Christien Ledroit (b. 1975)
Christien Ledroit was born in 1975 in London, Ontario. He studied music composition at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario and completed a Master of Music degree in composition at McGill University in Montreal in 2002. He has studied with an eclectic group of composers including Michael Colgrass, Sean Ferguson, Jean Lesage, alcides lanza, Alfred Fisher, John Burge and Marjan Mozetich.
Musical life started early with violin studies beginning at the age of five. Throughout high school Christien branched out into other forms of musical performance and songwriting, including several years playing guitar in a punk band, and chose to pursue music composition in university. During four years at Queen’s University he developed his skills in composition, while still maintaining a busy performance schedule. While at Queen’s Christien produced a small festival of student and faculty composers. The aim of this festival was to bring the university’s music to a wider audience through more public (and publicized) concerts. For this he was able to secure funding, organize performers and book performance venues. The festival was quite well attended. He also produced and hosted an award-winning weekly radio program focusing on contemporary music. Moving to Montreal Christien was an active member of the composition area in the Faculty of Music at McGill University. Aside from numerous compositions and performances, he was also a member of the Group of the Electronic Music Studio, better known as GEMS. With GEMS, Christien wrote music for, performed in and curated several concerts in many different venues.
Today his music is most influenced by his studies in contemporary art music composition and his background in punk rock. Christien’s music is characterized by a high level of intellectual composition mixed with an tendency towards aggressive and driving textures. Recent commissions have also brought an influence of the rhythms, structures and melodies of India.
Christien has received commissions and awards from many sources. Awards include two prizes at the 2001 SOCAN competition for Young Composers, including a First Prize for Shards, and a Second Prize for Elementalities. He was recently awarded the first annual Norman Burgess Memorial Fund commission, a juried commission to write a new work for student string performers. This commission resulted in Wandering the Threshold of Delirium, for solo violin and optional electronic accompaniment. Upon completion of his undergraduate degree, Christien was awarded the Maurice Dubin prize, awarded annually to an upper-year student demonstrating exceptional ability and achievement in music composition. Five of his pieces (Trade Winds, Concerto for Tuba and Strings, Shards, Push and Juegas Todos Los Dias, a setting of a text by Neruda composed as a wedding gift for his wife) have been included in the Canadian Music Centre’s Professional Readings Project.
Currently Christien is writing a new work for clarinetist Heather Henderson, for solo clarinet and wind band. Recent commissions include accordionist Joseph Petric and the Penderecki String Quartet, and violinist Parmela Attariwala.
Christien lives in Hamilton, Ontario with his wife Stefanie and daughters Ramona and Chloë.
