ACWC 40th Anniversary - July

Piano Concerto 
I. Childhood
II. Romance
III. Loneliness in an Individual's Life
IV. Life's Challenges
V. Life's Struggles
VI. Life's Memories
VII. Life's Cycle

Instrumentation: solo with full orchestra
pno. solo/ 2-2-3-2/ 2-3-3-0 /timp/perc(2)/str.

Performers: 
Piano: Peter Tiefenbach 
Conductor: Bramwell Tovey 
Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra 
Composer: Maya Badian
Duration: 8 minutes
Location: Winnipeg
Date: February 7, 1999
Maya Badian's PIANO CONCERTO was awarded 2nd Prize at 1999 du Maurier New Music Festival, Winnipeg 1999.

Program notes:
Quote from: Maya Badian, Her Life and Her Music: A Privilege to Soar by Fred Popovici, published by Pro Ars Publications, Ottawa, Canada, 2010. "Non multa, sed multum" (not much quantitatively, but qualitatively) is Maya Badian's motto for her Piano Concerto. This 8-minute one-movement opus, an uninterrupted musical flux, consists of seven inner sections (micro-movements). It is concise and simple, yet intense in its meaning. The composer states that this concerto reveals, in each of its seven sections, a different stage of our lives. Maya Badian employs a contemporary idiom, yet places the piece in frames of a somewhat conventional style. This ambiguity changes the coordinates of a classified discourse into those of a highly contemporary approach."

http://www3.sympatico.ca/badian/

Maya Badian - Piano Concerto

Iridescent Flares I, symphony orchestra, RNCM Brand New Days Orchestra Concert

First performed April 26th, 2019, RNCM Concert Hall.  This work is based upon the idea of light striking crystal and releasing bursts of iridescent colour and shapes in many directions. This is expressed through collaboration between orchestral composition and painting practice. The anatomic layers and sections of the painting are exposed from the beginning to end, evolving and forming with the progression of the piece.

https://www.carolinebordignon.com/

Caroline Bordignon - Iridescent Flares I

"Aurora Borealis" - composed for orchestra

In a review published in the "Journal of the International Alliance for Women in Music", Dr. Margaret Lucia wrote: “Aurora Borealis"…is a strong, well-crafted orchestral…fanfare and is very clearly Stroobach's signature work. Prominent timpani and brass are answered by violins in an antiphonal style. The middle section is somewhat reminiscent of Bartok's "Game of Pairs" (the second movement of his "Concerto for Orchestra") in the angular, intervallic writing for bassoon and clarinet.”

"Aurora Borealis" is written in the tradition of a Franz Liszt tone poem - a one movement programmatic work. The rhythmic motive of the sixteenth note followed by the quarter note, which is heard throughout, conveys the majesty and awe one feels when viewing the Northern Lights. The more sparsely orchestrated middle section blends the different woodwinds together with the strings, to illustrate the beautiful colours of the Northern Lights. I also deliberately used the higher pitches in many of the instruments to represent the fact that the magnificent display of the Aurora Borealis is high up in the heavens. 

"Aurora Borealis" was performed and recorded onto a compact disc of the same name (https://collections.cmccanada.org/final/Portal/Composer-Showcase.aspx?component=AF-Query-Composer&record=eb48a3f6-04d5-42cd-9de6-092a8b5ca83f&lang=en-CA) by the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Maestro David Currie. This project was awarded funding from FACTOR (Foundation to Assist Canadian Talent on Records), the Council for the Arts in Ottawa and the Corel Endowment for the Arts.

Since this recording "Aurora Borealis" has received seventeen performances by leading orchestras across Canada and Europe and has been broadcasted on radio stations around the world.

Evelyn Stroobach is a professional musician and an award winning, published composer. She is currently a PhD candidate in Music Composition in the UK. Stroobach has won regional, national and international awards for her works.  Recently, Stroobach was honoured in the Senate and the House of Commons at the Houses of Parliament in Ottawa, Canada for her participation as composer on the newly released "Aboriginal Inspirations" CD (www.musiccentre.ca/node/147580).

Read her full bio here:
https://collections.cmccanada.org/final/Portal/Composer-Showcase.aspx?component=AAIL&record=eb48a3f6-04d5-42cd-9de6-092a8b5ca83f

Aurora Borealis

Evelyn Stroobach - Aurora Borealis

Three Chinese Songs of Autumn
June 14, 2003
Reading session with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
Chad Louwerse, Bass Baritone
Own Underhill, Conductor

1: An Autumn Day - Leisurely Boating on West Lake
Poem by Lin Pu
2: Mooring My Boat at Fen-Shui at Night
Poem by Huang Shu
3: Autumn
Poem by Huang Shu.

Sylvia Rickard - Three Chinese Songs of Autumn

Concerto for Marimba, Vibraphone and Orchestra by Maya Badian
- Mircea Badian (1967-1989) In Memoriam -
Movements: 
I. Preludio [Marimba] (4:49)   
II. Aria [Vibraphone] (3:47) 
III. Perpetuum mobile [Marimba/Vibraphone] (2:42).

Instrumentation:
Marimba and Vibraphone, soloist (1 player) / 1(picc),1,1,0,asax / 0,1,0,0 / timp, perc(3) / strings.

