Gordon Fitzell

Gordon Fitzell is a Canadian composer, improviser, and sound artist. His music, described as “eerie, throbbing and trancelike” (New York Times), tends to explore peculiar points of connection between classical and popular elements of culture, freely inhabiting acoustic, electroacoustic, and interdisciplinary performance environments. He has worked with a wide range of international artists including BIT20 Ensemble (Norway), eighth blackbird (USA), ensemble mosaik (Germany), Ensemble Orchestral Contemporain (France), and PianOrquestra (Brazil), as well as Canada’s Ensemble contemporain de Montréal, Ensemble Paramirabo, Standing Wave, Aventa Ensemble, and Trio Fibonacci. His compositions, conducted by Robert Aitken, Daniel Kawka, Véronique Lacroix, Reinbert de Leeuw, and Bramwell Tovey, have been performed at international festivals including the Darmstädter Ferienkurse (Germany), the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (England), the Pan Music Festival (South Korea), the Tanglewood Music Festival (USA), and the Winnipeg New Music Festival (Canada). His music is featured on various albums, including GRAMMY-winning, Opus Award-winning, JUNO-nominated, and West Coast Music Award-nominated recordings. He is an associate composer of the Canadian Music Centre, a professor of composition at the University of Manitoba Desautels Faculty of Music, director of the eXperimental Improv Ensemble, and artistic co-director of the Winnipeg new music organization Groundswell.