"Jean Derome. Born Montréal, Québec, 1955. esidence: Montréal, Québec. Composer, Performer (saxophones (alto, baritone, soprano), flutes (flute, bass flute, piccolo, alto flute, recorders), keyboards, small wind instruments (ocarinas, jew's harp, game calls, toys...), percussion, invented instruments, voice)

One of the most active and eclectic musicians on the Canadian creative music scene, Jean Derome has managed to earn the recognition of a larger public, a rare feat in that field. Thanks to his large-scale musique actuelle projects, his compositions, his work as an improviser, his jazz groups and his music for the screen and the stage, Derome ranks as a major creative force, in Québec and abroad. He is experienced and innovative on both saxophone and flute, and his unique writing style cannot be mistaken for anyone else's. Sensitive and powerful, his music often features a funny strike that makes its complex nature more inviting.

Ever since Nébu (one of Québec's first avant-garde jazz groups) in the early '70s, Derome has been consistently renewing and diversifying his approach of composition. He impressed audience and critics first with the flute, then with the saxophone, as a lead character in the musique actuelle underground. He took part to the various artists' collectives looking for new ways to express themselves freely, without esthetic or social constraints, including the Ensemble de musique improvisée de Montréal. Later, in the early '80s, he co-founded Ambiances Magnétiques, a collective and record label that raised his profile at home and introduced his name to the outside world. Among his numerous projects, let us mention the duos Les Granules, Nous perçons les oreilles and Plinc! Plonc!, the dynamic group Jean Derome et les Dangereux Zhoms, and the large-scale projects Confitures de gagaku, Je me souviens - Hommage à Georges Perec and Canot-camping. Most of these projects are based on a unique form of synergy between composition, structured improvisation and genuine creative madness, all this articulated with unmatched playfulness. In 1992, Derome became the second artist to be presented with the Freddie Stone Award (bassist Lisle Ellis was the first).

Besides improvising on a regular basis with Ambiances Magnétiques' members and appearing in their projects, Derome has also shared the stage with several musicians of international stature, among others Fred Frith, Lars Hollmer, Louis Sclavis and Han Bennink. He performs regularly all over Canada, in the US and in Europe. He received a Prix Opus in 2001 for his exposure abroad.

Lately, jazz circles have been praising his undisputable qualities as a jazzman, thanks to the Thelonious Monk tribute project Évidence, the Normand Guilbeault Ensemble (whose Mingus Erectus CD is devoted to Charles Mingus' music), and the much-lauded Derome Guilbeault Tanguay Trio.

Although Jean Derome writes tirelessly for his own projects, he is much in demand in the fields of film, theatre and dance. A short list of this side of his work would have to include his numerous scores for the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), especially for films by John Walker, Jacques Leduc, Fernand Bélanger and animated films by Pierre Hébert, Michèle Cournoyer and Jean Detheux; his incidental music for Théâtre UBU, Théâtre de Quat'Sous and Théâtre du Nouveau Monde; not forgetting his work with several top choreographers, including Louise Bédard, Andrew de Lotbinière Harwood, Daniel Soulières and Ginette Laurin. Other music ensembles have commissioned works from him, including Tuyo, Bradyworks, the Hard Rubber Orchestra from Vancouver and Fanfare Pourpour. Incidentally, Derome is the musical director of the latter.

Over thirty years of music and 70 record credits later, Jean Derome still has sleeves bursting with tricks."

-ActuelleCD (http://www.actuellecd.com/en/bio/derome_je/)
7/15/2025

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"Joane Hétu. Born Montréal, Québec, 1958. Residence: Montréal, Québec. Composer, Performer (alto saxophone, voice), Author/

It has been more than 30 years now since self-taught composer, vocalist and saxophonist Joane Hétu has been following her own highly distinctive path through the vast territory of creative, contemporary music. From her beginnings with song-based new-rock bands such as Wondeur Brass, Justine and Les Poules, Hétu turned to composition (the evocative triptych comprising Musique d'hiver, Filature and La femme territoire ou 21 fragments d'humus) and improvisation, more often than not combining both within her general approach to music. She has co-directed the Ensemble SuperMusique since its founding in 1998, as well as the weekly series Mercredimusics since 2002. More recently she gave birth to La chorale bruitiste Joker (2012). Joane Hétu was awarded the prestigious Freddie Stone Award in 2006."

