April 7, 2024 • 24 mins
Join Dr. Sophie Dupuis and Brianna as they discuss opportunities for contemporary Canadian composers, comedy vs creepy, the value of art and more!
Music featured:
Elles ont peint le crépuscule de noir et blanc
There will be no ice left in the Arctic in 22* years from now
Taken by the Locos for Violin and Percussion
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hello and welcome to Notes of the North Talks, a series where we get to know our local Canadian
(00:09):
musical talent.
Today, I am here with Dr. Sophie Dupuis.
Thank you so much, Sophie, for joining me today.
Thanks, Brianna.
Let's jump right in.
So first and foremost, I'd love to get a bit of a glimpse into your background.
So where in Canada do you call home?
So I grew up in Edmunston in New Brunswick, and after several years in Nova Scotia and
(00:34):
then Ontario, I returned home to Edmunston, New Brunswick.
So this is definitely my ground, my home.
Awesome.
And we can see there's definitely a few Canadian locations that hold a special place in your
heart, right?
Yes, that's right.
Yeah.
So what pushed you into composition then?
(00:59):
It wasn't something... we were talking a little bit about that earlier, but it's not something
that I knew was a possibility.
Growing up in a rural area of New Brunswick, you know, exposition to cultural opportunities
are very few and far in between.
We have a great community that is really trying to keep arts alive, et cetera, but we didn't
(01:26):
have very expanded programs in high school, for example.
So I really realized that you could become a composer during my time at university.
So I started a bachelor in science and music thinking, oh, I'm going to become a physician.
But yeah, the program really expanded my views on the different avenues you could take in
(01:53):
music.
And there are so many that you don't necessarily consider as a younger individual.
So it was really at the university that I considered it.
Yeah.
Perfect.
How would you introduce your music and style to a first time listener?
Yeah, well, lately, I've come up with my first album.
(02:18):
So it was published in October of last year.
But the feedback that I got from it is that it reminds people a little bit of film music.
And I guess that's a positive thing because I don't compose thinking of film music, but
I compose thinking of definitely the narrative throughout the course of a piece.
(02:40):
And it helps people kind of relate to that and create their own imagery and their imagination
to go along with the piece.
And anything that can help people who aren't really into contemporary music grasp the meaning
(03:01):
of the music is really helpful in communicating that in pre-concert talks, for example.
But if I had to describe my music, I think there's a level of complexity, especially
when it involves multiple instruments, not necessarily in the techniques, but in the
combination of the instruments, the layering of the instruments.
(03:24):
And there was definitely something a little whimsical and in my head comical, although
it does come across sometimes as creepy to other people.
So it's really funny how intentions, the way it's constructed, can be interpreted differently
(03:47):
by others.
I think that's the beauty of arts and experimenting around with it.
Definitely, that's fantastic.
Could you recommend a piece that really encapsulates the style that you introduced?
Yeah, well, I think it's the third piece on my album, taken by The Locos.
This one is for violin and percussion.
(04:13):
The inspiration behind it is a scene from the animated movie Madagascar.
It's just the one with the lemurs just acting completely unhinged and crazy and just being
unapologetically themselves.
(04:46):
The piece is inspired by that and in it you can hear a lot of woodblocks and metals that
are kind of taking that K sound that we hear in words like crazy, loco, cuckoo, or taken
by the locos.
There's the percussion side and the violin side is a little bit more free flowing, but
(05:11):
also imitates that craziness or perhaps freedom in some ways.
Anyway, it comes across as something that could be in a horror movie, but it was inspired
(05:32):
by a comical scene in a movie.
It is funny and I think as we're trying to get away from the tonal system and explore
sounds for being sounds, it's hard to get away from pitches.
If you're not paying attention necessarily to consonances, then you get a lot of dissonances
(05:56):
by default and that sometimes can create harshness that folks relate to something unpleasant
and whatnot.
So there's that too.
There's this area of experimentation where there's meaning attached already to these
sounds and it's inevitable that people will use that as a reference naturally.
