University of Lethbridge

Office Hours

MW 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM

Biography

Dr. Rolf Boon is an Associate Composer of the Canadian Music Centre (CMC), Member of the Canadian League of Composers (CLC), Delegate of the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS), Member of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television (ACCT), Audio Engineering Society (AES) and New Music Edmonton (NME). His compositions and film work continue to receive national and international exposure including recent performances and/or presentations in London, New York, Vancouver, Toronto, Kraków, Athens, Barcelona, Berlin, Los Angeles, Istanbul, and Beijing. Furthermore, his work has had repeat broadcasts on CJSR Edmonton, CKUA Access Radio and CBC radio/television.

He has received commissions and grants from the SSHRC, Canada Council for the Arts, Canadian Music Centre, University of Lethbridge, individuals, and multimedia groups. He is a recipient of the ACIFA Alberta Provincial Teaching Excellence Award and British Columbia Senior Arts Award.

In addition to his composing and teaching music design for film and digital media, music technology, and theory, Rolf worked as music editor on several films and documentaries for the CBC, Disney, Expo '86, Lauron Productions and Independents as well as being the principal composer for the 1995 Canada Winter Games. He was commissioned by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra's (TSO) Mosaic project celebrating Canada's 150th and has served four times as a jurist for the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) Juno Awards, and four times for the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television (ACCT). He is currently the Vice President on the Canadian Music Centre (CMC) Board of Directors for the Prairie Region and the Region representative to the CMC National Board. As past-chair of the Music Department at the University of Lethbridge (U of L), Rolf led the development and implementation of the Digital Audio Arts program. He was also the Interim Chair for New Media at the U. of L. for 2019-2020.

Originally from Kingston Ontario, Rolf studied piano and graduated with an ARCT (1978, RCM) and a B.Mus. (1980) from Queen's in piano performance and composition. At Queen's he studied piano with Dr. Ireneus Zuk and composition with Dr. Bruce Pennycook and Dr. Clifford Crawley. Rolf graduated with a M.Mus. (1983) from UBC. At UBC he studied composition with Dr. Steven Chatman and orchestration with Dr. Eliot Wiesgarber. He also holds a B.Ed. (1988) degree in secondary music education from UBC and a Ph.D. (2002) in policy studies and leadership from the University of Alberta.

Selected Publications

Boon, R. (2018). Presented Music Design For Film And Digital Media: A Pedagogical Approach at Music Conference Alberta held in Edmonton, October 26-27th, 2018. I also participated in a New Music Roundtable with Dr. Stephen Chatman (CM), Allan Gordon Bell (CM), and John Reid, Director of the Canadian Music Centre.

Boon, R. (2017). Exploring Creativity in Postsecondary Learning & Teaching, an article about the University of Calgary Conference was published in Firefly, the U of L Teaching Centre's on-line monthly newsletter, March 15.

Boon, R. (2016). Presented Pedagogical Approaches for Teaching Composition for Film and Digital Media at the University of Lethbridge Spark Teaching Symposium, April 29.

Boon, R. (2016). Wind Shadows for Flute and Digital Processing, featuring Sarah Gieck will be released on a CD of Canadian flute compositions by the PGMaudio Label, Edmonton.

Boon, R. (2011). Presented five workshops in composition and the Keynote Address at the annual Canadian National Conservatory of Music (CNCM) conference. Forest Hills, ON, July 17-21, 2011.

Boon, R. (2010). Into the Silence from Children's Window. Canadian National Conservatory of Music, ON.

Boon, R. (2009). Technology in Teaching. A presentation for the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning Conference, Inspired to Learn: Celebrating Teaching in the Comprehensive University. May 4, University of Lethbridge.

Boon, R. (2009). First Light from Children's Window. Canadian National Conservatory of Music, ON.

Boon, R. (2009). Bike Ride from Children's Window. Canadian National Conservatory of Music, ON.

Boon, R. (2008). Rain Falling from Children's Window. Canadian National Conservatory of Music, ON.

Boon, R. (2008). Cult Figures: Anthology of Canadian Electroacoustic Music. This CD was produced by the Edmonton Composers' Concert Society and includes Waves (2007), a live electroacoustic recording, and System 2.3/7 (2004), a digitally remixed and condensed work originally produced using a CMI Fairlight (1985). The CD was chosen by Naxos America as one of the best 15 CDs in 2010.

