Bill Brennan - CV
Bill Brennan-pianist/producer/composer/percussionist
Born Sept. 25, 1964
St. John's, Nfld.
(709)-753-5987
12 Cathedral St.
St. John's, Nfld.
A1C 3Y5
Producer Credits
Solo Piano 2 - Bill Brennan 2008 (Producer/Composer/Performer)
Solo Piano – Bill Brennan 2006 (Producer/Composer/Performer)
Spanner – Spanner 2005 (Producer)
Sisters - The Palmer Girls 2004 (Producer/Arranger)
Country Retreat - Solitudes 2003 (Producer/ Composer/ Arranger/ Performer)
Irish Piano - Reflections 2003 (Producer/ Arranger/ Solo Performer)
Surgeons of the Future - Nature of Things Documentary 2001 (Producer/ Composer/ Performer)
Mario Russell - Chesterfield Inlet - Independent 1995 (Producer/ Composer/ Performer)
Ladycove Women’s Choir – Independent 2006 (Producer)
Artistic Direction
Sound Symposium (2001-present)
Musical Direction
The Vinyl Café (CBC)
A Christmas Candlelight Evening (CBC-TV)
The Roots Orchestra (Halifax/St. John’s Jazz Festivals co-production)
Sarah Chase Dance Stories
Building Jerusalem (Award-winning play by Michael Redhill)
Motion Picture Score Performances
The Ice Storm - dir. Ang Lee
Antwone Fisher - dir. Denzel Washington
Performance Recordings
North of Java - Evergreen Club Contemporary Gamelan
Road to Ubud - Evergreen Club Contemporary Gamelan
Palace - Evergreen Club Contemporary Gamelan
Gamelan Solo - Evergreen Club Contemporary Gamelan
Hemispheres 1 - Hemispheres
Chaser - Hemispheres
O Bali - CBC (Musica Viva)
Esprit Orchestra - Esprit Orchestra (CBC SM-5000)
Introduction to Canadian Music - NAXOS Records
Continuum - Independent
The Ice Storm soundtrack - Velvet Records
Taklamakan - Lee Pui Ming
Mario Russell - Chesterfield Inlet
We Were Talking - Vuja De
Mudancas - Vuja De
Mistura - Vuja De
Folkalarm - Kevin Breit
All Good Babies Go to War - Sisters Euclid
Radio Fusebox - Andy Stochansky
Cactus Flowers - Yvette Tollar
Orrachan - Teresa Doyle
If Fish Could Sing - Teresa Doyle
Performance Recordings – con’t
Cradle On The Waves - Teresa Doyle
Thermal Quartet - Steve Cole
Coming of Age - Andrea Koziol
Simple - Andrea Koziol
Eavesdropping - Anne Lindsay
Heillig Manouevre - Heillig Manouevre
Mozart Deutche Tanze - Tafelmusik
Inside Outside - Phil Disera
Strange Hearts - Gloria Blizzard
Gift of Messiah (independent with Catherine Robbin and Friends)
From the Inside Out - Loretto Reid Band
Country Retreat - Solitudes
Seaside Retreat - Solitudes
The Piper's Journey - Sommerset Records
Bagpipe Classics - Reflections
Canadiana - Solitudes
Irish Piano - Reflections
A Celtic Romance - Mychael Danna
Kevin Barrett Trio - Kevin Barrett
Gros Morne - Independent
The Sweetest Noise - Rebecca Campbell and Justin Haynes
Sisters - The Palmer Girls
Lakeside Retreat - Solitudes Records
Celtic Heart - Avalon Music
Celtic Devotion - Avalon Music
Celtic Voices - Sommerset Music
Celtica - Avalon Music
Celtic Dance - Avalon Music
Voice of Comfort - Avalon Music
The Piper's Christmas - Avalon Music
The Piper's Legacy - Avalon Music
Mitsue - Mika Yoshida
Snook's Christmas – Snook
Snook’s Childhood - Snook
Last Man Standing - Barry Canning
Rossini and Verdi Rarities - CBC Records
Patria R. Murray Schafer - Opening Day
Come From Every Way - Anne Lederman
Happy Day - John Millard and Happy Day
Brand New Remedy - Tamara Bernier
In A Room - Daniel Janke
13 April - Zoebliss
Gzowski In Compilation - Analekta
The Newfie Bullet - Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra
Hold Out - Pat Boyle
