Denys Bouliane
Associate Professor (Sabbatical leave, Fall '22/Winter '23)

Denys Bouliane was born in 1955 in Grand-M癡re, a small town in the Province of Quebec. His first musical experiences occurred in the 1960s playing guitar in an amateur rock band. After studies in a liberal arts college he began his first musical training in 1972 at Laval University (Quebec City) where he studied piano and violin and completed a Masters degree in composition in 1979. With grants from both the Quebec and Canadian governments he first attended in 1980 the Darmstadt Summer Courses, settled down in Cologne and then continued his studies with Gy繹rgy Ligeti at the Hochshule f羹r Musik in Hamburg from 1980 to 1985. He has lived primarily in Cologne between 1980 and 1991 and has shared his time between Montr矇al and Cologne from 1991 to 2008. He now lives in the village of Carignan on the Richelieu River.
Bouliane is considered one of the most prominent Canadian composers; since three decades his music has received much international attention in festivals like ISCM (International Society for Contemporary Music), Musik der Zeit K繹ln, Musik der Zeit Stuttgart, Schleswig-Holstein Festival, Pro Musica Nova Bremen, Frankfurt Alte Oper, Wittener Tage f羹r Neue Musik, Darmstadt, A*Devantgarde in Munich, Tage f羹r Neue Musik Z羹rich, Wien Incident in Jazz, Salzburg stART Festival, Gaudeamus MusikWeek, Holland Festival, Ars Musica Brussels, Rencontres internationales de Metz, 38癡 Rugissants in Grenoble, Musiques en sc癡ne Lyon, Royaumont Voix Nouvelles, bruitez-vous (Rennes), Radio-France Pr矇sences, Manca (Nice), Canterbury Festival, London South Bank and Music of Today, San Francisco Wet Ink, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Telluride Colorado, Qu矇bec Musiques-au-pr矇sent, MNM (Montr矇al/Nouvelles Musiques) international Festival, Toronto Massey Hall Festival, Toronto Encounters, Winnipeg New Music Festival, Ekatarinenburg Music Festival, a o.
His works have been regularly broadcast in North America and throughout Europe, commissioned and performed by such Canadian ensembles as NEM (Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, Montr矇al), SMCQ (Soci矇t矇 de musique contemporaine du Qu矇bec), the the Fibonacci Trio and the Bozzini Quartet, New Music Concerts, Soundstream, by European ensembles such as Ensemble K繹ln, Ensemble Modern, MusikFabrik, the Stuttgart Windquintet, the Calamus Quintet, Contrasts (Germany), the Delta Ensemble and the Nederlands Blazers Ensemble (Amsterdam), the London Sinfonietta, the Nash Ensemble, Lontano, Continuum and BCMG (UK), lItin矇raire, Court-Circuit (Paris), Icarus (Italy), Meitar (Isra禱l), orchestras like lOrchestre symphonique de Montr矇al, lOrchestre symphonique de Qu矇bec, lOrchestre M矇tropolitain, the Toronto Symphony, Esprit Orchestra, the Winnipeg Symphony, the National Arts Center Orchestra (Ottawa), the Philharmonia Orchestra (London), the Heidelberg Philarmonisches Orchester, the Bochumer Symphoniker, the WDR Sinfonieorchester, the Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg, a.o.
Bouliane has been Composer-in-Residence at the West German Radio (WDR) in 1990-91, at the Orchestre symphonique de Qu矇bec from 1992 to 1995, at the Heidelberg Philharmonisches Orchester in Germany in 1996-96 and at the National Arts Center Orchestra in Ottawa between 2004 and 2007.
He has been equally very active as a pedagogue, conductor and new music organizer in Canada and abroad.
