.), bssn, hrn, 2 tpts, tbn, 3 perc., hrp, pno (+cel.), 2 vlns, vla, vc, db Work for Masters thesis. Premiered by the McGill Contemporary Music Ensemble in 1999. * ''Throwingstars!'' for violin, viola, cello, piano (2000) * ''Planet Spectra'' for 2 flutes, 2 cellos, 2 percussion (2001). * ''Sumo'' for 10 players (2001). l., cl., b. cl., bssn, perc., vln, vla, vc, db, solo pno * ''Analogue Out'' for 11 players (2001). l., cl. (+b.cl.), alto sax., tpt, tbn, perc, pno, vln, vla, vc, db * ''Jupiter Moon Menace'' for 11 players (2001). l., cl. (+b.cl.), alto sax., tpt, tbn, perc, pno, vln, vla, vc, db * ''Carpal Tunnels'' for alto sax,

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external electric Guitar amplifier, sound amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickup (music technology), pickups ...

rhodes piano The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, th ...

, double bass,

drum kit A drum kit or drum set (also known as a trap set, or simply drums in popular music and jazz contexts) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and sometimes other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one p ...

(2001). * ''Télévision'' for flute and 2 percussion (2001). Commissioned by Lithium Ensemble. * ''Left Brain/ Right Brain'' for 7 players (2002). l (+picc.), cl (+b.cl.), tpt, tbn, perc, pno, vln, vc, db Commissioned by L’Ensemble contemporain de Montréal with the assistance of le Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec. * ''Live!'' for virtual orchestra: constructed of samples from my previous works (2003). * ''Album Leaf'' for viola, piano/rhodes, percussion and turntablist (2003). * ''King Kong and Fay Wray'' for orchestra and solo turntablist (2004). 2 3 3/4 2 3 1/timp 3 perc. 2 harps celesta/10 8 7 6 4/turntables, sampler Commissioned by l’Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal. * ''Girl, You're Living a Life of Crime'' for electric guitar, double bass,

vibraphone The vibraphone (also called the vibraharp) is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using Percussion mallet, mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone ...

, drum kit, rhodes (2004). * ''Jailbreak '04'' for 6 players (2004). lto sax, elec. gtr, vln, db, perc, keyboard/sampler Commissioned by Ensemble Kore with the assistance of le Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec. * ''2600 Dollar Man'' for 5 players and Atari 2600 Game Console (2004). lectric guitar, keyboard/sampler, percussion, violin, double bass, Atari 2600, video projection]. Commissioned by Ensemble Kore with the assistance of le Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec. * ''Timeless Remix'' or bass clarinet, percussion, and sampler (2004). Commissioned by La Biennale de Montréal in collaboration with ALSOP Architects. * ''Arcadiac'' for orchestra, 1970s/1980s Arcade Consoles and video (2005/rev. 2007). 2 2 2/4 2 2 1/timp 2 prc/strings, video projection Commissioned by l’Association des orchestres de Jeunes du Québec (AOJQ). * ''RPM'' for large ensemble and solo turntablist icc. fl., fl., ob., cl. (+b. cl.), bssn, hrn, tpt, tbn, 3 perc., hrp, pno (+cel.), 2 vlns, vla, vc, db, turntables(2005 Revision). * ''Metal Jacket'' for tabla and harmonium. Commissioned by Shawn Mativetsky (2005). * ''Nosferatu'' for orchestra. Commissioned by the Victoria Symphony (2006). * ''Karappo Okesutura Vol. I and II'' for 7 players, mezzo soprano and karaoke tapes. l. (+picc., alto), cl. (+b.cl.), keys, perc., gtr, vln, db, mezzo soprano Written with the assistance of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (2006). * ''Love Theme 1978 for Simon'' handheld game and percussion (2006). * ''This Will Not Be Televised'' for 7 players and turntablist. percussion, 2 violins, viola, cello, double bass, turntables(2005-2007). * ''Marsh Chapel Experiment'' for 6 players, karaoke tapes and video

boombox A boombox is a transistorized portable music player featuring one or two cassette tape players/recorders and AM/FM radio, generally with a carrying handle. Beginning in the mid-1990s, a CD player was often included. Sound is delivered thro ...

), violin, cello (+ghetto blaster), video]. Commissioned by Continuum Ensemble with the assistance of the Canada Council for the Arts (2007). * ''The Small Hours, Parts I and II'' for tenor saxophone, piano (+toy piano, organ, rhodes), percussion/drum kit, electric guitar. Commissioned by Bradyworks Ensemble with the assistance of the Canada Council for the Arts (2006-2007). * ''Bonjour et sans Demain'' for bass flute, percussion, turntables, poet. Text by Thierry Dimanche (2009) * ''Ringer'' for solo drum set (2009). * ''Cryptograms'' for cello, electronics, and improvised DJ (2008) * ''Modern Hearts'' for electric guitar solo (+effects) (2008) * ''Promises, Promises'' for Fender Rhodes (+effects), piano, percussion, and new wave track (2008) * ''Incense and Peppermints'' arrangement for orchestra and mezzo soprano (2010) * ''Dust'' for percussion, 2 violins, cello and electronica (2010) * ''Hitchcock Études'' for piano, glitch and film (2010) * ''Sculptress'' for clarinet, piano, percussion, violin, cello and vintage machines. Commissioned by Standing Wave with the assistance of the

