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CONTACT
 
Email: info@robertrival.com
 
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CURRENT PROJECTS
 
book on music, gesture & rhetoric
 
LISTEN ON APPLE MUSIC
 
Traces of a Silent Landscape
Sonata "Muskoka"
 
CD RELEASES
 
Global tapestry - Ananta duo
 
Sonata "Muskoka" for clarinet & piano (Lake movement). Ananta Duo: "Global Tapestry" (2018). Purchase. Spotify.

 
Windermere String Quartet: Inner Landscapes
 
Traces of a Silent Landscape. Windermere String Quartet: "Inner Landscapes" (2016). Purchase. iTunes. Spotify. Naxos Music Library.

 

 
Lullaby. Edmonton Symphony Orchestra: "A Concert for New York" (2013). 2014 Western Canadian Music Awards nominee for Classical Recording of the Year. Purchase.
"...gentle textures and flowing themes occasionally yield surprising harmonic turns and briskly changing meters."
     —Allan Kozinn, New York Times, on Lullaby
"...a work of quiet rapture and refined sensibility...elegant concision..."
     —Jack Sullivan, American Record Guide, on Lullaby
"...a beautifully crafted work that will appeal to those who enjoy musical construction as much as it will to those who want their ears to be charmed."
     —Mark Morris, Edmonton Scene, on Sunshine Variations
"atmospheric dream world" (Birmingham News), "subtle and poignant" (What's On in London), "engaging" (Globe and Mail), "spectaculaire" (Le Devoir), "positive, upfront writing" (Montreal Gazette), "clever and evocative" (Ottawa Citizen), "rhythmically rich" (Edmonton Journal), "sophisticated" (Ottawa Citizen), "paints moods" (Edmonton Journal), "an unequivocal hit" (Vancouver Sun), "immediately appealing" (Ottawa Citizen), "brisk and bounding" (Toronto Star), "well crafted" (Ottawa Citizen) [reviews]
   
WHAT'S NEW
Semitragic Waltz SEP 2023—Stay tuned for the premiere performance and recording of Semitragic Waltz for two violins and viola, commissioned by Fabiola Amorim, Frank Ho and Vladimir Rufino with the support of the Edmonton Arts Council. Why "semitragic"? Because it's an off-kilter waltz, only half sober, that barrels along doggedly in the face of pervasive disequilibrium. It's also the first score I engraved using Steinberg's newish notation software, Dorico.
Rival and Djokic - photo by Annette B. Woloshen APR 2023—A review of Marc Djokic's Quebec premiere of my Violin Concerto:
"Cette musique résolument moderne nous amène sur des terres totalement inconnues [...] Les couleurs sont fortes, éclectiques, surprenantes, rompant définitivement avec la musique classique des siècles précédents. La musique moderne a réellement trouvé sa voie, autonome, riche et plurielle." —Luce Langis
View photos by Annette B. Woloshen & watch excerpts from last year's world premiere.
jellyfish MAR 2023—The premiere by the Gryphon Trio of Nature Rhythms I at Music Toronto, part of the trio's 30th anniversary celebration, was recorded by CBC Radio. Stay tuned for the broadcast date! This work for piano trio was inspired by the empirical study of semi-periodic rhythms occurring in nature: jellyfish, swaying branches, drifting clouds, falling raindrops.
OCT 2022—Watch the world premiere of The Midnight Sea sung by Chor Leoni Men's Choir led by Erick Lichte. The concert film also includes new works by Katerina Gimon & Pierre Simard, co-finalists in the C/4 Canadian Choral Composition Competition, and interviews with the composers.
OCT 2022—Watch the world premiere of my Sunshine Variations, commissioned by the Edmonton Recital Society and performed by Kathleen de Caen (vc) & Janet Scott Hoyt (pno). From Mark Morris's glowing review:
"[...] a beautifully crafted work that will appeal to those who enjoy musical construction as much as it will to those who want their ears to be charmed."
   
PERFORMANCES / EVENTS
Date Location Work Details
2023
Mar 30 Toronto, ON Nature Rhythms I
(world premiere)
Commissioned by the Gryphon Trio with the support of the Ontario Arts Council. The trio celebrates its 30th anniversary at Music Toronto.
Apr 11 Montréal, QC Violin Concerto Marc Djokic, solist. Orchestre classique de Montréal. Nurhan Arman, conductor. Salle Pierre-Mercure.
May 4 Hamilton, ON Scherzo "Crème brûlée" Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra. Gemma New, conductor. The Cotton Factory.
Jul 27 Ottawa, ON Nature Rhythms I The Gryphon Trio, celebrating its 30th anniversary, performs excerpts at Chamberfest. Dominion-Chalmers.
Nov 9
& 10
Windsor, ON Spring Windsor Symphony Orchestra. Francisco Hernández Bolaños, conductor. The Capitol Theatre.
2024
Jan 27
& 28
Windsor, ON Symphony No. 2 "Water" Windsor Symphony Orchestra. Robert Franz, conductor. The Capitol Theatre.
May 17 Ottawa, ON Violin Concerto Marc Djokic, solist. Thirteen Strings. Kevin Mallon, conductor. Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre.
PREMIERES POSTPONED (COVID-19)
? Harrington, QC The Grass Is Full of Stars (world premiere) For children's choir & chamber ensemble. Commissioned by violinist Marc Djokic for CAMMAC with the support of the Canada Council.