Éric Champagne, composer
From almost 100 entries from all over the world, Champ-de-Mars, par jour de lumiere by Éric Champagne was selected as the winner of the 2005 Hennagin Prize in composition for concert band at the University of Oklahoma. Performance by the OU Wind Symphony is scheduled for the Sutton Series Concert on Monday, October 16, in Catlett Music Center's Paul F. Sharp Concert Hall. Honorable Mention is credited to Lu Pei for his Symphony No. 2.
Born in Montréal (Québec, Canada) in 1980, Éric Champagne studied the clarinet before beginning studies in composition. After a Preparatory College Diploma (DEC) in composition at the CÉGEP de St-Laurent with Michel Tétreault, Éric Champagne completed his Bachelor Degree in 2002 at the Université de Montréal, studying with Hugues Leclair and Michel Longtin in instrumental composition and with Robert Normandeau in electro-acoustic composition. In 2006, he will complete his Master’s Degree at the same institution.
Éric Champagne writes mainly instrumental music, with a preference for the human voice and wind instruments. His music has been performed in Canada and in the United States. His principal song cycles – Airs mélancoliques, Deux poèmes d’Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau and Aphorismes – have been sung in many recitals across Canada and the US. The Nouvel Ensemble Moderne (NEM), conducted by Lorraine Vaillancourt, premiered his piece Craintes & Désirs in 2003 at the Domaine Forget’s contemporary music workshop. He wrote a concert overture for band, Clins d’oeil, for the Harmonie Laval, which was premiered under direction of Patrick Morin on June 16th 2004. In the spring of 2005 Éric won the First Prize in the Composition Competition of the Orchestre de l’Université de Montréal and the resulting commission, Il était beau comme Rimbaud, was premiered on October 15th 2005, under the direction Jean-François Rivest. His first opera, Mademoiselle Julie, based on Swedish writer August Strindberg’s one-act drama, will be premiered in Montréal on March 22th 2006.
