Gabriel Dharmoo

Gabriel Dharmoo’s musical practice encompasses composition, improvisation and the research of South Indian Carnatic music.As a composer, he has studied composition and analysis at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal with Serge Provost and finished his studies with a “Prix avec grande distinction”, the highest honour to be awarded. He has worked with emerging and established Canadian ensembles (ECM+, SMCQ, Soundstreams, Gryphon Trio, Aventa, Arraymusic, Motion Ensemble) as well as with Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart from Germany. His works have been performed in Canada, the U.S.A, France, Germany, Australia, Singapore and South Africa. In addition to winning 6 prizes from the SOCAN Awards for Young Composers, he was awarded the 2011 Fernand-Lindsay Prix d'Europe composition prize and the Canada Council for the Arts’ 2011 Robert Fleming Prize. He is an associate composer at the Canadian Music Centre as well as a member of SOCAN and the Canadian League of Composers.Having researched Carnatic music with 4 renowned masters in Chennai (India) in 2008 and 2011, his personal style explores the theme of post-exotism and the interplay between tradition and novelty. As a vocal improviser, Gabriel has sung across Canada (Montreal, Québec, Vancouver, Banff) and in Berlin, Germany. In 2013/14, a development grant from the Canada Council for the Arts allowed him to work with vocalists Phil Minton (UK) and Ute Wassermann (Germany), as well as yodel and overtone specialist Christian Zehnder (Switzerland) and beatboxer Shlomo (UK). Inspired by contrasting vocal expressions in different cultures in time and space, he conceives his voice as both a raw and a sophisticated instrument. His musical language is a blend of diverse classical, avant-garde and traditional elements, mediated by an interest in linguistics and ethno/zoomusicology.