2010 Finalist
Creator: Peter Anthony Togni
Nominator: Barbara Butler
Peter Togni’s Lamentatio Jeremiae Prophetae is a concerto for bass clarinet and choir written in five movements for virtuoso soloist Jeff Reilly and the Elmer Iseler Singers, conducted by Lydia Adams. In this profoundly affecting work, Togni demonstrates a mastery of the contemporary school of choral composition (exemplified by Arvo Pärt and Henryk Gorecki), and pushes its boundaries further in a tightly woven structure of open and closed improvisations for the instrumentalist and sustained meditations of notated choral passages. Its unique combination of voices transmutes the ancient Biblical text into a universal and contemporary tale of grief meeting hope. Premiered in 2007, toured throughout Nova Scotia in 2008, and broadcast many times by CBC radio and BBC, the work was recorded at All Saints Cathedral in Halifax and has recently been released internationally on the prestigious ECM label.
Brief bio: Peter-Anthony Togni was born in Pembroke, Ontario and now resides in Halifax. He studied organ and composition at the University of British Columbia and at the Schola Cantorum in Paris, France. For 20 years he has been a broadcaster for CBC Radio 2 and currently hosts CBC’s Choral Concert. He has received numerous commissions for choral, keyboard and chamber works, as well as film scores, and has toured Canada and Europe as a solo organist and with his trio Sanctuary. In 2006 he was nominated for a Juno award as Classical Composer of the Year.
