James Beckwith Maxwell
Vovere Aventa Ensemble w/ Mark McGregor, solo flute
premiere: Feb 6, 2011
Commissioned with the support of the Canada Council for the Arts
James Maxwell was born in Vancouver, Canada. He studied composition in Vancouver with Owen Underhill and David MacIntyre, and in Prague with Ladislav Kubik. His work has been broadcast on CBC’s “West Coast Performance” and “Two New Hours”, and has been performed internationally. His work, diffusus, for flute choir with solo alto flute was recorded by flutist Mark McGregor for his 2009 CD, Different Stones. Recent works for dance include Outside Out and Inside Outside In, by choreographer Claire French, both of which were composed collaboratively with Vancouver composer/performer Teresa Connors, and premiered at the Scotiabank Dance Centre.
James is active as a researcher and programmer in the field of computer applications for interactive music com-position. He is currently a doctoral student at Simon Fraser University, where he is exploring the design and development of computer-assisted composition tools, with a focus on using intelligent, adaptive systems as compositional “collaborators.”
“Vovere is a re-thinking and re-working of an earlier work for flute solo, invidere. Although much of the material comes directly from the solo, its treatment in the new work transforms the sense of the original, instilling it with an evocative and deeply personal quality.” – James Maxwell