GAVIN FRASER
NEWS
IS IT OVER YET? [seasons of lockdown]
ONLINE PREMIERE
NOVEMBER 3 2022
Beyond excited to finally share the online premiere of my new work!!!
Is It Over Yet? [seasons of lockdown] is a music film for soprano, orator, and live electronics that explores the mental health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This piece journeys through spring, summer, autumn, winter, with each season told from the perspective of a different age group struggling during lockdown.
This project was supported by the U of T's Student Engagement Award.
Please check it out and watch it in 4K here:
1ST PRIZE FOR SOCAN FOUNDATION COMPETITION
OCTOBER 20 2022
Beyond surprised, excited and honoured to announce that I've been awarded 1st prize in the electroacoustic category for the SOCAN Foundation Young Composers Award for my piece let us go better!Thank you so much to SOCAN Foundation for their support of young Canadian artists, and congrats to all of my colleagues!
Official announcement here:
KAREN KIESER AWARD
JULY 22 2022
I'm so honoured to have been awarded the Karen Kieser Prize in Canadian Music for my piece "like years, like seconds"!
Thank you to the University of Toronto and the Kieser family for this award, and to Jonathan Crow and Philip Chiu for performing this work so masterfully!
Check out the announcement here:
PANDEMIC BIRDSONG
MUSIC #3
APRIL 8 2022
Our third and final pandemic birdsong piece, featuring the sounds of the dawn chorus! This project was in association with the Jackman Humanities Institute of U of T, and the overall project explored the links between the pleasure of the dawn chorus, conservationism, and spirituality. It was such a pleasure to work with all my collaborators on this fulfilling project!
Watch the online premiere and read the article about the project below:
PREMIERE OF ORGAN PIECE IN MONTREAL
DECEMBER 8 2021
Organist and multi-disciplinary artist Esther-Ruth Teel premieres my new and first piece for pipe in Montreal. It was an incredible experience collaborating and learning so many new sounds with this wonderful instrument and performer!
Watch the recording below:
PREMIERE OF CHAMBER OPERA WITH BARBARA HANNIGAN & EQ
SEPTEMBER 3 - 4 2021
So incredibly excited and honoured to have worked with Barbara Hannigan and the EQ artists to bring the world premiere of my short chamber opera 'Penelope' to life! The text comes from Sue Goyette's epic poem Penelope - In First Person, re-contextualizing Homer's The Odyssey from the perspective of Penelope, Odysseus' wife left waiting for his return for 20 years.
PREMIERE AT THE TORONTO SUMMER MUSIC FESTIVAL
AUGUST 1 2021
I'm incredibly excited for the online AND in person premiere of my new piece for violin and piano, commissioned by Toronto Summer Music Festival and premiered by Jonathan Crow and Philip Chiu!! It was amazing to make music with these amazing artists, and I hope you enjoy!
Watch the online premiere below:
RADIO-CANADA CBC INTERVIEW
JULY 1 2021
I was interviewed by Adrien Blanc of CBC Radio-Canada about my composition residency at the Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance as a filmed segment on the national CBC Radio-Canada Canada Day highlight! Click the button below to check it out!
My portion begins at 50:18.
NEW VOICE PIECE AND FILM PREMIERE
MAY 28 2021
I'm so excited for the online premiere of my new piece for voice, electronics and short film!! I haven't sung in one of my works in about 6 years - working on this project has been a blast. My fiancé Esther-Ruth and I shot the film back in March, in the middle of the woods in about -20°C!!
This piece premieres Friday May 28 at 7pm EST/8pm NS time at U of T's New Music Festival and will stay online - please check it out!!
PANDEMIC BIRDSONG
MUSIC #2
APRIL 26 2021
Very excited to share the second piece in our pandemic birdsong project, featuring mezzo-soprano Nicole Percifield and pianist Geoffrey Conquer. We were able to record this safely in Toronto back in November in person (which is such a privilege), and I have been having a blast collaborating with these amazing artists. Hope you enjoy!!
21st CENTURY GUITAR CONFERENCE PREMIERE
MARCH 23 2021
My new solo classical guitar piece premiered at the 21st Century Guitar Concert by the incredibly talented Emmanuel Jacob Lacopo - check out the performance below!
PANDEMIC BIRDSONG
MUSIC #1
OCT 26 2020
Shared Isolation is a collaborative project with mezzo-soprano Nicole Percifield and pianist Geoffrey Conquer, where I composed music based on birdsong recorded in urban areas all around the world during the pandemic. This first piece in the project, Fly above the shuttered world, which was recorded and put together across three different provinces. Hope you enjoy!
PROGRAM DIRECTOR AT LAMP!
AUG 25 2020
I had the honour of serving as the program director and resident composition teacher at LAMP'S 2020 Composer Workshop. I worked with two wonderful young composers, as well as many talented performers, which saw the creation and premiere of four brand new works! This was all achieved during the pandemic in a safe way. Thank you for having me, LAMP!
LAMP'S VIRTUAL CONCERT
MAY 05 2020
As part of LAMP's initiative to raise funds for their struggling young musicians and artists during the COVID-19 pandemic, GivingNowTuesday's virtual concert will feature esteemed LAMP alumni in a pre-recorded concert. Among other beautiful repertoire, Julian Schwarz and Marika Bournaki will perform my piece Broken Vase (2015) from NYC, while soprano and pianist Rachel Fenlon will give the world premiere of In Flower Bloom My Distrust from Berlin. Check out the link below to view the concert and donate if you can!
NEW POP MUSIC
WITH THE AI
MARCH 03 2020
Now for something completely different! I wrote, sang and played guitar on a song with my good friend Adrian Irvine, aka producer 'the ai', which was just released on Spotify, Apple Music, and Bandcamp. Check out our song Crying Skies on the ai 's new EP Machine Living here!
THE MASSEY MURDER OPERA PREMIERE
JAN 19 2020
So excited for the premiere of Maid & Master: The Massey Murder Opera! I had the opportunity to compose the first four scenes of this fully staged (with chamber orchestra and women's chorus) opera. The other scenes were composed by three of my talented colleagues: Kento Stratford, Xintong Wang, and Katharine Petkovski.
DIDO
AND
BELINDA
MAY 04 2019
Hey friends! I am so honoured to be singing in the chorus of OperaQ's production of Dido & Belinda, on tonight and tomorrow!! Come check out this exciting production!
May 4th and 5th at 7:30pm,
Trinity College Chapel
$10 for students and arts workers, $20 regular
Photo by Emily Ding Photography.
H(E)AVEN PREMIERE
JAN 17 2019
Hey friends! My double choir piece 'H(e)aven' is about to be premiered in Edmonton by some truly wonderful singers from Pro Coro, conducted by