-ActuelleCD (http://www.actuellecd.com/en/bio/hetu_jo/)
7/15/2025

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"Elizabeth Millar is an experimental musician, sound-artist and clarinetist, based in Montreal since 2009. Engaging with sound, noise, free improvisation and self-made instrument building, her creative practice explores the merging of acoustic and electronic textures using amplification and extended techniques.

Active locally, nationally and internationally she has performed throughout Canada and in Australia, Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and Mexico. Alongside her solo work, she is also one member of Sound of the Mountain, an amplified clarinet and trumpet duo with Craig Pedersen. She performs regularly with Montreal-based Ensemble Supermusique and with a variety of collaborators, including Érick d'Orion, Joane Hétu, Anne-F Jacques, Tetuzi Akiyama and Toshimaru Nakamura. She is co-founder of Mystery & Wonder Records.

Her 2019 solo release no instrument machine, air, extends the timbral and textural scope of her work with amplified clarinet, adding machine hums, metallic resonances and low frequency air noise, generated by self-made instruments made from recycled electronic components.

Recent highlights include performances at Open Waters Festival Halifax (2019), Rencontres de Musique Spontanée Rimouski (2019), IMOO Festival Ottawa (2019, 2018), Open Ears Festival Kitchener Ontario (2018), Make It Up Club Festival Australia (2018), Codes d'Access Montreal (2018), Suoni per il Popolo Festival Montreal (2019, 2018, 2017) and KLEX festival Malaysia (2017); a residency with Tone List in Perth, Australia (2018) and a 3-month independent residency in Tokyo (2017)."

-All About Jazz (https://musicians.allaboutjazz.com/elizabethmillar)
7/15/2025

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"Isaiah Ceccarelli. Born Chetwynd, British Columbia, Canada, 1978. Residence: Montréal, Québec. Composer, Performer (drum set, percussion).

Isaiah Ceccarelli is a drummer, improviser, and composer based in Montréal. His music has been qualified as "one of the most original approaches to come through our offices in recent times" (Marc Chénard, La Scena Musicale) and he has been described as possessing "a writing style with rare personality in this musical context" (Thierry Lepin, Jazzman Magazine). He participates in numerous creative music projects with Michel F Côté, Pierre-Yves Martel, Lori Freedman, Jean Derome, Bernard Falaise, Joshua Zubot and Philippe Lauzier, amongst others. He plays with Félix Stüssi and Ray Anderson, as well as with the Acadian singer Marie-Jo Thério. Proud ambassador of a new generation of creative musicians in Québec, his collaborations have led him on tour in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia. Isaiah has composed music for two of his own albums, Bréviaire d'épuisements and Lieux-dits (both on the Ambiances Magnétiques label), and for ensembles and musicians such as Quatuor Bozzini, Ensemble Allogène, the violist Jennifer Thiessen, and Ensemble Kô. He sings with the Schola Saint-Grégoire (Gregorian chant).

A seasoned musician and composer, Isaiah Ceccarelli is, in the words of Charles Collard from La Scena Musicale, "a jewel in the crown of the Montréal scene and his presence is felt on several fronts at the same time."

-ActuelleCD (http://www.actuellecd.com/en/bio/ceccarelli_is/)
7/15/2025

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"Émilie Payeur is a multidisciplinary artist from Montreal, Canada, mainly active in experimental music and visual arts. Her music, often described as minimalist and sometimes harsh, is mainly based on the no-input technique and on risk-taking. In her visual work, she is interested in the traces she perceives as remnants of actions from the past and in the notion of the sacred, ritual and transcendence. Emilie has a master's degree in electroacoustic music composition from the Université de Montréal and her work has been performed all over the world and has received numerous awards, both in Canada and internationally. In parallel to her artistic career, she studies the fascinating world of herbalism.

Emilie is a member of Dead Squirrels (noise music trio), Kohlenstoff Records (label and experimental music collective), Projet K (experimental ensemble), Moshi Moshi (experimental and Kawaii audio/visual trio) and Jeunesse Cosmique (music label and cosmic family)."

