Katia specialized in composition at conservatories in Quebec City and Hamburg, before travelling to Beirut to study Arabic and Syrian music. She has also attended courses given by Franco Donatoni, Ennio Morricone, Manfred Stahnke and Father Louis Hage.
Known for her innovative compositions that offer a unique blend of Middle Eastern and Western musical styles, Katia created the score for the multimedia gallery spaces in the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
Her compositions have been performed by leading instrumentalists such as Sergio Puccini and Marcel Khalife in countries across the world, including France, Germany, Argentina and Spain.
Last September, she composed the soundtrack for the international TedX congress in Beirut. Her work is regularly broadcast and performed by a variety of prestigious Western and Oriental musical ensembles, including the Quebec Symphony Orchestra, the Lebanese National Orchestra for Oriental-Arabic Music, the Appassionata ensemble, the Ensemble Contemporain de Montréal (ECM+), as well as the McGill University chamber orchestra.
Katia is the founder and artistic director of OktoEcho (www. oktoecho.com): a musical ensemble that specializes in fusing Middle Eastern and Western styles. She also works as a composer for a number of music companies, theater and dance troupes, and documentary filmmakers. Her work as an artist has garnered her multiple nominations for the Bernard Bonnier and Gala des Masques prizes. In her role as conductor-in-chief, she has headed the contemporary music group, Erreur de Type 27 (E27) in Quebec City and the musical, Les Misérables, which played to great acclaim at the Capitole Theater in Quebec City. When the city hosted the international guitar festival, she was second conductor to Léo Brower.
Join us to perform a work by Katia Makdissi-Warren with Inuit throat singers! In this major participatory event, organized by the Société de musique contemporaine du Québec (SMCQ), choir conductor Tiphaine Legrand takes on the challenge of Les grands espaces (2019) sung by passionate amateurs as well as those who are simply curious. We anticipate a large turnout to bring to life this unique work, conceived by the composer as an “echo of [Inuit] lullabies mixed with the sounds of the wind, the rain, the cries of the geese and the hoots of the owls”... A voyage to distant regions of ice and wind to break the summer heat!
Note: No pre-requisites required.
“Inuit & Mongolian throat singing encounter” in a context of minimalist and intercultural music (Chinese, Japanese, Arabic and Turkish music)
The Katajjaq (Inuit throat singing) and the Khoomii (Mongolian throat singing) are both ancestral ways of singing that recall naturel sounds such as water flow, wind blast, mountain echo, animals, birds, etc. Mixed compositions are inspired by the similarities between the two types of throat singing and set out an adventure, accompagnied by the nomadic spirit of throat singing, to rediscover the spirit of nature.
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Wednesday, August 7 2019 - 8:00 pm
Place des Festivals
Thursday, August 8 2019 - 8:00 pm
Place des Festivals
Katia Makdissi-Warren's Open Space participative evening
Wednesday, August 7, 2019 at 8 pm, Québecor stage
Katajjaq and Khoomii, chorus Nunavik / Mongolia, conducted by katia
Thursday, August 8, 2019 at 8:30 pm, Québecor stage