Robert Lemay (born February 13, 1960) is a Canadian composer of solo, chamber and orchestral works.
Early years and education
Born in Montreal, Lemay studied at Laval University, where he received his Master's degree (M.Mus.) under François Morel. He completed a doctorate (D.Mus.) at the Université de Montréal under Michel Longtin in 1994. He also spent a year at the State University of New York at Buffalo, where he studied with David Felder and attended seminars given by Brian Ferneyhough, Louis Andriessen, and Donald Erb. During this time, he met his wife, the pianist Yoko Hirota. In France, he worked with François Rossé in Bordeaux and Georges Aperghis at the Atelier Théâtre et Musique in Paris.
Career
Lemay has been described as having "made significant and substantial contributions to the saxophone repertoire." Of his over 140 works, 80 are for (or include) the saxophone, ranging from solos to large ensembles. Since the late 1980s, he has collaborated with artists of the instrument such as Jean-François Guay, Jean-Michel Goury, and Jean-Marie Londeix.
Since 2000, Lemay has resided in Sudbury, Ontario where he taught at Laurentian University from 2000 to 2021. He also taught at the University of Saskatchewan in 1996-97.
From 2004 to 2018, Lemay was President and Artistic Director of the 5-Penny New Music Concerts in Sudbury, where he worked extensively with the Silver Birch String Quartet.
Lemay was Composer-in-Residence of the Sudbury Symphony Orchestra from 2008 to 2010.
Compositional style
Lemay is an atonal composer who has been influenced by the spectral techniques of Tristan Murail and Gérard Grisey, the modal approaches of Olivier Messiaen and Iannis Xenakis, and the rhythmic modulation of Elliott Carter. He also has discussed his process for the creation of melodic material.
The treatment of the concert setting — including stage layout, spatialization, gesture, and comportment and presence of the performer — is another stylistic concern, which was also the subject of Lemay's thesis and other writings.
The employment of extended instrumental techniques has been analyzed in-depth in two of Lemay's solo pieces, Ariana, Kaboul (alto saxophone) and Clap (clarinet).
Lemay has also written pieces for students including 6 Ushebtis (piano), Train miniature (clarinet), and Beat the Drum (alto saxophone).
Awards
Lemay is a laureate of national and international composition competitions including:
Second prize. 2007. International Composition Prize (Luxembourg) for Mare Tranquilitatis III. Second prize. 2006. Kazimierz Serocki International Composers' Competition (Poland) for De brises en ressac. First prize. 2004. Harelbeke Muziekstad Wind Ensemble Competition (Belgium) for Ramallah. William St. Clair Low Award. 1989. Composers, Authors and Publishers Association of Canada (CAPAC) for Vagues vertiges. Sir Ernest MacMillan Award. 1988. CAPAC for La fuite immobile. Rodolphe Mathieu Award. 1988. CAPAC for Les yeux de la solitude.
Works
The bibliography below is arranged by date of composition, title of the work, instrument(s), publisher (if applicable), and premiere, including performer(s), venue and date. Unpublished works are at the Canadian Music Centre. The CMC Music Library also has his complete works.
Solos, duos
Quatre études pour saxophone baryton. 2025. Premiere: Jeffrey Leung, saxophone. NASA's Biennial Conference. Ohio State University Columbus, OH March 14, 2026 Cordes croisées. 2024 Double bass and piano. Première: Martin Blanchet (double bass) & Ayano Hodouchi Dempsey (piano). Thunder Bay Community Auditorium, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. June 23, 2025. Avec doigté. 2024. Guitar, percussions. Éditions Doberman-Yppan. En contrebas. 2024. Double bass and percussion Oxymore. 2023. Alto flute and bass drum. Tetractys Publishing. À intervalles fixes. 2023. Alto saxophone, percussion. Premiere: Bent Frequency Duo Project (Jan Berry Baker, saxophone, Stuart Gerber, percussion). Kopleff Recital Hall, Georgia State University, September 2023. Deuce 6. 