-Emilie Payeur Website (https://www.emiliepayeur.com/copy-of-about)
7/15/2025

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"Manon De Pauw's work has been shown at the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, the Théâtre La Chapelle, the Centro Nacional de las artes in Mexico City, the Festival des films sur l'art and the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, among others. . In 2009, the Galerie de l'UQAM and curator Louise Déry presented the exhibition Manon De Pauw - Intrigues, which traveled notably to the Regional Museum of Rimouski (2011) and to the Canadian Cultural Center in Paris (2012). In 2010, she produced the exhibition Actes de presence as guest curator at the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal as part of its series Point de vue sur la collection. In 2011, she was the finalist for Quebec for the Sobey Prize for the Arts and in 2012, winner in visual arts of the Victor-Martyn-Lynch-Staunton Prize from the Canada Council for the Arts.

In addition to her individual projects, she has several collaborations to her credit, notably with choreographer Danièle Desnoyers and musicians and composers André Pappathomas, Joane Hétu and Philippe B. In 2014, she presented at Usine C the interdisciplinary performance La Matière ordinary as part of the Festival Temps d'Images. In the spring of 2017, she presented Somatic Cocoons at Agora de la danse in collaboration with dancer and choreographer Pierre-Marc Ouellette. The same year, she participated as a designer and visual performer in Un si gentil enfant, a creation of the Théâtre Complice at Usine C. Manon De Pauw lives and works in Montreal. She is represented by Galerie Divison. She teaches at the School of Visual and Media Arts at UQÀM."

-Manon De Pauw's Website (Translated by Google) (http://manondepauw.com/bio/)
7/15/2025

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"Possessing a rare combination of skill and artistry, singer, improviser and composer Viviane Houle is one of Canada's most gifted and respected vocalists and improvisers. She is widely recognized for her beautifully fluid and dynamic voice, a remarkable palette of extended vocal techniques, a sensitive lyricism and a fearless spirit.

Houle has been a featured performer in internationally celebrated festivals such as FIMAV, San Francisco's Soundwave Festival and The Vancouver International Jazz Festival, and has performed with Vancouver Opera and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. She has also been recognized on the national and provincial levels by being awarded numerous grants, including major project and development funding from Canada Council for the Arts and the BC Arts Council.

Houle has performed and collaborated with many of the brightest figures in contemporary and improvised music, including Anthony Braxton (US), Louis Andriessen (NL), Didier Petit and Sylvain Kassap (FR), Sissel Vera Petersen (DK), Paul Plimley, Peggy Lee and Torsten Müller.

She has also released two critically acclaimed recordings. Treize, a collection of improvised duets produced by Jesse Zubot and released on the Drip Audio label, and La Belle et la Bette, with violist/composer Stefan Smulovitz.

Viviane Houle lives and works in Vancouver, BC, Canada."

-Viviane Houle Website (https://vivianehoule.ca/biography/)
7/15/2025

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"Cléo Palacio-Quintin. Born Leuven, Belgium, 1971, Residence: Montréal, Québec. Composer, Performer (hyper-flute).

Constantly seeking new means of expression and eager to create, the flutist-improviser-composer Cléo Palacio-Quintin takes part in many premieres as well as improvisational multidisciplinary performances, and composes instrumental and electroacoustic music for various ensembles and media works. Since 1999, she develops her hyper-flutes. Interfaced to a computer by means of electronic sensors, these augmented flutes enable her to compose interactive soundscapes, combining instrumental sound and electroacoustic music, sometimes even with video. Recipients of many prizes, awards and grants, she is the first woman to receive a Doctorate in electroacoustic composition from the Université de Montréal (2012) and is a collaborator at the Center for interdisciplinary research in Music Media and Technology (CIRMMT). Over the years her compositions have been performed in The Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, Canada and the USA, either by herself or various ensembles."

-AcutelleCD (http://www.actuellecd.com/en/bio/palacioquintin_cl/)
7/15/2025

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"Danielle Palardy Roger. Born Laval, Québec, 1949. Residence: Montréal, Québec. Composer, Performer (drum set, electronic percussion, voice).

Percussionist, composer and improviser Danielle Palardy Roger is for the most part self-taught. Active on the Montréal "musique actuelle" scene since 1980, she co-founded the groups Justine, Wondeur Brass and Les Poules. She also founded Ensemble SuperMusique, a shape-shifting ensemble solely devoted to the performance of new music works and improvisation.

