• Born December 08, 1931 in Prague
• Country: Canada
• Genres: Chamber

Biography

Since his immigration to Canada in 1969, Komorous has had a decisive influence on young composers on the country's west coast. He studied composition with Pavel Borkovec in Prague during the 1950s, also excelling as a bassoon player. His playing won him first prize at the Concours International d'Exécution Musicale in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1957. During 1959 - 1961 he taught chamber music and bassoon at Beijing's Central Conservatory in China. Upon returning to Czechoslovakia in 1961, he became co-founder of Musica Viva Pragensis, a group that specialized in the interpretation of new music.

Since his student days, he had been a member of an interdisciplinary, avant-garde scene called the Šmidra group. Heavily influenced by painters, French surrealism and American abstract expressionism, Komorous and many of his students created works of distinctly mysterious atmospheres -- unknowable, rich, and compelling. These qualities came from his fascination for "the bizarre and the wonderful" in art. Komorous remained with the Šmidrové group until he relocated to Canada.

There he began teaching composition at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, where he began producing students of great quality, causing Eastern Canadian composers to refer to their country's avant-garde scene as "The Victoria Mafia." Komorous' strengthening of his adopted land's musical scene has been admired and praised. His music varies widely, ranging from a comparatively assonant, traditional Serenade for Strings (1982) to the stunning avant-garde chamber work York (1967). A common thread to all his output is a poignant strangeness that is compelling and transparent in any musical language he takes on. His works concerning the exotic are especially atmospheric. Two of his works concerning Asian texts, No No Miya (1988), and 23 Poems about Horses (1985) show an affinity for the exotic (from the perspective of a European/North American composer) that binds it to common human experience. His positive outlook and easygoing manner are well known to the Canadian music community. He is now retired and lives in Victoria. ~ John Keillor, All Music Guide