James Simon Rolfe (born 1961) is a Canadian composer of contemporary music.

Early life and education

Rolfe was born in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

. He studied composition with John Beckwith at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institu ...

and

Jo Kondo Jo, jo, JO, or J.O. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Jo'' (film), a 1972 French comedy * ''Jo'' (TV series), a French TV series *"Jo", a song by Goldfrapp from ''Tales of Us'' *"Jo", a song by Mr. Oizo from ''Lambs Anger'' * Jo a fictio ...

in Japan.

Career

Rolfe was the President of the Canadian League of Composers (2007–11) and has won awards for his music, most recently the 2006

Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music The Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music is a Canadian contemporary classical music award given to composers in recognition of quality new works of chamber music. Granted annually since 1978 (with the exception of 1984 and 1990 when no prize wa ...

and the 2009 SOCAN Jan V. Matejcek New Classical Music Award. Rolfe lives in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

with his wife

Juliet Palmer Juliet Palmer is a contemporary composer living in Toronto, Ontario, Canada Career Juliet Kiri Palmer was born in New Zealand in 1967, where she completed graduate studies in composition, clarinet and time-based art at the University of Aucklan ...

, who is also a composer.

Operas

Although Rolfe's chamber, vocal, orchestral, and piano works are widely performed, he has become most noted for his operas. ''

Beatrice Chancy ''Beatrice Chancy'' is a Canadian chamber opera in four acts composed by James Rolfe. The libretto by George Elliott Clarke is based on his verse play of the same name. The opera was premiered in Toronto on 18 June 1998 by the Queen of Puddings Mus ...

'', an

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libre ...

set in

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native En ...

during the 19th century (libretto by

George Elliott Clarke George Elliott Clarke, (born February 12, 1960) is a Canadian poet, playwright and literary critic who served as the Poet Laureate of Toronto from 2012 to 2015 and as the 2016–2017 Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate. His work is known large ...

), was produced in 1998 by Toronto's Queen of Puddings Music Theatre Company and was subsequently filmed for television by the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the governme ...

in 2000. Rolfe has since composed the children's opera ''Elijah’s Kite'' (libretto by Camyar Chai), which explores bullying among children, and was co-produced by Tapestry New Opera Works and the

Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory in New York City. The school offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition, as well as a bachelor's in mu ...

in New York City in 2006; ''Rosa'' (libretto by Camyar Chai), produced by Tapestry in Toronto in 2004; ''Swoon'' (libretto by Anna Chatterton), produced by the

Canadian Opera Company The Canadian Opera Company (COC) is an opera company in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the largest opera company in Canada and one of the largest producers of opera in North America. The COC performs in its own opera house, the Four Seasons Cen ...

in 2006; ''Orpheus and Euridice'' in 2003 (libretto by

André Alexis André Alexis (born 15 January 1957 in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago) is a Canadian writer who grew up in Ottawa and lives in Toronto, Ontario.

) and ''Aeneas and Dido'' in 2007 (libretto by

André Alexis André Alexis (born 15 January 1957 in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago) is a Canadian writer who grew up in Ottawa and lives in Toronto, Ontario.

). The last two works were both commissioned and produced by Toronto Masque Theatre as companion pieces to

Marc-Antoine Charpentier Marc-Antoine Charpentier (; 1643 – 24 February 1704) was a French Baroque composer during the reign of Louis XIV. One of his most famous works is the main theme from the prelude of his ''Te Deum'', ''Marche en rondeau''. This theme is still u ...

's '' Descent of Orpheus to the Underworld'' and

Henry Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer. Purcell's style of Baroque music was uniquely English, although it incorporated Italian and French elements. Generally considered among the greatest En ...

's ''

Dido and Aeneas ''Dido and Aeneas'' (Z. 626) is an opera in a prologue and three acts, written by the English Baroque composer Henry Purcell with a libretto by Nahum Tate. The dates of the composition and first performance of the opera are uncertain. It was c ...

''. In February 2009 Rolfe's opera ''Inês'' (with libretto by

Paul Bentley Paul Richard Bentley (born 25 July 1942) is a British stage, film and television actor, perhaps best known for playing the High Septon in the television series ''Game of Thrones''. He is also a writer. Early life Bentley was born in Sheffiel ...

) was produced and performed in Toronto by the Queen of Puddings Music Theatre Company. Based on the story of the 14th century Galician

Inês de Castro Inês de Castro (; in Castilian: Inés; 1325 – 7 January 1355) was a Galician noblewoman and courtier, best known as lover and posthumously-recognized wife of King Peter I of Portugal. The dramatic circumstances of her relationship with Peter ...

, it featured

fado Fado (; "destiny, fate") is a music genre that can be traced to the 1820s in Lisbon, Portugal, but probably has much earlier origins. Fado historian and scholar Rui Vieira Nery states that "the only reliable information on the history of fado wa ...

singer Inês Santos as the lead character. Rolfe is currently composing a new opera for the Canadian Opera Company with librettist Anna Chatterton.

Awards

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

(2000) * K. M. Hunter Music Award (2003) *

Louis Applebaum Louis Applebaum (April 3, 1918April 19, 2000) was a Canadian film score composer, administrator, and conductor. Early life He was born in Toronto, Ontario, and studied at the Toronto Conservatory of Music with Leo Smith and the University ...

Composers Award (2005) *

(2006)

Other selected compositions

* ''Idiot Sorrow'' (1990) * ''Simon & Garfunkel & The Prophets of Rage'' (1993) * ''Ears, Nose and Throat'', (1994) * ''Revenge! Revenge!! Revenge!!!'' (1995) * ''Squeeze'' (1997) * ''Mechanical Danny'' (2000) * ''Six Songs'' (text by

Walt Whitman Walter Whitman (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among ...

) (2001) * ''Worry'' (2001) * ''raW'' (2003) * ''Flourish'' (2005) * ''Breathe'' (2011)

References

External links

*
James Rolfe
at the

Canadian Music Centre The Canadian Music Centre was founded in 1959 by a group of Canadian composers who saw a need to create a repository for Canadian music. It now holds Canada's largest collection of Canadian concert music, and works to promote the music of its A ...

James Rolfe
at

SoundMakers Soundstreams is a Toronto-based music presenter that commissions, develops, and showcases the work of contemporary Canadian and international composers. It was established in 1982 by Artistic Director and oboe player Lawrence Cherney, and has co ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rolfe, James 1961 births Canadian classical composers Canadian male classical composers Living people Canadian opera composers Male opera composers Musicians from Ottawa Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music winners