(06:23):
Yeah, your compositions often draw inspiration from various sources like the piece you mentioned
from a shot in a movie.
Is there any other example where your creative process was initiated by a form of art that
was other than a movie scene or a different movie scene?
(06:44):
Well, it's funny because as a young composer, it's like your ideas have marinated and generated
over years and years and then all of a sudden you have the opportunity to put it on paper
and it's a really liberating process and it comes in quite naturally and quickly for a
(07:07):
lot of people.
And then at some point it just stops a little bit because, well, there's many factors.
First you become more curious about what you can do.
Perhaps you want to try something different.
You're also searching.
I think it's a lifelong search for your identity and yourself.
(07:33):
And then there's external factors like now there's expectations and social pressure and
pressure from peers.
And it's not something that you can avoid, but it's definitely something that for artists
tend to hinder the creative process because you have that constant fear of doing something
(07:57):
wrong.
So all of these factors made it so that for me anyway, I needed to start finding external
sources of inspiration to see where my creativity could go.
So using only internal sources of inspiration, you're limited to what you know.
(08:20):
So when you start exploring outwards, it's really fun actually discovering new things
about the most random things, like I wrote a piece that's called Rebond Cosmique, like
Cosmic Rebound, and I found the term, it's a scientific theory that opposes the Big Bang
(08:45):
theory where it was just an explosion.
So this Cosmic Rebound refers to the expansion and retraction of the universe, retracting
to the point where it will collide and then explode.
(09:06):
So it's not just a big explosion, it's like a renewable process.
But you find out about these things because you're curious about them.
So more and more I try to research these things, but what resonates with me the most is imagery
(09:29):
of that kind.
Sometimes composers have rituals or habits that get them into a creative mindset.
What are some of your words if you have any?
Yeah, well, it's a good question, and I think I haven't found the perfect ritual.
No, no.
(09:50):
I find more and more that rest is really important.
Rest and time between maybe days of composition.
You try to do a little composition every day, but sometimes just stepping away from the
piece and coming back to it with a fresh eye is really helpful.
(10:12):
But I don't have a prayer that I say and then set the mood with some incense.
That's not what gets me working.
Just rest.
I love that.
We all need more rest.
Your work often also explores themes of nature, like you touched on cosmic revounds, and there's
(10:38):
also themes of nature and environmentalism in some of your works as seen in titles like
I think there's like, there will be no ice left in the Arctic in 22 years from now or
so.
That's right.
Share how these themes breathe life into your music and are there any messages you
hope to convey to audiences?
(10:59):
Well, that's really interesting because truthfully, a part of these works have been commissioned
and it was a little bit of a, not a trend, but something that was really popular with
(11:21):
the current jury panel, these ideas of conservation and promoting conservation and whatnot.
At one point, I received several commissions where the criteria was that it had to be about
nature and whatnot.
Again, when you're exploring those themes, you do your research and then you learn a
(11:48):
lot about it.
So that's really interesting.
But naturally, I am drawn to nature having lived in a rural area.
And yeah, that's, I don't know, it's a little bit cliche for Canadian to be inspired by
(12:11):
nature.
At some point, you can't really deny what's fueling your well.
Interesting.
Well, your compositions often feature these complex themes and intricate melodies and
harmonies, which is beautiful.
(12:33):
But do you often find it challenging to balance these complexities with accessibility?
Is this something you keep in mind, like connecting to the audience when you write?
Or is it just purely what comes out and everyone deals with it?
Yeah, well, that's an interesting question.
It's fun that you asked that actually.
(12:54):
Because I did talk a little bit about external pressures earlier and that's definitely something
that, you know, you want to write something good, you want to, nobody wants to produce
something that's not really good.
So obviously, there's that.
(13:14):
But I've been working with a therapist for quite a few years and it's kind of made me
come to the realization that it's really a block for creatives to have these expectations
and it hinders what you really want to put out.
