Composer Dean Burry, who recently travelled with the Isis and the Seven Scorpions tour (and did some blogging and some tweeting as well!) has won the Louis Applebaum Composers Award, in recognition of his excellence in composing works for young people.

He's written two operas for our annual school tour, Isis and the Seven Scorpions and the massively successful The Brothers Grimm. 

From the release:

"Other major works include The Hobbit, Baby Kintyre, The Mummers' Masque and The Bremen Town Musicians. The Vinland Traveler, commissioned by Memorial University of Newfoundland, toured 6,500 km throughout the province including performances at several Inuit and Innu schools in Northern Labrador. CBC's Musicraft broadcast a complete performance of The Vinland Traveler in November 2006.

"The jurors noted Dean's ability to create 'an expressive and innovate sound world which children find captivating (and) you can hear the joy in children's voices during their performances.'" [read the full release]

We interviewed Dean last year about Isis and the Seven Scorpions and his approach to writing for young audiences. You can also read more on our website about the Xstrata Ensemble Studio School Tour and the After School Opera Program.

Photo: Dean Burry. Anand Maharaj © 2008