EAR #30 - PIVOT

EAR - a newsletter for choral pedagogues

EAR #30

Dear choral colleagues,

Welcome to the third installment, as we introduce the Canadian composers participating in the PIVOT mentorship program. Today, we read about Maxime from Montréal. I recall reading his application to the mentorship program, where he included a work for dance and voices on video. Since his acceptance into the program, I have enjoyed talking with Maxime about his approach and his views on eternity and infinity, on Eastern spiritual practises, and how we as performers can use intention as part of the artistic practice.

These conversations make the PIVOT program unique, and I hope you will be present at the concert in May to hear his music in person.

With my best wishes,

Michael Zaugg

PIVOT Composer Spotlight:

Maxime Daigneault

Maxime Daigneault is a composer, vocalist, movement artist and educator based in Tiohtià:ke | Montreal in Canada. In his project, he seeks to fuse the spiritual, rational and emotional to construct symbolic meanings that are deployed through multiple perceptual modalities. By developing a clear and profound intention for a work, Maxime enters in a state of inquiry. By surrendering to forces at play, he can overcome his current habits and venture into novel patterns that are required to create the desired form his project is asking for. His research has led him to alternate between states of heightened awareness, altered states of consciousness, lucidity, confusion and dreaming. In these states, he nurtures his connection with the unnamed and the invisible. Important teachers and mentors that have helped him to shape his creative voice includes Michael Hersch, Tony Arnold, Shawn Mativetsky, Mariana Marcassa, Du Yun and JeanFrançois Daignault. Maxime holds an M.M from the Peabody Institute of the John Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.

1 - Major musical influence (either a style or a personality)?

Recently, I have been struck by the philosophy of Lasse Thoresen as well as the musical universe of Adriana Hölszky.

2 - What is your favourite instrument to write for?

These days, my favorite instrument to write for is the voice. There is so much that resists notation. I like to explore this paradigm.

3 - Where do you write your music?

I put my music on paper mainly in my apartment. However, ideas about my compositions come to me without consideration of time and location. I must be ready to jot them down to keep track of their evolution.

4 - Would you rather read the book before the movie or after?

I would only read the book and create my own movie to watch within my mind.

5 - Are you an early bird or a night owl?

I was once a night owl, but these days I am slowly trying to sync myself with the rhythm of the sun.

Join us on Sunday, May 15 at 3PM and be part of the newest trends in Canadian choral music through this collaboration with the Canadian League of Composers and the emerging artist program, PIVOT.

In-person tickets will be available soon, check back!

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