David Scott (41)

David R. Scott -- Canadian composer David Raphael Scott (b. 1962) has been writing music for over 25 years. His earliest creative efforts—best described as a blend of world and classical music styles—were produced using a primitive arrangement of discarded tape recorders. In his late teens, many of his creative impulses were realized through multi-track recording. He also made forays into the world of blues, rock and jazz as a composer and musician, playing a variety of the standard instruments associated with those genres. These early experiments in the techniques of harmonic layering, instrumental arranging and formal pacing, helped lay the groundwork for his current style. Since his early 20’s, David has written over forty pieces of contemporary classical instrumental and vocal music. Recently, his compositional method has become more and more analogous to the techniques found in painting, where a blank space is given implied structure by a horizon line and vanishing points, with detail added to this background in myriad layers. In his compositions, David therefore attempts to engage the listener on a number of different levels simultaneously. The surface of the music (the melodic ideas and gestures) is often saturated with colour, while the underlying structure (the harmony and counterpoint) is always implied. David feels fortunate to have studied composition with two of Canada’s most distinguished senior composers, Robert Turner and Violet Archer. He is a graduate of the Universities of Manitoba and Alberta, and holds a Doctorate in Composition from the University of British Columbia. David has also studied composition with Michael Matthews, Alfred Fisher, Stephen Chatman, Keith Hamel, and orchestration with Malcolm Forsyth. In his student years, David received numerous prizes for his compositions including those from Music Inter Alia (Winnipeg), PROCAN (Toronto), and BMI (New York). David is a member of the Canadian League of Composers and is an associate of the Canadian Music Centre. He was an Artistic Co-Director of the new music organization GroundSwell from 2001-2008. Premieres and commissions include those by the St. Lawrence String Quartet, the Molinari String Quartet, the Penderecki String Quartet, the Atlantic String Quartet, the Thunder Bay Symphony, Victoria Symphony, the Saskatoon Symphony, the Winnipeg Youth Symphony, the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, the Koszalin State Philharmonic Orchestra of Poland, the Eckhardt-Gramatté Competition, the Manitoba Registered Music Teachers Association, The Royal Canadian College of Organists, GroundSwell, Array Music, the Hammerhead Consort, Ensemble Mondetta, Duo Concertante, the Agassiz Music Festival, soprano Valdine Anderson, cellist Paul Marleyn, violist Dan Scholz and other chamber groups and soloists. His music has been presented throughout Canada, in the United States, Europe and the former Soviet Union. CDs of David’s music, recorded on the Vienna Modern Masters and Arktos labels, are available through the Canadian Music Centre. David Scott is married to Laurel Howard, violist, teacher and administrator, and they have two children, a quasi-beagle and two freshwater snails. He lives and works in Winnipeg.