Classical guitarist William Beauvais has been a fixture on the Toronto music scene for about five decades. He’s been a teacher, performer, and creator, and he’ll be performing in a farewell celebration on May 2. A long list of alumni from his teaching career will be joining him on stage.
Joining him on stage, from Windsor to Kingston and in between, will be Jeff Hanlon, Bilal Nasser, Liam Jaeger, Sam Mason, Chris Russo, Soloman Younan, Maximilian Henein, Brent Wirth, Dave Hills, Sol Younan, and Ishmael Abou Hamid.
William Beauvais plays Meditation Upon the Ruins by Nuno Judice:
William Beauvais
Canadian classical guitarist and composer William Eugene Beauvais has performed across North America and in Europe.
He earned a Bachelor of Music in Music Performance at the University of Toronto. He won first prize both at the Canadian Music Competition and in the Carrefour Mondial de Guitare in Martinque not long after graduating.
William is known by many guitarists across Ontario for his long career as a teacher at York University, The Royal Conservatory of Music, Queen’s University and the University of Windsor.
He has been a recording artist for more than 30 years, with his 1991 recording of The Bulgarian Dances on the Musica Viva label probably his best known work.
On recordings and in performance, he has worked with a wide range of artists, including Brian Katz, The Evergreen Club, Arraymusic, New Music Concerts, Alan Hetherington, The Canadian Chamber Ensemble and Les Amis Concerts. He has collaborated with choreographers and poets, including Steven McCabe, Richard Truhlar and Wayne Keon. Beauvais has premiered music by composers such as George Crumb, Elliott Carter, Jon Siddall, Stephen Wingfield, Ronald Bruce Smith and Chris Harman.
More recently, he has focused on composition. Beauvais has written and arranged music for Mezzo-soprano Maria Soulis and violinist Joyce Lai for the Golden Branches – Silver Leaves CD. He has also written music for The Montreal Guitar Trio, the Canadian Music Centre, Jeffrey McFadden, Emma Rush, and the Echo Women’s Choir.
Emma Rush plays Gold, the first movement of the suite Appalachian Colours dedicated to her by Canadian composer William Beauvais, in 2022:
The Concert
The concert takes place at St. Thomas Anglican Church in Toronto on May 2.
- Find other concert details and tickets [HERE].
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