Paul Frehner, composer

I'm happy to announce the release of Sometimes the Devil Plays Fate, a new album of my released on the Centrediscs label. The album is available on all the music streaming services and can be purchased here.

Sometimes the Devil Plays Fate is an album featuring three pieces for large ensemble that investigate existential and experiential themes. The album’s title track sets to music poetry by acclaimed Toronto-based author Dane Swan and Charles Mingus, the great American jazz bassist and composer. A meditation on the interactions and collisions of peoples, lovers and celestial bodies, the piece explores destiny and questions whether we have the power to be transformative in our own lives. The performance features rising star American mezzo-soprano Mary Beth Nelson. The second work, Cloak, Concerto for Clarinet and Ensemble has a mysterious film noir vibe. It is inspired in part by growing up in Montréal, a vibrant city with a colorful reputation. Dominic Desautels, principal clarinetist of the COC, is the soloist here. The final piece, Voluptuous Panic, tries to capture the thrilling feelings produced by vertigo-inducing activities such as car racing, reaching escape velocity on a rocket, experiencing zero gravity and fast dancing. Conductor Gemma New masterfully leads the amazing musicians of the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra through the music. All album artwork is by Meghan Frehner.

Christopher Lemmings as Sid R. Thatcher in a scene from my opera Sirius on Earth

News and Performances

Sometimes the Devil Plays Fate - album launch party, Chalmer's Performance Space, Canadian Music Centre, May 24, 2023

Fuze, for violin, fixed media and electronics - Andréa Tyniec, violin; Paul Frehner fixed media and electronics; Chalmer's Performance Space, Canadian Music Centre, Toronto, ON, Album Launch Party for Sometimes the Devil Plays Fate, May 24, 2023

Sometimes the Devil Plays Fate, official album release on music streaming services, May 12, 2023

Three for Pi, for violin and viola, world premiere, MAgisterra Soloists, Annette-Barbara Vogel, violin; Jutta Puchhammer-Sédillot, viola, Magisterra Soloists, Museum London, April 27, 2023

Mojave Dreaming, for string orchestra - London Symphonia - Beneath a Summer Sky; Matthias Maute, conductor; Metropolitan United Church, London, ON; February 4, 2023 @ 7:30 pm,

Mojave Dreaming, for string orchestra - I Musici de Montréal; Tania Miller, conductor; salle Pierre-Mercure du Centre Pierre Péladeau; November 17, 2022

Amelia, After Harbour Grace, for piano fixed media and live electronics - Louise Bessette - piano, Paul Frehner - electronics; CMC Toronto, Livestream, October 23, 2022

Amelia, After Harbour Grace, for piano fixed media and live electronics - World Premiere - Louise Bessette - piano, Paul Frehner - electronics; von Kuster Hall, Don Wright Faculty of Music, UWO, Parsons and Poole concert, October 21, 2022

LEX, an oratorio for vocal soloists, mixed double chamber choir and chamber orchestra - World Premiere - Soundstreams Choir 21; Ensemble Soundstreams; Tõnu Kaljuste, conductor; Meghan Lindsay, soprano; Rebecca Cuddy, mezzo-soprano; Owen McCausland, tenor; Alain Coulombe, bass; Koerner Hall, Toronto, September 21, 2022

Voluptuous Panic - Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra; Gary Kulesha, conductor; The Studio at FirstOntario Concert Hall, June 24, 2022

Sometimes the Devil Plays Fate, for solo mezzo soprano and large ensemble - Canadian Co-World Premiere; New Music Ensemble of the Glenn Gould School; Brian Current, conductor; Chelsea Pringle-Duchemin, mezzo soprano; Temerity Hall, Toronto, May 2, 2022

Sometimes the Devil Plays Fate, for solo mezzo soprano and large ensemble - US Co-World Premiere; New Juilliard Ensemble; Joel Sachs, conductor; Mary Beth Nelson, mezzo soprano; Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, NY, USA, April 11, 2022

Sometimes the Devil Plays Fate, for solo mezzo soprano and large ensemble - New Music Ensemble of the Glenn Gould School, Brian Current cond., May 2021 - Postponed

Lex, for vocal soloists, choir and chamber orchestra, Tonu Kaljuste, cond., Soundstreams, Koerner Hall, 21C Music Festival, Jan. 22, 2021 - Postponed

God Save the Human Cannonball - Gemma New and members of the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, May 23, 2020

Cloak of 'Allophenia received two performances by the Naples Philharmonic under the baton of Andrey Boreyko, Jan 25-26, 2019, Artis-Naples.

Bytown Waters, was premiered and toured by the Gryphon Trio in celebration of their 25th anniversary season.

