Allan Gilliland

Allan Gilliland (born 1965 in Darvel, Scotland) is a contemporary Canadian composer.

Gilliland moved to Canada in 1972 and settled in Edmonton, Alberta. He received a diploma in Jazz Studies (trumpet) from Humber College, and degrees in performance and composition from the University of Alberta. His teachers were Violet Archer, Malcolm Forsyth and Howard Bashaw. He has written music for solo instruments, orchestra, chorus, brass quintet, wind ensemble, big band, film, television and theatre.

His works have been performed by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, ProCoro Canada, the Canadian Brass, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the New York Pops, the Hammerhead Consort, and the brass section of the New York Philharmonic.

From 1999 to 2004, Gilliland was Composer in Residence with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, composing nine major works, including concerti for violin, and two harps. "Dreaming of the Masters I" (2003), a jazz concerto written for clarinet soloist James Campbell, is perhaps his most popular work, and received its American premiere by the Boston Pops in 2004. "Dreaming of the Masters II - GEB", a jazz rhapsody for piano and orchestra written for William Eddins and jointly commissioned by CBC and the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, received its world premiere on February 22, 2008. His orchestral work "On the Shoulders of Giants" won first prize at the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra’s Composers Competition in 2002.

In 2007, the Alberta-based Arktos Recordings Limited label released "Collaborations", a CD devoted exclusively to Gilliland's music. The track listing is:
#"The Winspear Fanfare" (for brass and percussion) (1997)
#"M'bira" (for solo marimba) (1998)
#"Suite from the Sound" (for string quartet and clarinet) (2006)
#"Cancion" (for piano solo) (1999)
#"Love’s Red Rose" (for two harps) (2003)
#"Four by Four" (for two pianos and two percussionists) (1994)
#"Roots" (for double bass) (1999)
#"Concerto for Oboe, Strings and Harpsichord" (2004/5)

Gilliland is currently Head of the Composition at Grant MacEwan College in Edmonton.

External links

• [http://www.musiccentre.ca/apps/index.cfm?fuseaction=composer.FA_dsp_biography&authpeopleid=13327&by=G Allan Gilliland's page at the "Canadian Music Centre" website]

• [http://www.allangilliland.com Allan Gilliland's website]