John Estacio (born April 8, 1966) is a contemporary Canadian composer of opera, orchestral and choral music. __TOC__

Life and career

Estacio was born in

Newmarket, Ontario Newmarket (Canada 2021 Census, 2021 population: 87,942) is a town and regional seat of the Regional Municipality of York in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. It is part of Greater Toronto Area, Greater Toron ...

. Raised in the farming community of the Holland Marsh, Ontario, Estacio took

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

and

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"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 Reed (mou ...

lessons, and played church

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

every Sunday. As a teenager, he created soundtracks for short student films, played

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

, and performed in high school productions of

Broadway musicals Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), many of the extant or closed Broadway venues use or used the spelling ''Theatr ...

. He majored in composition at

Wilfrid Laurier University Wilfrid Laurier University (commonly referred to as WLU or simply Laurier) is a Public university, public university in Ontario, Canada, with campuses in Waterloo, Ontario, Waterloo, Brantford, Ontario, Brantford and Milton, Ontario, Milton. The ...

Waterloo, Ontario Waterloo is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is one of three cities in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo (formerly Waterloo County, Ontario, Waterloo County). Waterloo is situated about west-southwest of Toronto, but it is n ...

studying with Glenn Buhr and Peter Hatch. He earned his post-graduate degree at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

where he studied composition with Stephen Chatman. In 1992, his first major orchestral work, ''Visoes da Noite'', won second-prize in the

Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra (WSO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Founded in 1947, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at the Centennial Concert Hall. Including travelling performances, the WSO presents an average of ...

's Canadian Composers Competition. ''Saudades'' for orchestra was premiered at the WSO's New Music Festival in 1993. From 1992 to 2000, Estacio was Composer in Residence of the

Edmonton Symphony Orchestra The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra (ESO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Edmonton, Alberta. As the professional orchestra of Alberta's creative capital city it presents over 85 concerts a year of symphonic music in all genres, from classical to co ...

. During his residency, Estacio created several orchestral works, participated in novel audience outreach programs, and created the Young Composers Project. ''A Farmer's Symphony'' (1994), ''Borealis'' (1997), ''Flights of Fancy'' (1999), ''Frenergy'' (1998), ''Triple Concerto for Piano, Violin and Cello'' (1997), ''Variations on a Memory'' (1995), ''Victims of Us All'' (1996), ''Wondrous Light'' (1997) and ''The Twins and the Monster'' (2001) a children's tale for actress and orchestra with text by Tololwa M. Mollel, were all written for the ESO. From 2000 to 2003, Estacio was Composer in Residence with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and the

Calgary Opera Calgary Opera is a Canadian opera company based in Calgary, Alberta. The company has its administrative base at the Mamdani Opera Centre, a facility in the Wesley United Church, since July 2005. The company gives its seasonal mainstage productio ...

. He composed ''Solaris'' (2000), ''Bootlegger's Tarantella'' (2001) and ''Spring's Promise'' (2004) for the orchestra, and between 2001 and 2003 he wrote the

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

''Filumena'' (based on the life of

Filumena Lassandro Florence Lassandro (; born Filumena Costanzo ; 1900 – May 2, 1923) was an Italian-Canadian bootlegger who was the only woman to be hanged in Alberta. Early life Lassandro was born in Cosenza, Italy, immigrating with her family to Canada in 19 ...

) with librettist John Murrell. Premiered in

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

, the opera has been performed at the

Banff Centre Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity (formerly Banff Centre) is an arts and culture educational institution in Banff, Alberta, Banff, Alberta. It offers arts programs in the Performing arts, performing and fine arts, as well as leadership trai ...

, Ottawa's

National Arts Centre The National Arts Centre (NAC) () is a Arts centre, performing arts organization in Ottawa, Ontario, along the Rideau Canal. It is based in the eponymous National Arts Centre (building), National Arts Centre building. History The NAC was one ...

, and by the Edmonton Opera, where it was filmed for television broadcast on the

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

television network. Estacio has also been commissioned to write works for the

Toronto Symphony Orchestra The Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario. Founded in 1906, the TSO gave regular concerts at Massey Hall until 1982, and since then has performed at Roy Thomson Hall. The TSO also manages the Toron ...

, the

Montreal Symphony Orchestra The Montreal Symphony Orchestra () is a Canadian symphony orchestra based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The orchestra’s home is the Montreal Symphony House at Place des Arts. History Several orchestras were precursor ensembles to the curren ...