Mojave Dreaming, was performed by Tania Miller and the Victoria Symphony in their Explorations concert, March 11, 2017

Cloak of 'Allophenia was premiered by Tania Miller and the Victoria Symphony in a program entitled Our Canada, April 8, 2017

From the Vortex Perspective, a new work for film and orchestra developed in collaboration with filmmaker Peter Mettler will be premiered by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra on March 9, 2016. The premiere is taking place within the context of the TSO's New Creations Festival. Concert information can be found at the following link:

https://www.tso.ca/concert/two-memorials-anton-webern-john-lennon

February 5, 2016: Nadina Mackie Jackson premiered my bassoon concerto Apollo X with the Group of Twenty-Seven Chamber Orchestra conducted by Eric Paetkau, Centre of Social Innovation, Toronto

November 21, 2015: "Beauty", movement III from Finnegans Quarks Revival was a required piece in the OSM Manulife Piano Competition. It was performed by seven talented young Canadian pianists.

December 3, 2014: Beauty, for solo piano, Louise Bessette, Espace Kendergi, Montreal, QC

December 2, 2014: Fuze, for amplified violin and audio file playback, Veronique Mathieu, von Kuster Hall, London, ON

October 19, 2014: Oracle for violin and tabla, Attar Project, C'est What?, Toronto

October 16, 2014: Phantom Suns, Esprit Orchestra, dir. Alex Pauk, Koerner Hall, Toronto

October 12, 2014: Oracle for violin and drums, VSO Chamber Players, Pyatt Hall, Vancouver

October 9, 2014: Oracle for violin and drums, VSO Chamber Players, Pyatt Hall, Vancouver

Sept. 30, 2014: Mojave Dreaming, for string orchestra, World Premiere, Soundstreams Virtuoso Strings, dir. Joaquin Valdepeñas, Koerner Hall, Toronto

April 30, 2014: Finnegans Quarks Revival, Louise Bessette, piano, Chapelle historique du Bon Pasteur, Montreal, QC

April 17, 2014: Corpus was nominated for an ACCC National Choral Award in the Outstanding Choral Composition category

March 29, 2014: Ochus Bochus, Victoria Symphony Orchestra, Alix Gooden Hall, Victoria, BC

March 21, 2014: Apollo Dream (premiere), Ensemble Transmission, Chapelle historique du Bon Pasteur, Montreal, QC

March 6, 2014: Ke-te, Shawn Mativetsky, tablas, Pontio Project, Bangor, UK

February 27, 2014: An Inopportune Time; Vania Chan, soprano, Tania Gill, piano, Adam Scime, electronics, Daniels Spectrum, Toronto

January 29, 2014: Cadavre exquis, en hommage à Guy Soucie, mvt III “L’arrivée du Fazioli” (première), Le Trio Fibonacci, Chapelle historique du Bon Pasteur, Montreal, QC

January 27, 2014:Oracle, for violin and hand drums, Jason Lee, violin; Mike Carver, drums, von Kuster Hall, Western University

November 28, 2013: Oracle, Marc Djokic, violin, Beverly Johnston, percussion; Walter Hall, Toronto, ON

November 21, 2013: Apollo X, concerto for bassoon and chamber orchestra, Mvt. I, Nadina Mackie Jackson, Orchestra London, directed by Alain Trudel, Hilton Hotel, London, ON

October 23, 2013: Oracle, The Attar Project, Espace Cercle Carré, Montreal, QC

Welcome to My Website!

I'm a composer of contemporary concert music and electroacoustic music.

Explore Some Multimedia Below

Finding Breath (2021), for VCV Rack

Finding Breath is an ambient soundscape composition recorded in VCV Rack. This recording is of a live performance of me playing the patch. The performance process is improvisational in nature and thus the music can vary significantly from one performance to the next. A screenshot of a portion of the VCV Rack patch is below.

Finding Breath_with fade in.mp3

Two Eugenes with a Saw (2021), for VCV Rack

This is a new piece written using VCV Rack. It is a mostly generative piece powered by two Eugene modules, which are Euclidean rhythm generators. The two Eugenes provide a two-part counterpoint of rhythmic pulsations that feed two step sequencers. Other processes in the piece are controlled by a very slow rising sawtooth waveform, one cycle of which takes 200 seconds to complete. A screenshot of a portion of the VCV patch is below.

Two Eugenes with a Saw_2nd version.mp3

Mojave Dreaming

World Premiere Performance of Frehner's Mojave Dreaming - Soundstreams Virtuoso Strings directed by Joaquin Valdeñas, Koerner Hall, Toronto

Shirin's Dance, from Sarantine Polyphony

Shirin's Dance, mvt. II of Sarantine Polyphony for String Orchestra. It is a work inspired by Guy Gavriel Kay's two novel series, The Sarantine Mosaic. Boris Brott conducts the McGill Chamber Orchestra in this premiere performance.

Corpus

Paul Frehner's Corpus, for double chamber choir and percussion quartet. Frieder Bernius conducts the Stuttgart Chamber Choir and TorQ Percussion Quartet

Submerged Echoes

Submerged Echoes is an acousmatic piece composed in 2006. All sounds in the piece were sampled from John Little's sound sculpture Tectonic Shift.

Submerged Echoes mp3

Finnegans Quarks Revival, movement III, "Beauty", OSM Manulife Competition Semifinals; Mariya Orlenko, piano.