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[Violin Concerto]

My search for a Canadian Composers Discussion folder yielded no results, but I'll go ahead and start this thread.  (With hopes that a treasure trove of Colin McPhee's unknown works appears...)

I've posted the Violin Concerto by Erhei Liang.  Although born in China, he's been active in Canada for the past two decades, and I think he would be better classified as Canadian for now.



Material from the Canadian Music Centre.

BIOGRAPHY
Erhei Liang was born in the Peoples Republic of China, and was trained in both composition and conducting at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. In 1986, Liang moved to the United States to study composition at Louisiana State University, where he graduated with a DMA in 1992. Since his immigration to Canada in 1991, he has become deeply involved in the local Chinese community and music community of Scarborough. He currently serves as president of the Chinese Artists Society of Toronto, as artistic director of the Academy of Chamber Music for young Musicians, and as executive director of the Toronto Chinese Piano and String Teachers' Association. He also conducts the Xiaoping Chorus, and is composer-in-residence for the Hong Kong Chamber Chorus. His works have been performed in China, the US, and Canada at such prestigious institutions as the Weill Recital Hall in New York, and the Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto.


Interview, Liang's Cultural Influences: China to Canada
"In Canada, I am not only encouraged by Canadian multiculturalism, but also by the [artistic] demands from the large Chinese community in Toronto." –E.L.

Having lived, composed and studied in China, the U.S.A. and Canada, Erhei Liang has a unique perspective on the composer's role within the artistic worlds of these three countries. In China, he explains, "because of political reasons, [...] there were obvious limits for any composer [...] My compositional approach was more traditional. In the U.S.A., I touched on many contemporary Western styles. In Canada, I am free to compose with either approach, or to combine both. [...] In Canada, a composer's work involves [more than] applying existing techniques and styles, but also searching for new methods and new approaches."

Since his arrival in Canada in 1991, Erhei Liang has become vital to the Chinese arts community of Toronto. His commitment to multidisciplinary work and bridging groups in the community was a major theme in his 2008 composition, Songs of Love. Liang's idea was "to use music to turn the poetry into a stage work and a performing art, so that this [ancient story] could appear new to the audience." The work was intended for both art music and mainstream audiences, since, as Liang notes, "the [appeal] of art can be as powerful as that of entertainment."

[Paul Ben-Haim]

Paul Ben-Haim, although born in Germany, would need to be considered Israeli, if you look at his bio from wikipedia below.

I've posted his Cello Concerto in the downloads section.

Paul Ben-Haim (or Paul Ben-Chaim, Hebrew: פאול בן חיים‎) (July 5, 1897 – January 14, 1984) was an Israeli composer. Born Paul Frankenburger in Munich, Germany, he studied composition with Friedrich Klose and he was assistant conductor to Bruno Walter and Hans Knappertsbusch from 1920 to 1924. He served as conductor at Augsburg from 1924 to 1931, and afterwards devoted himself to teaching and composition, including teaching at the Shulamit Conservatory.

Ben-Haim emigrated to the then British Mandate of Palestine in 1933 and lived in Judea, in an area to the east of Jerusalem. He Hebraized his name, becoming an Israeli citizen upon that nation's independence in 1948. He composed chamber music, works for choir, orchestra and solo instruments, and songs. He championed a specifically Jewish national music: his own compositions are in a late Romantic vein with Middle Eastern overtones, somewhat similar to Ernest Bloch.

His notable students include Eliahu Inbal, Henri Lazarof, Ben-Zion Orgad, Ami Maayani, Shulamit Ran, Rami Bar-Niv, Avraham Sternklar and Noam Sheriff.

NOTE:  I originally had to choose between a couple of spellings for this composer's last name, but have been noitfied that Ismanbas may be the better spelling than Usmanbas.  If you are researching, try both spellings!

Starting a new thread here-- I could not find a discussion about the Turkish Music Folder, where I just Symphony 3 by Turkish Composer Ilhan Usmanbas in the downloads section.  He's the older gentleman below:



Some Wikipedia info about the composer:

İlhan Usmanbaş (born 28 September 1921) is a Turkish composer.

Born in Istanbul, Usmanbaş grew up in Ayvalık. When he was twelve years old, his elder brother gave him a cello, and began to teach himself to play.

After moving back to Istanbul, he studied the cello seriously. His maths teacher, a lover of music, advised Usmanbaş to give up the career that he had planned for himself: "We have enough engineers in Turkey. You should be a composer instead."[1]

After graduating from Galatasaray High School, Usmanbaş went on to study under members of the Turkish Five – Cemal Reşit Rey, Ahmet Adnan Saygun, Hasan Ferit Alnar, Ulvi Cemal Erkin, and Necil Kazım Akses – and David Zirkin, at Ankara State Conservatory.

In 1952, he went to the United States on a UNESCO scholarship, where he came under the influence of American pioneers of new and experimental music. In 1955 he received a FROMM Music Award, in 1971 he became a State Artist; in 1993 he received a gold medal from the Sevda Cenap And Foundation, in 2000 Boğaziçi University awarded him an honorary doctorate, and in 2004 he was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 32nd Istanbul International Music Festival, he is teacher of Music at Istanbul Bilgi University.

Usmanbaş is an experimental composer, one of the second generation of Turkish composers, coming after the Five (and opposed to their ideas). He works with a freedom of form and a concentration on intensity rather than melody, with techniques that include neo-classicism, aleatoric music, twelve tone, serialism, and minimalism.

He has composed nearly 120 works, and has won more foreign awards and citations than any other Turkish composer, including commissions from the Koussevitzky foundation in the United States, and prizes from the Wieniawski competition in Poland, the International Composers Tribune in Paris, and the International Competition for Ballet Music in Switzerland.

Usmanbaş is married to opera singer Atıfet Usmanbaş.