Karen Sunabacka (MB) (2010–12)

“As a com­pos­er, a new music con­cert pro­mot­er, and a com­po­si­tion Pro­fes­sor in Win­nipeg and Man­i­to­ba, I feel that it is impor­tant for the new music com­mu­ni­ty of Cana­da to work togeth­er for the bet­ter­ment of music in Cana­da. Since my first intro­duc­tion to CNMN at the 2007 meet­ing in Win­nipeg, I have been impressed and inspired by the work of this orga­ni­za­tion. As a board mem­ber for Groundswell, I would like to con­tin­ue the ties that oth­er Groundswell board mem­bers have already estab­lished with CNMN.” [2010]

Born in Win­nipeg, Cana­da, Karen has been study­ing music since she was four. She is an Assis­tant Pro­fes­sor in Music The­o­ry and Com­po­si­tion at Prov­i­dence Col­lege in Otter­burne, Man­i­to­ba. In March 2008 she grad­u­at­ed from the Uni­ver­si­ty of Cal­i­for­nia, Davis with a PhD in The­o­ry and Composition.

With her orches­tra com­po­si­tion “And There Was A Great Calm,” Karen won the Cana­di­an Music Cen­tre, Prairie Region, Emerg­ing Com­posers Com­pe­ti­tion. This piece was then per­formed at the Win­nipeg Sym­pho­ny Orchestra’s New Music Fes­ti­val in Feb­ru­ary 2009.

Karen has also had pieces per­formed by Groundswell (Win­nipeg), the Empyre­an Ensem­ble in Davis (Cal­i­for­nia), the Bran­don Cham­ber Play­ers (Cana­da), Left Coast Ensem­ble (San Fran­cis­co), Agas­siz Cham­ber Play­ers (Win­nipeg), St. Margaret’s Angli­can Church Choir (Win­nipeg), St. Stephen’s Epis­co­pal Church in Belvedere (Cal­i­for­nia) and the Van­cou­ver Sym­pho­ny Orches­tra (read­ing ses­sion) con­duct­ed by Mae­stro Bramwell Tovey. She has received com­mis­sions from Groundswell, the Bran­don Cham­ber Play­ers, the Agas­siz Cham­ber Play­ers and St. Margaret’s Angli­can Church.

Karen has pre­sent­ed aca­d­e­m­ic papers about women’s voic­es and elec­troa­coustic music in Paris, Los Ange­les and Mon­tre­al. Her elec­tron­ic music has been pre­sent­ed at numer­ous con­certs and fes­ti­vals includ­ing: Cellofest at UCDavis, CNMAT (Cen­ter for New Music and Audio Tech­nol­o­gy) in Berke­ley,Merg­ing Voic­es: Women in New Music Fes­ti­val in Fuller­ton, Cal­i­for­nia and at the Elec­tric Rain­bow Coali­tion, an elec­tron­ic music fes­ti­val at Dart­mouth Col­lege in New Hampshire.

In 2006 Karen won the pres­ti­gious UCDavis Out­stand­ing Grad­u­ate Stu­dent Teach­ing Award and loves teach­ing music to stu­dents of all ages. Her com­mit­ment to teach­ing youth led her to found a Sum­mer Arts Camp in Win­nipeg for teens and chil­dren; she served as the direc­tor for three years. An avid canoeist, she has led and direct­ed many canoe trips and finds much of her inspi­ra­tion from the outdoors.

Her web site