{"id":125070,"date":"2026-06-11T15:47:38","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T19:47:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=125070"},"modified":"2026-06-11T15:47:38","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T19:47:38","slug":"interview-composer-musician-david-occhipinti-talks-new-album-looking-glass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2026\/06\/11\/interview-composer-musician-david-occhipinti-talks-new-album-looking-glass\/","title":{"rendered":"INTERVIEW | Composer &#038; Musician David Occhipinti Talks About His New Album Looking Glass"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_125073\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-125073\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-125073\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/Copy-of-Copy-of-INTERVIEW-2026-06-11T154330.231.jpg\" alt=\"Composer and guitarist David Occhipinti (Photo: Jen Squires)\" width=\"1200\" height=\"628\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/Copy-of-Copy-of-INTERVIEW-2026-06-11T154330.231.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/Copy-of-Copy-of-INTERVIEW-2026-06-11T154330.231-300x157.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/Copy-of-Copy-of-INTERVIEW-2026-06-11T154330.231-1024x536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/Copy-of-Copy-of-INTERVIEW-2026-06-11T154330.231-768x402.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-125073\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Composer and guitarist David Occhipinti (Photo: Jen Squires)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Toronto guitarist and composer <strong>David Occhipinti<\/strong> is releasing a new album of original music on the Elastic Recordings\/ Occdav Music label. Looking Glass, written for electric guitar and string trio, along with other guest artists, will drop on <strong>June 12, 2026<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>On the new album, he works with a variety of artists, including percussionist (and Officer of the Order of Canada) <strong>Beverley Johnston<\/strong>, mezzo soprano <strong>Alex Hetherington<\/strong>, and soprano <strong>Charlotte Mundy<\/strong>, along with his regular collaborators, <strong>Aline Homzy<\/strong> and <strong>Steven Dann<\/strong> on violin and viola respectively, and <strong>Maria Zachariadou<\/strong>, associate principal cellist of the BBC Philharmonic.<\/p>\n<h2>David Occhipinti<\/h2>\n<p>Canadian composer and guitarist David Occhipinti works in the field of jazz, improvisation, and contemporary classical music. He has received two Chalmers Arts Fellowships from the Ontario Arts Council. Two of his recordings, Forty Revolutions in 2007, and Duologue, his 2003 collaboration with saxophonist Mike Murley, have been recognized by JUNO nominations. David\u2019s recordings have been broadcast on the CBC and BBC.<\/p>\n<p>His 2025 release Camera Lucinda featured eight tracks of chamber music with improvisational elements.<\/p>\n<p>Saturnia (2022), his first orchestral work, was part of the Toronto Symphony\u2019s Explore the Score reading event that occurred at Roy Thomson Hall in October of 2022. Other classical works include a commissioned piece for brass and percussion written for the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra to compose a piece for brass and percussion. The work, titled En Passant, received its premiere in Ottawa on May 1, 2022 with Jean-Michel Malouf conducting.<\/p>\n<p>Other commissions and recordings include the track Net of Gems for flute and harp, which appears on a recent recording by Suzanne Shulman and Erica Goodman, along with music written for percussionist Beverley Johnston, Kairos Percussion Quartet, Arraymusic Ensemble, Canadian Children\u2019s Opera Chorus, and Random Access Large Ensemble.<\/p>\n<p>David studied music in New York City with Jim Hall, and spent three years living in Italy. He has been based in Toronto since his return to Canada. As a performer, he has toured across North America, Europe, and in Japan.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3L0j3_J84fs?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<h2>David Occhipinti: The Interview<\/h2>\n<p>Occhipinti\u2019s musical journey began with performance.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI started playing guitar, learning Beatles songs,\u201d he says. \u201cAt about the age of 16, i just started writing things on the guitar, and on the piano. I started on piano.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His knowledge of music theory took a while to catch up.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think even my very first composition, there were certain chords, I didn&#8217;t know how to name them. So I just wrote them out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Writing music was a release. \u201cIt&#8217;s a great way to express yourself,\u201d he says. \u201cI was a teenager, so if you have a lot of things going on emotionally that are difficult, it was a great way of [using it as therapy],\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s not to say that every work is an expression of an emotion. \u201dSometimes I write the opposite of [what I&#8217;m feeling],\u201d David explains. \u201cCreativity just makes you feel good. That&#8217;s why I&#8217;m still hooked,\u201d he continues.