Wolf Edwards Altus
premiere: Feb. 23, 2005 – Victoria BC
Commissioned with the support of the British Columbia Arts Council
Born in Montreal in 1972, Wolf Edwards taught himself electric guitar in 1986. He then began writing musical and lyrical compositions for underground political punk rock groups; an activity he began in 1987 and continues to this day. Most of Edward’s original compositions for this medium have been released on a number of anarchist punk/crust records which are currently still in circulation.
In 1994, he began formal musical training at the Victoria Conservatory of Music before transferring to the University of Victoria (1996-2000) where he studied composition and theory with Christopher Butterfield, John Celona, Michael Longton and Harold Krebs. To further his education, Edwards relocated to Montreal where he attended private lessons in compositional theory and analysis with composer Gilles Tremblay (2000-2002). From 1999 to 2006, Edwards has participated, lectured and had his music performed in many international festivals and events throughout North America and Continental Europe. His works have been performed and/or commissioned by the Arditti String Quartet (London), Molinari Quartet (Montreal), the Victoria Symphony, Aventa Ensemble, Sofia Soloists (Sofia, Bulgaria), Quasar Quatuor de Saxophones (Montreal), l’Ensemble Contemporain de Montreal, l’Ensemble Chorum (Montreal), and Quatuor Bozzini (Montreal).
Altus
Altus is constructed of planes of sound. These planes must be homogenous, but at the same time “moving”. The performers are called upon to use extended techniques including multiphonics and special bowing techniques. The work moves towards “poles”, which both anchor the work and propel it forward. Altus was commissioned by Aventa Ensemble with assistance from the British Columbia Arts Council.