So it's really important when I'm having these blocks, to me anyway, to go inside me and
(13:41):
think, okay, what do I want to achieve?
What is important to me?
What, you know, what do I want to contribute to the community, to the arts, to the people
around me?
But coming from inside, you know, I'm not thinking of what do people want to hear?
(14:07):
It's really what do I want to contribute to?
And in a way, it's a very go-centric way to operate.
But I think it's really important to stay true to yourself.
And for other people, it might be different.
It might very well relate to the audience, but that's, you know, that's their mission
(14:31):
as an artist.
And that's okay.
It's just not mine.
And I'm a bit of a rebel in advance.
So whenever someone tells me not to do something, I just want to do more of it.
So if the public, the general public have a hard time connecting with my pieces, it's,
(14:53):
you know, sometimes it sucks a little bit because you do want your work to be valued.
But if in having integrity, you worked on something that, you know, is of high value
because of the technicalities and the shapes that you give it to give the music, I think
(15:16):
there's something rewarding in that as well.
So it's a very, very complex question, is the bottom line.
And there's also such like a fine line too, because this value of what composers create,
it's like, it's just so difficult because it's like determined by all of these societal
perceptions.
(15:36):
And then again, us as artists, we should be able to have like the final say, I guess,
on the value of work.
But then again, like the success in the market, for example, on more economic matters is determined
by other people's perception of what we create.
So yeah, that's right.
(15:59):
And to be quite blunt about it, as classical composers who have, you know, rates set by
the CLC, for example, Canadian League of Composers on how we should be paid for work, we're very
blessed.
(16:20):
It's very difficult to get grants these days.
And in that regard, it's not as great, but you know, we are blessed to not have this
expectation of my piece needs to become a commercial success.
Maybe it's some people's expectations.
(16:42):
But yeah, we do have that freedom of experimenting.
And throughout history, you have these composers who like push the boundaries and did experimentations.
And then some pop artists that, you know, do their research and discover new music and
(17:02):
see what an experimental composer did and is now applying it to their own popular commercial
music.
You know, so the contemporary music field is really like a discovery playing ground
that can inspire other people.
(17:23):
So the outreach is a lot bigger than we think, really.
But that process is happening over time.
And meanwhile, while we're existing and creating this music, sometimes these experiments can
be alienating for others.
(17:44):
So you know, it's very complex.
Yeah.
Well, going back to the idea of Notes of the North, how do you see your music contributing
to Canada's musical identity, particularly as a Francophone composer from the Brunswick?
Yeah, that's also a very tricky question.
(18:05):
And I'm not sure I can answer that properly.
I think maybe if I was to look back at my work in a few years from now, I could kind
of situate my work a little better in what's going on in Canada.
(18:28):
But because I try not to get too psyched out by what else is going on and really focus
on what I want to create, it's all difficult.
The other thing too is that you don't want to pretend that you're changing the landscape
of Canadian music as the one composer, you know.
(18:53):
But yeah, hopefully I contribute to something.
I think it's everyone's desire to be remembered for what they do.
I'll say that my music, especially for a lot of our ensembles, tends to be a little bit
more complex.
So maybe that's kind of something that's adding to the orchestral repertoire.
(19:18):
And it's tricky too, because orchestras, when they encounter some of my music, they don't
really know where their instruments situate themselves in the music, because it's really
not conventional.
(19:38):
For example, if the violin has a melody, well, violins are...
First violinists are used to having melodies, so they'll play these lavish lines over the
accompaniment and they'll know where they are in the music.
But the way I tend to write the music, it's one big soundscape that is kind of shaped
(20:03):
in valleys and mountains.
And so the first violins who will be used to have this melody might have a line that,
oh, it's not quite coming out of the texture.
Actually it's part of the texture.
And oh, we're kind of below while we're used to being on the higher register.
(20:27):
So yeah, all these little things might contribute to some changes in conventional...
Ways of making music.
But I know a lot of composers also work like that with orchestras.
(20:51):
So yeah, I guess I'm more part of that movement, if I can say.