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt&#8217;s probably my favourite thing in life is to compose.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Style<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cIn my case, I&#8217;m coming from jazz,\u201d he says. When it comes to style, though, he finds it a fluid notion. \u201cSome of my favourite artists, I can&#8217;t really say what they&#8217;re style is, but if I say the name of the artist, we all say, yes, I [know what that is]. Joni Mitchell comes to mind,\u201d Occhipinti adds.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat&#8217;s something I&#8217;ve always aspired to. You could say the same thing for visual artists, like Picasso. Stravinsky was like that too. They go through phases, but they\u2019re always themselves,\u201d he elaborates.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI guess I&#8217;m trying to do that as well, to be true to myself, and take elements that I&#8217;ve been influenced by, and incorporate them into my music.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Adding guitar to strings is part of his sound world.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat in itself, just the instrumentation of having the electric guitar with the strings \u2014 and making it work. Trying to blend with them, and feeling the rhythm in the same way that the strings feel,\u201d he says. \u201cI try and do what the music calls for, and not let the ego get in the way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Virtuosity and facility with the instrument is part of the music, not an end goal.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter a while the story kind of takes a life of its own. When I&#8217;m writing, I have to get out of the way, and let the music take over,\u201d David explains. \u201cI feel it&#8217;s a very spiritual thing.\u201d The communion of the artist and their work is a \u201ckind of uniting\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<h3>Collaborators<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cIt&#8217;s actually the first one I&#8217;ve ever done with string trio,\u201d he says of the new recording.<\/p>\n<p>The Camera Ensemble, on his 2025 Camera Lucinda release, was larger. \u201cSome of the people have played on other albums with a larger ensemble,\u201d David says. \u201cSome of the same cast is there.<br \/>\n[But], I feel it\u2019s more contained,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey played on that recording as well, but having a string quartet \u2014 the string quartet has this history,\u201d David says, \u201can overwhelming weight of history.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As he mentions, some of his favourite composers write for string quartet. \u201cA contemporary composer I really like is <strong>John Zorn<\/strong>. He writes for string quartet,\u201d he notes. \u201cString trio, I think I felt a little less of that angst of comparing myself [to those composers].\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019d already written a piece on commission for <strong>Beverley Johnston<\/strong>. \u201cBeverley&#8217;s fantastic,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>He met soprano <strong>Charlotte Mundy<\/strong> at the University of Toronto. She\u2019s based in New York these days.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<strong>Alex Hetherington<\/strong>, I also met her at UofT. I heard her singing at a workshop, and I thought, wow, that&#8217;s incredible,\u201d he recalls. \u201cShe was a first year undergrad, and she already had this mature voice.<br \/>\nI&#8217;ve kept working with her.\u201d Occhipinti and Hetherington have recorded a whole album together.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe&#8217;s a great person, and a wonderful, wonderful singer. She has a great sense of humour. She made it sound like a million bucks. She&#8217;s naturally funny.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sotto le Stelle, featuring mezzo-soprano <strong>Alex Hetherington<\/strong>, composed by David Occhipinti:<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/TSj84lBZ3FU?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<h3>The Album<\/h3>\n<p>The album includes 12 tracks: Six Bagatelles, Frumious Bandersnatch, Sonyshnyky, Sotto le Stelle, Who\u2019s Your Dada?, and You Stepped Out. Much of the music has a playful edge to it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWell I love Erik Satie, and he would have all of these funny instructions on his piano parts. He was a real character,\u201d Occhipinti says. He relates taking a recent trip to Paris to look up his old haunts, and burial site.