Slaight Music Residents Showcase Their Film Compositions

By Kerry Doole

Despite Raptors-mania and torrential rain on the streets outside, a large crowd attended the annual Slaight Music Residency showcase at TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto on Monday night. The attendees were treated to an entertaining hour-long event that displayed the formidable talents of the six composers who have just completed the 2018 Slaight Music Residency at the Canadian Film Centre. In this intensive program, the residents attended 79 sessions and workshops with highly-qualified industry mentors.

At the event, CFC CEO Slawko Klymkiw stressed that "this is a very important program to us, and our graduates have done remarkably well in film and television." He also thanked the Slaight Family Foundation for its support.

Short demos featuring original music from the residents were screened, followed by five short cinematic pieces featuring original scores and songs they had created. In some cases, they had also scripted short films.

The graduating residents then received their certificates from Lesley Barber, Composer Chair of The Slaight Family Music Lab, and Slaight Music President Derrick Ross then returned to the stage to display their musical wares with a 12-minute performance of excerpts from some notable film music, including compositions from David Bowie and Jonny Greenwood.

Also announced at the event by CFC's Chief Programs Officer Kathryn Emslie were the 2019 Slaight Music Residents: Anthony Wallace, Casey Laforet, Iva Delic, TiKA, Simon Poole, Kat Burns.