Biography-MALCOLM FORSYTH, ARTIST IN TWO CLIMATES by Alister Stott C 1989
Canadian “Composer of the Year” in 1989, winner of the first JUNO
for “Best Classical Composition” in 1987 for his Suite Atayoskewin,
Forsyth was born and educated in South Africa before settling in
Canada in 1968 where he became a faculty member of the
University of Alberta in Edmonton.
He studied at the University of Cape Town. Majoring initially in
trombone, later, in his Masters’ and Doctoral degrees, in conducting
and composition. His teachers included Erik Chisholm, Stanley
Glasser, Stefans Grové and Georg Tintner. After spending eight
years in the trombone section of the Cape Town Symphony
Orchestra, where he experienced the conducting of the likes of
Constantin Silvestri, Edgar Cosma and Igor Stravinsky, and after
obtaining the Masters’ degree in musicology, he decided to
emigrate. A year in Toronto saw him, among other things, working as
a teacher in the school system and leading a CBC studio trombone
ensemble. Later he obtained the Doctoral degree and also studied
conducting in England under George Hurst.
At the University of Alberta he taught theory, composition,
conducting and (for the first fourteen years) trombone and held the
position of Composer-in-Residence and conductor of the University
Symphony Orchestra. He was also a member of the Edmonton
Symphony Orchestra for eleven years—three as bass trombone and
eight as principal.
It is his work as a composer which has brought his name to
international attention, however. Having been commissioned by the
likes of Maureen Forrester, the Canadian Brass, Judith Forst,
Helmut Brauss, the Bläserensemble Mainz and the Symphony
Orchestras of Montreal, Edmonton, Cape Town and the Natal
Philharmonic has enabled his music to be heard on six continents
while his catalogue has expanded to over one-hundred-and-forty
titles, including three symphonies, twelve other orchestral works,
thirteen for soloist/s and orchestra, four for band, forty-seven for
chamber groups of various types, ten vocal works and three for solo
piano. His discography continues to expand apace with releases of
the Piano Concerto, Trumpet Concerto, Sketches from Natal,
ukuZalwa, Je répondrais…. and The Kora Dances. For a number of
years his catalogue was handled by the Italian publishing giant,
G.Ricordi and now resides with Counterpoint Music Library Services
of Canada.
In September 1992 the world première of his saxophone concerto,
Tre Vie, took place in Pesaro, Italy, with Edmonton saxophone
virtuoso William Street. The outstanding success of his cello
concerto, Electra Rising, written for his daughter , cellist Amanda
Forsyth, has resulted in many repeat performances in Canada and
the USA.
These two works, in conjunction with Valley of a Thousand
Hills. A suite for chamber orchestra, are recorded on the CBC disc,
“Electra Rising: Music of Malcolm Forsyth”. Three of his works for
mixed voices are recorded on the Arktos label release, “First Snow”,
while all of his smaller works for cello have been released on the
Marquis CD “Soaring with Agamemnon”. In 1999 there were two
more releases: Sun Songs, with Judith Forst and the CBC
Vancouver Orchestra, and Northern Journey, with the Elektra
Women’s Choir. In 2004 his new Double Concerto for viola cello and
orchestra was premiered by soloists Rivka Golani and Tanya
Prochazka. Since then he has written Preludio e Fuga sul nome di
Glenn Gould, a CBC commission, and Lyric Essay for oboe,
bassoon and piano, commissioned by The Barlow Endowment for
the International Double Reed Society. Most recently he completed
Trickster Coyote—Lightning Elk, for violin and orchestra, a
commission from the young Mohawk-Canadian violinist, Tara-Louise
Montour, which will be premiered in 2009.
Remarkable amongst Forsyth’s achievements are his three JUNO
awards (1987, 1994, 1998) and three more nominations, all for “Best
Classical Composition”. In 2003 he was awarded the Queen’s
Jubilee Medal and was inducted into the Order of Canada.
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