Alexina Louie
Alexina Louie
Person
One of Canadaʼs most sought after composers, Alexina Louie has written for many of
the countryʼs leading soloists, chamber ensembles, new music ensembles and orchestras. Her works have become part of the standard repertoire, in particular her many compositions for piano which are frequently performed by students and professionals alike. Perhaps best known of these is Scenes From A Jade Terrace, commissioned by Jon Kimura Parker, who recently celebrated the 20th Anniversary of its composition with a tour of Canada and the United States.
Ms. Louie's orchestral works have received important performances by such renowned conductors as Sir Andrew Davis, Leonard Slatkin, Alexander Lazarev, Charles Dutoit, Bramwell Tovey, Gunther Herbig, Pinchas Zukerman, Kent Nagano, Peter Oundjian, Carlos Kalmar, James Judd, and Ingo Metzmacher.
Her major theatrical works include The Scarlet Princess, a full-length opera with libretto by Tony Award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly) commissioned by the Canadian Opera Company and premiered in concert (2002), and Wolfʼs Court, commissioned by The National Ballet of Canada, created with choreographer Matjash Mrozewski and premiered in June 2007 at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto. The National Ballet of Canada also commissioned and premiered one hundred works for snow (2003) by choreographer Dominique Dumais. The ballet is set to Louieʼs O Magnum Mysterium: In Memoriam Glenn Gould.
In 2008-2009, Alexina Louie was guest composer on two major orchestral tours. The first was a tour of Nunavik with Kent Nagano, musicians from the Montreal Symphony and Inuit throat singers who performed her newly commissioned work, Take the Dog Sled. The second was an extensive tour of Western Canada with Pinchas Zukerman and the National Arts Centre Orchestra who commissioned and performed her composition Infinite Sky With Birds. The season also saw the premiere of Pursuit, a new concerto for string quartet and orchestra commissioned by The Toronto Symphony for the Tokyo String Quartet.