Alice Ho
Toronto 43° 39' 12.53" N, 79° 23' 2.16" W Arts Music Person
One of the most acclaimed composers writing in Canada today, Hong Kong-born Alice Ping Yee Ho has written in many musical genres and received numerous national and international awards, including the du Maurier Arts Ltd. Canadian Composers Competition, MACRO International Composition Competition, Luxembourg International Composition Prize and International League of Women Composers Competition. Critics have called her music dramatic and graceful, while praising its “organic flow of imagination,” colorful orchestration, and emotive qualities.
Influences evident in her proudly eclectic approach include Chinese folk and operatic idioms, Japanese Taiko and African drumming, and jazz. Her ongoing goal is to explore new musical styles that are provocative to the ears.
“Colors and tonality are two attractive resources to me: they form certain mental images that connect to audiences in a very basic way.” [AH]
Ms. Ho’s works have been often performed at national and international new music festivals: ISCM World Music Days, Ottawa Chamberfest, Demark's CRUSH New Music Festival, Asian Music Week in Japan, Winnipeg New Music Festival, Ottawa Chamber Music Festival, Kitchener Open Ears Festival of Music, and NFL's Sound Symposium etc. They have also been played by major ensembles, including the China National Symphony, Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra, Radio Television Symphonic Orchestra of Serbia, CBC Vancouver Orchestra, Florida Orchestra, the Toronto, Winnipeg, Victoria, and South Dakota Symphonies, Polish Radio Choir, Luxembourg Sinfonietta, Amsterdam’s Nieuw Ensemble, and Le Nouvel Ensemble Moderne in Montreal.
Her commissions include works for the Penderecki String Quartet, Esprit Orchestra, New Music Concerts, Amici Chamber Ensemble, Tapestry New Opera Works, a double concerto for violist Rivka Golani and bassist Joel Quarrington, a double concerto for Duo Concertante (violinist Nancy Dahn and pianist Timothy Steeves), a “Dance” Concerto for the Newfoundland Symphony with Chinese dancer William Lau, a percussion concerto for Canadian virtuoso Beverley Johnston, and a cello concerto for Wendy Law and the Hong Kong Sinfonietta. She also wrote the score for the prizewinning independent film Garage (2006 Calgary International Film Festival). Her discography includes releases on the Centrediscs, Blue Griffin, Electra and Phoenix labels.