Fjóla Evans is a Canadian/Icelandic composer and cellist. Her work explores the visceral physicality of sound while drawing inspiration from patterns of natural phenomena. Commissions and performances have come from musicians such as Bang on a Can All-Stars pianist Vicky Chow, Grammy-winning ensemble eighth blackbird, and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Her work has been featured on the MATA Festival, Bang on a Can Marathon, Gaudeamus Music Week, Cello Biennale Amsterdam 2020, Ung Nordisk Musik, and the American Composers Orchestra's SONiC Festival.

As a performer, she has presented her own work at venues such as Cluster Festival of New Music, (le) poisson rouge, Mengi in Reykjavík, and at Toronto's Music Gallery. Fjóla has participated in residencies at the Banff Centre for the Arts, and KulturKontakt Austria, among others. She has studied composition with Julia Wolfe, cello performance with Matt Haimovitz, and completed a master’s degree in composition at the Yale School of Music. In September 2019 she began doctoral studies in composition at Columbia University where her research is supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

Recent and upcoming projects include a string quintet written for the Aizuri Quartet commissioned by the Women’s Musical Club of Toronto, a new work for the Toronto Symphony Orchestra as part of their NextGen Composers commissioning program, Íslenzk Ferðaflóra: a song cycle for Dúplum duo based on a taxonomy of Icelandic plant life, VC2 cello duo’s rendition of Ridge & Furrow featured on the album Beethoven’s Cellists, the premiere of Jöklaklukka for Pro Coro Canada, a performance of Lung by the Residentie Orkest in the Netherlands, and the release of cellist India Gailey’s recording of Augun on Redshift Music. Fjóla is the 2017 winner of the Robert Fleming Prize from the Canada Council for the Arts.

Fjóla’s website: http://www.fjolaevans.com/

“Paris, Texas,” for pedal steel guitar and percussion: https://open.spotify.com/track/0wSykHSIhdZ0JMlGcVo7V6?si=32a2b974c2314192

“Jöklaklukka,” for choir: https://youtu.be/qcgGswFx59E

??‍? BOOK a 1-on-1 meeting with me directly via this link if you're interested in having a lesson or consultation: https://calendly.com/saadhaddad

? Monthly NEWSLETTER that shares the latest news about my music and shows: https://saadnhaddad.us9.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=d52b653fc543f4ca604265d53&id=70d2af18c6

01:07 Composer/performers
05:23 Toronto Symphony premiere
06:56 “Paris, Texas,” for pedal steel guitar and percussion
09:16 Dipping into the American culture and selecting microtonal tiles in “Paris, Texas”
15:48 Going for the most direct sound
20:55 “Jöklaklukka,” for choir
22:50 Composing glaciers with Icelandic text in “Jöklaklukka”
35:28 US vs. Canada new music scenes
40:39 Where would someone start if they were interested in new music?
42:15 Why we still write for orchestra in 2023
47:55 Fjóla in Finland