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There have been times when composers (and playwrights, and...) were supported by the church, or by royal courts.

There have been times of strong artistic patronage by the wealthy.

Now, artists of all kinds are primarily supported by government grants.  But as the Canada Council celebrates its 50th anniversary, their financial commitment to everything they fund (commissions as well as operating grants, development grants, etc.) amounts to $5 per citizen per year.   Let's break that down: FIVE DOLLARS (the cost of a frappucino) per citizen (of a none-too-populated countre) per YEAR.  Yes, there are other granting bodies, but grants are never certain, and are less certain all the time.  Competition is fierce, and budgets are being reduced and reduced.  And now the primary artistic granting body in Canada, the figurehead of all granting bodies, has as little as this to spend on the arts.

Are you an artistic consumer?  Do you consume far more than $5 worth of art per year?  How much of it is free?  How much is a bargain for what you get?

I don't believe that you can put a price tag on art that doesn't sit funny.  But I do know that art takes time to make, and that money buys me time.  Time and space away from the kind of work life that, for me, makes art impossible.  

   Clearly, I need to make compromises - take jobs to keep myself in house and food.  But I also hope that a culture of artistic patronage can rise again to fill the gap left by the Canadian government.

If you like art, and if you think that art and artists are worth money, please help them to buy the TIME to do what they do best!  One way to do this is to commission artworks.


COMMISSIONING

I am a composer and writer.  I write songs, string quartets, symphonies, electronic music, choral works, poems, plays, novels, essays and all sorts of other things in the realms of music and writing.  I have a lot of ideas.  I have produced a large body of work and I have much more to produce.  I like to work with others' ideas and produce artworks for other musicians and actors etc.

Please check out the SAMPLES of my work on this website.  Please check out my work live.  If you like what I do, if you want more, if you want a work of art for you to perform or for you to frame, something dedicated to you or yours, please consider commissioning me.

Rates are negotiable.  Get in touch and tell me what you're thinking.