Geof Holbrook

Born in Guelph, Ontario, Geof Holbrook is a graduate student at McGill University funded by a fellowship, where he has studied with Denys Bouliane, Sean Ferguson, and where he currently works with John Rea. Holbrook’s music has been performed in Canada, France and Germany, by ensembles including the McGill Symphony and Esprit orchestras, the Diotima Quartet, the Synapse Ensemble, the Ensemble of the National Arts Centre Orchestra, and the Ensemble Orchestral Contemporain in Lyon, France. Subsequent to his attendance at Domaine Forget’s Rencontres de musique nouvelle in 2000 and 2001, he was invited to participate in the Voix Nouvelles composition course at Royaumont, France. He has taken part in masterclasses with Klas Torstensson, Cornelius De Bondt, Brian Ferneyhough, Alexander Raskatov, and Mario Lavista, among others. A three-time award winner in the SOCAN Competition for Young Composers, Holbrook received first prizes in both 2001 and 2003 for ensemble works, and in 2002, he received second prize overall in the SCI/ASCAP Student Composition Commission. In the summer of 2004, Holbrook served as Associate Composer of the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. He was recently chosen to participate in the 2005 summer composition and computer music training course at Ircam in Paris.