As a percussionist and improviser, her style is unique: she structures rhythm out of time, communicating a strong, complex narrative by accumulating and layering diverse gestures. She toured Canada, Europe and the United States on several occasions and appeared at several prestigious international events and festivals. In the course of her unique and resolutely independent career, she has worked and shared the stage with Alexei Borisov, DB Boyko, Christopher Butterfield, Nicolas Caloia, Paul Cram, Chantal Dumas, Christine Duncan, Lori Freedman, Fred Frith, Joëlle Léandre, Torsten Mueller, Zeena Parkins, Tenko, the VivaVoce choir, and the Quasar saxophone quartet, among others and in addition to her close collaborators from the Ambiances Magnétiques crowd - Derome, Hétu, Labrosse, Tanguay and Tétreault.

Roger's research concerns the integration of improvisation to contemporary music. In that regard, she has worked with composer Marie Pelletier and composed music for the Ensemble Contemporain de Montréal and for Ensemble SuperMusique - the latter a shape shifting ensemble entirely dedicated to improvised music and "musique actuelle." She wrote a Harbour Symphony in 2001 (La grande entente), commissioned by the Musée Pointe-à-Callière in Montréal. Danielle Palardy Roger has made several albums for the Ambiances Magnétiques label, including Tricotage (2000) with French bassist Joëlle Léandre, Bruiducœur, prière des infidèles, an oratorio performed live in Montréal, in June of 2004, Phénix (2008) with the trio Les Poules, and Pas de deux (2008) with British guitarist Fred Frith.

Roger is a versatile artist whose projects have consistently brought her back to text, song and declamation. She has penned a large number of songs for Wondeur Brass and Justine, but also composed a musical tale (L'oreille enflée, 1990), a musical theatre (Candide sur une toupie, 1994) and, most importantly, the solo performance Le voyage en Aphasie Mineure (1998) and the oratorio Bruiducœur, prières des infidèles (2004), two works where an exploding language represents the intense realm of communication, the core of the artist's concerns.

In juxtaposition to her music career, Danielle Palardy Roger is also general manager and artistic director of Productions SuperMusique (PSM) and is a member of the Ambiances Magnétiques label; in addition to being involved in the field of concert music she is president of the Groupe Le Vivier, which is dedicated to the founding of a place of creation, production and presentation of new music in Montréal."

-ActuelleCD (http://www.actuellecd.com/en/bio/roger_da/)
7/15/2025

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"Coming from a musical family, Olivier has been studying piano since early childhood. After studying philosophy, he returned to music and completed a bachelor's degree in mixed composition at the Université de Montréal, followed by a master's degree in composition at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal. He is currently completing advanced training and a master's degree in musical analysis at the Conservatoire, focusing on the opera Prometeo by Italian composer Luigi Nono."

-LeVivier (https://levivier.ca/en/le-vivier/individual-files/olivier-st-pierre)
7/15/2025

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"Anne-Françoise Jacques is a sound artist based in Montreal, Canada. She is interested in amplification, erratic sound production devices and the construction of idiosyncratic contraptions and systems. Her particular focus is on low technology, trivial objects and unpolished sound. Active in performance since 2004, Jacques has performed at venues and festivals throughout North America and Europe, collaborating with Diktat, Martin Tétreault, Ignaz Schick, Éric Normand and Miguel A. Garcia, amongst many others. Jacques also has presented installations as half of the duo Minibloc and has composed soundtracks for animated films in an ongoing collaborative project with Julie Doucet. In addition to operating sound label and mail art project Crustacés Tapes, Jacques curates a bimonthly audio art show for the Berlin-based webstation Radio On."-845 Audio 7/15/2025

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"Vergil Sharkya'. Residence: Montréal, Québec. Composer, Performer (synthesizer)

In 2010 Vergil Sharkya' finished a major research project in composition for his doctoral degree at Liverpool's John Moores University, developing a complete theory of hypercomposition, featuring as well examples of its practical application.

His most recent hypercomposition - aTTAK, for piano, suspended toy piano, and digital instruments -, was commissioned for and performed at the opening of the Aufbau Haus, Berlin, in September 2011.

Vergil is also a well established composer/musician in the fields of improvised music, multimedia installations, post-modernist composition, scores and soundtracks for film, theatre and dance, composition and arrangements for orchestras, soundscapes, psychedelic noise rock, drum'n'bass, dub, and even academic research.

He has released several recordings on various labels like Cuneiform Records, UKsupersonict and VergilReality Recordings.

Since moving to Montréal in July 2010, he has been working mainly but not exclusively in the field of improvised music with musicians such as Jean Derome, Michel F Côté, Simon Pagé, Augustus Martin, Ellwood Epps, Philippe Battikha, as well as with writers Martin Lamothe, and Serge Rivest Martimots. He currently spends his spare time cooking, doing housework for his lovely family and learning how to play jazz."

