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Artistic Residency at Civitella Ranieri
From August 9 to September 17 2021, I will be a fellow in residency at Civitella Ranieri, with this group of artists.
Threa Almontaser (Writing, USA)
Jennifer Boylan, Director’s Guest (Writing, USA)
Paola Caridi (Writing, Italy)
Bertrand Chavarría-Aldrete (Music, Mexico/Spain)
Kayo Chingonyi (Writing, Zambia/UK)
Gabriel Dharmoo (Music, Canada)
Mark Doty, Director’s Guest (Writing, USA)
Andrew Sean Greer (Writing, USA)
Cathy Park Hong (Writing, USA)
Roberto Juarez (Visual Arts, USA)
Jumana Manna (Visual Arts, Palestine)
Vassos Nicolaou (Music, Cyprus)
Noo Saro-Wiwa (Writing, Nigeria/UK)
Georgia Spiropoulos (Music, Greece) -
New article published in "CIRCUIT"
- Gabriel Dharmoo (with contributions from Annette Brosin, Anthony R. Green, Luke Nickel, Emily Doolittle, Symon Henry and Teiya Kasahara 笠原貞野)
Abstract:
This collection of texts investigates how queerness manifests in contemporary new music practices. Six contributions by queer artists (Annette Brosin, Anthony R. Green, Luke Nickel, Emily Doolittle, Symon Henry and Teiya Kasahara 笠原貞野) are framed by an introduction and conclusion by Gabriel Dharmoo. Dharmoo’s definition of queerness expands beyond sexual orientation and gender identity; it entertains the notion of queerness as an anti-assimilationist stance that defies normalcy, breaks down binaries and reveals the wideness of spectrums. As each statement illuminates how a marginalized experience as queer can profoundly inform ways of conceptualizing, creating, disseminating and understanding artistic output, this range of perspectives aims to broaden our understanding of queerness not only as an identity, but also as an artistic epistemology in and of itself.Keywords: Queer, new music, intersectionality, diversity, identity. -
New article published in the "Intersections" journal
Reflections of coloniality on the new music scene
An article of the journal Intersections
Volume 39, Issue 1, 2019, p. 105–121Abstract:Some members of the new music scene wish to decentralize its Eurocentric roots and criticize its colonialist tendencies. Prior to the discussion of strategies that could constitute a decolonizing framework, it is useful to identify how coloniality is reflected in this scene. The author, himself an active member of this scene, shares avenues of reflection on the cultural homogeneity of the milieu, questions of access, the legacy of classical music, the concept of European excellence, the presumption of universality, the coexistence of legitimacy and marginality, the ambiguous relationship with cultural appropriation and the foundations of the attribution of merit.
Read English translation on Academia.edu NEW
Click to read original French article on erudit
Click to read original French article on Academia.edu -
New article published in the "Intersections" journal
Reflections of coloniality on the new music scene
An article of the journal Intersections
Volume 39, Issue 1, 2019, p. 105–121Abstract:Some members of the new music scene wish to decentralize its Eurocentric roots and criticize its colonialist tendencies. Prior to the discussion of strategies that could constitute a decolonizing framework, it is useful to identify how coloniality is reflected in this scene. The author, himself an active member of this scene, shares avenues of reflection on the cultural homogeneity of the milieu, questions of access, the legacy of classical music, the concept of European excellence, the presumption of universality, the coexistence of legitimacy and marginality, the ambiguous relationship with cultural appropriation and the foundations of the attribution of merit.
Read English translation on Academia.edu (soon)
Click to read original French article on erudit
Click to read original French article on Academia.edu -
New article published in the "Anthropologie et Sociétés" journal
My article "Anthropologies imaginaires: A Critique of Coloniality Through Voice and Satire" was just published in "Champs sonores" ("Sound Fields"), new number of the "Anthropologie et Sociétés' journal.
