Vast forests, roaring waterfalls, fertile farmland – Canada’s natural environment is rich and diverse and so is its musical landscape, especially electronic music, which is the focus of the four-day trans_canada Festival.
Together with France, Britain and the Scandinavian countries Canada is among the world leaders in electroacoustic music. Hugh LaCaine developed the predecessor of the modern synthesizer in Ottawa as far back as the 1940s. At the same time, Francis Dhomont was creating his own musique concrète independent of Henry and Schaeffer. In Dhomont the ZKM has succeeded in attracting to the festival one of the most prominent representatives of this music scene, who has exerted a major influence on the musical landscape in Canada and especially in Quebec. Among his students at the University of Montreal were Louis Dufort, Ned Bouhalassa, Gilles Gobeil and Robert Normandeau, all of whom have in the meantime become internationally renowned composers in their own right and will likewise be attending the festival. Representing the younger generation will be Nicolas Bernier, who has already won a number of international prizes. Vancouver and Toronto rank alongside Montreal when it comes to electroacoustic music. Their musical representatives will be Barry Truax and the German Canadian, Hildegard Westerkamp, from British Columbia, while Darren Copeland will be coming from Ontario. In addition to the concerts, trans_canada will provide a public forum for discussions and contributions that will reflect, illustrate and discuss the country-specific history of electroacoustic music, its present status and the prospects for composers, musicians and musicologists.

With the kind support of the Embassy of Canada, the Canada Council for the Arts and the Quebec Cultural Office
 

Program

Thu, February 10, 2005

[ZKM_Cube]
19.30
Opening by the Canadian Ambassador, Paul Dubois

[ZKM_Cube]
20.00
Opening concert
»Générations – Generations«
Premieres of works by Francis Dhomont, Darren Copeland and Nicolas Bernier
 

Fri, February 11, 2005

[ZKM_Lecture Hall]
10:30
Jean-Francois Denis

11.15
Christoph von Blumröder, Cologne

12.45
Lunch break

15.00
Hildegard Westerkamp, Vancouver

15.45
Barry Truax Burnaby, British Columbia

16.30
Sabine Breitsameter, Berlin

[ZKM_Media Theatre]
20.00
»Paysages – Landscapes«
Premieres of works by Hildegard Westerkamp, Nicolas Bernier and Louis Dufort
 

Sat, February 12, 2005

[ZKM_Lecture Hall]
10.00
Robert Normandeau, Montreal

10.45
Gilles Gobeil, Montreal

11.30
Rudolf Frisius, Karlsruhe

12.30
Lunch break

14.00
Francis Dhomont, Montreal

14.45
Daniel Teruggi, Paris

[ZKM_Media Theatre]
17.00 Sonic Travel
Works by Barry Truax

[ZKM_Cube]
20.00 Topographies
Premieres of works by Francis Dhomont, Robert Normandeau and Gilles Gobeil
 

Sun, February 13, 2005

[ZKM_Media Theatre]
10.00
Nicolas Bernier, Montreal

10.45
Darren Copeland Brampton, Ontario

11.30
Louis Dufort, Montreal

12.15
Concluding round table discussion
Presenters: Sabine Breitsameter, Ludger Brümmer
 

Organization / Institution

ZKM

Partners

SWR2 ; DeutschlandRadio

Sponsors

Botschaft von Kanada ; Canada Council for the Arts ; Kulturbüro von Québec