Interviews by Ned Bouhalassa
In 1992–93, Ned Bouhalassa interviewed over 40 composers who were from or active in Canada, meeting with them in Toronto, Vancouver, Montréal, Quebec City, and Marseille (France). These encounters — from fifteen minutes to an hour and a half — were done by Ned as primary research for the creation of a six-hour radio programme on electroacoustic activity in Canada.
The composers talked about their first encounters with electroacoustics, and provided background and anecdotes on the activities in various centres in Canada. They also talked about their own contributions to and involvement in the growth of the electroacoustic community in Canada. The project was commissioned by the Music Gallery and the radio shows gave a broad overview of the history of electroacoustic activities and education in Canada, locally, regionally and nationally.
Hour 1: Vancouver
Hours 2–3: Toronto
Hours 4–5: Montréal
Hour 6: Independent Composers and the Younger Generation
The original interviews have been transferred and are published for the first time in their entirety in eContact! 10.2 — Interviews (1). Click on the names below to go to the page with the composer biography and a link to the original audio recording.
The full list of interviewees published here is as follows:
Kristi Allik, István Anhalt, Kevin Austin, Sergio Barroso, Wende Bartley, Christian Calon, CEE by James Montgomery, John Celona, Gustav Ciamaga, Yves Daoust, Bruno Degazio, Jean-François Denis, Marcelle Deschênes, Francis Dhomont, Paul Dolden, Susan Frykberg, Keith Hamel, David Jaeger, Bentley Jarvis, Otto Joachim, David Keane, Larry Lake, alcides lanza, Trudi Le Caine, Daniel Leduc, Michel Longtin, Al Mattes, Phillipe Ménard, Charles de Mestral, James Montgomery, Robert Normandeau, Jean Piché, Hélène Prévost, Gisèle Ricard, Myke Roy, Stéphane Roy, Daniel Scheidt, Claude Schryer, Randy Smith, Paul Steenhuisen, Marc Tremblay, Barry Truax, Hildegard Westerkamp, Gayle Young.
17 min.
59 min.
McGill studios; Metamusic. 17 min.
In Vancouver. 44 min.
21 min.
Christian Calon
In Marseille, France. 30 min.
33 min.
On Hugh Le Caine. In Toronto. 34 min.
58 min.
49 min.
26 min.
42 min.
29 min.
In Marseille, France. 45 min.
In Vancouver. 1 hr. 39 min.
24 min.
19 min.
34 min.
19 min.
“Electronic Music does not exist anyway, it’s music by electronic means.” In Vancouver. 37 min.
David Keane
In Vancouver. 53 min.
29 min.
13 min.
On Hugh Le Caine, the person. In Ottawa, at Trudi Le Caine’s home 28 min.
18 min.
19 min.
25 min.
42 min.
On Hugh Le Caine. In Toronto. 18 min.
James Montgomery / Canadian Electronic Ensemble (CEE)
In Toronto. 20 min.
24 min.
48 min.
23 min.
45 min.
26 min.
29 min.
22 min.
33 min.
16 min.
In Vancouver. 14 min.
25 min.
At the Department of Communications, Simon Fraser University. 1 hr. 12 min.
In Vancouver. 40 min.
On Hugh Le Caine’s instruments. In Toronto. 31 min.
Interviewer Biography
Ned Bouhalassa
Né en France en 1962, Ned Bouhalassa est actif dans le milieu musical montréalais depuis 1988. Il partage son temps entre l’écriture pour le cinéma et la télévision, et la composition de pièces électroacoustiques pour le concert. Régulièrement programmé aux festivals montréalais Elektra et Rien à voir, les œuvres de Bouhalassa sont aussi entendues un peu partout à l’étranger. Depuis quelques années, il s’intéresse à l’hybridation, plus spécifiquement au mélange de rythmes électroniques et des ambiances électroacoustiques. Il explore aussi de plus en plus l’intégration de la vidéo à son travail, ainsi que la composition en son Surround. En 2001, il a participé au jury de musique digitale du Prix Ars Electronica (Linz, Autriche). [electrocd.com]
Born in France in 1962, Ned Bouhalassa has been involved in the Montréal music scene since 1988. He divides his time between writing for film and television, and composing electroacoustic works for concert. Regularly programmed at Montréal’s Elektra and Rien à voir festivals, Bouhalassa’s works are also heard around the world. For the past few years, he has been exploring hybridization by combining electronic beats with electroacoustic soundscapes. He is also currently interested in integrating video to his work, along with composing in Surround sound. In 2001, he was a member of the music jury of Ars Electronica (Linz, Austria). [electrocd.com]
The Music Gallery is Toronto's Centre for Creative Music, founded in 1976 by Peter Anson and Al Mattes of the free-improvising group, CCMC. Since its inception, the MG has been a publicly-assisted centre for the creation, development and performance of art music from all genres. Having hosted such luminaries as John Cage, Iannis Xenakis and Peter Brotzmann since its early days, The Music Gallery became renowned internationally as one of Canada’s most important venues for, and presenters of, boundary-pushing, unclassifiable and creative new music.