Champs sonores Volume 43, number 1, 2019 Guest-edited by Alexandrine Boudreault-Fournier
Abstract:
This paper discusses the critical, satirical and ethical dimension of Anthropologies imaginaires (Imaginary Anthropologies), a vocal, musical and theatrical live-arts piece I created in 2014 and performed publicly in around twenty events. Alone on stage with the support of a documentary-style video projection, I sing eleven vocalizations that seemingly belong to unknown populations, whose fictional nature will be gradually revealed. The use of my voice is partially inspired by existing vocal traditions but blurred and distorted through my own self-developed experimental voice techniques. The interplay between these songs of Otherness and the increasingly problematic commentary of the five onscreen fake experts addresses current issues linked to coloniality, post-exoticism, cultural extinction, globalization, normalized racism and cultural appropriation. As a contemporary sound artist belonging to our cultural diversity, I analyze how I can use my voice, body and satire to formulate a critique of colonialism to an audience with mostly Eurocentric cultural references.
Keywords:- Dharmoo,
- Music,
- Voice,
- Cultural Appropriation,
- Interdisciplinary Arts,
- Satire,
- Imaginary Folklore,
- Humour
- Ethics
Click to read on Academia.edu (Original French - translation coming) -
"À chaque ventre son monstre" Opus Award for Concert Premiere of the Year
My opera À chaque ventre son monstre, produced and presented by Ensemble Paramirabo, was awarded Concert Premiere of the Year at this years' Opus Awards (Conseil Québécois de la Musique).Click here for a short video interview (in French) | Conseil Québécois de la Musique
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"Futile Spells" part of official selection for World Music Days 2019 in Estonia
The ISCM Estonian Section (Estonian Composers' Union) recently announced works by Gabriel Dharmoo, Gordon Fitzell, Gilles Gobeil, Alice Ping Yee Ho, Nicole Lizée, and Kotoka Suzuki were selected for performance at the ISCM World Music Days 2019 in Estonia.Futile Spells will be performed by Collegium Musicale, at Dome Church on May 4, 2019.
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2 Opus Award nominations for "À chaque ventre son monstre"
My opera À chaque ventre son monstre, produced and presented by Ensemble Paramirabo, is nominated for 2 Opus Awards (Conseil Québécois de la Musique).- Concert of the year - New music and electroacoustic music (Ensemble Paramirabo)
- Concert Premiere of the year (Gabriel Dharmoo)
Results will be announced at the Gala on Feb. 3rd, 2019, 3:30pm.
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Phth: A New Experimental Voice Ensemble
Adventurous new Montreal-based vocal collective Phth brings its mind-bending fusion of improvisation, co-composition and new music interpretation to the MCML. The ensemble features some of the most adventurous vocalists in Canadian contemporary music with practices spanning from extended voice to noise, early music, experimental theatre and contemporary dance. Phth is an experimental 8-voice collective which works in different subsets: Sarah Albu, Florence Blain Mbaye, David Cronkite, Gabriel Dharmoo, Susanna Hood, Kathy Kennedy, Elizabeth Lima and Vahram Sarkissian. -
Gabriel Dharmoo wins the 2018 Harry Freedman Recording Award for "Notre meute"
The Canadian Music Centre (CMC) and the Freedman family are pleased to announce that CMC Associate Composer Gabriel Dharmoo has won the 2018 Harry Freedman Recording Award for his vocal piece "Notre meute".The Harry Freedman Recording Award was established in 2010 by the Freedman family to honor this leading figure in Canadian composition. The Award supports creative costs associated with making audio recordings for a selected Canadian composer's music. Offered every other year, the Award is the primary activity of the Harry Freedman Fund, a permanent endowment administered by the Canadian Music Centre and managed by the Ontario Arts Foundation.
Dharmoo's outreach to national and international audiences was compelling to the 2018 Award Jury. The jury (Emily Doolittle, Katherine Duncan, Vincent Ho, and Veronika Krausas) was excited by the ambition and creativity of Dharmoo's music. The theme of imaginary folklore in "Notre meute" is a central aspect of Dharmoo's practice both as a composer and performer. The award will allow Dharmoo to perform alongside a hand-picked group of singers, and devote the necessary time to an enhanced interpretation of the piece.
"Notre meute" will be recorded this summer and featured on a 2019 release (focused on Dharmoo's vocal music as a composer, performer and improviser) from the record label DAME.
