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Allison Cameron (composer)

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Allison Cameron
Born1963 (age 60–61)
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
GenresContemporary classical, free improvisation, experimental
Occupation(s)Composer, musician
Instrument(s)Keyboards, ukulele, banjo
LabelsSpool (record label)
Websitewww.allisoncameron.com

Allison Cameron (born 1963) is a Canadian composer of contemporary classical music. She composes works for conventional classical instruments, early music instruments, and modern electric instruments such as the electric guitar. She is also a performer of free improvisation and experimental music.

Early life and education

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Cameron was born in Edmonton, Alberta, and moved with her family to North Vancouver.[1] She studied at the University of Victoria and York University. She has cited Michael Longton and Rudolf Komorous as significant influences.[2]

Career

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Cameron moved to Toronto in 1989. She founded a six-piece chamber ensemble, Arcana, in 1992, which performs a contemporary composition repertoire.[2] In 1995 she released a CD of chamber music, Raw Sangudo.[3]

Cameron's 1998 composition, "Retablo", was commissioned through the Canada Council for the Arts to be played by the classical music quartet The Burdocks.[4] Her 2000 release, Ornaments, features her compositions performed by violinist Marc Sabat, pianist Stephen Clarke, and clarinetist Ronda Rindone.[5]

Cameron has worked with Louis Andriessen, Gilius van Bergeijk, Per Nørgård, and Frederic Rzewski in Europe, and Rudolf Komorous, Michael Longton, and James Tenney in Canada. She was a member of the Drystone Orchestra, along with Martin Arnold, Stephen Parkinson, and John Abram.[2] She also performs in a duet with Parkinson.

Her music has been performed at the Bang on a Can Festival and she has been commissioned by the Bang on a Can All-Stars. Recordings of her music have been released by the CRI and XI (Experimental Intermedia) labels. In 2004, she was music director of the contemporary ensemble Arraymusic.[6]

In 2013, the Allison Cameron Band (Cameron, Eric Chenaux and Parkinson), released an album, Bent Spoon Duo, Without and With Allison Cameron through the Rat Drifting label.[7]

Discography

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  • 1995 – Raw Sangudo. CD. Experimental Intermedia.
  • 1998 – Leisure. CD. Maarten Altena Ensemble. Donemus.
  • 2002 – Ornaments. CD. Spool.
  • 2004 – Canevas (Fin Fin). CD. Ensemble SuperMusique. DAME.
  • 2010 – The Allison Cameron Band. CD. Rat-Drifting.
  • 2012 – Mach Shorn – The EP. Stephen Parkinson, Sandro Perri, Marla Hlady, Christof Migone, Eric Chenaux, Allison Cameron.
  • 2015 – A-Gossamer-Bit. CD. Redshift Music Society.
  • 2022 – Somatic Refrain. CD. Apartment House. Another Timbre.

Compilations included on:

  • 1992 – Bang on a Can Live. Vol. 1. CD. Emergency Music series. New York, New York: CRI. (Contains Two Bits by Allison Cameron.)
  • 2001 – ArrayMusic Ensemble; compilation CD, Artifact, Toronto.
  • 2008 – Rains Out. CD, Veni Ensemble Bratislava, Hevhetia.
  • 2004 – The Art of Touching The Keyboard CD, Eve Egoyan, Earwitness Records.

References

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  1. ^ "Allison Cameron’s Rarefied Soundworld". Music Works, Issue 122, Summer 2015. By Nick Storring
  2. ^ a b c Everett-Green, Robert (Fall 1995). "Arcana ensemble: an interview with Allison Cameron". Musicworks. 63: 28–31.
  3. ^ "Allison Cameron: Raw Sangudo". AllMusic Review by Gene Tyranny
  4. ^ "MG Encore: Works by Martin Arnold, Allison Cameron, Linda Catlin-Smith, Nic Gotham, Erik Ross and Ann Southam The Music Gallery, Toronto ON, October 16". Exclaim!, By Tom Beedham, 17 Oct 2015
  5. ^ "Allison Cameron Ornaments". AllMusic Review by François Couture
  6. ^ "A weird Wolff at the door". The Globe and Mail, CARL WILSON, 29 January 2004
  7. ^ "Bent Spoon Duo With and Without Allison Cameron". Exclaim!, By Bryon Hayes, 9 Aug 2013
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