(b. 1953, Calgary, Alberta).
Canadian composer of mostly orchestral, chamber and piano works that have been performed in North America and elsewhere.
Prof. Bell received his MMus from the University of Alberta, where he studied composition with Violet Archer, Malcolm Forsyth and Manus Sasonkin. He also studied composition with Jean Coulthard, Bruce Mather and Oskar Morawetz at the Banff Centre in Alberta.
He has received commissions from the Canadian Band Directors Association, the Canada Council for Arts and the CBC. His music has been performed in Israel, Japan, the UK, and the USA.
He has taught as Professor of Theory and Composition at the University of Calgary since 1983.
In addition to the works listed below, he has written much music for films and TV productions.
SELECT LIST OF WORKS
STAGE:
The Gift of the Wolf (music-theatre work), speaker, children's ensemble, violin, cello, piano, 1984 (also version for flute/violin, cello, piano [all players also speak], 1984)
The Ugly Duckling (music-theatre work), female voice, flute, violin, piano, 1985
Turtle Wakes – An Opera, 1998
ORCHESTRAL:
Dynamus, string orchestra, 1980
Drawing down the Moon, string orchestra, 1982
From Chaos to the Birth of a Dancing Star, symphonic band, 1983
Concerto, percussion, orchestra, 1984
In the Eye of Four Winds, symphonic band, 1986
Concerto for Two Orchestras, 1988
Vision Quest, symphonic band, 1989
An Elemental Lyric, 1992
Spirit Trail, 1994
Arche III, violin, percussion, string orchestra, 1994
Animus, alto saxophone, percussion, string orchestra, 1995
Sundogs Reel, string orchestra, 1998
Chiaroscuro, 1999
Symphonies of Hidden Fire, 2002
Serenity, small orchestra, 2004
CHAMBER MUSIC:
Pas de quatre, percussion ensemble, 1976
Beltine, violin, 1977
Arche I, string quartet, 1980
Encounters, 2 violins, 2 cellos, 1980
Five Rituals, flute (+ alto flute), oboe (+ English horn), clarinet (+ bass clarinet), French horn, bassoon, 2 percussion, 1980
Morning Music: A Reflection upon Stillness, violin, piano, 1980
Mistaya, 2 percussion, 1982
Monashee: Three Lyric Sketches, cello, piano, 1982
Gaia, flute, oboe, clarinet, 4 cellos, piano, 2 percussion, 1984
An Enchantment, cello, piano, 1986
Prairie I, synthesizers (1 player), computer, 1986
Innua: Three Masks, violin, cello, piano, 1987
The Ascendant Voice, brass, 1988
Prairie II, synthesizers (+ samplers) (1 player), computer, 1988
Arche II, string quartet, 1989
Orca, 9 players, 1989
Lumen: A Quintet, 2 violins, 2 violas, cello, 1990
Moon of Flowers, synthesizers (+ samplers) (1 player), computer, 1990
A Prairie Requiem, clarinet, harp, marimba, 1991
Snow – More Snow – Snow, bass clarinet, cello, marimba, 1993
Aurages: Seven Ephemera, flute, violin, viola, cello, double bass, 1994
Shadows, Echoes, Impressions, sampler, computer, 1994
Sweetgrass, flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, percussion, 1997
Chthonic Canons, 3 tubas, 1998
a great arch softening the mountains, voice, bass clarinet, violin, piano, computer, 2001
Trails of Gravity and Grace, clarinet, cello, piano, 2003
Festival Fanfare, French horn, 2 trumpets, trombone, tuba
CHORAL:
Four Grassi Lakes Seasons, children's chorus, piano, 1993
Two Roads to the Heartland, children's chorus, piano, 1998
VOCAL:
Nocturne, soprano, piano, 1977, revised 2001
Kinesis, female speaker, 2 pianos, 2 percussion, 1981
PIANO:
Prelude and Passacaglia, 1977
Sonora Borealis, 1989
Old Coyote's Saturday Night, 1992
Nebulae, 1995
Danse sauvage, 1996