Supervillain Études, Volume 2

Vincent Ho (1975)
Born in Ontario, Canada, Vincent Ho began his musical training at Canada’s Royal
Conservatory of Music in Toronto, where he received an Associate Diploma in Piano
Performance in 1993. Mentored by a series of composers including Allan Bell, David
Eagle, Christos Hatzis, Walter Buczynski, and Stephen Hartke, Ho gained degrees from the
University of Calgary and the University of Toronto, and a Doctor of Musical Arts from the
University of Southern California. While still an undergraduate student, Ho was awarded
a scholarship to attend the Schola Cantorum Summer Composition Program in Paris,
France, where he received tuition from faculty of the Juilliard School of Music and the Paris
Conservatoire.
Ho sprang to prominence in 1999, when he received prizes for his first string quartet and his
piano work Three Scenes of Childhood, and an audience prize for the latter in the Toronto New
Music Festival. String Quartet No.1 received further recognition nearly a decade later when
it was nominated ‘Best Classical Composition of the Year’ in the Western Canadian Music
Awards following its release on CD.
Ongoing commissions have provided opportunities for Ho to produce many notable works
for orchestra, including Nighthawks (2000), Dragon Realms (2006), Red Zen (2008) and
Fallen Angel: In Memoriam Richard D’Amore (2008). Most significant is his Arctic Symphony
(2010), a work inspired by a trip to the Arctic, which has been described as ‘a mature and
atmospheric work that firmly establishes Ho among North American composers of note’
(Winnipeg Free Press).
Ho was Composer in Residence with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra from 2007 through
2014, enabling him to complete three concertos in two years for renowned soloists such
as Dame Evelyn Glennie and Shauna Rolston. Glennie commissioned and premiered The
Shaman (2011) and From Darkness to Light: A Spiritual Journey (2013). City Suite (2012), for
amplified solo cello and orchestra, was premiered by Rolston. In 2017 Centrediscs released
PE215 – iii