Boon, R. (2007). White Clouds, Blue Sky from Children's Window. Canadian National Conservatory of Music, ON.

Boon, R. (2007). Prairie Reflections from Children's Window. Canadian National Conservatory of Music, ON.

Boon, R. (2004). One of 60 composers selected to represent the Pacific Basin Regional Concert for the 60X60 Project of contemporary music, November 20, Los Angeles, California.

Selected Creative Works

2021-New Music Lab (NMLab) performance for International Drone Day, May 29,,
7pm MST https://dronedayorg/indexhtml. It was also broadcast at http://bewaretheradiocom BEAMS on June 12, 8pm.

2019-Hyacinth Caelum: Sesquie for Canada's 150th (2017) for full orchestra was performed by the Calgary Civic Orchestra on April 7, conducted by Rolf Bertsch.

2018-Wind Shadows (2012) for flute and digital processing was presented at the Music at Noon Concert, March 6th.

2017-Hyacinth Caelum: Sesquie for Canada's 150th (2017) for full orchestra was performed by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra on September 27th and conducted by Peter Oundjian. This work was commissioned by the TSO for the Canada's Mosaic Project.

2017-Hyacinth Caelum: Sesquie for Canada's 150th (2017) for full orchestra was premiered by the Lethbridge Symphony Orchestra on May 8th, conducted by Glenn Klassen.

2017-Voices Fall (1985) was presented at the Department of Music at Noon Concert series on February 14.

2017-Metro (2006) was performed by the University of Lethbridge Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of Josh Davidson for their all-Canadian program celebrating both the U of L's 50th and Canada's 150th Anniversaries. The concert took place on November 24th.

2016-Conversation II for B flat clarinet and digital processing was recorded by Mexican artist Fernando Dominguez in Studio One at the University of Lethbridge for a CD to be released at a later date, August 14.

2016-Voices of the Spirits for Choir was selected by the Vancouver Chamber Choir's for their Interplay: Interactive Workshops for Composers in Edmonton, Alberta, February 29.

2015-Ten Miniatures from Children's Window (2006-present) for piano was performed by Bente Hansen at the Noon Hour Faculty Recital at the University of Lethbridge, October 13.

In The Media

TONUS VIVUS CD "CULT FIGURES"
ON NAXOS' TOP 15 RELEASES in 2010!

(Edmonton, AB) Tonus Vivus - Society for New Music's CD, "Cult Figures: Electroacoustic Music from Canada", has been chosen by Naxos America as one of the best CDs of 2010! The disk, released on Centrediscs in 2008, and now available internationally (including iTunes) features 11 compositions by the Society's members.

The disc offers a thoroughly assembled collection of Canadian electroacoustic music spanning over four decades, from Michael Horwood's Monday Afternoon of 1966, cre-ated using some of the earliest techniques developed in the electroacoustic field, to Ian Crutchley's technologically advanced Arco/Lyrically, realized in 2008. In addition to these two pieces, the listener will find on "Cult Figures" music by such composers as Reinhard von Berg (after whose work the CD is named), Rolf Boon, Aris Carastathis, Piotr Grella-Mozejko, Michael Matthews, Robert Morin, Don Ross, and Helve Sastok. All of them are individual statements, which, to quote the liner notes, "encapsulate all of the species and genres in the entire spectrum of electroacoustic music history, from the early 'slice and splice' tape techniques … to computer-generated synthesis". This aes-thetic variety makes "Cult Figures" not only fascinating to listen to, but also highly in-structive, perfect both for private recording libraries and schools.

The Naxos America staff are enthusiastic about the disk, referring to it as, simply, "AWESOME", the opinion shared by those Naxos customers who have already sampled the music: "a highly recommended collection that will take the adventurous listener on a rewarding musical journey, one in which the navigational signposts are grounded in defiantly non-traditional notions of harmony, melody and rhythm".

Research Interests

Research/creative activities: computer assisted composition, music design for film and digital media, and sonic art.

Internet Links

Canadian Music Centre
Digital Audio Arts