Going beyond the norms, as they say.
You are serving, I believe, as president of the Canadian League of Composers.
So this must have provided unique insights into the broader landscape of Canadian contemporary
(21:11):
music.
How has having this role shaped your perspective on the Canadian music scene, both on the national
scale and also on the global stage?
Yeah, actually I'm a past president now, so my mandate ended last year.
But it's really fun having been in that position, realizing how composition and contemporary
(21:41):
composition is...
The definition is looser and looser than what it was.
We used to see composers as very academic and with Western European influences.
(22:07):
Even at the Canadian League of Composers, in the past, if you wanted to be a member,
you had to have had some sort of diploma in a higher degree, like a master's degree diploma.
It's no longer the case.
It's really if you're considering yourself a professional composer, yes or no.
(22:29):
And even then, there was some work to be done with the guidelines.
But it's been really refreshing seeing the different backgrounds of composers now, people
coming from rock, hip hop, delving a little bit more into sound exploration.
(22:54):
And even themselves, sometimes they'll be hesitant to call themselves composers because
of how the term has been used before as something very academic.
So, yeah, it's great.
It's very exciting to see where it's going with all these different influences.
(23:15):
And then we have all these interdisciplinary artists that craft their own instruments
and play on them.
And there are also beautiful art installations.
Overlapping art with music, it's not more one or the other.
It's really both.
(23:35):
So it's really changing in this way.
And we see a little bit more experimentation in different countries where it's a little
bit more integrated and probably the politics and the terms, how they are used in these
countries.
(23:56):
So Canada has some work to do.
It's very difficult because we have a very large country and not as dense a population.
So the opportunities are not the same everywhere as well.
And these people who are kind of doing their own thing with their own background, with
(24:17):
their own influences and have this very special music might not have the network and the outreach
that other composers have in a larger center.
So yeah, but it's very interesting and inspiring if you start paying attention.
Yeah, very well put.
Well, that pretty much wraps up today's episode.
(24:38):
So thank you so much again, Sophie, for sharing such incredible pieces of your art and heart.
Thank you.
Thanks, Brianna.
And until next time, folks, keep listening for the Notes of the North.
Hello and welcome to Notes of the North Talks, a series where we get to know our local Canadian
(00:09):
musical talent.
Today, I am here with Dr. Sophie Dupuis.
Thank you so much, Sophie, for joining me today.
Thanks, Brianna.
Let's jump right in.
So first and foremost, I'd love to get a bit of a glimpse into your background.
So where in Canada do you call home?
So I grew up in Edmunston in New Brunswick, and after several years in Nova Scotia and
(00:34):
then Ontario, I returned home to Edmunston, New Brunswick.
So this is definitely my ground, my home.
Awesome.
And we can see there's definitely a few Canadian locations that hold a special place in your
heart, right?
Yes, that's right.
Yeah.
So what pushed you into composition then?
(00:59):
It wasn't something... we were talking a little bit about that earlier, but it's not something
that I knew was a possibility.
Growing up in a rural area of New Brunswick, you know, exposition to cultural opportunities
are very few and far in between.
We have a great community that is really trying to keep arts alive, et cetera, but we didn't
(01:26):
have very expanded programs in high school, for example.
So I really realized that you could become a composer during my time at university.
So I started a bachelor in science and music thinking, oh, I'm going to become a physician.
But yeah, the program really expanded my views on the different avenues you could take in
(01:53):
music.
And there are so many that you don't necessarily consider as a younger individual.
So it was really at the university that I considered it.
Yeah.
Perfect.
How would you introduce your music and style to a first time listener?
Yeah, well, lately, I've come up with my first album.
(02:18):
So it was published in October of last year.
But the feedback that I got from it is that it reminds people a little bit of film music.
And I guess that's a positive thing because I don't compose thinking of film music, but
I compose thinking of definitely the narrative throughout the course of a piece.
(02:40):
And it helps people kind of relate to that and create their own imagery and their imagination
to go along with the piece.
