Allan Gilliland is a contemporary Canadian composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

.

Gilliland moved to Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 in 1972 and settled in Edmonton, Alberta. He received a diploma in Jazz Studies (trumpet

Trumpet

The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...

) from Humber College

Humber College

Humber College Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning is a polytechnic college in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Humber offers more than 150 programs including: bachelor’s degree, diploma, certificate, post-graduate certificate and apprenticeship programs, across 40 fields of study. Humber serves...

, and degrees in performance and composition from the University of Alberta

University of Alberta

The University of Alberta is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta and Henry Marshall Tory, its first president, it is widely recognized as one of the best universities in Canada...

. His teachers were Violet Archer

Violet Archer

Violet Archer, CM was a Canadian composer, teacher, pianist, organist, and percussionist. Born Violet Balestreri in Montreal, Quebec, her family changed their name to Archer. She died in Ottawa....

, Malcolm Forsyth

Malcolm Forsyth

Malcolm Forsyth, CM was a South African and Canadian trombonist and composer. His daughter is National Arts Centre Orchestra cellist Amanda Forsyth....

 and Howard Bashaw.

He has written music for solo instruments, orchestra

Orchestra

An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...

, chorus

Choir

A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...

, brass quintet

Brass quintet

A brass quintet is a five-piece musical ensemble composed of brass instruments. The most common instrumentation is two trumpets or cornets, one horn, one trombone or euphonium/baritone horn, and one tuba or bass trombone....

, wind ensemble, big band

Big band

A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...

, film

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

, television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 and theatre

Theatre

Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...

.

His works have been performed by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra

Vancouver Symphony Orchestra

The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra is a Canadian orchestra performing in Vancouver, British Columbia. Over 240,000 people attend its live performances each year. It was founded in 1930 and plays in 12 venues. Its home is the Orpheum theatre. With an annual operating budget of $9.5 million, it is the...

, ProCoro Canada, the Canadian Brass

Canadian Brass

The Canadian Brass is a brass quintet founded by Dr. Charles Daellenbach and Gene Watts in 1970. In addition to maintaining a heavy international touring schedule, the Canadian Brass have recorded over 80 CDs and DVDs...

, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra

Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra

The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra is a Canadian orchestra based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Its primary concert venue is the Centennial Concert Hall, and the orchestra also performs throughout the province of Manitoba.-History:...

, the New York Pops, the Hammerhead Consort, and the brass section of the New York Philharmonic

New York Philharmonic

The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...

.

From 1999 to 2004, Gilliland was Composer in Residence with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra

Edmonton Symphony Orchestra

As the professional orchestra of Alberta's creative capital city, the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra presents over 85 concerts a year of symphonic music in all genres, from classical to country...

, composing nine major works, including concerti for violin

Violin

The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

, and two harp

Harp

The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...

s. Dreaming of the Masters I (2003), a jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 concerto

Concerto

A concerto is a musical work usually composed in three parts or movements, in which one solo instrument is accompanied by an orchestra.The etymology is uncertain, but the word seems to have originated from the conjunction of the two Latin words...

 written for clarinet

Clarinet

The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...

 soloist James Campbell

James Campbell (clarinetist)

James Campbell is a Canadian/American clarinetist. James Campbell has followed his muse to five television specials, more than 40 recordings, over 30 works commissioned, a Juno Award , a Roy Thomson Hall Award, Canada's Artist of the Year and the Order of Canada...

, is perhaps his most popular work, and received its American premiere by the Boston Pops in 2004.
Dreaming of the Masters II - GEB, a jazz rhapsody for piano and orchestra written for William Eddins

William Eddins

William Eddins is an American pianist and conductor. He is the Music Director of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra.Eddins started playing piano at age 5 after his parents purchased a piano at a garage sale...

 and jointly commissioned by CBC

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...

 and the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra

Edmonton Symphony Orchestra

As the professional orchestra of Alberta's creative capital city, the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra presents over 85 concerts a year of symphonic music in all genres, from classical to country...

, received its world premiere on February 22, 2008. Dreaming of the Masters III, a three-movement jazz suite for trumpet and orchestra written for Jens Lindemann

Jens Lindemann

Jens Lindemann is a Canadian trumpet soloist now based in Los Angeles. As a trumpet player in the Canadian Brass from 1996 to 2001 he played at major concert venues all over the world...

 and commissioned by the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra with funding from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts

Alberta Foundation for the Arts

The Alberta Foundation for the Arts is a crown agency of the Government of Alberta. As the primary arts funding body in Alberta, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts helps to unleash the potential of every artist...

 received its world premiere on September 17, 2010. His orchestral work On the Shoulders of Giants won first prize at the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra

Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra

The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra is a Canadian orchestra based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Its primary concert venue is the Centennial Concert Hall, and the orchestra also performs throughout the province of Manitoba.-History:...

