photo: inouk demers
Inouk Demers is a Canadian composer and guitarist currently living in Los Angeles.
His music has been described as “discretely introspective”, “its energy… subterranean”, “fascinating, beautifully detailed and full of extraordinary things”, “[work] of great subtlety and substance”, “with acute sensitivity” and “a very sharp and distinctive spectral profile”; “[he has] a rich imagination, wonderful sense of sonority and spacing, the guts to say something and the technique and energy to do so.”
His works have been played in Belgium, New Zealand, England, the Netherlands, Scotland, Wales, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Hungary, France, Mexico, Canada and the United States;
Broadcast on Canadian and European radio;
Presented at festivals (Ars Musica, Cervantino Festival, Festival Manca, Groundswell Festival, Ultraschall Festival, June in Buffalo, November Music, Domaine Forget Rencontres de Musique Nouvelle, Magdeburg Festival, Codes d'Accès, Darmstadt Festival, Voix Nouvelles, Schloss Solitude);
And recorded (Ummus/Amberola, Atma and Spool labels).
[for dates of current and upcoming events, go to media and click on events]
Inouk is currently at work on Natural History, a 40 minute project with video artist and Fulbright winner Luisa Greenfield, exploring documentary elements of image and sound, using visual footage from Berlin and audio footage from Los Angeles.
Work with field recording, sound design and live electronics.
In October 2008, release of Parc, 19 juillet, a commission from pianist Guy Livingston for his "One minute more" piano project, on DVD; the work will also be performed at November Music (den Bos, Netherlands).
Désastre, for solo percussion, will be released on a new CD by Geneva competition winner Aiyun Huang, on Spool Records.
Les pas perdus, a new work for amplified piano, video and field recordings, funded by Tesla and the Hauptstadtkulturfonds Berlin, will be taken on tour at Festival Magdeburg and in Hamburg by Steinway artist Heather O'Donnell.
In March 2008, Inouk completed a project residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts with Luisa Greenfield.
In fall 2008, his commission from the Bugallo/Williams piano duo will be performed at the Numus Festival in Waterloo (Canada). Upcoming commissions from Ensemble SurPlus, Ensemble Aventure, and others.
In 2007, with Luisa Greenfield, Inouk completed Ambos Nogales, a 45 minute documentary on the US/Mexico border town of Nogales.
In 2005, premiere of Universal Field, commissioned by the San Diego Symphony (USA), and Contemporary Canadian Art by Toca Voca (Canada), with a grant from the Laidlaw Foundation.
In 2004, the recording of Lo que vendrá by the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne on Atma Classique received the Prix Opus for best contemporary music recording of the year.
[for dates of current and upcoming events, go to media and click on events]
Commissions from:
Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, Ensemble Contemporain de Montréal, Continuum Ensemble, Instant Donné (France), Cygnus Ensemble (USA), Toca Loca (Canada), Princeton Symphony Orchestra (USA), San Diego Symphony (USA), Gaspé Duo, Aiyun Huang (Canada), Mark Menzies (New Zealand), Heather O'Donnell (Germany), Marc Couroux (Canada), and Guy Livingston (USA).
Works also performed by:
SurPlus Ensemble (Germany), 175 East (New Zealand), Ensemble In Extensio, Julie-Anne Derome, Louise Marcotte, Jürgen Ruck (Germany), Peter Veale (Germany), Stefan Sanderling and the Montreal Symphony.
Grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec, the Royaumont Foundation (France), the Maisons de la Culture (France/Québec), the Laidlaw Foundation (Canada), the Puffin Foundation (USA), Schloss Solitude (Germany), the Hauptstadtkulturfonds Berlin (Germany), Tesla (Germany), and the Banff Centre for the Arts (Canada).
First prize and Serge Garant prize (1996), representing Canada, at Forum 96, hosted by the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne; SOCAN Serge Garant prize (1994) for chamber works; SOCAN Ernest Macmillan prize (1998) for orchestral works; Robert Fleming prize (1998) from the Canada Council for the Arts;
France-Québec joint commission (2000) with residence at Domaine Forget and Royaumont Abbey (France) to work with the NEM and Instant Donné; Prix Opus nomination (2001) for Lo que Vendrá, the work written during this residency, as premiere of the year. In 2004, the recording of Lo que Vendrá by the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne on Atma Classique receives the Prix Opus for best contemporary music recording of the year.
Guitar studies with Eli Kassner, Norbert Kraft and Alvaro Pierri.
He has distinguished himself many times as a guitarist: Belgium Printemps de la Guitare International Guitar Competition, two concerto competitions (1st prize).
Performance of works by living and established or upcoming composers. American, Canadian, or world premieres of works by Brian Cherney, Alfredo del Monáco, Michael Oesterle, Matthew Shlomowitz and Claude Vivier. His performance of James Dillon’s Shrouded Mirrors for solo guitar earns him praise from the composer.
In 1998, with his wife Joanna, founding of the Gaspé Duo; commissioning of works by Chris Burns and Rick Carrick; concerts and workshops at the California Institute for the Arts, Stanford University, San Francisco State University, University of California San Diego.
Composition studies: privately with John Rea, Brian Cherney, Louis Andriessen, Paul Lansky;
Master classes with Brian Ferneyhough, Jonathan Harvey, Helmut Lachenmann, Richard Barrett, Steven Kazuo Takasugi, Chaya Czernowin;
One-year study with Roger Reynolds at UCSD.
Bachelor of Music (joint honours, composition and guitar) from McGill University (1993), Masters and PhD (composition) from Princeton University (2000).
Nearly 20 scholarships awarded during his studies.
In September he contributed to John Rea's article The Sorcerer as Apprentice, in Circuit (vol 18, no 1).
In 2004, die Neue Zeitschrift für Musik published his contribution to the Transonic Forum for the Haus der Kulturen der Welt.
In 2003 he worked as a copyist to generate the full score to Act I of Brian Ferneyhough's opera Shadowtime.
In 2000, doctoral thesis on the Obrecht Motetten of Michael Finnissy, warmly applauded by the composer.
An article on the same subject will be included in a collection of texts on the works of the British composer, to be published in the UK soon.
In 1999, an interview with Mauricio Kagel at the Tanglewood Festival.
He is also a translator, actor, choral singer, Argentine tango dancer, and Ashtanga yoga practitioner.