I’m happy to announce that I have been awarded a major grant from the Canada Council for the Arts to record a new album of my compositions! The album will be called ‘Project Dovetail’. The plan is to release it in the fall of 2020.

All the compositions on this album are inspired by works from other artistic disciplines. I feel so fortunate to have a number of amazing artists who have agreed to be part of this project…

Violist, Elizabeth Reid, will record my composition for viola and tape, Parents’ Expectations. It’s inspired by a TV documentary I watched about the life of composer Steve Reich.

I will joined violinist, Edwin Huizinga, in the recording of 2 of my compositions for violin and piano. The first is a sentimental work, A Secret Streamlet. It’s inspired by an open letter written by Vaclav Havel in the 1970s at the height of the activist’s fight against communist oppression. The 2nd, Ode to the Evil Patty Hewes, is a 3-movement work based on the main character played by Glenn Close in the TV series, Damages.

Bass clarinetist, Kathryn Ladano, will record Alchemist’s Brew, a piece for bass clarinet and electric organ. It’s based on the novel, The Alchemist, by Paolo Coelho.

The Elixir Baroque Ensemble will record my composition, The Sad Life of Laure Beauséjour. It’s based on the lead character from the novel, The Bride of New France, by Canadian writer, Suzanne Desrochers. I feel fortunate to have gotten to know Suzanne in conjunction with working on this piece. I’m so happy that she is part of this journey of making this album.

And finally, Toronto’s percussion quartet extraordinaire, TorQ, will lend their talents to two tracks. The first, Hi, My Name is Pecker. is for an off-beat collection of instruments. It’s based on the John Waters film, Pecker. The 2nd is a piece I have not yet composed but for percussion quartet, piano (performed by moi) and tape. This new piece will be based on a painting or print by my friend, Lorna Livey. I’m going to record Lorna talking about the work and incorporate that into the composition.

With such an eclectic mix of artists and works, this is going to be one of my most ambitious recordings yet. Looking ahead though, it’s actually 3rd in line of what will be released in the near future. What Goes Around… will come out this fall on Centrediscs. And I’m going to spend part of this summer at the Dorland Mountain Arts Colony composing the sequel to Earth Hour so we can release the sequel to the A Little Dark Music album on its 10th anniversary next March.

Three albums in a 12-month period…wow, I am so grateful and excited about these opportunities to share more of my music…can’t wait!