Biography
Gavin Fraser is a composer, bass-baritone, and educator hailing from Antigonish, Nova Scotia. His music “often balances on a tightrope between static beauty and violence” and has been described as “fresh with pithy modesty” (NY Classical Review ’17). Often inspired by dreams, the ocean, climate justice, and storytelling, Fraser composes for diverse forces, including chamber groups, vocal works, large ensembles, electroacoustic music, and music for film. Fraser’s compositions have been performed across North America and Europe. Most recently, his piece awake my dawn, my fair one was spotlighted in an episode of CBC’s Tapestry (’22), which explored birdsong in urban areas during the pandemic. In 2021, he collaborated with Barbara Hannigan and the EQ ensemble on the new short chamber opera Penelope (’21) and was commissioned by Jonathan Crow for a new chamber work which premiered at the Toronto Summer Music (’21). Fraser has received numerous awards, notably the Karen Kieser Prize in Canadian Music and the 1st place award in the electroacoustic category for the SOCAN Foundation Awards for Young Composers. He’s also received awards from the Land’s End Composer Competition, the University of Toronto’s COVID-19 Global Student Engagement Award, the Nova Scotia Talent Trust, and the Canada Council for the Arts. Fraser served as the composer in residence at the Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance (’21-’22), as well as their program director and resident composition teacher. He recently completed his doctorate in composition at the University of Toronto