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Artist-Fellow for the MAI's Mentorship Program
I have been selected as one of the artist-fellows for the MAI's Mentorship Program (Montréal arts interculturels). he program's guiding objective is to foster the development – creative and professional – of artists from culturally diverse backgrounds as well as to encourage projects that are innovative and experimental in nature. -
"Wanmansho" wins Canada Council for the Arts Jules Léger Prize
Wanmansho, commissioned by Ensemble contemporain de Montréal (ECM+) with artistic director Véronique Lacroix and baritone soloist Vincent Ranallo, was awarded the Jules Léger Prize. Listen to the work:The Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music ($7,500) is a competition for Canadian composers designed to encourage the creation of new chamber music and foster its performance by Canadian chamber groups.
" I feel thankful and happy, especially because Wanmansho is quite representative of my recent musical and artistic ideas pertaining to imaginary folklore, extended-voice techniques and musical dramaturgy." Gabriel Dharmoo
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"the fog in our poise" wins 2017 MusCan Student Composer Competition
The CANADIAN UNIVERSITY MUSIC SOCIETY (MUSCAN) invited student composers to submit works for the annual conference of the Canadian University Music Society, held at the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto, May 25-27, in coordination with the annual conferences of the Canadian Association for Music Libraries, Archives, and Documentation Centres (CAML), the Canadian Society for Traditional Music (CSTM), and the International Association for the Study of Popular Music Canada (IASPM-Canada).Press release: http://www.muscan.org/en/news/music-events/877-2017-composer-en
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1st Prize for "Futile Spells" at Prix collégien de musique contemporaine
Futile Spells was awarded the Prix Collégien de Musique Contemporaine 2017. Listen to the piece:The gala was held on May 10, 2017 at CÉGEP de Sherbrooke. Prize were awarded by the Canadian Music Centre in Québec, Média Spec (1 st prizes), the Société québécoise de recherche en musique and CÉGEP de Sherbrooke (2nd prizes) and the FAMEQ (3rd prize) to:
Gabriel Dharmoo (1st place, $1000$ + $1500), for Futile Spells.
Christopher Goddard (2nd place, $300 + $200), for Spacious Euphony.
Olivier Gagnon (3rd place, $300), for Ciel polaire. -
Portrait in VOIR magazine (in French)
Gabriel Dharmoo - Brouiller les pistes - Réjean Beaucage. VOIR, April 24, 2017 -
Jan V. Matejcek SOCAN Award 2016
Awarded to a composer of New Classical Music for their work in 2015-16. -
Award at SummerWorks Performance Festival 2016
The Contra Guys Award for New Performance TextWinner: Gabriel Dharmoo, Imaginary Anthropologies (a.k.a. Anthropologies imaginaires)
Generously supported by two SummerWorks founders, Benj Gallander and Ben Stadelmann, the Contra Guys Award for best new performance text is a $1,500 cash prize presented to a performance-maker for an outstanding new work (script or performance text).
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Tim Brady wins the 2016 Friends of Canadian Music Award
...and shares it with Gabriel Dharmoo! Full article: Tim Brady wins the 2016 Friends of Canadian Music Award -
Story in Musicworks
Honoured to have a story about my work published in Musicworks magazineFull article by Alex Varty: The Shapeshifting Sounds of Gabriel Dharmoo
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EXPERIMENTICA15 in Cardiff
September 15, 2015 Anthropologies imaginaires has been selected, from over 800 applications, for performance at the EXPERIMENTICA15 festival, taking part between November 4 an 8 2015 in Cardiff, Wales (UK) -
Award at the Amsterdam Fringe Festival
September 13, 2015 Amsterdam Fringe Festival!I presented the show twice, September 9 and 11, at Polanentheater (Amsterdam, Netherlands).
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PhD at Concordia University
September 8, 2015 September 2015Started graduate studies at Concordia University
PhD in the "Individualized Studies" program with 3 supervisors:
- Prof. Sandeep Bhagwati, Music
- Prof. Noah Drew, Theatre
- Prof. David Howes, Anthropology of the Senses
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Vocal workshop with Beñat Achiary
August 24-28, 2015 From August 24-28, I will be in Mulhouse (France) for Beñat Achiary's vocal workshop. This is part of the FESTIVAL MÉTÉO - MULHOUSE.