Gordon Fitzell


Gordon Fitzell is a composer, concert organizer, and professor of music. His catalog consists of solo, chamber, and electroacoustic music, including open and improvisatory works.

Biography

Born and raised in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, Canada, Gordon Fitzell earned a dual-emphasis PhD in Music Theory and Composition from the University of British Columbia ; a Master of Music degree from the University of Alberta ; and a Bachelor of Music degree from Brandon University. As a student, he attended the Darmstadt Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Music, the Yale Summer School, June in Buffalo, the Arraymusic Young Composers Workshop, and the Banff Centre. He has attended masterclasses and short-term instruction with Beat Furrer, Salvatore Sciarrino, Jukka Tiensuu, Aaron Jay Kernis, Roger Reynolds, Martin Bresnick, Joan Tower, Linda Bouchard, and Robert J. Rosen.

Career

Fitzell's music has been performed at major international festivals including the Darmstädter Ferienkurse, , the ISCM World New Music Days, the International Sound Art Festival, and the Tanglewood Music Festival. He has received acknowledgements and awards for his compositions from various organizations, including CBC Radio, the , Vancouver New Music, and the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
In 2008 the eighth blackbird album strange imaginary animals, which features two of Fitzell's compositions, garnered two Grammy Awards. Fitzell also appears on the album as co-producer and live electronics artist, and in 2006 performed with the group on two CD release concerts at The Kitchen in New York. In 2009 his chamber work violence was performed at the International Society for Contemporary Music World New Music Days in Sweden by Norway's BIT20 Ensemble, under the direction of Dutch conductor/composer/pianist Reinbert de Leeuw. In 2010 Fitzell was the guest composer of the Cluster Festival of New Music and Integrated Arts.
Fitzell is a regular curator of sound art events, ranging from chamber music concerts to media art installations. Since 2009 he has been an artistic director of , Winnipeg's premiere new music series. Gordon Fitzell is assistant professor of Music Theory and Composition at the , where he also leads the .

List of Works

Source:
SOLO
  • kamelyin For solo piano
  • Metanoia Nervosa For solo percussion
  • Orb of the Sun For tenor saxophone; optional live electronics
SOLO WITH LIVE ELECTRONICS
  • Watermelon Soup For one or more players
  • The Z Scherzo For electric guitar and live multitrack recording
  • Orb of the Sun For tenor saxophone; optional live electronics
CHAMBER
  • Entropy For piano ten hands
  • Pangaea Ultima For instrumental sextet
  • Magister Ludi For solo cello and flute octet
  • Metropolis For saxophone and piano; optional live electronics
  • Watermelon Soup For one or more players
  • LUCID For instrumental sextet
  • violence For instrumental sextet
  • Flux For large chamber ensemble
  • Rat Bastard For piano, electric guitar, cello and drum set; all amplified
  • Art For violin and piano
  • Six Bagatelles For woodwind quintet
CHAMBER WITH LIVE ELECTRONICS
  • Metropolis For saxophone and piano; optional live electronics
  • Watermelon Soup For one or more players
  • airports For acoustic instrument, live electronics, dance and projected images
  • Cartographia For improvisatory chamber ensemble with projected images
  • evanescence For instrumental sextet and live electronics
  • clatter A collection of four works for subsets of a large chamber ensemble; intended for simultaneous, overlapping performance:
  • Bird's Nest Pudding For large chamber ensemble
  • Blood on the Saddle For double bass and percussion
  • rattlebox For string quartet
  • wormhole For two singers and live electronics
OPEN AND IMPROVISATORY
  • Watermelon Soup For one or more players
  • airports For acoustic instrument and live electronics, with projected images
  • Cartographia For improvisatory chamber ensemble with projected images
  • LUCID For instrumental sextet
  • clatter A collection of four works for subsets of a large chamber ensemble; intended for simultaneous, overlapping performance:
  • Bird's Nest Pudding For large chamber ensemble
  • Blood on the Saddle For double bass and percussion
  • rattlebox For string quartet
  • wormhole For two singers and live electronics
  • The Z Scherzo For electric guitar and live multitrack recording
  • Rat Bastard For piano, electric guitar, cello and drum set; all amplified
ELECTROACOUSTIC
  • acrobat Electroacoustic composition
  • The Garden Electric Octophonic electroacoustic composition
  • !Zip Electroacoustic composition
  • Zipper Music Electroacoustic composition
INSTALLATIONS
  • Aeolian Mobile 1: Paper Box Kite Sound installation
  • :spin Sound installation

Selected Performers

Vancouver New Music, Francois Houle, Giorgio Magnanensi, eighth blackbird, Alizé, Ensemble Contemporain de Montréal, Harrignton/Loewen Duo, Roger Admiral, Corey Hamm, Sonic Generator, BIT20, Plexoos Ensemble, Arraymusic, Ensemble Symposium, Pro Coro Canada, the UBC Percussion Ensemble, Hammerhead Consort, Vancouver Pro Musica, Trio Fibonacci, Sequitur, Matthew Gold, edgeffect, Pazzia Contemporary Performing Collective, Sabastian Berweck, Jonathan Golove, Gwen Hoebig and David Moroz, Winnipeg New Music Festival and Groundswell.

Affiliations

Gordon Fitzell is an Associate Composer of the , a member of the and the ; he is also President of the Board of Directors. His music is represented by , which also represents composers Paul Steenhuisen, Howard Bashaw, Keith Hamel, Bob Pritchard, James Harley, André Ristic, and Aaron Gervais.

Recent Publications

  • "." eContact! 10.4 – Temps réel, improvisation et interactivité en électroacoustique / Live-electronics – Improvisation – Interactivity in Electroacoustics. Montréal: CEC.
  • Let Loose with WallBalls: A Collaborative Tabletop Instrument for Tomorrow, presented at NIME, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh.