TIM CORLIS: COMPOSER OF SOUNDING THUNDER: THE SONG OF FRANCIS PEGAHMAGABOW, AT TORONTO SUMMER MUSIC FESTIVAL ON JULY 23, REMEMBERS, “THE BIGGEST TURNING POINT IN MY LIFE WAS WHEN I MADE A DECISION TO MEDITATE REGULARLY AND DEVOTE MY ARTISTIC TIME TO WRITING MUSIC THAT SPEAKS FROM THE HEART” … A REVIEWER’S INTERVIEW WITH PEOPLE IN THE ARTS

JAMES STRECKER: If you were asked for 50 words for an encyclopedia to summarize what you do, or have done, in the arts, what would you say?

TIM CORLIS: My work, as a composer, singer, and choral director, has often had the goal of intercultural collaboration in mind. I enjoy the experience of working with artists from different cultures. I love the opportunities it creates to see (and hear) without being influenced by negative stereotypes, through the universal language of music.

JS: What important beliefs do you express in or through your work?

TC: I believe that the arts in general are a window to the artist’s soul. Music, more specifically, has a tremendous capacity to open the heart. This is what I always hope for when I write, an opening of my own heart and hopefully others will feel that.

JS: Name two people, living or dead, whom you admire a great deal and tell us why for each one.

TC: I am very much influenced and thankful for the mentorship of my teacher Christos Hatzis, someone who I would identify as one of Canada’s greatest composers. His work will have a lasting impact and in many ways he forged a path of intercultural composition at a time when it was much less popular. I also admire John Adams, who is equally bold in the way he writes.

JS: How have you changed since you began to do creative work?

TC: Being a composer for a living, if you commit to it, will change you. There are many reasons for this, one of which is the simple mechanics of it. It’s a time-consuming task and to do it well, you have to throw yourself into it fully. I find myself sometimes becoming like a method actor taking on the content of the music, I start to see echoes of my work in my personal life, the themes of the composition appearing in my own experiences with peers and colleagues.

JS: What are your biggest challenges as a creative person?

TC: One of the most challenging realities of being a composer in this day and age is that it’s not seen as a profession by most. I’ve often been asked the question, after introducing myself as a composer, “yes, but what do you do for money…” or “can you make a living at that?” It’s hard to imagine a similar response to someone who introduces themselves as a plumber or lawyer. This is partly because of cultural perceptions of the arts or music composition as a frivolous activity.

JS: Please describe at least one major turning point in your life.

TC: The biggest turning point in my life was when I made a decision to meditate regularly and devote my artistic time to writing music that speaks from the heart. This decision was influenced by the writings of Sri Chinmoy, among others. He was a composer, performer, visual artist, and meditation teacher who always emphasized the role of music as a heart centred spiritual awakener.

JS: What are the hardest things for an outsider to understand about what you do?

TC: Writing music takes a lot of time. There’s a reason why most great composers only wrote 8 or 9 symphonies. In this day and age, the craft of composition has changed dramatically because of the impact of computer software. Music can be composed quickly using prefabricated methods, through sampling and synthesizers. Some composers, like Hans Zimmer or Don Davies for example, use these methods to create new and interesting blends between the classical idioms and electronic. However, the overall impact that I perceive, is a change in perception of the value of music. Because of the increased efficiency for creating certain types of music, the perception of the value of original composition has declined. This, combined with the fact that mp3’s are readily available for free (or almost free) makes it challenging to be in the business of creating music for a living. Having said that, I’m always encouraged by those who appreciate and value the creation of new works. Certainly, the performers and administrators involved in Sounding Thunder are in this category.

JS: How and why did you begin to do creative work in the first place?

TC: My composing career started quite late. I was almost 30 when I decided to write music professionally. Before that, I had completed degrees in Physics, Anthropology, Social and Political Thought, and studied at the Institute for Gandhian Studies in Wardha, India. This was to my advantage in many ways, because I saw composition as a means to communicate ideas and interests that I’d explored outside of music.

JS: What haven’t you attempted as yet that you would like to do and please tell us why?

TC: I’d like work and live in a culture other than western culture, and write new music while in that context. This form of musical anthropology interests me – music composition with anthropological goals behind it.

JS: What are your most meaningful achievements?

TC: The work I’ve done on Sounding Thunder is very meaningful work. The collaborators are very on-board with the goal behind the work, of truth and reconciliation, and of honouring an important Canadian, who was both a soldier and a member of the Ojibwe Nation.

I’m also proud of my work as a director with the Vancouver Peace Choir, a group that has created some fascinating collaborations. Not my own pieces but other composers. For example, we commissioned Iman Habibi who wrote Colour of Freedom about the struggle for democracy in Iran. Also, we have worked with Kirsten and Randy Wood creating intercultural performances between First Nations music and western choral music.

JS: What advice would you give a young person who would like to do what you do?

TC: The best measure of artistic success is realizing that you’ll never succeed and keeping doing it.

JS: Of what value are critics?

TC: Tremendous value, especially in this day-and-age of media sharing – an experienced critic, much like a reporter has a responsibility to journalistic principles, upholding honestly and truthful practice, not propagating false news, or harmful myths. This is more and more valuable in today’s information society.

JS: What do you ask of your audience?

TC: Just to enjoy the experience and hopefully to feel open to being moved or touched by the music.

JS: What specifically would you change about what goes on in the world and the arts?

TC: Music in the Western context tends to be over-intellectualized. I’ve seen this many times in my experience as a professor. Young, talented performers or composers, often feel inhibited by the pedagogical demands and develop a separation between their voice and their soul, almost like the schooling process has a mandate to domesticate music. I suppose this makes sense in some ways since music is a fundamentally untamed experience at its core and often threatening because of this.

JS: If you could relive one experience from your creative life, what would it be and why would you do so?

TC: Can’t really think of something I’d like to go back to at the moment. Too many things to look forward to.

JS: Tell us what it feels like to be a figure who is presented somehow in the media. What effect does this presence have on you?

TC: Everyone is present in the media now.
JS: Name two places you would like to visit, one you haven’t been to and one to experience again and briefly tell us why.

TC: I lived in India for a brief time. I would definitely love to live in that part of the world again, in west Bengal area. The culture is very full, so much of the country is elaborately and artistically curated for the purpose of meditation and spirituality. The concept of “secular” has never really sunk in there.

JS: Please tell us about one or more projects that you have been working on, are preparing, or have recently completed. Why do they matter to you and why should they matter to us?

TC: I am currently working on Sounding Thunder, a piece commissioned by James Campbell and the Festival of the Sound. The project is intended to be a true collaboration, where the outcome has been shaped deeply by the perspectives of both cultures. In that sense it is a bicultural work of art, both First Nations and settler culture coming together to honour an important historical figure, Francis Pegahmagabow.

The collaborators are from both First Nations’ traditions and Western classical music traditions. My own background is as European as they get, with ancestors from Great Brittan and Germany, most likely some Jewish roots from before WWII. Armand Ruffo, the project’s writer is an Ojibwe author whose ancestors go back in Ontario thousands of years. Also, we’ve worked closely with Brian McInnes, Francis Pegahmagabow’s great grandson, and a professor at University of Minnesota. He will be playing the role of the narrator. In addition to Brian, the performers are James Campbell, Jennifer Kreisberg, Waawaate Fobister, Jodi Baker, Beverly Johnston, Guy Few, James McKay, Joel Quarrington, Mark Fewer, Rachel Thomas, and Larry Beckwith.

JS: Let’s talk about the state of the arts in today’s society, including the forms in which you work. What specifically gives you hope and what specifically do you find depressing?

TC: This project gives me lots of hope. Not sure if there’s anything about music that I find depressing.

JS: Finally, what do you yourself find to be the most intriguing and/or surprising thing about you?

TC: Difficult to answer this one… We’re not always the best judges on our own unique qualities. Often strengths that we perceive are really weaknesses and the things we are not happy with in ourselves, are what distinguish us.