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI love Frank Zappa as well. Just poking fun a little bit at serious art,\u201d he explains. \u201cBringing out humour too. We write \u201cserious music\u201d, but just having that playfulness and not taking yourself too seriously is nice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The one track that breaks that rule is Sotto le Stelle, with its more sombre tone. It was written in memory of his late mother-in-law. \u201cI really appreciate her presence in my life. She listened to me play. Just the way she listened to me very attentively was very helpful,\u201d he says. \u201cShe gave me unconditional love.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He employs a variety of imaginative techniques on the release, including customizing his guitar with an extra pickup near the nut, allowing him to access microtonal pitches above where he places his fingers. He uses those overtones on Frumious Bandersnatch.<\/p>\n<p>Frumious Bandersnatch was, of course, inspired by Lewis Carroll\u2019s The Jabberwocky, in his book Through The Looking Glass.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are notes in there \u2014 I felt like I was stepping through the looking glass. I\u2019m discovering something on the guitar that I&#8217;ve been playing so long.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019d been listening to those microtonal overtones for some time. After asking his guitar tech to add an extra sound bar, he could explore them purposefully.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I was doing that on the guitar, it reminded me of Lewis Carroll.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_125074\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-125074\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-125074\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/Copy-of-Copy-of-INTERVIEW-2026-06-11T154408.954.jpg\" alt=\"L: Composer and guitarist David Occhipinti (Photo: Jen Squires); R: album cover for David Occhipinti\u2019s album Looking Glass (Image courtesy of the artist)\" width=\"1200\" height=\"628\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/Copy-of-Copy-of-INTERVIEW-2026-06-11T154408.954.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/Copy-of-Copy-of-INTERVIEW-2026-06-11T154408.954-300x157.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/Copy-of-Copy-of-INTERVIEW-2026-06-11T154408.954-1024x536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/Copy-of-Copy-of-INTERVIEW-2026-06-11T154408.954-768x402.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-125074\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">L: Composer and guitarist David Occhipinti (Photo: Jen Squires); R: album cover for David Occhipinti\u2019s album Looking Glass (Image courtesy of the artist)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>Listeners<\/h3>\n<p>How would he describe the new album with listeners in mind?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is one thing I can say that is not apparent, especially on a CD. I think of this as an LP actually, the first side is he Bagatelles and the Frumious Bandersnatch, and I think that the music is more adventurous. The second half is more lyrical,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>In decades past, the tracks of an album were meant to be listened to in order, from start to finish \u2014 albeit with a pause to turn it from side A to side B. That\u2019s how he thinks of the tracks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot only do I have a turntable, but a Victor Victrola,\u201d Occhipinti says, \u201cand it&#8217;s actually on the album, on the last track.\u201d The scratchy sound of the Victrola is incorporated into the track You Stepped Out.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI love LPs and I love 78s,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n<p>David is working on possible gigs through the summer to showcase the new release. He\u2019ll be performing a solo show at the Canadian Music Centre on the release date of June 12 as part of the CMC\u2019s Second Friday series.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Find out about David Occhipinti\u2019s <strong>June 12<\/strong> performance at the <strong>Canadian Music Centre<\/strong> [<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/cmccanada.org\/event\/2nd-fridays-june\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">HERE<\/a><\/strong>].<\/li>\n<li>Find David Occhipinti\u2019s <strong>Looking Glass<\/strong>, out <strong>June 12, 2026<\/strong> on Elastic Recordings\/ Occdav Music (ER 027\/ OM 009 \u2014 CD &amp; download) [<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/elasticrecordings.bandcamp.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">HERE<\/a><\/strong>].<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><em>Are you looking to promote an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/advertising\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\"><u>event<\/u><\/span><\/a>? 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