Commissioned and premiered by Duo AIRS, 22 April 2022 atat Christ Church Cathedral , Montreal, QC.

Adrian Foster, organ 
David Therrien Brongo, percussion
Louis-Philippe Bonin, saxophone

this dewdrop world (2022) for soprano saxophone, percussion, and organ

Composed for and premiered by Quatuor Bozzini as part of the 2022 Composer’s Kitchen in partnership with nyMusikk Norway.

Premiered 28 October 2022 at Conservatoire de Musique de Montreal, QC, and 1 November 2022 at Tøyen kirke, Oslo, Norway.

flora is a portrait in sound of my late grandmother, my interpretation in music of her voice on a vinyl recording from when she was just 21 years old. 

It is a deeply meaningful experience for me to share space with her voice in this way. I am grateful to Quatuor Bozzini for playing an integral part in the development of this piece and handling this material with such care.

flora (2022)

Commissioned by Aysel Taghi-Zada and Freesound with generous support from the Ontario Arts Council. Premiered 5 May 2023 at Society Clubhouse, Toronto, ON.

parting ways was written for Aysel Taghi-Zada. Sine tones veil the violin part as it moves through its path, creating shadings and gradual shifts. Trembling patterns emerge as tones in each part move closer to and further from unison, forming a physical interaction. An absence emerges when this interaction is gone.

Audio: Matt Antal

parting ways (2023)

Performed by the McGill Contemporary Ensemble, 7 April 2016

Deep Calleth Unto Deep for 15 instruments (2016)

Christina Volpini, composer.

Premiered 27 May 2017 at Array Space, Toronto ON. Part of the Array Young Composers Workshop 2017.

Stephen Sitarski, violin
Colleen Cook, clarinet
David Schotzko, percussion
Stephen Clark, piano
Rick Sacks, conductor

garden of forking paths (2017)

Premiered 6 June 2018 at Crows Theatre, Toronto, ON.
Work developed as part of Soundstreams Emerging Composer Workshop 2018.

Parker Clements, baritone
Erika, Raum violin
David Hetherington, cello
Gregery Oh, piano
Adanya Dunn, Percussion
Pierce Gradone, Conductor

upon unknown arts (2018)

Premiered 8 April 2019 at the Canadian Music Centre, Toronto, ON by Rob MacDonald.

This performance by Emily Shaw, 25 May 2019 at the University of Ottawa. 

for emily is a set of four miniatures developed with guitarist Emily Shaw. These miniatures act as “timbral character” pieces, each with varied textures and atmospheres for the instrument. The miniatures are unified by an exploration of slight variations in timbre and tuning that occur when the same pitch is played in different places of the instrument. 

This piece exists both as a solo guitar piece and as a piece for guitar and electronics. In the electronic version, a jar amplifies filtered recordings of the guitar part. These recordings have been filtered by the jar itself, making use of the resonant frequencies as the guitarist’s accompaniment.

for emily  (guitar + resonating jar)(2019)

Commissioned and premiered by Bakarlari Ensemble, 1 March 2020 at The Music Gallery, Toronto, ON. Part of the Emergents Series curated by Sara Constant.

This work may be performed by any trio of low, medium and high woodwind instruments or voices. Recordings made by the players in advance play through speaker cones under glass jars, which are lifted by the performers during the performance. 

A remembrancer is a person responsible for reminding others of something. In this guided improvisation, recordings supplied by the performers act as guiding posts. These recordings capture the sounds of places and people that the players find meaningful.

remembrancer for improvising trio + electronics (trumpet, bass clarinet + tuba) (2020)

Christina Volpini is a composer whose music has been described as “focused intently on the subtle sounds that fall between the cracks” (Ludwig Van Toronto) and “very nuanced, rustling and whispering” (Neomemoire). Informed by the ephemerality and spontaneity of natural sonic environments, her work explores gradual unfolding through time, found objects, sonic spatialization, instrumental textures and liminal spaces. Her music develops through collaborative creative processes with pieces crafted for specific spaces and performers. 

Christina has been commissioned by Esprit Orchestra, Array Ensemble, Continuum Contemporary Music, Caution Tape Music Collective, and Duo AIRS with performances in Toronto, Montréal, Ottawa, Vancouver, Edmonton, New York and throughout the U.S. east coast. She has collaborated with artists including Jumblies Theatre, Echéa Quartet, guitarist Rob MacDonald and Ensemble Bakarlari, among others. Her work has been featured by organizations including the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Soundstreams and The Music Gallery, and supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

christina volpini

Popular tracks