Composer Showcase

Mark Armanini and Paul Plimley

Vancouver, BC

Piano Concerto: “Fingertips to Freedom” - Paul Plimley, co-composer

Mark Armanini is a native Vancouverite. He studied composition with Elliot Weisgarber and piano with Robert Rogers at the University of British Columbia graduating with a Master’s degree in 1984. In 2000 ‘Fingertips to Freedom’ co-composed with pianist Paul Plimley was premiered at the Vancouver International Jazz Festival with the CBC Orchestra under the baton of Armanini’s longtime musical collaborator John Zoltek. In 2001 yangqin virtuoso Vivian Xia, performing his ‘Concerto for Yangqin’ was a finalist in the Edmonton Symphony’s Canadian Concerto Competition. Mark is currently President of Vancouver Pro Musica and is on the music faculty of Capilano College.

From an essay by Victoria Gibson:

Mark comments on his compositional adventures, “Experimental composition is real stuff - the more esoteric academic stuff I lost interest. My language is a tonal language anyway.” While not venturing too far into the esoteric, he has explored New Music improvisation in the piano
concerto, Fingertips to Freedom, co-written with Paul Plimley. The concerto was premiered in 2000, performed by Paul Plimley as piano soloist with the C.B.C. Radio Orchestra conducted by John Zoltek.

His compositional collaboration with Plimley seems like a departure from his usual methodology, as Armanini has rarely collaborated with other composers. However, he explains that the collaborative process is built on his extensive experience with popular music and oral tradition.

Michael J. Staley

b. 1951 in Dallas, Texas

Michael J. Staley began his musical training with piano lessons at age 6. He won the Young Texas Composer’s Contest in 1961 at age 10 and studied percussion and played in pop/rock bands from 1967 to 1970. As a young man he was an entrepreneur, pilot and composer. Currently he is the chief financial officer of Conveyance, Inc.

Partial List of Works

• Auroroa (chamber ensemble) 1976
• Scenery of Pasts (piano, flute, cello) 1993
• Escher’s Gallery (Arp 2600, chamber ensemble) 1977
• Dialogues of Plato (chamber ballet suite) 1978 -
  Excerpt:
• Joshua - Narrative for Wind Orchestra, 1977
  Part 3:
  Part 4:
• Picasso Reflections (chamber ensemble) 1993
  
• Santa Cruz Fanfare (concert band) 1992