Wallace Halladay, saxophone

Wallace Halladay, saxophone
	Canadian saxophonist Wallace Halladay captures the qualities of the modern virtuoso, being at home in numerous styles, from the traditional to jazz and beyond. A specialist in the performance of contemporary music, Wallace has commissioned and premiered numerous works for saxophone. In addition to performances of concerti by Ibert, Schmitt, Husa, Muldowney, Kancheli, Scelsi and Donatoni, he has worked with composers Michael Colgrass, Mauricio Kagel and Scott Good on the Canadian premieres of their concerti, the latter commissioned by the Esprit Orchestra. Wallace also inaugurated the Intersections Series with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony in an entire concert of music for saxophone and orchestra entitled “The Story of the Saxophone.” In March 2009, Wallace made his debut as soloist with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra: the Globe and Mail called him “phenomenal” and “so riveting…that not much can compete against it.” Frequently broadcast on CBC Radio, Wallace has also recorded the two saxophone Sequenzas of Luciano Berio and the Colgrass concerto for NAXOS Records. He has been presented by and performed with new music groups across the Canada and the USA, including New Music Concerts, Continuum, Sound Symposium, CCMW, 5-Penny New Music, Kumquat, Earshot!, Contact, soundaXis, Toca Loca, and Bang on a Can in New York. Wallace is the Artistic Director of Toronto New Music Projects, which has presented the music of Scelsi, Donatoni and Gubaidulina, and most recently bringing French composer Philippe Leroux to Toronto; he has also curated concerts and lectured on the music of Giacinto Scelsi and Luciano Berio. His orchestral experience includes performances with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, National Ballet Orchestra of Canada, and as a fellow of the Tanglewood Music Centre. Wallace holds a Bachelor’s degree in Performance and Composition from the University of Toronto, a Master’s from New England Conservatory in Boston, and a doctorate from the Eastman School of Music. Wallace also studied at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam with internationally acclaimed virtuoso Arno Bornkamp with a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts. He has previously taught saxophone, chamber music and theory at Memorial University of Newfoundland and the Eastman School of Music, and presently teaches at the University of Toronto. Wallace is the 2009 winner of the Virginia Parker Prize from the Canada Council for the Arts. Awarded for outstanding musicianship, Wallace is the first woodwind player to receive the prize in its 25 year history, and he joins such luminary Canadian laureates as Jon Kimura Parker, Isabel Bayrakdarian, James Ehnes, and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Wallace is a Conn-Selmer Artist and plays Selmer (Paris) saxophones.

Canadian saxophonist Wallace Halladay captures the qualities of the modern virtuoso, being at home in numerous styles, from the traditional to jazz and beyond. A specialist in the performance of contemporary music, Wallace has commissioned and premiered numerous works for saxophone. In addition to performances of concerti by Ibert, Schmitt, Husa, Muldowney, Kancheli, Scelsi and Donatoni, he has worked with composers Michael Colgrass, Mauricio Kagel and Scott Good on the Canadian premieres of their concerti, the latter commissioned by the Esprit Orchestra. Wallace also inaugurated the Intersections Series with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony in an entire concert of music for saxophone and orchestra entitled “The Story of the Saxophone.” In March 2009, Wallace made his debut as soloist with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra: the Globe and Mail called him “phenomenal” and “so riveting…that not much can compete against it.”

Frequently broadcast on CBC Radio, Wallace has also recorded the two saxophone Sequenzas of Luciano Berio and the Colgrass concerto for NAXOS Records. He has been presented by and performed with new music groups across the Canada and the USA, including New Music Concerts, Continuum, Sound Symposium, CCMW, 5-Penny New Music, Kumquat, Earshot!, Contact, soundaXis, Toca Loca, and Bang on a Can in New York. Wallace is the Artistic Director of Toronto New Music Projects, which has presented the music of Scelsi, Donatoni and Gubaidulina, and most recently bringing French composer Philippe Leroux to Toronto; he has also curated concerts and lectured on the music of Giacinto Scelsi and Luciano Berio. His orchestral experience includes performances with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, National Ballet Orchestra of Canada, and as a fellow of the Tanglewood Music Centre.

Wallace holds a Bachelor’s degree in Performance and Composition from the University of Toronto, a Master’s from New England Conservatory in Boston, and a doctorate from the Eastman School of Music. Wallace also studied at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam with internationally acclaimed virtuoso Arno Bornkamp with a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts. He has previously taught saxophone, chamber music and theory at Memorial University of Newfoundland and the Eastman School of Music, and presently teaches at the University of Toronto.

Wallace is the 2009 winner of the Virginia Parker Prize from the Canada Council for the Arts. Awarded for outstanding musicianship, Wallace is the first woodwind player to receive the prize in its 25 year history, and he joins such luminary Canadian laureates as Jon Kimura Parker, Isabel Bayrakdarian, James Ehnes, and Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

Wallace is a Conn-Selmer Artist and plays Selmer (Paris) saxophones.