About ONMC
About ONMC
Ottawa New Music Creators is a non-profit presenter of new music and a resource for contemporary musicians and composers.
ONMC is lead by Artistic Directors SHHH!! Ensemble and Executive Director Curtis Perry, under the guidance of a Board of Directors.
The organization was founded in 2008 by composers Evan Ware, James Wright, Colin Mack, Gary Hayes, Joanna Estelle, Deirdre Piper, and Giles Leclerc.
Since 2012, ONMC has produced an annual four to five concert season that highlights the work of Ottawa-based and Canadian composers. Through commissioning projects and calls-for-scores the ONMC strives to create opportunities for the National Capital Region’s resident new music practitioners.
ONMC Team
Artistic Directors, SHHH!! Ensemble
SHHH!! Ensemble is the piano/percussion duo of percussionist Zac Pulak and pianist Edana Higham, an Ottawa-based duo dedicated to the creation of new and innovative works. Zac and Edana present programs that are accessible and groundbreaking, commissioning works by emerging creative Canadian voices while collaborating with luminaries such as John Beckwith, Jocelyn Morlock, and Kelly-Marie Murphy. SHHH!! Ensemble has performed from Western Canada to the Atlantic provinces, appearing in Ottawa’s Shenkman Arts Centre, Calgary’s Eckhardt-Gramatté Hall, Toronto’s Trinity Church, Edmonton’s Convocation Hall, and many more.
In 2017 and 2018, SHHH!! Ensemble developed their immersive and appealing “avant-accessible” programs through residencies at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity and Belgium’s Vormingscentrum Destelheide, with the additional support of the Canadian Music Centre and the ARTicipate Endowment Fund. The National Arts Centre, the Health Arts Society Ontario (Concerts in Care), OrKidstra, and more have partnered with SHHH!! Ensemble to present these captivating programs for students and communities.
2020 highlights included a live-streamed National Arts Centre #CanadaPerforms concert, the World Premiere of JUNO-winning composer Jocelyn Morlock’s “Spirit Gradient” with the Tuckamore Chamber Music Festival, and a Toronto live-for-broadcast debut performance which was featured on CBC Radio 2’s “In Concert”. During a week’s residency at The Canadian Music Centre in January, SHHH!! Ensemble created their “Spirits” program, which was then performed at venues and universities across Canada. “Spirits” combines works by Bach, Andy Akiho, Micheline Roi, and John Gordon Armstrong in a presentation which reflects on the nature of creativity and meditation (as well as Scotch whisky and the beyond!). Toronto’s Confluence Concerts calls it “truly virtuosic and intense”.
During 2020-21, SHHH!! Ensemble was selected to participate in the Banff Centre for Arts & Creativity’s inaugural Evolution: Classical residency and EvoFest Concert Series directed by the Gryphon Trio, featuring classical musicians from Toronto, New York, London (UK), and more in programs celebrating tradition, new creation, and curatorial innovation. SHHH!! Ensemble’s own EvoFest program, developed and presented in partnership with the National Arts Centre, was recorded at the Venturing Hills Concert Studio in Luskville, QC.
Zac and Edana have been named co-Artistic Directors of the Ottawa New Music Creators for 2021-2023, and will be premiering Kelly Marie Murphy’s Double Concerto with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra in January, 2022. Their upcoming debut CD, Meanwhile, is soon to be released on the Analekta label.
For more information about SHHH!! Ensemble, visit their website here.
Executive Director, Curtis Perry
Curtis Perry has led a multi-faceted life, having written music played by the NACO and members of Tafelmusik, as well as published writing on CBC Arts, and other publications such as the Carleton University-based Trailaurality project—a public musicology effort focusing on the impact of music and sound in film trailers.
Having stewarded ONMC since 2013, he has many well-worn hats—including but not limited to poster design, photography, event coordination, and marketing communications.
Curtis holds an MA in Music and Culture and enjoys a career as a teacher with the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board.
Board Members
Hayden McGowan, Kim Farris-Manning, Sean Clarke, Benjamin Sajo