List of Works
For a full list of works with recordings, please visit the composer’s website.
Orchestra
let us not be the reason someone out there is praying for peace (2020, revised 2023)
String orchestra
· 14 min.
· Commissioned by the Little Chamber Music Society
· Performances: Little Chamber Music Society (YouTube, 2020), Glacier Symphony (Festival Amadeus, Whitefish Performing Arts Centre, Montana 2022), Little Chamber Music Society (Canadian Memorial Church, Vancouver 2023), National Arts Centre Orchestra (Ottawa 2023)
· Published by Vienna Doblinger
String Orchestra
Birds Calling… from the Canada in You (2022)
Double concerto for sho, sheng/suona, and orchestra
• 27 min.
• Commissioned by the Azrieli Foundation (Azrieli Music Prize for Canadian Music)
• Performances: L’Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal, Naomi Sato, Zhongxi Wu (La Maison Symphonique, 2022), London Philharmonia Orchestra (Cadogan Hall, 2023), Esprit Orchestra (Koerner Hall, Toronto 2024), Orchestra of St Luke’s (Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, New York 2024)
Intercultural Ensemble
as the first spring blossoms awaken through the snow (2021)
Intercultural ensemble
· 10 min.
· Commissioned by the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra
· Performances: Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra at the Montreal New Music Festival (Online/YouTube, 2021), Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra (Annex, 2023), Tongyeong International Music Festival (2024), Taipei Traditional Music Festival with the Little Giant Chinese Chamber Music Orchestra (2024)
· 2022 Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music
Bio
Applauded as a Canadian composer whose ‘poetic is often very delicate and introspective…’ (Guido Barbieri, Warner Classics), Rita Ueda’s works inspire thoughtful conversations about world peace, climate change, and cultures in flux. Notable works include Bloom for koto and orchestra (2023), let us not be the reason why someone out there is praying for peace (2020) and forty years of snowfall will not heal an ancient forest (2010). Her Birds Calling… From the Canada in You (2022) has been praised as “… fresh, thoroughly Canadian, and breathtakingly original.” (James Imam, Musical America Worldwide).
Winner of the 2022 Jules Léger Prize, 2022 Azrieli Prize in Canadian Music, and the 2014 Penderecki International Composers’ Competition, Ms Ueda has premiered orchestral works with the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Budapest MAV Symphony Orchestra, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke’s (New York), and the Philharmonia Orchestra (London). Her works have been presented by the Carinthian Music Festival (Austria), Tongyeong International Music Festival (South Korea), Uitmarkt Festival (Netherlands), Kyushu Composers’ Association (Japan), and the Antal Dorati International Conducting Competition (Hungary).
For over 10 years, Ms Ueda has been actively creating intercultural works that feature various underrepresented communities in the Canadian music scene. Recent collaborations include as the first spring blossoms awaken through the snow (2021) with the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra as well as Il Viaggio di Dante (2021) for Ensemble Bios in Florence, Italy with Canadian guzheng player, Geling Jiang. One Thousand White Paper Cranes for Japan (2012) has been performed in 6 countries over three continents. Her latest intercultural opera production, I Have My Mother’s Eyes: a Holocaust Memoir Across Generations and Byakuya (Midnight Sun Songs), featuring musicians from Japan and Canada premiered in Tokyo to a sold-out audience in 2024.
Dr Ueda holds degrees from Simon Fraser University (BFA), California Institute for the Arts (MFA), and University of Durham (PhD). Principal teachers include Rudolf Komorous, David Rosenboom, Wadada Leo Smith, Morton Subotnick, Rodney Sharman, and James Weeks. Short-term intensive teachers include Earle Brown, James Tenney, and Lou Harrison.
Ms Ueda’s most recent album someone out there is praying for peace with Ensemble Bios and Maestro Andrea Vitello is due to be released in 2025 by Stradivarius (Italy) and Stingray Classica. Selected orchestral works are published by Vienna Doblinger. - Rita Ueda, January 2025.