Biography – 450 words
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Biography - [ 100 words | 250 words | 450 words | 850 words ] [ Curriculum Vitae ]
Entry at the Encylopedia of Music in Canada
JOHN ESTACIO
Born April 8, 1966, Newmarket, Ontario
JUNO nominated composer John Estacio has served as composer in residence for the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, the Calgary Philharmonic, the Calgary Opera, and Pro Coro Canada. His residencies have yielded numerous orchestral works, several of which appear on Frenergy, the Music of John Estacio, released by CBC Records.
The last decade has seen Estacio focus on operatic works. Together with librettist John Murrell, he was written three operas including Lillian Alling which premiered in October 2010 by the Vancouver Opera. Filumena, his first opera, premiered in 2003 in Calgary and Banff and went on to receive four Betty Mitchell Awards including the award for outstanding production of musical theatre work. Additional productions soon followed in Ottawa and Edmonton. Filumena was filmed for television and received its national television premiere in 2006.
Estacio is the recent recipient of the National Arts Centre Award for Composers which will result in three commissioned works for the National Arts Centre Orchestra in upcoming seasons. Other awards include an AMPIA Award for his film score for The Secret of the Nutcracker, and his frequent performances and broadcasts have earned him several SOCAN Concert Music Awards.
In the 2010/11 season the Toronto Symphony Orchestra will give the Carnegie Hall premiere of Frenergy. The Royal Winnipeg Ballet will feature several of Estacio’s orchestral works in their new ballet Wonderland with choreography by Shawn Hounsell, to be performed in Winnipeg, Ottawa, and throughout Western Canada. The Montreal Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, the Jacksonville Symphony, the Charlotte Symphony are among several other ensembles presenting his works this season.
During the past few seasons, the National Youth Orchestra of the Americas toured the US and Canada with Bootlegger's Tarantella. The Los Angeles Philharmonic, along with acclaimed tenor Ben Heppner, toured Europe with Estacio’s arrangements of Seven Songs of Jean Sibelius. In 2008, the Vancouver Bach Choir, the Richard Eaton Singers, Chorus Niagara and the Grand Philharmonic Choir premiered his cantata The Houses Stand Not Far Apart with a text by John Murrell. In 2009 the Victoria Symphony premiered his sinfonietta Triptych. Other recent performances of his works have been given by the St. Louis Symphony, Fort Wayne Philharmonic, Houston Symphony, Allentown Symphony, and numerous community orchestras across Canada.
For more information about John Estacio, please visit www.johnestacio.com.
