CBC: “
Composer, conductor and celebrated flutist Robert Aitken has won the Canada Council’s $50,000 Walter Carsen Prize…. A former director of the Banff Centre’s winter program in Music, Aitken has also established and led a number of musical series….”
Category Archives: Alumni
Murrell pens English libretto for Janacek family opera
CBC Arts: “Calgary playwright and director John Murrell has written an English-language libretto for Leos Janacek’s opera The Story of Sharp Ears the Fox (or The Cunning Little Vixen). The family opera will premiere in English for the first time at the Banff Centre for the Arts in August… The work has a new orchestration by Briton Jonathan Dove and will be performed by singers from the Banff Opera as Theatre program.”
Stenson nominated for Commonwealth Writers’ Prize
CBC: Literary Arts faculty member Fred Stenson’s novel The Great Karoo is among nominees for the 2009 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize.
Q and A with Les Manning
Medicine Hat News: “I worked at the Banff Centre for the Arts for 25 years, and I went there because of the job. It’s one of the most exciting possibilities for an artist to have that kind of job, where you’re connecting with international artists at a high level.”
Writer J.R. Carpenter credits Banff with transition to Web
Montreal Mirror: “During a residency at Banff, Carpenter’s zining intersected with the Web when she took a circular text originally intended for a chapbook and turned it into her first Web-based art project…. Recently, Carpenter has been kept hopping with the Montreal and Toronto launches of her novel… and working with the Banff Centre on bringing their literary program into the 21st century. ‘Banff has given me a lot,’ says Carpenter. ‘I did my first Web-based work there in 1995, and now they’ve invited me back to be part of expanding their program.’”
Pianist Phillip Bush traces roots to Banff Centre
Free Times [Columbia, South Carolina]: “The roots of Bush’s career can be traced directly to the time he spent after Peabody at the Banff Center in Alberta, Canada, “which was kind of a post-graduate artist colony,” Bush recalls. “That was a super-pivotal time for me,” he says. “Great faculty would come in and play chamber music with the students. They also brought in a lot of composers, and we would do their music.”
Alumnus Michael Bates touts Jazz Workshop
All About Jazz: “I often think that without the Banff International Jazz Workshop, I would never have gotten any tour off the ground. If you don’t know about this workshop, check it out.”
MacIvor wins $100,000 theatre award
Globe and Mail: “Nova Scotia-born playwright Daniel MacIvor was awarded the $100,000 Siminovitch Prize in Theatre Monday night…. [H]e recently received a $25,000 commission from the Banff Centre to write a new play….” »Siminovich Prize website
Playwright Daniel MacIvor wins $100,000 Siminovitch Prize
CBC: “Cape Breton-born MacIvor is having a stellar year. He won a $25,000 commission to write a new work from the Banff Centre for the Arts just two weeks ago and has four plays in various stages of production.”
Playwright Daniel MacIvor finds bright outlook in Banff
Calgary Herald: “Governor General Award-winner Daniel MacIvor is currently the playwright-in-residence at the Banff Playwrights Colony. Tuesday morning, MacIvor chatted with the Herald about what, exactly, happens at a playwrights colony, tips on how not to get workshopped to death, and the current state of Canadian theatre.”