Ian Cusson

Ian Cusson (born August 24th, 1981) is a composer of Georgian Bay Métis and French Canadian heritage. His works include, opera, art song, chamber music and orchestral compositions as well as some choral and solo repertoire. Cusson's work is often centered around the Canadian Indigenous Experience and explores the intersection of Western and Indigenous cultures, the duality of mixed-racial identity and the cultural history of the Métis people.
Cusson studied composition with Jake Heggie in San Francisco and Samuel Dolin in Toronto. He also attended the Glenn Gould School where he studied piano with James Anagnoson.
He currently lives in Collingwood with his wife Aidan Cusson and their four children. 
==Awards and Commissions==
Cusson has received commissions from several Canadian cultural organisations including the NAC, the COC, the Banff Centre, Calgary Opera, Vancouver Opera, Edmonton Opera, Against the Grain Theatre, Tapestry Opera, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Victoria Symphony, and the National Youth Orchestra of Canada.
In 2021, Cusson was the recipient of SOCAN’S Jan V. Matejcek Classical Music Award and the Johanna Metcalf Performing Arts Prize. He has received support from granting bodies such as the Canada Council, the Ontario Arts Council, the Toronto Arts Council, the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundationand was the recipient of the Chalmers Professional Development Grant in 2015. 
==List of Works==
===Opera===
Title 	Librettist 	Producer/Commisioner 	Year
Indians on Vacation 	Royce Vavrek 	Against the Grain Theatre/Edmonton Opera	Forthcoming
Namwayut 	Yvette Nolan 	Calgary Opera 	Forthcoming
Of the Sea 	Kanika Ambrose	Tapestry Opera/ Obsidian Theatre 	2023
The Drawing Room (a chamber opera)	André Alexis 	Confluence Concerts 	2022
Fantasma (a chamber opera) 	Colleen Murphy	Canadian Opera Company 	2022
===Songs & Song Cycles===
Title 	Text 	Forces 	Commisioners/Producers 	Year
Love Songs on Poems of Michael Ondaatje	Michael Ondaatje 	Song Cycle for
Voice and Piano 	Müzewest Concerts 	2023
Songs from the House of Death 	Joy Harjo 	Song Cycle for
Voice and Orchestra/piano 	Vancouver Symphony/Victoria Symphony	2022
Le Récital des anges 	Émile Nelligan 	Song Cycle for
Voice and piano/orchestra 	 	2019
Where There's a Wall 	Joy Kogawa 	Song Cycle for
Voice and piano/sextet/orchestra 	National Arts Centre Orchestra 	2018
Five Songs on Poems of Marilyn Dumont 	Marilyn Dumont 	Song Cycle for voice and piano quintet/string quartet/piano	Toronto Concert Orchestra 	2020
A Breakfast for Barbarians 	Gwendolyn McEwen 	Song Cycle for voice, piano 	 	2016
Dodo, mon tout petit 	Mavor Moore 	Aria written for Somers/Moore's opera Louis Riel 	Commissioned by the COC/NAC 	2019
J'adore les orages 	Michel Marc Bouchard	Concert Aria for Mezzo, orchestra/piano 	 	2015
I saw a woman at the mill 	Ian Cusson 	Concert Aria for Mezzo and orchestra/piano 	Native Earth Performing Arts 	2016
===Choral Works===
Title 	Text 	Forces 	Commisioners/Producers 	Year
ziibiwan (like a river) 	Katherena Vermette 	16 unaccompanied voices 	Aspirare Vocal Collective	2021
In Winter 	Katherena Vermette 	Soprano, chorus, orchestra	Canadian Opera Company 	2021
Different Perspectives 	Couronne de Canada Youth Collective 	SSA, orchestra 	Toronto Concert Orchestra	2017
Kill us with your goodness (choral)	Salomon Franck (translated by Ian Cusson)	Chorale 	Grace Toronto Church 	2017
===Chamber===
Title 	Forces 	Commisioners/Producers 	Year
To Live 	Flute, oboe, bassoon, horn, tenor trombone, violin, viola, cello	Toronto Symphony Orchestra/CAMH	2023
The Cure of Madness 	String trio 	Trio Arkel 	2022
Sonata for Oboe and Piano 	Oboe, piano 	Charles Hamman 	2020
The Garden of Earthly Delights	Violin, piano 	Duo Concertate 	2020
The Children are Laughing 	Accordion/piano, piccolo/flute/soprano, flute/piano, double bass	Hybridity Ensemble 	2016
===Orchestral===
Title 	Forces 	Commisioners/Producers 	Year
Ikiru 	Orchestra	Toronto Symphony Orchestra 	Forthcoming 2024
Le loup de la fontaine 	Orchestra	National Arts Centre Orchestra 	2019, revised 2023
Apiksituaqn (Forgiveness)	Band 	National Arts Centre Music Alive Program	2019
Tableau Viviant 	Orchestra	Ontario Arts Council 	2018
A Child's Bright Eyes 	Orchestra	National Youth Orchestra of Canada 	2017
===Solo===
Title 	Forces 	Commisioners/Producers 	Year
Frozen Roads 	Solo piano, prerecorded voice	Megumi Masaki 	2022
Atmosphere 	Solo bass clarinet 	National Arts Centre Orchestra &
Sean Rice	2022
La Pieta (after monkman)	Solo cello 	Eckhardt Gramatté Competition	2021
Three dances 	Solo viola 	 	2015
Category:1981 births
Category:Operas
Category:Art songs
Category:Composers