2022. Alto saxophone, baritone saxophone. Premiere: Dúo Lisus (Lidia Muñoz; Jesús Núñez, saxophones). Museo de Nerja, Málaga, Spain, March 2024. Resolute Music Publications Fingerprints. 2022. Violin, piano. Premiere: Duo Gemini (Jean-Frédéric Molard, violin, Jean-Noël Remiche, piano). Osmose Festival 2022. Espace Toots, Brussels, December 2022 Deuce 5. 2022. Soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone. Premiere: Altera Inde (Diego Carretero, Sara Zazo). San José College Auditorium (Auditorio Colegio San José), Villafranca de los Barros, Spain. Event: Cantabilex Musical Meeting (Encuentro Musical Cantabilex), July 2022. Resolute Music Publications. Low Expectations. 2022. Bass saxophone. Premiere: Geoffrey Deibel, bass saxophone. Longmire Recital Hall, Florida State University, January 2023. Nonante. 2021. Saxophone. Éditions Billaudot, Collection Saxiana. Premiere: Mana Takarabe, saxophone. Event: Londeix: une vie pour le saxophone, Conservatoire de Boulogne-Billancourt, France, January 2022. Au coude-à-coude. 2021. Bassoon, piano. Note en Bulle Éditions. Shared Visions. 2021. Clarinet, piano. Note en Bulle Éditions. Play-off. 2021. Oboe, piano. Note en Bulle Éditions. Point d'équilibre. 2021. Flute, piano. Note en Bulle Éditions. Premiere: Stephen Tam, flute; YoonHye Eunice Park, piano. Online performance. Richmond Hill, Ontario, February 2022. Deep Down. 2020. Tuba, piano. Note en Bulle Éditions. Last Call. 2020. French horn, piano. Note en Bulle Éditions. L'arc de la lyre. 2020. Harp, piano. Premiere: Kristan Toczko, harp; Jared Tehse, piano. Online performance. Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, February 2022. À bout de bras. 2020. Trombone, piano. Note en Bulle Éditions. Break Point. 2020. B♭ trumpet, piano. Note en Bulle Éditions. Soliloques. 2020. Alto saxophone. Note en Bulle Éditions. Premiere: Stéphane Sordet, saxophone. Conservatorio Statale di Musica Nicola Sala, Benevento, Italy, December 2022. High Expectations. 2020. Sopranino saxophone. Éditions Doberman-Yppan. Premiere: Alexander Richards, sopranino saxophone. Region 9 Conference of the North American Saxophone Alliance, online event, University of Calgary, March 2021. Hors-jeu. 2019. Version B. Tenor saxophone, bass clarinet. Hors-jeu. 2019. Tenor saxophone, bassoon. Premiere: Maya Grossman, bassoon, Andrew Hosler, tenor saxophone. Concert series: The_____Experiment, Stamps Auditorium, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, online event, November 2021. À court terme. 2019. B♭ clarinet, cello. Premiere: Géraldine Fastré, clarinet, Bruno Ispiola, cello. Osmose Festival 2019, Entrela du Centre Culturel d'Evere, Brussels, November 2019. Faux-fuyant. 2019. Soprano saxophone, oboe. Note en Bulle Éditions. Premiere: Ava Wirth, oboe, Andrew Hosler, soprano saxophone. Kadupal Festival, Stamps Auditorium, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, online event, September 2021. Un processus discret. 2018. Alto saxophone, guitar. Éditions Doberman-Yppan. Premiere: Dúo Icarus (Alberto Plaza, guitar, Alfonso Padilla, saxophone). IX Festival de Música Contemporánea Encuentros Sonoros, Espacio Turina de Sevilla, Seville, Spain, January 2020. Double Fault. 2018. Alto saxophone, B♭ clarinet. Note en Bulle Éditions. Premiere: Duo Entre-Nous (Jackie Glazier, clarinet, Don-Paul Kahl, saxophone). North American Saxophone Alliance 2020 Biennial Conference. Arizona State University at Tempe, March 2020. Kif-Kif. 2018. Saxophone, snare drum. Note en Bulle Éditions. Premiere: Rogue Two (Andrew Allen, saxophone, Gordon Hicken, snare drum). Akin Auditorium, Midwestern State University, Wichita Falls, Texas, March 2019. Two for One. 2018. Soprano saxophone, B♭ trumpet. Note en Bulle Éditions. Premiere: Maelenn Séjourné, soprano saxophone, Mathieu Duc, trumpet. Auditorium du Conservatoire de Rennes, Rennes, France, November 2022. Tie-Break 2. 