Classical music concert with pianist Ryan Baxter featuring new solo works

Pianist Ryan Baxter will present a classical music concert that includes new solo piano works he has commissioned by Ontario composers Beverley McKiver and Tyler Versluis expressing the Earth and our life in relation to the land. Together, the works by Beverley and Ryan present distinct, yet complementary surveys of Canadian landscapes.

The program includes works by Debussy and J.S.Bach.

The Composers

Beverley McKiver is an Ottawa-based composer, pianist, and teacher. In her compositions, she explores themes of connection to the land, environmental concerns and her Indigenous heritage. She is a member of Lac Seul First Nation in northwestern Ontario.

She has been a recurring participant in the Indigenous Classical Music Gathering at the Banff Centre, and was an assistant faculty member in 2024. In 2021, Beverley received a Johanna Metcalfe Performing Arts Prize as the protégé of composer Ian Cusson.

Tyler Versluis is an Ontario-based composer and conductor. His music has been commissioned and performed by a growing list of Canadian ensembles and organizations, including the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the Penderecki String Quartet, Soundstreams, ARRAYmusic, Freesound, Caution Tape Sound Collective, the Toy Piano Composers, and VIVA! Youth Singers of Toronto. His music is also performed internationally, with premières and repeat performances in the USA, France, the Netherlands, Poland, Czechia, Slovakia and Lithuania. Since July 2023, Tyler is President of the Canadian League of Composers.

Pianist Ryan Baxter is currently in the Doctor of Musical Arts program at Western University where he is also enrolled in the university’s Indigenous Learning Honour program, Memegwaanh.

Composer Beverley McKiver will be in attendance

Anishinabae-inspired nibbles willl be served after the concert.

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