2022 Roberta Stephen Award Winners
Winners of the Sixth Annual Roberta Stephen Composition Award
Mari Alice Conrad (Ardrossan, AB) and Jennifer Thiessen (Winnipeg) are this year’s recipients of the Roberta Stephen Composition award.
The Roberta Stephen Award offers support to a Canadian woman composer aged 36 or older for professional development such as further studies, conferences, or workshops, or composers’ festivals. Established by the late Calgary composer and publisher Roberta Stephen, the award is administered by the Association of Canadian Women Composers.
Mari Alice Conrad is a composer, studio music teacher, and sessional instructor of composition at MacEwan University, Edmonton. She has been commissioned by the Canadian League of Composers for Pro Coro Canada, the Exultate Chamber Choir, and Edmonton Winds. Her choral works have been published by Hinshaw Music and Cypress Music. She has received numerous academic and composition awards, and participated in a number of mentorships. Conrad plans to use her award for the completion of her Master’s degree at the University of Alberta, which will provide her with opportunities both to her refine her own craft, and to develop pedagogical practices which will enhance the interaction between composers and the broader musical community.
Jennifer Thiessen holds a M. Mus. in viola performance from the Université de Montréal and has distinguished herself in the worlds of Baroque music, new music, and improvisation as performer, composer, and curator. She is the recipient of numerous Canada Council awards and composes for her creative projects Daily Alice, Park Sounds, Toninato/Thiessen, and S[ILK]S. She has recently been commissioned by the ensembles ILÉA and Bakarlari, and as a creative writer by composer André Cormier. She plans to use her award to study score-making with Concordia University professor Dr. Andrea Young, exploring the gaps between developing a compositional concept; improvising or playing by ear; and communicating these ideas via a fully notated or graphic score.
For further information, contact: Janet Danielson jrd@sfu.ca 250 886-4534