And anything that can help people who aren't really into contemporary music grasp the meaning
(03:01):
of the music is really helpful in communicating that in pre-concert talks, for example.
But if I had to describe my music, I think there's a level of complexity, especially
when it involves multiple instruments, not necessarily in the techniques, but in the
combination of the instruments, the layering of the instruments.
(03:24):
And there was definitely something a little whimsical and in my head comical, although
it does come across sometimes as creepy to other people.
So it's really funny how intentions, the way it's constructed, can be interpreted differently
(03:47):
by others.
I think that's the beauty of arts and experimenting around with it.
Definitely, that's fantastic.
Could you recommend a piece that really encapsulates the style that you introduced?
Yeah, well, I think it's the third piece on my album, taken by The Locos.
This one is for violin and percussion.
(04:13):
The inspiration behind it is a scene from the animated movie Madagascar.
It's just the one with the lemurs just acting completely unhinged and crazy and just being
unapologetically themselves.
(04:46):
The piece is inspired by that and in it you can hear a lot of woodblocks and metals that
are kind of taking that K sound that we hear in words like crazy, loco, cuckoo, or taken
by the locos.
There's the percussion side and the violin side is a little bit more free flowing, but
(05:11):
also imitates that craziness or perhaps freedom in some ways.
Anyway, it comes across as something that could be in a horror movie, but it was inspired
(05:32):
by a comical scene in a movie.
It is funny and I think as we're trying to get away from the tonal system and explore
sounds for being sounds, it's hard to get away from pitches.
If you're not paying attention necessarily to consonances, then you get a lot of dissonances
(05:56):
by default and that sometimes can create harshness that folks relate to something unpleasant
and whatnot.
So there's that too.
There's this area of experimentation where there's meaning attached already to these
sounds and it's inevitable that people will use that as a reference naturally.
(06:23):
Yeah, your compositions often draw inspiration from various sources like the piece you mentioned
from a shot in a movie.
Is there any other example where your creative process was initiated by a form of art that
was other than a movie scene or a different movie scene?
(06:44):
Well, it's funny because as a young composer, it's like your ideas have marinated and generated
over years and years and then all of a sudden you have the opportunity to put it on paper
and it's a really liberating process and it comes in quite naturally and quickly for a
(07:07):
lot of people.
And then at some point it just stops a little bit because, well, there's many factors.
First you become more curious about what you can do.
Perhaps you want to try something different.
You're also searching.
I think it's a lifelong search for your identity and yourself.
(07:33):
And then there's external factors like now there's expectations and social pressure and
pressure from peers.
And it's not something that you can avoid, but it's definitely something that for artists
tend to hinder the creative process because you have that constant fear of doing something
(07:57):
wrong.
So all of these factors made it so that for me anyway, I needed to start finding external
sources of inspiration to see where my creativity could go.
So using only internal sources of inspiration, you're limited to what you know.
(08:20):
So when you start exploring outwards, it's really fun actually discovering new things
about the most random things, like I wrote a piece that's called Rebond Cosmique, like
Cosmic Rebound, and I found the term, it's a scientific theory that opposes the Big Bang
(08:45):
theory where it was just an explosion.
So this Cosmic Rebound refers to the expansion and retraction of the universe, retracting
to the point where it will collide and then explode.
(09:06):
So it's not just a big explosion, it's like a renewable process.
But you find out about these things because you're curious about them.
So more and more I try to research these things, but what resonates with me the most is imagery
(09:29):
of that kind.
Sometimes composers have rituals or habits that get them into a creative mindset.
What are some of your words if you have any?
Yeah, well, it's a good question, and I think I haven't found the perfect ritual.
No, no.
(09:50):
I find more and more that rest is really important.
Rest and time between maybe days of composition.
You try to do a little composition every day, but sometimes just stepping away from the
piece and coming back to it with a fresh eye is really helpful.
(10:12):
But I don't have a prayer that I say and then set the mood with some incense.
