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James Rolfe | |
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| Born | James Simon Rolfe (1967-07-23)23 July 1967 (age 58) |
| Genres | Contemporary, chamber, orchestral, opera |
| Occupation | Composer |
James Simon Rolfe (born 1961) is a Canadian composer of contemporary music.[1][2]
Rolfe was born inOttawa,Ontario. He studied composition withJohn Beckwith at theUniversity of Toronto andJo Kondo in Japan.
Rolfe was the President[3] of the Canadian League of Composers (2007–11) and has won awards for his music, most recently the 2006Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music and the 2009 SOCAN Jan V. Matejcek New Classical Music Award.[4] Rolfe lives inToronto with his wifeJuliet Palmer, who is also a composer.
Although Rolfe's chamber, vocal, orchestral, and piano works are widely performed, he has become most noted for his operas.Beatrice Chancy, anopera set inNova Scotia during the 19th century (libretto byGeorge Elliott Clarke), was produced in 1998 by Toronto's Queen of Puddings Music Theatre Company and was subsequently filmed for television by theCanadian Broadcasting Corporation in 2000. Rolfe has since composed the children's operaElijah’s Kite (libretto by Camyar Chai), which explores bullying among children, and was co-produced by Tapestry New Opera Works and theManhattan School of Music in New York City in 2006;Rosa (libretto by Camyar Chai), produced by Tapestry in Toronto in 2004;Swoon (libretto by Anna Chatterton), produced by theCanadian Opera Company in 2006;Orpheus and Euridice in 2003 (libretto byAndré Alexis) andAeneas and Dido in 2007 (libretto byAndré Alexis). The last two works were both commissioned and produced by Toronto Masque Theatre as companion pieces toMarc-Antoine Charpentier'sDescent of Orpheus to the Underworld andHenry Purcell'sDido and Aeneas.In February 2009 Rolfe's operaInês (with libretto byPaul Bentley) was produced and performed in Toronto by the Queen of Puddings Music Theatre Company. Based on the story of the 14th century GalicianInês de Castro, it featuredfado singer Inês Santos as the lead character. Rolfe is currently composing a new opera for the Canadian Opera Company with librettist Anna Chatterton.
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