Item 7.171 - Music for the film : Dizziness

Talivaldis Kenins, a composer and teacher, was born in Liepaja, Latvia on April 23, 1919. He received a Bachelier des lettres from the College de Menton and Lycee de Grenoble in France in 1939, before studying composition at the State Conservatory in Riga with Joseph Wihtol. During the second Soviet occupation of Latvia following World War Two, he returned to France, and entered the Conservatoire National Superieur de Paris in 1945, where he studied with Simone Plé-Caussade, Tony Aubin and Olivier Messiaen, among others. There, he received the Perilhou, Gouy d'Arcy and Halphen music prizes, and graduated in 1950 with the Grand Prix Laureate in composition.

Kenins emigrated to Canada in 1951, where he was the organist and music directory at St. Andrews Latvian Lutheran Church in Toronto. In 1952, he joined the Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto, where he taught composition and contrapuntal techniques until his retirement in 1984. Kenins composed chamber music, eight symphonies, twelve concertos, three cantatas, an oratorio, several choral works, and various educational pieces. His awards and honours include: the Champollion Silver Medal (Grenoble), Officer of the National Three-Star Order of the Republic of Latvia, and Honourary Professor by the Music Academy of Latvia.

Kenins passed away in Toronto on January 20, 2008.

Gustav Ciamaga was born on April 10, 1930 and is predominantly known for his work in electronic music. He studied at the University of Western Ontario (1951-1954) while also studying privately with Gordon Delamont, before attending the University of Toronto where he studied with John Weinzweig and John Beckwith. He received is Master of Fine Arts (MFA) from Brandeis University, where he studied with Arthur Berger, Harold Shapero, and Irving Fine. He organized an electronic studio at Brandeis University in 1963, before joining the faculty at the University of Toronto (1963), where he became the director of the Electronic Music Studio in 1965. He was also the chairman of the theory and composition department (1968) and then dean of the Faculty of Music (1977-1984) and acting principal of the Royal Conservatory of Music Toronto (RCMT, 1983-1984). He passed away on June 11, 2011.