’s Composers Competition in 2002.In 2007, the Alberta-based Arktos Recordings Limited label released Collaborations, a CD devoted exclusively to Gilliland's music. The track listing is:

1. The Winspear Fanfare
2. M'bira
3. Suite from the Sound
4. Cancion
5. Love’s Red Rose
6. Four by Four
7. Roots
8. Concerto for Oboe
   Oboe
   The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
   
   , Strings and Harpsichord

Gilliland is currently Head of the Composition Department at Grant MacEwan University in Edmonton.

Works

Chamber music

• Suite from the Sound (clarinet and string quartet) (2005)
• Go Deeply Now Everlasting (piccolo trumpet and string quartet) (2004)
• Love’s Red Rose (two harps) (2003)
• Adventures (clarinet, cello and piano) (2002)
• Sacred Time (2000)
• Basse Danse (bass trombone and tuba) (1999)
• Roots (solo 6-string electric bass) (1999)
• M'bira (solo marimba) (1998)
• Reflections of Infinity (piano, percussion, and string quartet) (1996)
• Four by Four (two pianos and two percussionists) (1994)
• Two Wheels for Four Percussion (four percussionists) (1993)

Fanfares

• Early Mornin' Fanfare (brass and percussion) (2001)
• Enbridge Fanfare (brass and percussion) (2001)
• A Call to Your Seats (brass and percussion) (2000)
• The Winspear Fanfare (brass and percussion) (1997)

Jazz Band

• A Touch of Olive and Brown
• Abanico
• Another Softly
• Petits Oiseaux
• Rhythm Buddy
• Stranger on the Prairie

Keyboard

• Spring Celebration (organ) (2005)
• Cancion (piano) (1999)

Musical Theatre

• The 7th Circle (2001)
• Dead Beat: A Zombie Musical (2003)

Opera

• Hannaraptor (2007)

Orchestra

• Fantasia on themes from West Side Story (chamber orchestra) (2006)
• Fantasia on themes from West Side Story (full orchestra) (2006)
• Alberta Echoes (2005)
• Always Be True (brass, percussion, organ & strings) (2002)
• Loch na Beiste ( 2001)
• An Overture for the Worlds (2001)
• On the Shoulders of Giants (2000/1)
• Shadows & Light (2000)

Orchestra with Choir

• O Canada (arrangement for orchestra, organ & choir) (2004)
• We Stood Beside Each Other (choir and orchestra) (2000/1)

Orchestra with Dancers

• A Wild Symphonic Ride (2002)

Orchestra with Soloist(s)

• Dreaming of the Masters III (trumpet and orchestra) 2010
• Dreaming of the Masters II - Rhapsody GEB (piano and orchestra) (2007)
• Concerto for Oboe, Strings and Harpsichord (2004/5)
• Concerto for Accordion and String Orchestra (2004)
• Dreaming of the Masters I (clarinet and orchestra) (2003)
• Gaol’s Rhuah Ròs - A Celtic Concerto for Two Harps and Orchestra (2002/3)
• Concerto for Violin and Orchestra (2002)
• Concerto for Trumpet (1993)

Vocal

• Words for Music Perhaps (tenor and piano) (1993)

Choral

• Ubi Caritas (SATB choir, brass quintet and organ) (2003)
• Blessed (SATB a cappella choir) (2002)
• A la esperanza (2 marimbas and SATB choir) (2001)
• In My Cloudless Days (SATB a cappella choir) (1997)
• He Tells of Perfect Beau'y (SATB a cappella choir) (1995)
• Beloved be at Peace (SATB a cappella choir) (1995)
• The Cloths of Heaven (SATB a cappella choir) (1994)

Wind Ensemble

• Inspiration (2006)
• Dreaming of the Masters I (clarinet and wind ensemble) (2003) (adapted from orchestral version)
• Concerto for Piccolo Trumpet (piccolo trumpet and wind ensemble) (2004/5)

(adapted from Concerto for Oboe, Strings and Harpsichord)

• Pulsar (2005)
• For 250 years (2004)
• Loch na Beiste (2001)
• Dreamscapes (2002)
• Amaryllis (1998)
• Ascension (1997)
• ukuTusa (1995)

External links

• Allan Gilliland's page at the Canadian Music Centre website

• Allan Gilliland's website