James Michael Hiscott (born 4 December 1948) is a Canadian composer,

radio producer A radio producer oversees the making of a radio show. The job title covers several different job descriptions: *Content producers or executive producers oversee and orchestrate a radio show or feature. The content producer might organize music choi ...

, and

accordionist Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a ree ...

. An associate of 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 ...

and a member of the

Canadian League of Composers The Canadian League of Composers is an organization formed in 1951 of Canadian composers primarily interested in raising awareness and acceptance of Canadian music. Its activities are overseen and directed by an executive, and by a National Counci ...

, his compositions are characterized by their strong

rhythm Rhythm (from Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed ...

ic base, standard

harmonic A harmonic is a wave with a frequency that is a positive integer multiple of the '' fundamental frequency'', the frequency of the original periodic signal, such as a sinusoidal wave. The original signal is also called the ''1st harmonic'', ...

language, and merger of world music with contemporary sounds and instrumentation. He has received commissions from the Great Lakes Brass Quintet, the Manitoba Puppet Theatre, Metis Arts of Manitoba, and

Music Inter Alia Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect o ...

. His 1973 work ''Planes'' was premiered by the

Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra (WSO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Its primary concert venue is the Centennial Concert Hall, and the orchestra also performs throughout the province of Manitoba. The WSO presents an averag ...

in 1986 under conductor by

Kazuhiro Koizumi is a Japanese conductor who has had an active international career since the 1970s. Koizumi was one among the founding conductors of the New Japan Philharmonic established in July 197He has appeared as a guest conductor throughout Europe and the ...

Life and career

Born in

St. Catharines St. Catharines is the largest city in Canada's Niagara Region and the sixth largest urban area in the province of Ontario. As of 2016, it has an area of , 136,803 residents, and a metropolitan population of 406,074. It lies in Southern Ontario ...

, Hiscott began his professional studies in mathematics and

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which rel ...

Brock University Brock University is a public research university in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. It is the only university in Canada in a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, at the centre of Canada's Niagara Peninsula on the Niagara Escarpment. The university bea ...

where he earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

in 1969. It was while pursuing graduate studies in the sciences at Lancaster University in England in 1970 that he decided to switch his career path to music; although he did earn a

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast ...

from 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 ...

in 1971. He studied at

The Royal Conservatory of Music The Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM), branded as The Royal Conservatory, is a non-profit music education institution and performance venue headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1886 by Edward Fisher as The Toronto Con ...

from 1970 to 1976 where he was a pupil of

Samuel Dolin Samuel ''Šəmūʾēl'', Tiberian: ''Šămūʾēl''; ar, شموئيل or صموئيل '; el, Σαμουήλ ''Samouḗl''; la, Samūēl is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the bi ...

music composition Musical composition can refer to an original piece or work of music, either vocal or instrumental, the structure of a musical piece or to the process of creating or writing a new piece of music. People who create new compositions are called c ...

. He also studied music at

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,000 faculty and staf ...

from 1973 to 1976 where he earned a

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students for pursuing a professional education in the visual, fine or performing arts. It is also called Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA) in some cases. Background The Bachelor ...

in music in 1976. In 1977 Hiscott was awarded a composition prize by the

Canadian Federation of University Women The Canadian Federation of University Women (CFUW) ( French: ''Fédération canadienne des femmes diplômées des universités CFDU') is a non-partisan, voluntary, self-funded organization with nearly 100 CFUW Clubs, located in every province ac ...

. That same year he became a music producer for

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

in Toronto, later working in the same capacity for CBC Radio in Edmonton (1979) and Winnipeg (1980–1991). In 1981 he co-founded both the contemporary music society IZ Music and the Manitoba Composers Association, notably serving as the latter organizations first president. Several of his compositions have been given their world premieres in IZ Music concerts, including ''Red Dawn'' (1977), ''Spirit Reel'' (1982), and ''Variations on a Theme of Giuseppe Verdi'' (1983, rev 1985).

Works

* ''Four pieces for string orchestra'' (1972) * ''Moss growing on ruins'' (1974) * ''Ceremony II'' (1975) * ''Gilgamesh : for solo accordion'' (1977) * ''Rains of Sailendra : for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, percussion and piano'' (1977) * ''Moon and clouds over the Clyde'' (1979) * ''Red dawn : for flute, clarinet, and percussion'' (1982) * ''Altiplano : for brass quintet (two trumpets, horn, tenor and bass trombones)'' (1989) * ''Dancing on wings of fire : for diatonic button accordion (A/D) and orchestra'' (1991) * ''The restless wind : for chamber orchestra (flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and strings)'' (1999) *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hiscott, Jim 1948 births Living people Alumni of Lancaster University Brock University alumni Canadian accordionists Canadian composers Canadian male composers Canadian radio producers The Royal Conservatory of Music alumni University of Toronto alumni York University alumni 21st-century accordionists 21st-century Canadian male musicians