Paul Levasseur
“An extremely talented musician, you’ll go far if you want to.” (RCM)
From the time there was a piano in the house, Paul has played on the instrument, starting formal lessons by age seven, something that continued well into the teenage years. Although he had placed well in festivals and Suzuki piano workshops, his musical aspirations remained largely a hobby. After completing a university degree, however, he decided to go back to school to study composition starting in the fall of 2004.
Since this creative genesis, his compositional abilities have flourished and he has become a promising emerging composer, garnering the attention of both students and professionals around Winnipeg. Within the University setting, many students have requested works which they could use to play on concerts and recitals. Some examples of this are the chamber pieces ‘The Prelude for Unaccompanied Violoncello’ (Erika Donald), ‘Eidolon’ (Murray Wichert), ‘The Dance of the Clumsy Bear’ (Gerard Modjeski), ‘Luthien’ (Vanessa Unrauh), and ‘Anorexic’ (Andrea Truderung).
Paul has also had an arrangement performed by the UMSO and the same student orchestra performed his piece ‘Homage a Sergei Prokofiev’ at the end of March, 2008. Paul’s works ‘Nightwood’, ‘Wonder’, and ‘Vitae’ were also featured in the fall 2005 edition of the Faculty of Architecture Warehouse DVD and ‘A Symphonic Tale’ is featured as the first ever live orchestral submission to the fan site www.ocremix.org. His pieces ‘Anorexic’ ‘The Dance of the Clumsy Bear’ and the arrangement ‘To the End of the Wilderness, A Symphonic Tale’, were played on the U of M Campus Radio show FSMAC in the winter of 2008.
Apart from his academic successes, there has been interest building in the professional world. Chris Lee has requested a piece for Tuba and String Quartet which will be started in the fall of 2008. He is also planning a song cycle for Toronto based Tenor, Paul Anthony Williamson. WSO Principal Cellist Yuri Hooker performed the Prelude for Unaccompanied Cello on the Winnipeg Summer Cello Institute Faculty Recital. In March 2008, Paul was appointed as composer in residence for Musica Speciale, a concert series in Winnipeg.
On these concerts, he has had his pieces ‘In Loving Memory’ (commissioned by the University of Manitoba and the Guy Bernardin family) and ‘The Great Experiment’ performed at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. Through this organization, he was commissioned to compose a string sextet. Funding for this project is graciously provided by the Manitoba Arts Council.
Paul Levasseur is currently pursuing his masters in music composition at UBC, where he is studying with Stephen Chatman.