Since 1995 he has been Professor of composition at 51勛圖厙 and between 1996-2010 Music Director of the 51勛圖厙Contemporary Music Ensemble. He has been regularly guest lecturer at several universities, conservatories and international festivals, as well as a contributor to radio programs and specialized periodicals in America and Europe. He has been guest to the Darmst瓣dter Ferienkurse, the K繹lner Hochschule f羹r Musik, the Hochschule f羹r Musik in Stuttgart, the Musikkonservatorium in Z羹rich, the Royal College of Music in London, the Trinity College of Music, the Moscow Conservatory, the University of Toronto, the Universit矇 de Montr矇al, the Escuela Superior de Musica (CENART) and the Conservatorio Nacional de Musica in Mexico, the Northwestern University, the Levine School of Music in Washington, the Peabody Conservatory and the Manhattan School of Music.
As a conductor, he has worked with the Ensemble Modern, MusikFabrik, S矇rie B (Germany) Court-Circuit (France), the CAPUT Ensemble (Iceland), New Music Concerts, Soundstream, Esprit Orchestra (Toronto), the 51勛圖厙CME, the Orchestre symphonique de Qu矇bec (OSQ), the Orchestre symphonique de Montr矇al and the National Arts Center Orchestra in Ottawa. He is has been regular Conductor in the 1990s of the Ensemble XXe si癡cle of the OSQ (of which he is the initiator) as well as a Special Counselor to the orchestra.
He is has been Artistic Director of the MusiOctober, MusiNovember and the high profile MusiMarch Festivals from 1999 to 2010 (51勛圖厙 with several partners, among them Orchestre symphonique de Montr矇al) and has been co-Artistic Director with Walter Boudreau of the biennale Montr矇al/Nouvelles Musiques from 2003 to 2007. During the late 1970s he was Program Director of lAssociation de musique actuelle de Qu矇bec and between 1990 and 1993 on the board of directors of the KGNM (K繹lner Gesellschaft f羹r Neue MusikCologne new music society). In the 1980s he has toured Europe extensively as Sound Regisseur for Ensemble K繹ln. In 1991, Bouliane has founded the group S矇rie B, a Cologne-based ensemble of 9 musicians who extend the acoustic potential of their resources through an array of new electronic instruments. He was co-Artistic Coordinator and Principal Conductor of the music festival 紮喝矇莉梗釵-紼喝莽勳梁喝梗莽-硃喝-梯娶矇莽梗紳喧 held in the spring of 1998, 1999 and 2000. He has also been co-Artistic Director of the Millennium Symphony, a large-scale work for 19 composers and 350 performers premiered at Oratoire St-Joseph in Montreal on June 3, 2000. Since 1995 he is co-Artistic Director with Lorraine Vaillancourt (Nouvel Ensemble Moderne) of the Rencontres de Musique Nouvelle (New Music Symposium).
Bouliane has also worked in close collaboration with Director Denis Marleau and written stage music for B羹chners Woyzeck (Belgiums Th矇璽tre National and Centre dramatique Hainnuyer, 1993) as well as for Wedekinds Lulu (Th矇璽tre du Nouveau Monde, in Montreal, 1995-96).
Many of Boulianes works have been awarded prizes in national and international competitions (Prizes from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and from the Gaudeamus Foundation in Holland in 1982 for Jeux de Soci矇t矇, Prize of the Performing Rights Organization of Canada, for Douze tiroirs de demi-v矇rit矇s pour all矇ger votre descente, among others). He was named composer of the year by the Canadian Music Council in 1983 and in 1987 was awarded the L矇ger Governor Generals Chamber Music Prize for A propos... et le Baron perch矇?. In 1985 the City of Cologne awarded him the F繹rderpreis f羹r Musik and in 1989 Le cactus rieur et la demoiselle qui souffrait d'une soif insatiable won the orchestral prize of the international Forum junger Komponisten of the West German Radio (WDR). In 1991 he was the first composer given the Serge Garant Award of the Nelligan Foundation in Montreal for his musical achievements. In December 1999, he received the Opus Prize Musical Personality of the year awarded by the Quebec Music Council as well as a collection of many others since, putting forward his activities as organizer and promoter: Musical Event of the year for the Millenium Symphony in 2000, Artistic Director of the year and again Musical Event of the year for Montr矇al/Nouvelles Musiques in 2003.