That's not what gets me working.
Just rest.
I love that.
We all need more rest.
Your work often also explores themes of nature, like you touched on cosmic revounds, and there's
(10:38):
also themes of nature and environmentalism in some of your works as seen in titles like
I think there's like, there will be no ice left in the Arctic in 22 years from now or
so.
That's right.
Share how these themes breathe life into your music and are there any messages you
hope to convey to audiences?
(10:59):
Well, that's really interesting because truthfully, a part of these works have been commissioned
and it was a little bit of a, not a trend, but something that was really popular with
(11:21):
the current jury panel, these ideas of conservation and promoting conservation and whatnot.
At one point, I received several commissions where the criteria was that it had to be about
nature and whatnot.
Again, when you're exploring those themes, you do your research and then you learn a
(11:48):
lot about it.
So that's really interesting.
But naturally, I am drawn to nature having lived in a rural area.
And yeah, that's, I don't know, it's a little bit cliche for Canadian to be inspired by
(12:11):
nature.
At some point, you can't really deny what's fueling your well.
Interesting.
Well, your compositions often feature these complex themes and intricate melodies and
harmonies, which is beautiful.
(12:33):
But do you often find it challenging to balance these complexities with accessibility?
Is this something you keep in mind, like connecting to the audience when you write?
Or is it just purely what comes out and everyone deals with it?
Yeah, well, that's an interesting question.
It's fun that you asked that actually.
(12:54):
Because I did talk a little bit about external pressures earlier and that's definitely something
that, you know, you want to write something good, you want to, nobody wants to produce
something that's not really good.
So obviously, there's that.
(13:14):
But I've been working with a therapist for quite a few years and it's kind of made me
come to the realization that it's really a block for creatives to have these expectations
and it hinders what you really want to put out.
So it's really important when I'm having these blocks, to me anyway, to go inside me and
(13:41):
think, okay, what do I want to achieve?
What is important to me?
What, you know, what do I want to contribute to the community, to the arts, to the people
around me?
But coming from inside, you know, I'm not thinking of what do people want to hear?
(14:07):
It's really what do I want to contribute to?
And in a way, it's a very go-centric way to operate.
But I think it's really important to stay true to yourself.
And for other people, it might be different.
It might very well relate to the audience, but that's, you know, that's their mission
(14:31):
as an artist.
And that's okay.
It's just not mine.
And I'm a bit of a rebel in advance.
So whenever someone tells me not to do something, I just want to do more of it.
So if the public, the general public have a hard time connecting with my pieces, it's,
(14:53):
you know, sometimes it sucks a little bit because you do want your work to be valued.
But if in having integrity, you worked on something that, you know, is of high value
because of the technicalities and the shapes that you give it to give the music, I think
(15:16):
there's something rewarding in that as well.
So it's a very, very complex question, is the bottom line.
And there's also such like a fine line too, because this value of what composers create,
it's like, it's just so difficult because it's like determined by all of these societal
perceptions.
(15:36):
And then again, us as artists, we should be able to have like the final say, I guess,
on the value of work.
But then again, like the success in the market, for example, on more economic matters is determined
by other people's perception of what we create.
So yeah, that's right.
(15:59):
And to be quite blunt about it, as classical composers who have, you know, rates set by
the CLC, for example, Canadian League of Composers on how we should be paid for work, we're very
blessed.
(16:20):
It's very difficult to get grants these days.
And in that regard, it's not as great, but you know, we are blessed to not have this
expectation of my piece needs to become a commercial success.
Maybe it's some people's expectations.
(16:42):
But yeah, we do have that freedom of experimenting.
And throughout history, you have these composers who like push the boundaries and did experimentations.
And then some pop artists that, you know, do their research and discover new music and
(17:02):
see what an experimental composer did and is now applying it to their own popular commercial
music.
You know, so the contemporary music field is really like a discovery playing ground
that can inspire other people.
(17:23):
So the outreach is a lot bigger than we think, really.
But that process is happening over time.
