Félix Frédéric Baril

____________________________________________________________ _______________ Félix Frédéric Baril developed an interest in musical composition early on, inspired by an artistic family; his father, René Baril, is a jazz composer, and his mother, Dyane Delisle, made a career in the visual arts. After studying piano and classical guitar, Mr. Baril started his university education at the Université de Montréal in 2000. His first composition professors were Michel Longtin in instrumental music and Jean Piché in electroacoustic music.In 2001, Mr. Baril became the first Quebecker to win the William Schuman Prize at the BMI Student Composer Awards in New York with his Symphonie Spectrale. He then won a number of prizes and bursaries, including the Université de Montréal’s composition competition (2001) and the Hugh le Caine (2003), Sir Ernest MacMillan (2005) and Serge-Garant (2007) prizes at young composers competitions for the SOCAN foundation (Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada) with his works Ellipse, Déviations and Dérèglement passager de corps hétérogènes. Mr. Baril took part in a number of internships, including "Les classiques de demain" at the National Arts Centre (Ottawa), and the "Rencontres de musique nouvelle" at Domaine Forget (Saint-Irénée, Quebec). There he received the award of excellence, which consisted of a commissioned piece and an internship at France’s Fondation Royaumont’s "Voix Nouvelles." His works have been performed by the McGill Contemporary Music Ensemble, the Nouvel ensemble moderne, the Orchestre Symphonique de l’Université de Montréal, the Ensemble Cairn, the Orchestre de la francophonie and Brigitte Poulain, among others. Mr. Baril was also the composer in residence for the McGill Symphony Orchestra for 2007-08.Mr. Baril has just completed his master’s degree in composition at McGill University, under the instruction of Denys Bouliane. His thesis, which addresses the possibilities of organic development of musical material, was chosen for the Dean’s Honour List. Mr. Baril is pursuing doctoral studies in composition with Mr. Bouliane, on a Schulich Scholarship from McGill University. His approach to composition is based mainly on the “organic” nature of musical materials, mnemonic and acoustic phenomena related to perception, and relationships of extreme densities. ____________________________________________________________ _______________"This concept (musical organism) suggests a musical material in constant transformation and thereby makes it possible to manipulate the perception of time at every moment that the work develops. It was while designing the perceptual structures that I realized the importance of complementarity of contrasts and transformations. It is through the "polarization" of these elements that we can constantly renew musical discourse.” (F.B.) ____________________________________________________________ ______________