Jocelyn Morlock
The late Jocelyn Morlock (1969–2023) was one of Canada’s leading composers, who wrote compelling music that has been recorded extensively and receives numerous performances and broadcasts throughout North America and Europe. Born in Winnipeg, she studied piano at Brandon University, and later earned a master’s degree and a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of British Columbia, where she was recently an instructor and lecturer of composition. Her music was inspired by birds, insomnia, nature, fear, other people’s music and art, nocturnal wandering thoughts, lucid dreaming, death, and the liminal times and experiences before and after death.
Jocelyn worked with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra as their first female Composer-in-Residence (2014-2019), after completing her term (2012-2014) as inaugural Composer-in-Residence for Music on Main, co-host of ISCM World New Music Days 2017.
She had an unusually successful 2018, winning a JUNO for Classical Composition of the Year (for My Name is Amanda Todd – part of the National Arts Centre Orchestra’s multi-media work, Life Reflected); the Western Canadian Music Award for Classical Composer of the Year; the Jan V. Matejcek New Classical Music Award (SOCAN); and the Barbara Pentland Award for Outstanding Contributions to Canadian Music (Canadian Music Centre). Other accolades include the Mayor’s Arts Award for Music in Vancouver (2016), a 2011 JUNO® nomination for Classical Composition of the Year, Top 10 at the 2002 International Rostrum of Composers (Lacrimosa), performances at three ISCM World New Music Days, six nominations and two wins at the Western Canadian Music Awards, and winner of the 2003 CMC Prairie Region Emerging Composers competition.
Jocelyn had close ties with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra; her music was regularly featured by the WSO in its regular season programming, education concerts, and at the Winnipeg New Music Festival, where she also twice served as one of the mentor composers of the WNMF Composers Institute.