Performers:
Marie-Josee Simard, marimba and vibraphone   
Jahja Ling, conductor
Vancouver Symphony Orchestra 
Dr. Maya Badian, composer
Vancouver, Canada
March 7, 1989
Duration: 11 minutes

Program notes:
“Concerto for Marimba, Vibraphone and Orchestra by Maya Badian is acknowledged as the first concerto ever scored for these instruments in Romanian music history. 
The idea for the concerto came from her son Mircea who, at 20 already a virtuoso percussionist, wanted to perform the world première of the work. The concerto is dedicated to the dearest memory of Mircea Badian, who made tremendous contribution in assisting his mother to compose the parts of the virtuoso percussion instruments.  
I. Preludio (marimba and orchestra). The solo marimba is ingeniously treated as a melodic instrument. The movement is in a free form with the opening theme surrounded by micro-structures of indeterminate pitches, based on different cells from the theme and performed by the four members of the orchestra’s percussion section. These indeterminate sounds gradually become actual pitches, scored for winds and brasses. Transforming music from “noise” into “sound” is a marvellous technique, suggestively named by Pierre Boulez illusions acoustiques.  Toward the end of the Preludio, the marimba solo once again recalls its theme.  
II. Aria, the second movement (vibraphone and orchestra), is built with a pure combination of timbres that justifies the movement’s title. The predominance of solo voices generates the lyric expression of this movement. 
III. Perpetuum mobile, the final movement (marimba/ vibraphone and orchestra), focuses on the virtuoso aspects of both solo instruments, within a complex moving soundscape. The main ideas from the previous movements now include alternations between noise and determined pitch as well as between solos and full orchestra, being presented in a tumultuous vision, and gradually involving the whole orchestra in fortissimo. This approach emphasizes the global effect of this concerto as a strong and powerful statement imbued with subliminal textures. 
This Concerto represents a major work in Maya Badian’s output.” - Fred Popovici.

"CONCERTO FOR MARIMBA, VIBRAPHONE AND ORCHESTRA by Maya Badian explores the virtuosity of the two solo instruments and the technique of the soloist. Like a musical sculpture, this concerto sensitively blends the peculiar timbres of percussion instruments." (E. Douglas Hughes: Promenade Program Notes, March 6 & 7, 1989, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra).

http://www3.sympatico.ca/badian/

Maya Badian - Concerto for Marimba, Vibraphone and Orchestra

New music for flute inspired by Canada's wild spaces.

Calling

Dancing With Love artfully showcases a spectrum of 12 unique shades of love, ranging from the earthy and grounded to the divine and transcendent. Each track weaves together a distinct musical style with the poetry of Eastern Mystic Masters, including two inspiring female spiritual leaders. Over the past few years, Dr. Afarin Mansouri has composed an outstanding collection of arias and duets for her various operas while drawing inspiration from these literary poetic works. This album is the result of a successful collaboration between esteemed Iranian-Canadian artists, including Mansouri (compositions and lead vocals), Milad Bagheri (tenor), Padideh AhrarJejad (Tar) and Ali Masoudi (Percussion) with Thin Edge New Music Collective- one of Canada's foremost ensembles, presenting new music. The album has been made possible through the kind support of the Ontario Arts Council and Toronto Arts Council, as well as the production work of Cultureland.

Dancing With Love (Danser avec amour) présente avec brio un spectre de 12 nuances uniques d’amour, allant de l’amour enraciné et terrestre à l’amour divin et transcendant. Chaque piste tisse un style musical distinct tiré de la poésie des maîtres mystiques orientaux, y compris celle de deux incroyables femmes chefs spirituelles. Au cours des dernières années, la Dre Afarin Mansouri a composé une collection d’arias et de duos tirés de divers opéras. Cet album est le résultat d’une collaboration fructueuse entre d’éminents artistes irano-canadiens, dont Afarin Mansouri (compositrice et chanteuse), Milad Bagheri (ténor), Thin Edge New Music Collective et bien d’autres. L’album a été rendu possible grâce à l’aimable soutien du Conseil des arts de l’Ontario et du Conseil des arts de Toronto, ainsi qu’au travail de production de Cultureland.

11 Alchemy M03

10 Severance M03

This is a choral piece I wrote in 2012 for the University of Windsor Chamber Choir. It was based on a poem by my paternal grandmother, Ruby May Mulcaster.

Premiere performance, March 25 2012 in Assumption University Chapel, Windsor ON.

University of Windsor Chamber choir; Richard Householder, conductor.

Elements (University of Windsor Chamber Choir/Richard Householder)

Caprice for solo cello performed by Bryan Holt

Caprice for unaccompanied solo cello

A Stack of Human Dilemmas for violin and cello by Coreen Morsink with art by Judith Morsink
I) contemporaneous dilemmas web myriad
II) holding the weight of the world
III) mound
Performed by Saba Yousefi, violin and Dobrochna Zubek, cello
May 25, 2025 at the David De Simone Performance Hall, Aurora, Canada as part of the Women. Art, Resilience. Concert Series 

Photo: Mound by Judith Morsink (photo credit to Judith Morsink) 



A Stack of Human Dilemmas by Coreen Morsink Iive performance by Saba Yousefi violin and Dobrochna Zubek cello

Music by Beverley McKiver (SOCAN)
Performed by Beverley McKiver (piano), Zoé Dumas (flute), Anne Cure (cello)
Recording, editing and mastering by Normand Glaude (Morning Anthem Studio)

02 You Must Go

Performed Oct 10, 2019 by the University of Toronto Wind Ensemble.
Gillian MacKay, conductor
Jonny Smith, soloist

Concerto for Percussion and Wind Orchestra, II: Trepidation

Concerto for Percussion and Wind Orchestra, I: Awakening

Written in collaboration with artist Mike Bourscheid for his performance piece Ledgers, commissioned by the Vancouver Art Gallery in response to Erwin Wurm's sculptural installation.

Lyrics by Mike Bourscheid and Vanessa Brown
Performed in the Vancouver Art Gallery rotunda by Emily Millard, Emily Cheung and Hilary Ison

November 2019.

Ledgers

Association of Canadian Women Composers

The ACWC is a professional organization for Canadian women composers, their supporters, and the performers of their music.

Maya Badian - Piano Concerto

ACWC / ACC

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