Lloyd Carr-Harris Composer Competition

John Vooys is an emerging Calgary-based composer, performer, and director. He was born on August 9, 1988 in Calgary, Alberta, graduated from the Alberta College of Art + Design in 2012, and from Ambrose Seminary in 2018 with a Master of Christian Studies.

John is the artistic director of Blend Vocal Ensemble and an ensemble director with Harmony through Harmony; he has been composing and arranging for these groups since 2014

In his own words:

I love walking, running, playing, dancing – even driving – outside at night. My favourite night-time songs and poems always had an element of mystery and restlessness – cool musical colours, odd harmonies, insistent rhythms. The words of Pauline Johnson’s “Finale” suggested this to me, and I wanted to highlight it as I set the text. In short, I’ve tried to write the sort of lullaby I would have liked to hear as a child – on a summer night, out walking instead of sleeping.

Several of the motifs in this song were inspired by Maurice Ravel’s “La Vallée des Cloches.” I wanted the piano accompaniment to sound delicate and percussive, like chimes and bells, to contrast with the lower voices of a men’s chorus.