Drumroll please….! The winner of the CCC’s Canada 150 Composition Competition is up-and-coming Calgary composer Garrett Krause, for his beautiful new piece entitled “The Maple”.

The competition received 28 choral compositions from across Canada, and narrowing such a high-calibre field was a challenging task for the CCC artistic team and panel of guest judges. However a winning composition was finally chosen and the CCC congratulates Garrett on his outstanding submission.

“Garrett’s composition is a piece that offers moving imagery and a rewarding musical challenge for choirs,” says artistic director Julia Davids. “We’re excited to have it published by Cypress Choral Music as part of the Canadian Chamber Choir Series for Accomplished Choirs, and look forward to premiering the work in our upcoming season!”

Krause is a composer and pianist from Calgary. His compositions have received numerous awards at the local and provincial levels, including from the Alberta Registered Music Teachers Association, and Alberta Piano Teachers Association, as well as the national level, from the Canada Conservatory, and a recent winning piece and performance by the PEI Symphony Orchestra. Garrett is in demand as an accompanist and performs frequently in local festivals. He is a recent graduate of the University of Calgary with a BMus in Composition and BA in German. The CCC is pleased to award Krause a $1000 cash prize in addition to the Cypress Music publishing deal.

Judges for the competition included the CCC artistic team, as well as composer Stephanie Martin from Ontario, and conductors Jeff Joudrey from Nova Scotia, and Timothy Shantz from Alberta. The judges were particularly impressed by the composer’s intuitive setting of a heritage Canadian poet, the excellent sense of form, and the interesting modal shifts.

Krause has the following comments about his winning piece: “As the national tree, and with its leaf emblazoned on the flag of Canada, the maple tree is inextricably linked with our country in the global consciousness, and our own national identity. Over 130 years after it was written, “The Maple,” by Charles G.D. Roberts, still evokes an idea of our country that continues to resonate now. The serene beautiful maple, in a forest of many trees, does not desire to be the tallest, loudest, nor the most imposing – but is singular in its content, gentle and radiant glow. As a symbol that evokes no historical empires or lineages, the maple is all Canadians.”