Michael Horwood is a Canadian music composer. Born in Buffalo, New York, on May 24, 1947, he studied music composition and theory at the State University of New York at Buffalo, where he received both his Bachelor's (1969) and Master's (1971) degrees. In 1971 he moved to Toronto, where he was a professor of music and humanities at the Humber College of Applied Arts and Technology from 1972-2003. Horwood retired from teaching in 2003 and moved to Cowley, Alberta. He currently resides in Tucson, Arizona with his wife, Celia.
Horwood's long career as a composer began in the 1960s. His compositions, of which there are over 70, span many genres, including twelve-tone, electroacoustic, jazz, minimalist, and neo-romantic music, and music for theatre and films. His compositions for orchestra have been commissioned by various organizations, including the Windsor Symphony, Oakville Symphony Orchestra, Mission Chamber Orchestra, Festival of the Sound at Indiana University, The Staten Island Chamber Music Players, Niagara Symphony, Canada Council, Ontario Arts Council, and the Alberta Foundation for the Arts. Horwood has composed for a variety of instruments, including piano, brass, percussion, wind, and variable ensembles.
Notable works include Amusement Park Suite, a 15-minute suite inspired by his hobby of visiting amusement parks that enjoyed several performances in Canada; Intravariations, a piano and orchestra work initiated by pianist and frequent commissioner Mary Kenedi; and National Park Suite, a sequel to Amusement Park Suite commissioned through the Canada Council that drew inspiration from a group of national parks in Canada and the United States.
In the 1970s, Horwood formed an improvisation ensemble named Convergence, for which he played piano and percussion. His CD releases include the 2001 release of Brass-Feast, which contained the works Asteroids and Brass-Fast; and an all-percussion CD, Percussionique recorded from 2007-2008. In July 2012 a 1979 live performance by Convergence was released as a limited edition LP. In 2012 Horwood was the recipient of the American Prize in Composition in the orchestra-professional category for his composition National Park Suite. He has appeared numerous times on the CBC Radio Two series, "Two New Hours".
More information is available on his personal website: http://www.horwoodcomposer.com/