Guitarist Releases New Album
Canadian guitarist Sylvie Proulx is proud to announce the release of Sirocco on the Centaur Records label. Based in Newfoundland, where she teaches on the faculty of the School of Music at Memorial University, the native Montrealer is best known for her affinity with South American music. With Sirocco, Sylvie Proulx now reveals the many facets of her talent. The album features works that have been written especially for the instrument by celebrated modern composers.
Andrew York’s Sirroco is the piece that gives the album its title. The American composer’s style generally reveals a strong folk-rock influence but here, the Spanish folk elements are featured predominantly, hence its title, which refers to a hot and dusty wind that blows from Northern Africa to Southern Europe. Evoking Spanish and Brazilian music with a jazz influence, Triaela is a seductive three-movement suite by French composer Roland Dyens. Variations on McGillicuddy’s Rant by the acclaimed composer Clark Ross (a Canadian born in Venezuela), consists of a theme followed by ten variations of different character: Jig, Wistful and Nostalgic, Scherzo, Bluesy, Arabesque, Bluegrass, Folk Dance, Chorale and Prelude. Italian composer Carlo Domeniconi’s Koyunbaba is a suite in four movements that evokes folk music from Turkey. Finally, An Idea by Afro-Cuban composer Leo Brouwer, is based on a traditional Baroque form of dance called the Passacaille. It was written as a tribute to Sylvie Proulx’s former teacher, distinguished Canadian guitarist Eli Kassner.
Sylvie Proulx has concertized throughout Canada, the United States and England. A champion of new works for the guitar, she has presented numerous Canadian world premieres. Acclaimed for her exceptional musicality and remarkable technique, her repertoire reflects a wide range of periods and styles. In addition to solo and orchestral work, Ms. Proulx always enjoys the collaborative aspect of chamber music, welcoming new and challenging pieces for that genre. She holds B.A. and M.A. degrees from the Universities of Ottawa and Toronto where she studied with Ed Honeywell and Eli Kassner. She also studied in England with renowned guitarist David Russell who called her "a great player with all the right ingredients". A busy recitalist, Ms. Proulx is also a well-known broadcast personality in Canada, and a respected pedagogue at the university level.
Sirocco is Sylvie Proulx's second CD. Her affinity for South American music is brilliantly apparent in her previous recording Tango Nuevo - The Music of Astor Piazzolla which features solo guitar, guitar and flute (with flutist Robert Aitken) and Piazzolla's concerto for guitar and bandoneon (recorded with members of Symphony Nova Scotia).
SIROCCO - Centaur Records (CRC 3053) Available as of now through http://www.centaurrecords.com/