And meanwhile, while we're existing and creating this music, sometimes these experiments can
be alienating for others.
(17:44):
So you know, it's very complex.
Yeah.
Well, going back to the idea of Notes of the North, how do you see your music contributing
to Canada's musical identity, particularly as a Francophone composer from the Brunswick?
Yeah, that's also a very tricky question.
(18:05):
And I'm not sure I can answer that properly.
I think maybe if I was to look back at my work in a few years from now, I could kind
of situate my work a little better in what's going on in Canada.
(18:28):
But because I try not to get too psyched out by what else is going on and really focus
on what I want to create, it's all difficult.
The other thing too is that you don't want to pretend that you're changing the landscape
of Canadian music as the one composer, you know.
(18:53):
But yeah, hopefully I contribute to something.
I think it's everyone's desire to be remembered for what they do.
I'll say that my music, especially for a lot of our ensembles, tends to be a little bit
more complex.
So maybe that's kind of something that's adding to the orchestral repertoire.
(19:18):
And it's tricky too, because orchestras, when they encounter some of my music, they don't
really know where their instruments situate themselves in the music, because it's really
not conventional.
(19:38):
For example, if the violin has a melody, well, violins are...
First violinists are used to having melodies, so they'll play these lavish lines over the
accompaniment and they'll know where they are in the music.
But the way I tend to write the music, it's one big soundscape that is kind of shaped
(20:03):
in valleys and mountains.
And so the first violins who will be used to have this melody might have a line that,
oh, it's not quite coming out of the texture.
Actually it's part of the texture.
And oh, we're kind of below while we're used to being on the higher register.
(20:27):
So yeah, all these little things might contribute to some changes in conventional...
Ways of making music.
But I know a lot of composers also work like that with orchestras.
(20:51):
So yeah, I guess I'm more part of that movement, if I can say.
Going beyond the norms, as they say.
You are serving, I believe, as president of the Canadian League of Composers.
So this must have provided unique insights into the broader landscape of Canadian contemporary
(21:11):
music.
How has having this role shaped your perspective on the Canadian music scene, both on the national
scale and also on the global stage?
Yeah, actually I'm a past president now, so my mandate ended last year.
But it's really fun having been in that position, realizing how composition and contemporary
(21:41):
composition is...
The definition is looser and looser than what it was.
We used to see composers as very academic and with Western European influences.
(22:07):
Even at the Canadian League of Composers, in the past, if you wanted to be a member,
you had to have had some sort of diploma in a higher degree, like a master's degree diploma.
It's no longer the case.
It's really if you're considering yourself a professional composer, yes or no.
(22:29):
And even then, there was some work to be done with the guidelines.
But it's been really refreshing seeing the different backgrounds of composers now, people
coming from rock, hip hop, delving a little bit more into sound exploration.
(22:54):
And even themselves, sometimes they'll be hesitant to call themselves composers because
of how the term has been used before as something very academic.
So, yeah, it's great.
It's very exciting to see where it's going with all these different influences.
(23:15):
And then we have all these interdisciplinary artists that craft their own instruments
and play on them.
And there are also beautiful art installations.
Overlapping art with music, it's not more one or the other.
It's really both.
(23:35):
So it's really changing in this way.
And we see a little bit more experimentation in different countries where it's a little
bit more integrated and probably the politics and the terms, how they are used in these
countries.
(23:56):
So Canada has some work to do.
It's very difficult because we have a very large country and not as dense a population.
So the opportunities are not the same everywhere as well.
And these people who are kind of doing their own thing with their own background, with
(24:17):
their own influences and have this very special music might not have the network and the outreach
that other composers have in a larger center.
So yeah, but it's very interesting and inspiring if you start paying attention.
Yeah, very well put.
Well, that pretty much wraps up today's episode.
(24:38):
So thank you so much again, Sophie, for sharing such incredible pieces of your art and heart.
Thank you.
Thanks, Brianna.
And until next time, folks, keep listening for the Notes of the North.
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