Poet and painter Steven McCabe (whose work is up in the Gallery through October) teams up with classical guitarist William Beauvais (photo) for an evening of “musical narratives” with poetry and original guitar compositions. Friday October 23 at 8 pm in the Artword Artbar.
Steven McCabe is a poet, author, visual artist and filmmaker living in Toronto, Ontario. He is the author of five books of poetry: most recently Hierarchy of Loss (Ekstasis Editions 2007). He has illustrated books and magazines with fine-line ink drawings, created public murals and exhibited paintings on canvas and paper, collaborative art, and mixed media sculpture. He teaches art and creative writing workshops in both private and public schools. He recently directed and wrote his first short film titled My Story is Not My Own, a video-poem metaphorically examining the theme of grief. Other recent projects include illustrating The Golden Key – Classic Fairy Tales by George MacDonald.
William Beauvais has been composing, recording, performing and improvising for over 30 years. William has written music for harpist Sharlene Wallace, baritone Doug MacNaughton, the Montreal Guitar Trio and guitarist Jeffrey McFadden. His cantata for guitar ensemble and children€™s choir and the river runs clear was performed by the Royal Conservatory Children€™s Choir and the University of Toronto Guitar Ensemble. He has received grants from the Toronto Arts Council to compose An Ambiguous Innocence, a requiem commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Kent State Massacre and Heloise: an opera.
Currently, he is adapting old and new popular music for finger style guitar, to create a bridge between the vernacular and art music traditions. Recent books include: Well Tempered Blues, published by Mel Bay, In Joplin’s Pocket and Well Tempered Choros published by Les Productions D’OZ. His music has been heard in Denmark, Australia, Chile, and Argentina, and is also published by Frederick Harris Music.
He has recorded several CDs (which are available through the Canadian Music Centre Distribution Service): Bridges (with Brian Katz), Traces (with violist Julian Knight and bassist George Koller), A Bridge Beyond (with guitarist Stephen Wingfield), and Dances and Romances for Violin (with Moshe Hammer). He has also recorded CDs with the Evergreen Club Gamelan, and composers Michael Hynes and Gerarld Berg. He has frequently recorded for radio, both for CBC and CKLN.
As a performer William has worked with New Music Concerts, the Canadian Chamber Ensemble and Tapestry New Opera, premiering music by George Crumb, Elliott Carter, Chris Paul Harman and Rodney Sharman. He was a featured artist with Jeunesse Musicales (Youth and Music) Canada, touring with them in 1983-84, and has performed over a hundred school concerts with the Toronto Symphony Education program.
William€™s collaborations and improvisations include work with composers Eugene Martynec and John Armstrong, and dancers Terrill MacGuire and Hedy Minton. He has also worked with spoken word, developing texts written by Gwendolyn MacEwen, Richard Truhlar, Wayne Keon and Robert Priest into performance pieces.
William graduated from the University of Toronto in 1980 where he worked with Eli Kassner and Norbert Kraft. He also studied at the L€™Université Musicale Internationale de Paris with Oscar Caçeres, and in master classes with Alirio Diaz, Oscar Ghiglia and Leo Brouwer. In 1980 he won first prize in the Canadian Music Competition, and at the Carrefour Mondiale de Guitare [World Centre for Guitar] in Martinique. He teaches classical guitar at York University, and has taught at the Royal Conservatory of Music, Queen€™s University and the University of Windsor.