Land And Sea - Sandy Morris
Touch Wood - Mark Duggan
A Million Stars - Oliver Schroer
News From Up The Street – Anne Lindsay
Awards
Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council Artist of the Year 2006
City of St. John’s Arts Award 2004, 2006
Nfld. And Lab. Arts Council Grant 2003, 2005
Freddie Stone Memorial Award (1999)
Ontario Arts Council Popular Music Grant for Chesterfield Inlet 1995
Toronto Arts Council Grant to write Belo Horizonte 2000
Laidlaw Commission to write new work for the ensemble Hemispheres 1992
(Pradalah completed June 1994)
Commission to write new work for Sound Symposium 1994
(Pradalahm completed June 1994)
Compositions
AM's Waltz 2001- solo piano
Pere Lachaise - 2003 - solo piano
Nanos - Music for the documentary "Surgeons of the Future" produced by CBC-TV's "The
Nature of Things" 2001
Muzz - piano solo for dancer Sarah Chase 1997
Belo Horizonte - percussion trio 2001
Locomotif - jazz ensemble 2000
Alegria - marimba duet 1996
Pradalahm - percussion and voice 1994
Pradalah - trumpet, saxophone and percussion 1994
Look Out - percussion duo 1994
Quepos - mbira solo 1994
Just a Small Song - piano, voice, percussion and vibraphone 1994
T'rain - piano solo 1994
Nostalgie - solo piano 1993
Time Piece - jazz ensemble 1994
Alma Chillin' - mbira and marimba 1993
Sudando - jazz ensemble 1993
Many other compositions
Music for Theatre
The Way of the Sea – Kent Stetson
Bed, Breakfast and Beyond – Dave Sullivan
Building Jerusalem – Michael Redhill
Performance Experience
Contemporary:
Evergreen Club Contemporary Gamelan (1984-present)
New Music Concerts (1988-2002)
Fusion (1980-1982)
Continuum (1990-2002)
Hemispheres Music Projects (1990-1999)
Batterie Park Percussion Group (1990-2000)
Esprit Orchestra (1886-2001)
Jazz:
Vuja De (1993-present)
Heillig Manouevre (1999-2004)
Chesterfield Inlet (1992-present)
Folk:
Loretto Reid Band (1996-present)
Betty and The Bobs (1999-present)
Orchestral:
Canadian Opera Company (1988-1996)
Esprit Orchestra (1985-2001)
National Ballet of Canada (1987-1995)
Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony (1987-1995)
National Youth Orchestra (1983-1987)
Performance Highlights
Musical Director of CBC's "Vinyl Café with Stuart MacLean" (1997-2004)
Nine tours to Japan as soloist and ensemble player with Mika Yoshida (1998-present)
Sound Symposia, St. John's, Nfld. 1984-2004
Performances at the Szene Festival (Salzburg, Austria) with Sarah Chase 1999 and 2001
Winnipeg Folk Festival 1996 with Chesterfield Inlet
Owen Sound Folk Festival 2002 with Betty and the Bobs
Canada Day celebrations at Expo 1998 Lisbon, Portugal with Musaic
Musical back up for Cab Calloway, Eartha Kitt, Placido Domingo and Dizzy Gillespie
Numerous tours with Sarah Chase to Norway, Belgium, Austria, Germany, France, and Canada
Expo 2000 performance with Peter Erskine, NEXUS and Evergreen Club
Soloist with the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra 2007
Festival Performances
Bergen International Theatre Festival (Bergen, Norway)
Danse in Kortrijk (Kortrijk, Belgium)
Winnipeg Folk Festival
Canada Dance Festival (Ottawa)
Festival Internationale de Nouvelle Danse (Montreal)
Toronto Jazz Festival
Halifax Jazz Festival
Theatre de Welt (Germany)
Mariposa Folk Festival (Orillia)
Hornby Arts Festival (British Columbia)
Victoriaville Festivale de Music Actuelle
Massey Hall New Music Festival
Expo 1998 Lisbon, Portugal
Sound Symposium
Dance 2006 (Munich, Germany)