Esther Wheaton graduated last year with her Honours Bachelor of Music in Composition from Wilfrid Laurier University. There she studied composition with Linda Catlin Smith and Peter Hatch, oboe with Richard Dorsey, took all the Theory and English she could fit into her schedule, and improvised with both the Improvisation Concert Ensemble (ICE) and the Free Improvisation Renegade Ensemble (FIRE). She has had works read by the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony and the Penderecki String Quartet and performed by the Schweigen Trio, the Wilfrid Laurier University Symphony Orchestra, and by many of her fellow students in concerts and recitals. Most recently, members of the KWS and Greg Oh performed her arrangement of David Lang’s Born to Be Wild at the Open Ears Festival of Music and Sound. Check out her list of stuff.

 

 

 

 

Esther is primarily an acoustic composer with fixations on the destruction of theoretical forms, folk song, words, colour, the Internet, and human error. She has a tendency towards being rather than going. She is also entrenched in the independent pop world.

For her undergraduate graduation project she drew from all these areas and composed an album in nine songs for chamber orchestra and soloists – sort of simultaneously a song cycle and orchestral pop record – called “Not Legendary” which she recorded and has since been distributing. A few days after she uploaded some of the songs to a CBC Radio 3 Artist Page, “Here Is How” became Craig Norris’ Track of the Day. She also bothered Dan Beirne until he posted about “Here Is How” on Said the Gramophone which is her favourite blog. The track was also used in the Fedora Project Musician’s Guide. More information about “Not Legendary” may be found here.

Esther improvises and plays new music too, and on November 25th, 2009, premiered three solo oboe (vegetable) miniatures: Doraji, by Narim Kim, Artichokes, by Amanda Lowry, and Radicchio by Jennifer Lynn del Duca. She has performed in many other new music concerts throughout her university career, including works by Rick Hyslop, Matthew Donnelly, Colin Labadie, Daniel MacPherson, Wendell Glick, Rebekah Cummings, Andrew Mellanby, Glenn Buhr, and more. Lately, Esther performs with an improvising trio (tentatively called Three Pints), a folk duo called Banjo and the Bellows, and with a contemporary quintet called Ansae. She has also taken up the banjo, and hopes to one day grow the courage to become a street musician.

“Esther Wheaton is an exceptional musician and accomplished performer. Her ability to relate to audiences extends not only through her skillful and evocative music but also her delightful conversation and banter. Her improvisational skills are responsive and adept, her style in hats is unparalleled, and she can beat down emo kids like a glitter club bouncer.”

Sean M Puckett, artist

Esther has been drawing the niche webcomic Obohemia since March of 2007. It slowly gained in popularity, and now has readers all over the world. An Obohemian comic was the impetus for a masterclass and recital given by Alex Klein, which became the MWM Financial Group Distinguished Artist Series at WLU.  Esther thinks this is pretty neat.

This Fall, Esther is fulfilling her dream of becoming a traveling musician, and sets sail c/o VIA Rail’s On-Board Musician program, banjo in hand and hundreds of old songs in head.

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Esther has a Twitter, a MySpace for “Not Legendary” and one for her other stuff, and a Tumblelog. She cannot supply you with any illegal substances.