(b. 28 November 1968, Vancouver, British Columbia).
Canadian composer of mostly stage, orchestral and chamber works that have been performed in Europe and North America.
Mr. Maxwell is primarily self-taught as a composer, but studied composition privately with Ladislav Kubík in Prague in 1999–2000 and with David K. MacIntyre and Owen Underhill at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia from 1999–2001, where he earned his MFA in interdisciplinary studies and where he later earned his PhD in music cognition and computer-assisted composition from 2008–14.
Among his honours are the C. D. Nelson Memorial Entrance Scholarship (1999), the ArtsFACT Award (1999, for bodig-menen, shared with the ensemble Standing Wave), Third Prize and Audience Prize in the BC Emerging Composers Competition of the ensemble Vancouver New Music (2000, for forberen), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Doctoral Fellowship (2009–12).
He has also held other posts. He co-founded the multimedia company Restless Productions Society in Vancouver in 2011 and has served as its co-artistic director since 2011. He later co-founded the startup company Spliqs Intelligent Media Inc. in Vancouver in 2016 and served as its chief technology officer from 2016–22, then co-founded the startup company Musical AI in Vancouver in 2023 and served as its chief science officer in 2023–24.
SELECT LIST OF WORKS
STAGE:
sleepyhead (chamber opera in 1 act, libretto by the composer, after Anton Chekhov), 2000–01
"And what hearing is, and seeing..." (dance music, choreography by Helen Walkley), fixed media (2 tracks), 2004
Where Fools Tread (dance music, choreography by Claire French), fixed media (2 tracks), 2005
No Leg to Stand On (dance music, choreography by Helen Walkley), fixed media (2 tracks), 2005
Trio X (dance music, choreography by Claire French), fixed media (2 tracks), 2006
Just a Minute (dance film, choreography by Claire French), fixed media (2 tracks), film (by Alison Beda), 2006–07
Outside Out/Inside Outside In (dance music, choreography by Claire French), fixed media (2 tracks), 2007 (collaboration with Teresa Connors)
A Storied Sea (text by Caleb Johnston), trombone, fixed media (2 tracks), 2009
How is Sleep Beautiful (dance music, choreography by Helen Walkley), fixed media (2 tracks), 2009
Standing Wave Seance, fixed media, visual art (by Hadley+Maxwell), 2010
fyra, dancer, flute, viola, double bass, 2012
Call to Order, alto saxophone, cello, piano, fixed media (2 tracks), visual art (by Kathleen Ritter), 2012
The Willful Child (dance music, choreography by Claire French), fixed media (2 tracks), 2012
The Moment of Forgetting (dance music, choreography by Claire French), flute, violin, viola, double bass, fixed media (2 tracks), 2012 (also version for flute, violin, cello, double bass, fixed media [2 tracks], 2014–15)
Double Variations (dance music, choreography by Simone Orlando, Joe Laughlin), harp, cello, fixed media (2 tracks), 2012
air filled with promise (dance music, choreography by Helen Walkley), fixed media (2 tracks), 2013–14
recurrere, flute, alto flute, film, 2014
emancipare, piccolo, bass flute, viola, harpsichord, film, 2014
Based on a True Story (dance music, choreography by Claire French), cello, fixed media (2 tracks), 2014–15
John (dance music, choreography by Helen Walkley), fixed media (2 tracks), 2017–19
Oh, What a Beautiful Morning!, fixed media (7 tracks), performance (by Alex Ferguson), 2019
Mama, do we die when we sleep (dance music, choreography by Rachel Meyer), fixed media (2 tracks), 2020–21
Migration, fixed media (7 tracks), performance (by Alex Ferguson), 2021–22
Many Worlds (dance music, choreography by Rachel Meyer), string quartet, fixed media (4 tracks), 2023
in progress (performance installation), violin, viola, fixed media (8 tracks), 2023
The Refrain: Getting in sync with the world. (podcast in 3 episodes), fixed media (2 tracks), performance (by Alex Ferguson), 2022–24
blocking (dance music, choreography by Helen Walkley), fixed media (2 tracks), 2024
Magicicada (dance music, choreography by Rachel Meyer), fixed media (2 tracks), 2024
ORCHESTRAL:
cambiare (concerto), harp, orchestra, 1998–2000
tenere, 2002–03
...a scrambling decade ends, 2009
CHAMBER MUSIC:
charis, flute, A-clarinet, cello, 1998
du(lied), violin, piano, 1998
interus, flute, oboe, clarinet, French horn, bassoon, piano, 1998
forberen, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, 1999
bodig-menen, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, percussion, 1999–2000
brethen, 4 saxophones, 2000
antara, string quartet, 2001
intueri, piano, ensemble (3 B-flat trumpets, 3 trombones, 2 percussion), 2001–02
reflectere, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, percussion, 2004
leven, flute (+ piccolo), oboe (+ English horn), clarinet, trumpet, trombone, violin, cello, double bass, piano, 3 percussion, 2004
pensare, flute (+ piccolo), oboe (+ English horn), clarinet (+ bass clarinet), French horn, bassoon (+ contrabassoon), 2005–06
co existere, clarinet, bass clarinet, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, French horn, tuba, 2 violins, viola, cello, double bass, piano, percussion, 2007–08
diffusus, 10 flutes, 2008
limina, flute, piano, percussion, 2008
invidere, flute, 2010
vovere, flute, ensemble, 2010, revised 2012
fundatio & experiri, string quartet, 2011
serere, harp, cello, live electronics ad libitum, 2012
factura, percussion, 2012
skhema, harp, 2013
ruduo, flute, piano, 2014
nihtscada, cello, double bass, 2014
Eight or Nine, Six or Seven, trumpet, 6 trombones, tuba, 2 percussion, found objects (played by the audience), fixed media, 2016–17
That thing, over there (pointing), 18 electric guitars, 2017
The Razor Hiss of a Whisper, harp, cello, ensemble, fixed media, 2017–19
Finding itself [it] deviates, flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, percussion, 2019
perpetua, marimba, 2020
kwelfaeld, 2 alto flutes, bass flute, live electronics, 2024
VOCAL:
in between (text by Alex Ferguson), soprano, mezzo-soprano, fixed media, 2005
PIANO:
medius, piano 4 hands, live electronics, 1998
bombitire, 2022–23
FILM SCORE (DIRECTOR):
ab ovo, fixed media (2 tracks), 2002 (Alex Williams)