Andrew Balfour

Andrew Balfour

About Andrew Balfour

Of Cree descent (from Fisher River First Nation), Winnipeg born, Toronto based  composer Andrew Balfour is an innovative composer/conductor/singer/sound designer with a large body of choral, instrumental, electro-acoustic and orchestral  works, including, Nagamo (album), Captive, Notinakew, Take the Indian (A Vocal  reflection on Missing Children), Empire Étrange: The Death of Louis Riel, Migiis: A  Whiteshell Soundscape, Bawajigaywin (Vision Quest), Gregorio’s Nightmare, Wa  Wa Tey Wak (Northern Lights), Fantasia on a Poem by Rumi, Missa Brevis and  Medieval Inuit, Quamaniq, Manitou Sky-An orchestral tone poem. His Opera,  Mishabooz’s Realm was premiered in Montreal and Halliburton, Ontario in 2017  commissioned by L’Atelier Lyrique de Opéra de Montréal and Highlands Opera  Workshop. He has also been commissioned by the Viva Singers, Kronos Winnipeg,  Regina and Toronto Symphony Orchestras, Calgary Philharmonic, Tafelmusik,  Music Intima, Gryphon Trio Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, Ensemble Caprice,  Groundswell, the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra, the Winnipeg Singers, the Kingston  Chamber Choir and Camerata Nova, among many others. His works have been  performed and/or broadcast locally, nationally and internationally. More recently  he has returned from a nations tour of his album Nagamo, commissioned and  performed by the Vancouver based chamber choir Musica Intima and nominated  for a 2023 Juno award. 

Andrew has also worked and collaborated with many of Canada’s leading  Indigenous musicians. In 2010, he wrote a major orchestral work called Oscana, for  Buffy Sainte-Marie and the Regina Symphony Orchestra. He has worked and  collaborated extensively with artists such as Jeremy Dutcher, Cris Derksen,  Lindsay ‘Eekwol’ Knight, Eliot Britten, Madeline Alakkariallak, Sylvia Cloutier,  Walter White Bear MacDonald, Melody McKivor, Sonny Day-Rider, Vince Fontaine,  and bands Eagle and Hawk and Indian City. He has collaborated with award  winning Indigenous writers such as Katerina Vermette and Dr. Duke Redbird. In  2017, while writing and performing in his Indigenous opera, Mishabooz’s Realm, he  works and is advised by cultural and language keepers depending on the project,  including Kevin Deer (Mohawk), Cory Campbell (Anishinaabe) and Ryan Arcand  (Cree). In 2021 Andrew co-lead the Indigenous Classical Music summit at the  Banff Centre for the Arts. 

Andrew is also the founder and Artistic Director of the innovative, 14-member  vocal group Dead of Winter now in its 22nd year of offering a concert series in  Winnipeg. Through this position, Andrew has specialized in creating “concept  concerts” with Indigenous subject matter and collaborators. These innovative  

offerings explore a theme through an eclectic array of music, including new works,  arrangements and innovative inter-genre and interdisciplinary collaborations.

Andrew is passionate about music education and outreach, particularly in  northern communities and inner city schools where he has worked on behalf of the  National Arts Centre, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and various school  divisions for the past ten years. 

Andrew was Curator and Composer-in-Residence of the WSO’s Indigenous  Festivals in 2009 and 2010 and in 2007 received the Mayor of Winnipeg’s Making  a Mark Award, sponsored by the Winnipeg Arts Council to recognize the most  promising midcareer artist in the City. In 2017 he was awarded the Canadian  Senate Gold Medal for artistic achievement. 

Andrew’s 2023-24 season includes new commissions for Koerner Hall (Truth and  Reconciliation day concert in Toronto, Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra (with Zoey  Roy), Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus, Dead of Winter, Niagara  Chorus, Exalte Choir, and Caravan Theatre (theatre)

Events with Andrew Balfour