Linda Bouchard

Linda Bouchard, a French-Canadian now living in San Francisco, is a prolific composer whose works have been recorded in Canada, Germany and the United States.  She has composed over 50 works, varying in style and genre, two of which were commissioned by the New Music Festival (Montreal) and the Musee d�Art Contemporain de Montreal.

Bouchard lived in New York City from 1979 to 1990.  During this time, she composed many works, led the New York New Music Ensemble and the New Music Consort as well as arranged works for the Washington Ballet and the St. Luke�s Orchestra.  Along with St. Luke�s Orchestra, she served as Assistant Conductor for the New York Children�s Free Opera from 1985 to 1988.  Also in 1988, Bouchard formed Abandon Ensemble, for which she composed many works, including �Possible Nudity� and �Le Scandale.�

Bouchard was very busy in the 1990s.  From 1990 to 1992, she served as the guest conductor for the Atelier de Musique Contemporaine of l�Universite de Montreal.  Following this position, she was honored with the position of Composer in Residence for the National Arts Center Orchestra in Ottawa until 1995.  During this time, Bouchard was also the music director for the 20th-Century Songs Integration Program through the Banff Center.  Additionally, Bouchard served as the guest conductor of the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players in 1982, 1998 and 2000, leading them in the West Coast premiere of her piece �Ductwork� at the Other Minds Festival in San Francisco in 1998.  In 2000, Bouchard returned to Canada as the featured composer at the Winnipeg Symphony New Music Festival and the Vancouver New Music Festival.

Bouchard has also received many prestigious awards throughout her career.  She has won four SOCAN awards for �Icy Cruise,� �Revelling of Men,� �Triskelion� and �Fanorev.�  Her composition �Fanorev� also garnered her first prize in the Indiana State Competition, while �Elan� and �Ma Lune Maligne� did the same for her at the Princeton Composition Contest and the National Association of Composers USA Contest, respectively. Bouchard received two more awards in 1997: the Prix Opus Composer of the Year award from the Conseil Quebecois de la Culture and the Joseph S. Stauffer Prize from the Canada Council for the Arts.  More recently, Bouchard received a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts, which enables her to study sound analysis with IRCAM�s Forum in San Francisco, where she currently lives.

ACU Department of Music, �Exquisite Fires: Linda Bouchard and Jane Brockman� [website], 28  February 2000 [cited 1 December 2001];   http://music.acu.edu/www/iawm/pages/earth/comp/bouchardbrockman.html.

Canadian Music Centre, �Linda Bouchard� [website], 16 April 1999 [cited 1 December 2001];
     http://www.musiccentre.ca/CMC/dac_rca/eng/a_/Bouchard_Linda.html.