(2010) * ''Lock the Door, Swallow the Key'' for 18 piece big band. Commissioned by the Kaufman Center for the Performing Arts/Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society (2011) * ''Death to Kosmiche'' for string quartet and electronics. Commissioned by Kronos Quartet with the Margaret Dorfman and the Ralph I. Dorfman Family Fund (2011) * ''Traumnovelle'' for 7 players and turntablist (2011) * ''Music for Body-Without-Organs'' for flute, clarinet, piano, percussion, violin and cello (2011) * ''Cathedral Mountain'' for string orchestra and violin solo. Commissioned by la Société Radio-Canada and the McGill Chamber Orchestra (2011) * ''Bookburners'' for violoncello and turntablist (2008/rev.2012) * ''White Label Experiment'' for percussion quartet and live electronics. Commissioned for So Percussion by Soundstreams/the Royal Conservatory of Music with the Canada Council for the Arts (2012) * ''2012: Concert for Power Trio and Orchestra'' for orchestra and solo electric guitar, electric bass, and drum kit (2012) * ''The Golden Age of Radiophonic Workshop'' (Fibre-Optic Flowers) for string quartet and electronics (2012). Commissioned for Kronos Quartet by BBC Radio 3 for the 2012 BBC Proms (2012) * ''The Man with the Golden Arms'' for chamber ensemble, percussion sextet and drumkit soloist (2012) * ''Lock the Door, Swall the Key'' for brass quintet, electric guitar, drumkit and track (2013) * ''Kubrick Études'' for piano and glitch (soundtrack and film) (2013) * ''Son of the Man With the Golden Arms'' for percussion quartet, 2 electric guitars, and drumkit soloist (2013) * ''Hymnals'' for string quartet and electronics. Commissioned by

with the Canada Council for the Arts (2013) * ''Ouijist'' for alto flute, percussion, violin, double bass and electronics (2013) * ''Hitchcock Études'' for string quartet, percussion, and

glitch A glitch is a short-lived technical fault, such as a transient one that corrects itself, making it difficult to troubleshoot. The term is particularly common in the computing and electronics industries, in circuit bending, as well as among pl ...

(soundtrack and film) (2014) * ''Katana of Choice'' for percussion quartet and drumkit soloist (2014) * ''Behind the Sound of Music'' for orchestra and glitch (soundtrack, film) (2014) * ''Hymns to Pareidolia'' for large ensemble and electronics (2014) * ''Phonographenlieder'' for string quartet, percussion, piano, mezzo soprano and turntablist (2014) * ''Zoetropes'' for reed quintet and Loop Stations (2014) * ''Kool-Aid Acid Test #17: Blotterberry Bursst'' for sinfonietta, soundtrack and video (2015) * ''La Callas Fantasie'' for soprano, percussion, turntables and

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

(2015) * ''Wunderkammer'' for piano trio (vln, vc, pno) and chamber orchestra (2015) * ''Colliding Galaxies: Colour and Tones'' for 6 players, soundtrack and film (2015 * ''Family Sling-A-Long and Game Night'' for guitar, drum kit, and 1970s board games (2015) * ''How to Fake Your Own Death'' for brass octet, percussion and solo horn (2015) * ''Isabella Blow at Somerset House'' for string quartet (2015) * ''Tarantino Études'' for bass flute, soundtrack, and film (2015) * ''The Filthy Fifteen'' for percussion, soundtrack, and film (2016) * ''Lynch Études'' for piano, soundtrack, and film (2016) * ''House of Stylus'' for piano and turntables (2016) * ''8-Bit Urbex'' for 10 players, soundtrack, and film (2016) * ''Bondarsphere'' for orchestra, soundtrack, and film (2016) * ''Darkness is Not Well Lit'' for string quartet (2016) * ''Another Living Soul'' for string quartet (2016) * ''Keep Driving, I’m Dreaming'' ballet for orchestra and soundtrack (2016) * ''Softcore'' for piano, percussion, electronics, soundtrack, and video (2017) * ''Tarantino Études'' for bass flute, soundtrack, and film (2015) * ''Black MIDI'' for solo string quartet, orchestra, soundtrack, and video (2017) * ''Sasktronica'' for trumpet, percussion, turntables/electronics, soundtrack, and video (2017) * ''Malfunctionlieder'' for solo voice (Soprano, Mezzo), piano, soundtrack, and video (2017) * ''Legacy of Love'' for full orchestra, voice, soundtrack, and video (2017) * ''Urbexploitation (Leave Nothing But Footprints, Break Nothing But Silence)'' for vln, vla, vc, hrpschrd, soundtrack, and video (2017) * ''Tarantino Études (Doppelganger and Duel)'' for two bass flutes, soundtrack, and video (2017) * ''La terre a des maux'' for full orchestra and solo vocalist/rapper (2018) * ''Folk Noir/Canadiana'' for 4 vlns, 2 vlas, 2 vc, db, 4 percussion, soundtrack, and video (2018) * ''The Bessborough Hotel'' for piano quartet (2018) * ''I Still Think About You'' for solo percussion (2018) * ''Vanisxche'' for orchestra (2024)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lizee, Nicole 1973 births Living people Musicians from Montreal Musicians from Saskatchewan Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music winners Canadian classical composers Fransaskois people Canadian women classical composers Juno Award for Classical Composition of the Year winners