Anthony Rozankovic

Anthony Rozankovic

Anthony Rozankovic, composer, conductor, pianist, trombonist (born 22 July 1962 in Montréal, QC). Anthony Rozankovic was a member of the Petits Chanteurs du Mont-Royal as a child, but studied composition, musical analysis, conducting, counterpoint, fugue, harmony, and trombone at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal. He completed his studies there in 1990 with a first prize in composition under Gilles Tremblay, having already earned outstanding prizes in musical analysis and harmony. During his time at the Conservatoire, he worked with Gaston Arel, Clermont Pépin, Jacques Faubert and Raffi Armenian.

Associated with the "génération fin de siècle" ("end-of-the-century generation") of Quebec composers, Anthony Rozankovic continues Serge Garant's legacy of musical modernity, where the boundary between scholarly and popular music is blurred in favour of a more inclusive approach to musical influences. Rozankovic's music touches on many genres and aesthetics, and it is sometimes difficult to distinguish the boundaries between the musical styles, boundaries that even the composer attempts in some way to do away with. A work of his concert music can be just as steeped in jazz as can one of his film scores use a technique akin to concert music. In this way, the elements from tonal, modal or atonal music mix together in a playful musical discourse with a solid rhythmic foundation.

This musical eclecticism has led him to regularly compose jazz, popular and concert music, as well as audio-visual music for documentary films, drama, and cartoons. He has written the scores for many documentaries, including for Le Chemin du Roy, which earned him a Prix Gémeaux nomination from the Académie canadienne du cinéma et de la télévision in 1998; and for Le Cœur d'Auschwitz, by Carl Leblanc. He has worked as an arranger, music director and pianist with many musicians on the Montreal jazz and pop scenes, including La Bande Magnétik and Florence K. He was the music director for the broadcast Vous m'en lirez tant on Radio-Canada from 2005 to 2009.

His concert music has been programmed by many organizations and concert societies, including the Société de musique contemporaine du Québec (SMCQ). In 2000, he was among the 18 composers of the Symphonie du millénaire (Millennium Symphony), a major event produced by the SMCQ. In 2010, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra premiered his musical tale L'aventurier de l'air perdu based on a text by Stanley Péan. In 2011, he took part in the Port Symphonies at the Pointe-à-Callière museum in Montreal. Among those who have performed his works are the Quatuor Arthur-Leblanc, the Ensemble contemporain de Montréal (ECM) and pianist Louise Bessette.

Awards

Anthony Rozankovic has received a number of awards and prizes. In 1986, he was awarded the Godfrey Ridout Prize from CAPAC (Composers, Authors and Publishers Association of Canada) for his composition Le Chat, and in 1989 he received the McAbbie Foundation scholarship. From ADISQ (Association du disque, de l'industrie du spectacle québécois et de la vidéo) he received the award for arranger of the year in 1995 and a nomination for album of the year for D'où cé qu'on vient, where do we go? in 2000.

Selected Compositions

Octet. 1987. Wind octet

Pas de deux. 1988. Bass clarinet, trombone

Figabone. 1989. Trombone, orchestra

Hoketus. 1989. Piano, orchestra

Les signes du soleil (Signs of the Sun). 1990. Violin, piano

Operamadeo (graffiti tribute to Mozart). 1991

Ouverture "Peekaboo." 1994

Concerto for Two Harpsichords. 1996. Harpsichord, chamber orchestra

Lume. 1998. String quartet, oboe

Symphonie du millénaire (Millennium Symphony). 2000. 333 musicians, 2000 carillonneurs, 15 bells, organ, carillon of 56 bells, and two fire trucks. Collective work composed with Serge Arcuri, Walter Boudreau, Yves Daoust, Alain Dauphinais, André Duchesne, Louis Dufort, Sean Ferguson, Michel Gonneville, André Hamel, Alain Lalonde, Estelle Lemire, Jean Lesage, Luc Marcel, Marie Pelletier, John Rea, Anthony Rozankovic, Gilles Tremblay; Denys Bouliane, arrangement

L'aventurier de l'air perdu (The Adventurer Who Seems Lost). 2009. Orchestra, actor

Pigeon Biset. 2010. Piano

Signé Samuel de Champlain (Yours Truly, Samuel de Champlain). 2011. Boat horns, train whistles, electric guitar, percussion, electronic samples, vuvuzela, children's chorus

Selected Discography

Musiques de Montréal. 1990. Nouvel Ensemble Moderne. UMMC 105 UMMUS

D'où cé qu'on vient, where do we go?. 1999. Amberola ambp cd 7130