October 2024

Emily Hiemstra, viola
Sonya Nanos, cello

Aesop's Fables, A Duo
i. the Donkey
ii. the Tortoise
iii. the Wolf

recording from August 26, 2024
performance at the London Public Library, Charis Collective's concert series for young listeners

Aesop's Fables; A Duo

Composer: Gerda Blok-Wilson
Publisher: Cypress Choral Music Inc.

visit https://cypresschoral.com to study the score while you listen

Little Child of Long Ago - by Gerda Blok-Wilson

Award-winning singer-songwriter and contemporary composer Carmen Braden shares her new single and video ‘An Invite’ out now on all digital streaming platforms. Listen here.

‘An Invite’ is the second single from the Yellowknife artist’s new album, A Hard Light, which is set for release on December 5th. The eclectic ambient pop track feels like an immersive experience, taking the listener on a journey from the first note. The song recalls a moment in Carmen's past, giving it a ghost-like quality, as if participating in a sense memory of someone else's life.

"This tune comes from a memory of a night when I was a young woman away from home," says Carmen. "There was an encounter that brought me sharply to a moment of choices—choices about what I was ready to do with my body and with whom. I remember coming out of that moment feeling so strong, knowing that I had made deep, clear choices for myself. The music emerged from a marimba loop and improvisation by my producer, Mark Adam, which reminded me of that time in my life. The call-and-response moments with Nova Scotia singer Cas Palmer weave into the long melodies of this story-song, featuring expansive rolling grooves and drum-and-bass vibes, all of which have grown into a darkness and intensity that truly match the memory."

A multi-talented artist recognized as an “acoustic ambassador of the Canadian Subarctic” (Musicworks Magazine), Carmen has played intimate theatres and main stage folk festivals, smoothly transitioning between genres of songwriting and composing. Her contemporary classical compositions are nationally recognized, with commissions and performances by world-class ensembles and performers, including the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, James Ehnes, and the Canadian Chamber Choir.

She has released three studio albums: Seed Songs (2021), Songs of the Invisible Summer Stars (2019), and Ravens (2017). Carmen has earned national recognition by winning the Western Canadian Music Award for Classical Composer of the Year in both 2020 and 2019. Additional nominations include Classical Album of the Year (2020) at the East Coast Music Awards, Classical Artist of the Year (2019 WCMAs), and Classical Composition of the Year (2017 WCMAs). Carmen's fourth studio album, A Hard Light, produced by her long-time collaborator Mark Adam (Music In the Woods, Nova Scotia), will be released on December 5th.

An Invite - MASTER 48kHz

For mixed octet, live electronics, and movement (fl, alto sax, bass cl, tbn, perc, pno, vln, vc). 

Commissioned by and composed for Alkali Collective with support from Arts Nova Scotia & Canada Council for the Arts.

Premiered on May 18, 2024 at The Music Room in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Performed by Alkali Collective, Julia Mermelstein (electronics). Live Recording.

Mixed Foliage

WILDERNESS (2021) for grade 4 concert band - composed and published by Cait Nishimura. Recorded by the Central Band of the Canadian Armed Forces with Matt McCrady, conductor.

For more info, please visit caitnishimura.com

WILDERNESS - Cait Nishimura x Central Band of the Canadian Armed Forces

Commissioned by the MSO for the 75th anniversary of the orchestra's children series as a new ending of "Carnival of the Animals" by Saint-Saens

Pegase / Pegasus / Пегас(2005) op. 38

Three pieces I wrote for my Composition class at the Juilliard Evening Division this past semester.

in Just-

String Quartet  No.2
Fall 2014
Played By Zasta Ensemble
At Saba Studio. Tehran / Iran
December 2015

Kooran

String Quartet  No.2

Fernweh

Hocking Hills for String Quintet premiered by the PMF String Quintet in Sapporo Japan, 2018.

Hocking Hills

Other

viola: Sebastian Stefanović
conductor: Joshua Hong

flute/piccolo: Dominique Kim
oboe: Tanavi Prabhu
clarinet/bass clarinet: Stefani Feldman
horn: Max Paulus
percussion: Aaron Smith
piano: Grace Templeton
violins: Mary Grace Johnson, Adam Woodward
cello: David Dietz

In Transitive Motion

After I wrote "The Search", I was asked by an associate to write a couple more pieces for the same instrumentation.  The result was a set with 3 pieces: "The Search", "The Sighting", "The Encounter".  There's no program behind the works, so let your imagination run wild.

The Encounter

Premiered by Steph Dressler (flute) and Rocío Díaz de Cossío (cello) on November 20, 2019

Keening is the Irish practice of vocal lament at a funeral or wake. Caoineadh was written in close collaboration with Stephanie and Rocío. It explores a few of the many faces of grief.

Caoineadh - for flute and cello

Association of Canadian Women Composers

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

Aesop's Fables; A Duo

Ewalk101

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