Keith Hamel (born 1956 in

Morden Morden is a district and town in South London, England, now within the London Borough of Merton, in the ceremonial county of Greater London. It adjoins Merton Park and Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon to the north, Mitcham to the east, Sutton, Londo ...

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

, Canada) is a composer, software designer, and professor of music. His music consists of orchestral, chamber, solo, and vocal music, often focussing on live electronics and interactivity between acoustic instruments and the computer.

Education

Keith Hamel 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 (musician), Edwar ...

in Toronto, and holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Queen's University (Kingston, Ontario, 1981), and A.M. and PhD degrees from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

(1984, 1985). Between 1981 and 1984, he also studied Computer Music at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

, under the supervision of Barry Vercoe. Hamel also received composition instruction from Istvan Anhalt,

Donald Martino Donald James Martino (May 16, 1931 – December 8, 2005) was a Pulitzer Prize winning American composer. Biography Born in Plainfield, New Jersey, Martino attended Plainfield High School. He began as a clarinetist, playing jazz for fun and ...

Peter Maxwell Davies Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (8 September 1934 – 14 March 2016) was an English composer and conductor, who in 2004 was made Master of the Queen's Music. As a student at both the University of Manchester and the Royal Manchester College of Music ...

Earl Kim Earl Kim (1920–1998; né Eul Kim) was an American composer, and music pedagogue. He was of Korean descent. Early life, education, and training Kim was born on January 6, 1920, in Dinuba, California, to immigrant Korean parents. He began pia ...

and

Leon Kirchner Leon Kirchner (January 24, 1919 – September 17, 2009) was an American composer of contemporary classical music. He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and he won a Pulitzer Pr ...

. He was a finalist in the 1986 CBC Young Composers Competition (percussion category), and also received four awards in the P.R.O. Canada Young Composers Competition.

Career

Hamel has been on the faculty at the

UBC 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 ...

School of Music since 1987, and has been a full professor since 1997. He is also an Associate Researcher at the Institute for Computing, Information and Cognitive Systems (ICICS), a Researcher at the Media Graphics Interdisciplinary Centre (MAGIC), and Director of the UBC Computer Music Studio. Keith Hamel has been a visiting lecturer at

Stony Brook University Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public university, public research university in Stony Brook, New York, United States, on Long Island. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is on ...

, Queen's University, the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO; branded as Western University) is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thame ...

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a Public university, public research university in British Columbia, Canada. It maintains three campuses in Greater Vancouver, respectively located in Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, British Columbia, Surrey, and ...

, the Banff School of Fine Arts, the University of Santa Barbara, the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

School of Music,

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

IRCAM IRCAM (French: ''Ircam, '', English: Institute for Research and Coordination in Acoustics/Music) is a French institute dedicated to the research of music and sound, especially in the fields of Avant-garde music, avant garde and Electroacoustic ...

, and several other academic institutions.

List of works

Orchestra and large ensemble

*''Quadrivium for Orchestra'' (1983) (15 min.) *''Paraphrases'' for chamber orchestra (1993) (8 min.) *''Overdrive'' for orchestra (1998) (10 min.) *''Wizard'' for chamber orchestra (2010) (5 min.)

Chamber ensembles

*''Obsessions 1'' for chamber sextet (1984) (17 min.) *''Obsessions 2'' for string quartet (1985) (17 min.) *''Paraphrases'' for fl., cl., horn, fortepiano, timpani, violin, and cello (1990) (8 min.) *''Refraction'' for clarinet, violin, and piano (1991) (10 min.) *''Each Life Converges To Some Centre...'' for violin and piano (1992) (7 min.) *''Crossfade'' for flute, clarinet, violin, piano, and percussion (1994) (3 min.) *''Wings of Mercury'' for fl., ob., cl., perc., pno., vn., vc. and D.B. (1997) (12 min.) *''Kolokochiki'' for two piano and two percussion (2002) (12 min.) *''Adawura'' for clarinet, violin, cello, piano and percussion (2003) (12 min.)

Chamber ensemble with interactive electronics

*''Land of Shades'' for six singers and computer-generated tape (1982) (9 min.) *''Obsessions III'' for tape and chamber ensemble (1987) (10 min.) *''Ca-Non'' for flute/alto flute, MIDI piano, percussion, and interactive electronics *''Faded Memories, Faded Jeans'' for cl., vc., MIDI piano, and perc. (1995) (20 min.) *''Off-ramp'' for elec. gtr, chamber ens., and interactive electronics (2007) (14 min.) *''Les Cloches'' for chamber orchestra and interactive electronics (2011) (11 min.)

Solo instruments with interactive electronics

*''Symposium II'' for perc. and computer tape (1985; revised 1992) *''Thrust'' for MIDI grand piano and electronics (1989) (18 min.) *''WindoW'' for alto saxophone and interactive electronics (1990) (12 min.) *''Obsessed Again...'' for bassoon and interactive electronics (1992) (15 min.) *''Traces'' for clarinet and interactive electronics (1995) *''Krishna’s Flute'' for flute and interactive electronics (2004) (15 min.) *''Touch'' for piano and interactive electronics (2012) (15 min.) *''Full Circle'' for trombone and interactive electronics (2014) (14 min.)

Vocal and choral

*''Salem'', 1692 for women's choir (1993) (10 min.) *''Lullaby'' for women's choir (1999) (5 min.) *''deep in the heart is where we are one'' for choir (2002) (7 min.) *''Her Eyes in Sleep'' for ATTB (2005) (3 min.)

Selected performers

Ensemble Contemporain, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver New Music Ensemble, Elektra Women's Choir, ARRAYMUSIC, New Music Concerts, musica intima, Hammerhead Consort, Standing Wave, Hard Rubber Orchestra, Robert Silverman, Robert Cram, Robert Aitken, Chenoa Anderson, Mark McGregor, Paolo Bortolussi, Corey Hamm, The Nu:BC Collective, Jesse Read, Jean-Guy Boisvert, Julia Nolan, Douglas Finch and François Houle.

Affiliations

Vice President, International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) (2003–2007) President, Canadian Music Centre (2002–2006) Board Member, Canadian League of Composers (1995–2005) Published by Editions Musicales Européenes (Paris), Cypress Editions (Vancouver) Keith Hamel is an Associate Composer of th
Canadian Music Centre
and a member of th
Canadian League of Composers
AMP represents the music of Paul Steenhuisen, Howard Bashaw, Keith Hamel, Bob Pritchard,

James Harley James Harley (born 1959) is a Canadian composer, author, and professor of music born in Vernon, British Columbia. His creative output consists of orchestral, chamber, solo, electroacoustic, and vocal music. Studies Harley studied at Western ...

, André Ristic, Gordon Fitzell, and Aaron Gervais.

Software development

*Notewriter music notation software (1988–2007) *NoteAbility Pro music notation software (1996–present) *UBC Toolbox Processing modules for Max/MSP (2005–present) *IMuSE, the Integrated Multimodal Score-following Environment

Notable students

Hamel has been principal supervisor of several students who have proceeded to professional careers in music. These include Richard Covey, Gordon Fitzell, Brent Lee, Jocelyn Morlock, Bob Pritchard and Paul Steenhuisen.

References

External links

UBC School of Music

Video excerpt of ''Obsessed Again''Video excerpt of ''Intersecting Lines''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamel, Keith 1956 births Canadian composers Canadian male composers Electroacoustic music composers Living people Musicians from Manitoba People from Morden, Manitoba Academic staff of the University of British Columbia Harvard University alumni Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni