In Need of Song Collaborations assists Canadian composers in finding Canadian poetry suitable for musical setting and encourages collaborations between active composers and poets leading to Canadian Art Song. An old truism holds that the best art songs are a marriage of a well-crafted text and well-crafted music. Logically then, the best Canadian art song would be a marriage of well-crafted text by a Canadian poet with well-crafted music by a Canadian composer. French-speaking Canadians have had a long tradition of setting their own poetry to music, but within the group of composers I approached in Ottawa, many reported that their efforts to find and set texts, Canadian or otherwise, were thwarted by copyright problems. If this problem extends further than Ottawa, it is the English Canadian contribution to the art song genre that suffers.

In February of 2003, a number of established Canadian poets provided me samples of their poems for consideration by composers in the Ottawa area. One of the first collaborations to develop was between John Armstrong and Seymour Mayne. Shortly afterwards Fred Lacroix showed an interest in the poetry of Effie MacIsaac-Taylor. Later that spring, Jim Wright set a single poem by Steven Michael Berzensky. In 2004, Colin Mack set three poems by Sharon Singer.

Seeing these collaborations develop has been tremendously rewarding. It has been my privilege to bring these songs to life.

If you are a composer looking for texts that or a poet interested in finding out if your poetry could be set to music or a singer looking for Canadian art song repertoire feel free to contact In Need of Song Collaborations.

If you would like to support this project or hear the works that have been created please consider purchasing a copy of HAIL Canadian Art Song.

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