-ActuelleCD (http://www.actuellecd.com/en/bio/sharkya_ve/)
7/15/2025

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"Guido Del Fabbro. Born Montréal, Québec, 1980. Residence: Montréal, Québec. Composer, Performer (violin, electronics).

Born in Montréal, 1980, Guido Del Fabbro started violin lessons at age four. His taste for improvisation and composition first manifested itself around 1990; since then, he has taken several classes and workshops related to these fields. Del Fabbro is co-founder, creator and composer of Mouvement de Musique Présente, a large ensemble of up-and-coming musicians devoted to scored and improvised music. He is also a member of the groups Fanfare Pourpour, Rouge ciel and Concorde Crash. For 18 months, he toured North America with Gilles Ste-Croix's horse circus Cheval-Théâtre. As a performer, he has recorded a few soundtracks for film, television, theatre and dance. As a composer, he has written music for choreographers Élodie Lombardo (Blou take two, Gelsomina) and Séverine Lombardo (Les Accords d'elles). Del Fabbro released his first solo album, Carré de sable, in 2003, on Ambiances Magnétiques. He can be heard on the latest albums by Tomás Jensen and Loco Locass. He is an accompanying multi-instrumentalist in Pierre Lapointe's show La forêt des mal-aimés."

-ActuelleCD (http://www.actuellecd.com/en/bio/delfabbro_gu/)
7/15/2025

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"As a musician, Rémy Bélanger de Beauport is first and foremost a free-improv cellist. He plays piano for ballet classes, electric bass, guitar and drums for rock bands and vocals in different contexts. As a mathematician, he has taught college-level math. He also organizes events and gets himself involved in many causes.

Originally from Québec City, Rémy's artistic practice as an experimental musician dates back to his teenage years. Influenced by Karlheinz Stockhausen and Nirvana, he publishes a first recording in 2003, with noise trio soda pop for a Déluge/Alterflow compilation. The same year, he releases an album as duo KL6 39E, on guitar, before switching over to the cello, starting the Fenaison trio with a first album on Ambiances Magnétiques in 2007.

Since then, he has been active in many long and short term projects: as a singer in Ensemble Partiel, he performs Stimmung, by Karlheinz Stockhausen; as a free-improv cellist, he plays in Le Veau / The Veal on Cuchabata Records (Faire l'amour aux banques, 2015) and is regularly invited to play one-off concerts. As the cellist in GGRIL (an improvisers' orchestra based in Rimouski, Québec) he is heard on Combines (Tour de bras, 2015) and has performed in France and Italy as part of a European tour in 2016. While living in Belring in 2015-2016, he formed string trio THUYA with bass player Klaus Kürvers and violinist Gerhard Uebele (Live @ the CLUB, Creative Sources Recordings, 2016) and joined the Berlin Improvisers' Orchestra. He has recently released a flexidisc Angenehmer Duft on Kohlenstoff Records and a solo album D'éclisses on Ambiances Magnétiques.

Rémy often works with dancers and choreographers, like Valerie Sabbah with whom he performs as Roméo & Juliette. He plays piano for ballet classes in various institutions such as L'École supérieure de ballet du Québec, L'École de danse de Québec and the Royal Academy of Dance, Berlin. For the Réseau d'enseignement de la danse, he composed and recorded, with percussionist Steve Hamel, music targeted for the teaching of Simonson Jazz dance in 2015.

Rémy has participated in several festivals as a free-improv cellist, Festival international de musique actuelle in Victoriaville, Francofolies in Montréal, Festival international de la littérature in Montréal, Festival des musiques de créations in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, Rencontres de musiques spontanées in Rimouski, Kunst und Kultur Forum in Berlin.

Rémy graduated in composition and music theory at McGill University, in mathematics at Université du Québec à Montréal and participates in improvisation masterclasses, perhaps more notably with Jean Derome, Lori Freedman, Fred Frith, Tristan Honsinger and Joëlle Léandre. He has earned scholarships and awards from McGill University in 2003, 2009 and 2010, the Coup de cœur SuperMusique in 2008 with Quintette de l'Halloween and the Prix culturel Rimouskois, pour la relève in 2013."

-Ambiances Magnetiques Website (http://www.actuellecd.com/en/bio/belangerdebeauport_re/)
7/15/2025

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