Bekah Simms
Bekah Simms (born 1990) is a Canadian composer of contemporary classical music.[1]
Education
Simms was born and raised in Mount Pearl, Newfoundland and Labrador, where she studied at the nearby Memorial University of Newfoundland with composer Andrew Staniland.[2] At Memorial University, she received a B.Mus. in music theory and composition in addition to a B.Mus.Ed in music education.[3] She also holds M.Mus. and D.M.A. degrees from the University of Toronto[4] where her teachers included Gary Kulesha, Christos Hatzis, and Norbert Palej.[3] Her thesis work, Foreverdark, was subsequently performed by Esprit Orchestra.[5] Additional studies with acousmatic composer Martin BĂ©dard in Montreal were facilitated through the PIVOT mentorship program, jointly run by the Canadian Music Centre, Canadian League of Composers, and Continuum Contemporary Music.[6]
Career
Simms has received over 20 composition awards, prizes, and competitive selections.[1] This includes the 2019 Barlow Prize,[7] the 2017 Toronto Emerging Composer Award,[8] the 2018 Karen Kieser Prize in Canadian Music,[9] and the inclusion of her work in the official Canadian Section of the International Society for Contemporary Music's World Music Days in both 2016 and 2019[10]
Simms released her debut album, impurity chains, in September 2018 to positive reviews.[11][12] The composition Granitic was subsequently nominated for a 2019 JUNO Award for Classical Composition of the Year,[13] and her composition Everything Is... Distorted was nominated for a 2020 JUNO Award for Classical Composition of the year.[14]
References
- Canadienne, Canadian Music Centre | Centre de Musique. "Bekah Simms: Biography". www.musiccentre.ca. Retrieved 2019-07-14.
- Wall, Lukas (2019-02-02). "N.L. composer Bekah Simms nominated for classical Juno Award". CBC News. Retrieved 2019-07-13.
- "Bekah Simms, Composer". bekahsimms.com. Retrieved 2019-07-14.
- "Mount Pearl native gains Juno nod | The Telegram". www.thetelegram.com. Retrieved 2019-07-14.
- Esprit Orchestra (2019-03-29), The Musical Mind #25: Bekah Simms and Amahl Arulanandam, retrieved 2019-07-14
- "Continuum Contemporary Music | PIVOT". Ludwig van Toronto. Retrieved 2019-07-14.
- "Prize Recipients". Brigham Young University COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS AND COMMUNICATIONS. Retrieved 2019-08-05.
- Canadienne, Canadian Music Centre | Centre de Musique. "Bekah Simms wins the 2017 CMC Toronto Emerging Composer Award". www.musiccentre.ca (in French). Retrieved 2019-07-14.
- "Karen Kieser Prize Concert Programme" (PDF). University of Toronto Faculty of Music. January 22, 2019.
- "Simms, Bekah". ISCM Catalogue. Retrieved 2019-07-13.
- "Bekah Simms Impurity Chains". exclaim.ca. Retrieved 2019-07-14.
- "Bekah Simms. Impurity Chains. | Musicworks magazine". www.musicworks.ca. Retrieved 2019-07-14.
- "2019 CLASSICAL COMPOSITION OF THE YEAR | Bekah Simms". The JUNO Awards. Retrieved 2019-07-14.
- "2020 JUNO Award Nominees (Full List)". The JUNO Awards. Retrieved 2020-01-29.