Brian Current (born May 4, 1972) is a Canadian composer and conductor.Richard Haskell (March 4, 2015). Brian Current, The Canadian Encyclopedia
Born in London, Ontario, Current grew up in Ottawa where he studied piano, guitar and euphonium, and was a chorister.MJ Buell (February 6, 2020). December's Child is Brian Current, The WholeNote Following studies at McGill University under composers John Rea and Bengt Hambraeus, he earned a doctorate in composition at the University of California, Berkeley where he also studied conducting with David Milnes and Michael Morgan.
In 2006, Current was appointed director of the New Music Ensemble of the Glenn Gould School at the Royal Conservatory of Music. He became director of the Continuum Contemporary Music Ensemble in 2011, and was chosen artistic director of New Music Concerts in Toronto in 2021.The NMC Board Welcomes Brian Current As Full Artistic Director, New Music Concerts, October 21, 2021
He is an advocate of contemporary classical music, including for young audiences.Brian Current (2006). A Young Person's Guide for Audiences of All Ages, Circuit, musiques contemporaines, 16(2), pp. 69–72
Current composes mainly in larger instrumental forms and opera. A key compositional method, which Current has termed "slanted time," involves fluctuations in tempo and shifts in timbre and texture to make the music in a perpetual state of evolution.Tyler Versluis (September 7, 2016). On The Speed, Energy And Colour Of Brian Current, Ludwig van TorontoBeth Levy. The Scene People: Brian Current, SchmoperaMichael Berger (2008). This Isn't Silence: Works for Symphony Orchestra by Brian Current (review), CAML Review, 36(2–3), pp. 41–42.
His work has been widely recognized with commissions and awards including:
Dora Award, 2022, for the opera, Gould's WallIan Ritchie (August 9, 2022). Gould's Wall (review), Opera Going Toronto Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music, 2018, for Shout, Sisyphus, Flock Commission for the chamber opera, Missing, 2017Anya Wassenberg (July 25, 2025). Toronto Summer Music: Missing In Concert — A Beautiful Production About Terrible Truths, Ludwig van Toronto Juno Award for Classical Composition of the Year, 2015, for the Naxos recording of the chamber opera, Airline Icarus.Réa Beaumont (December 1, 2014). Brian Current - Airline Icarus (review), The WholeNoteComposer Brian Current Among Winners of 2015 JUNO AWARDS, Canadian Music Centre First prize, Azrieli Commissioning Competition, 2015, for The Seven Heavenly HallsBrian Current Winner of $50,000 Azrieli Commissioning Competition, Azrieli Foundation, September 11, 2015Caroline Rogers (October 1, 2016). Brian Current: The Keys to Creativity, La Scena Musicale Victor Martyn Lynch-Staunton Award, 2012 Premio Fedora, 2011, for the chamber opera, Airline IcarusPaula Citron (October 31, 2013). Icarus Aloft - A Q&A with composer Brian Current, The WholeNote Barlow Prize, 2003, for Symphonies in Slanted TimePrize Recipient, Barlow Prize, June 2, 2026 Outstanding work by a composer under 30, International Rostrum of Composers, 2001, for This Isn't SilenceDavid Jaeger (June 2, 2016). This Isn't Silence, The WholeNote Grand Prize, 2001, CBC National Radio Competition for Young Composers, for For the Time Being SOCAN awards, 1997, 1998, 2000SOCAN Foundation Past Awards Recipients List 1991 – 2019, SOCAN Foundation Current has had residencies in the US, Italy and Japan and was the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship.
References
External links Brian Current, Canadian Music Centre Brian Current, New Music Concerts (Toronto) Brian Current, Royal Conservatory of Music