, the

Manitoba Chamber Orchestra The Manitoba Chamber Orchestra (MCO) is a chamber orchestra based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It offers an annual subscription series at Westminster United Church, which regularly features Canada's leading soloists, such as James Ehnes and Meas ...

, the

Vancouver Symphony Orchestra The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (VSO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The VSO performs at the Orpheum, which has been the orchestra's permanent home since 1977. With an annual operating budget of $16 million, it is ...

, the

CBC Radio Orchestra The CBC Radio Orchestra was a Canadian orchestra based in Vancouver, British Columbia, that was operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Until the early 1980s the CBC had a number of orchestras located in Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal, and ...

, the Banff International String Quartet Competition, and the

Penderecki String Quartet The Penderecki String Quartet is a string quartet, founded in 1986, now based in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. History The original members of the string quartet started in Poland as the New Szymanowski Quartet. In 1986 they won the Krzysztof Pende ...

. His music has been performed by all the major Canadian orchestras, as well as internationally. In 2003 the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and conductor

Mario Bernardi Mario Bernardi, (20 August 1930 – 2 June 2013) was a Canadian conductor and pianist. ...

recorded six of Estacio's major orchestral compositions. Released in 2004, the compact disc ''Frenergy '' was nominated for two

Juno Award The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's mu ...

s. In 2004 the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra and Music Director

Geoffrey Moull Geoffrey Moull is a Canadian professional conductor. He was principal conductor of the Bielefeld Philharmonic Orchestra and music director of the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra. Education Geoffrey Moull was born in London, Ontario, Canada an ...

recorded ''Variations on a Memory'' for a new CD that was also nominated for a

and became the best-selling disc of the Canadian Music Centre in 2005. Estacio received

SOCAN The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) is a Canadian performance rights organization that represents the performing rights of more than 175,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers. The organization collect ...

's Jan V. Matejcek Concert Music Award in 2004, 2005, and 2007, as well as Young Composer Awards from SOCAN and PROCAN in 1989, 1990, 1992 and 1994. Recent works include orchestrations of ''Seven Songs'' by

Jean Sibelius Jean Sibelius (; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic music, Romantic and 20th-century classical music, early modern periods. He is widely regarded as his countr ...

for tenor

Ben Heppner Thomas Bernard Heppner (born January 14, 1956) is a renowned Canadian tenor and broadcaster, now retired from singing, who specialized in opera and other classical works for voice. Early life Heppner, was born in Murrayville, British Columb ...

and the score of ''The Secret of The Nutcracker'' for a CBC television broadcast in December 2008. He currently resides in

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

, and recently completed his second opera, ''Frobisher'' (based on the life of

Martin Frobisher Sir Martin Frobisher (; – 22 November 1594) was an English sailor and privateer who made three voyages to the New World looking for the North-west Passage. He probably sighted Resolution Island near Labrador in north-eastern Canada, before ...

), premiered in

on January 27, 2007. ''The Houses Stand Not Far Apart'', a large-scale work for chorus and orchestra commissioned by the Canada Council for the Vancouver Bach Choir, Edmonton's Richard Eaton Singers, the Grand Philharmonic Choir, and Chorus Niagara, and set to poetry by

author John Murrell, was premiered in March 2008. Other upcoming commissions include a symphony for the Victoria Symphony Orchestra, and an opera for the Vancouver Opera. He recently wrote a piece for the Calgary Stampede Showband, entitled ''Prairie Ride and Sunset'', which was commissioned by the band in 2012. His most recent work is a world premiere ballet based on King Arthur's Camelot with the Cincinnati Ballet, premiering in February 2014. The work was commissioned as part of the Cincinnati Ballet's 50th season.

Notes

External links

John Estacio's websiteFilumena websiteCanadian Music Centre websiteReview of Estacio's opera ''Lillian Alling''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Estacio, John 1966 births 20th-century Canadian classical composers 21st-century Canadian classical composers Wilfrid Laurier University alumni Living people Members of the Order of Canada People from Newmarket, Ontario Musicians from Edmonton Musicians from the Regional Municipality of York Canadian opera composers Canadian male opera composers Canadian people of Portuguese descent 20th-century Canadian male musicians 21st-century Canadian male musicians