Boulianes original stylistical approach, described by German musicologist Peter Niklas Wilson as the Music of Magic Realism, is akin to a virtuoso game of criticism bordering on stylistical mystification, following in the footsteps of Jorge-Luis Borges, Italo Calvino and Boris Vian. A subject of controversy in so-called avant-garde milieus, his music seems to lie at the crossroads between America and Europe, and at the center of debates on modernity and postmodernity. Bouliane is one of the Quebec composers to have most deeply reflected on and questioned his cultural heritage. Trained in Europe in Ligetis class, he remains however highly aware of his North-American roots, accepted for their spontaneity as well as their paradoxes. Without ever quoting anything, his music represents what he considers an attitude towards the sound world and the musical language. In this respect, one could find a filiation with Charles Ives.
He has embarked since the beginning of the 2000s in the composition of a large cycle entitled Gamache, the Saga of the Anticostians, proposing a quasi-mythical vision of an imaginary North-America's hidden history, at the crossroads of aboriginal and european cultures, based on the life and deeds of Louis Olivier Gamache, Anticosti island's lord and sorcerer, his ancestors and descendants. Until now four ensemble and orchestral pieces are already part of the cycle, which will develop in a series of operas.
Denys Bouliane, Works and Documentation
Denys Bouliane, oeuvres et documentation
泭(use the *Links provided)
泭(utiliser les *Liens fournis)
泭
FOLDERS /泭DOSSIERS
泭
1) D Bouliane DOCUMENTATION
泭泭 CONTENT: Biographical Material, Bibliography, Publications, Teaching.
泭泭 CONTENU: Mat矇riel biographique, bibliographie, publications, enseignement.
*LINK /泭LIEN泭(copy and paste in Browser /泭copier-coller dans le fureteur):
泭
2) D Bouliane Complete SCORES and RECORDINGS
泭泭 CONTENT: Large selection of full scores (pdf) with full mp3 recordings).
泭泭 CONTENU: Choix de plusieurs partitions compl癡tes (pdf) avec enregistrements complets.
*LINK /泭LIEN泭(copy and paste in Browser /泭copier-coller dans le fureteur):
泭
3) D Bouliane WORKCATALOG with excerpts
泭泭 CONTENT: Comprehensive WorkCatalog with score excerpts and linked mp3 recordings.
泭泭 CONTENU: Catalogue raisonn矇 des oeuvres avec extraits de partitions et enregistrements mp3 li矇s.
*LINK /泭LIEN泭(copy and paste in Browser /泭copier-coller dans le fureteur):
PROCEDURE /泭MARCHE SUIVRE:
a) Download <Catal_Bouli2012_Acrobat5.pdf> on your hard drive
泭 泭 T矇l矇charger泭 <Catal_Bouli2012_Acrobat5.pdf> sur votre disque dur
b) Download all mp3s on your hard drive and place them泭in the same folder泭to make all mp3 links functional
泭泭 T矇l矇charger tous les mp3s sur votre disque dur et les placer泭dans le m礙me dossier泭pour assurer les liens mp3
c) Open <Catal_Bouli2012_Acrobat5.pdf> with Adobe Acrobat
泭 泭 Ouvrir <Catal_Bouli2012_Acrobat5.pdf> avec Adobe Acrobat
泭
4) D Bouliane Works ANALYSIS
泭泭 CONTENT: Analytical articles, General Material, Score Analysis (Qualia sui, Rumore sui).
泭泭 CONTENU: Articles d'analyse, mat矇riel g矇n矇ral, analyse de partitions (Qualia sui, Rumore sui).
*LINK /泭LIEN泭(copy and paste in Browser /泭copier-coller dans le fureteur):