2018. Alto saxophone, violin. Note en Bulle Éditions. Premiere: Emanuele Dalmaso, saxophone, Andrea Mattevi, violin. Festival Contrasti 2019, Sala della Fondazione Caritro, Trento, Italy, March 2019. Pommes. 2018. Percussion. Note en Bulle Éditions. Déroulement. 2017. Baritone saxophone, piano. Arrêt sur image. 2017. Alto saxophone. Éditions Doberman-Yppan. Premiere: William Malone, saxophone. North American Saxophone Alliance Biennial National Conference 2018, Cincinnati, March 2018 Deuce 4. 2017. Baritone saxophones (2). Resolute Music Publications. Premiere: Jeffrey Vickers, Henrique Portovedo, baritone saxophones. 18th World Saxophone Congress, Zagreb, Croatia, July 2018. Bas-relief. 2016-2017. Baritone saxophone. Note en Bulle Éditions. Premiere: Geoffrey Deibel, baritone saxophone. 18th World Saxophone Congress, Zagreb, Croatia, July 2018. Into Thin Air. 2016. Soprano saxophone. Éditions Doberman-Yppan. Premiere: Andrew Allen, soprano saxophone. 18th World Saxophone Congress, Zagreb, Croatia, July 2018. Fragments noirs. 2016. Soprano saxophone, alto saxophone. Note en Bulle Éditions. Premiere: Noa Mick, Don-Paul Kahl, saxophones. Zurich International Saxfest, Zurich, March 2017. À découvert. 2015-16. Violin. Note en Bulle Éditions. Premiere: Christian Robinson, violin. 5-Penny New Music Concerts, Sudbury, June 2016. Tri-angles. 2015. Tenor saxophone. Resolute Music Publications. Premiere: Jeffrey Vickers, tenor saxophone. Shenandoah Conservatory, Winchester, Virginia, January 2016. Mémoire et oubli. 2015. Piano. Premiere: Yoko Hirota, piano. Laurentian University, Sudbury, March 2016. Cadenza. 2014. Violin. Premiere: Christian Robinson, violin. Sudbury Symphony Orchestra concert, Sudbury, March 2015. Deuce 3. 2014. Soprano saxophones (2). Resolute Music Publications. Premiere: Jeffrey Vickers, Rodrigo Vila, saxophones. Eckhardt-Gramatté Hall, University of Calgary, February 2015. Train miniature. 2014. Clarinet. Éditions Doberman-Yppan, Collection Jean-Guy Boisvert. Premiere: Jean-Guy Boisvert, clarinet. Guest Artist Concert, Don Wright Faculty of Music, Western University, London, Ontario, September 2018. Deuce 2. 2013-14. Tenor saxophones (2). Resolute Music Publications. Premiere: Duo d'Entre-Deux (Nick Zoulek, Tommy Davis, saxophones). Clazel Theater, Bowling Green, Ohio, October 2014. Asubakatchin (Capteur des rêves/Dreamcatcher). 2013. Piano. Tengu-Maï. 2012-13. Soprano saxophone, piano. Resolute Music Publications. Premiere: Kenneth Tse, saxophone, Casey Gene Dierlam, piano. North American Saxophone Alliance Biennial National Conference 2018, Cincinnati, March 2018. Gris sur gris (Hommage à Yves Gaucher). 2012-13. Violin, guitar. Premiere: Duo46 (Beth Ilana Schneider-Gould, violin, Matthew Gould, guitar). 5-Penny New Music Concerts, Sudbury, March 2014. Clés. 2012. Miniature suite: 6 pieces for flute, 2 pieces for flutes (2), and 1 piece for flute and piano. Note en Bulle Éditions. Redshift/Blueshift. 2012. Baritone saxophone, cello. Note en Bulle Éditions. Premiere: CelloPhone (Nadia Klein, cello, Chelsea Shanof, saxophone). Boats and Balloons, Heliconian Hall, Toronto, September 2014. Manu Militari. 2012. Version B. Clarinet in A, flute. Premiere: FL-AIR (Travis Jones, flute, Kip Franklin, clarinet). International Woodwind Duo Symposium, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas, April 2018. Manu Militari. 2011. Alto saxophone, flute. Resolute Music Publications. Premiere: Greenbrook Ensemble. 2014 North American Saxophone Alliance Biennial Conference, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaigne, March 2014. Tie-Break. 2011. Alto saxophone, cello. Premiere: Wallace Halladay, saxophone, Mary-Katherine Finch, cello. Contact Contemporary Music, Gallery 345, Toronto, September 2011. Intimate Echoes. 2011. Tenor saxophone, piano. Resolute Music Publications. Premiere: Jeffrey Vickers, saxophone, Hee-Kyung Juhn, piano. Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas, April 2011.