Composer
Music Director, Poet, Musician, Playwright
Associate Composer-Canadian Music Centre
The Canadian League of Composers
Canadian Aboriginal Music Award-Toronto-2008
Herbert Drost Award- 2019 British Columbia Choral Federation
Recent news:
I will travel to Fuzhou, the capital of Fujian province in southern China at the end of May to attend a music festival featuring two performances of my symphony, The Healing Heart Of The First People Of This Land. On March 7, 2025 the Seattle Symphony will perform the Symphony for the second time. This evening, in the Mark Taper Auditorium Benaroya Hall, will also feature the film, The Healing Heart Of Lushootseed. This film tells the story of the creation and performances of the work.
The Five Seasons-abridged- (twenty-five minutes) presented on Friday May 31, 2024, in Kirk Hall, Victoria BC. Six vocalists, eleven players and ten dancers.
I listened just now, before and after 5 AM. It’s just terrific. I love the composition and yr performers really kicked this upstairs with gorgeous expressive song flying out of them. Love their voices and ensemble sense. You got a hit here, mister. I’m sure audiences will love it every time. Peter Levitt- Poet
“It’s hard to find words to describe the excellence of the performance in every way: beautiful, expressive, strong yet poignant.”-audience member
“This work is timeless and will inspire audiences for generations. What you have conveyed is a gift and I thank you for it.”-audience member
“From its first notes, this work grips you and transports you. Technically remarkable, emotionally extraordinary, it’s a work of great power, beauty and insight. It’s a timeless and masterful achievement.”-audience member
The Healing Heart Of The First People Of This Land
UPCOMING PERFORMANCES:
Wyndham Philharmonic-Vermont- October 14 2024.
Seattle Symphony March 7 2025.
University Of Washington 2025/2026 season.
Some Reviews
The Healing Heart Of The First People Of This Land
The Seattle Symphony–Mark Taper Auditorium 2006
“You have just heard a masterpiece“- Maestro Gerard Schwarz.
I can’t think of another piece of orchestral that has been as much of a living document as this one. I can’t wait to hear it again.-Dr. Ryan Dudenbostel-Director of Orchestral Studies-Universoty of Western Washington
EARTHPRAYERS an oratorio–Orpheum Theatre -Vancouver -1996
“Ruddell’s music is awesome…beautiful..exquisite, Ruddell writes gloriously for the voice…orchestrations as lush as Bruckner…the Death movement had the somber radiance of a Bach motet.”– The Vancouver Sun
“Ruddell’s music is uplifting…exhilarating… hypnotic… propulsive… sublime. moments of pure divinity…full of colour and variety…rhythmic surges that Frank Zappa or Igor Stravinsky would have been happy to claim…a breakout hit.”– The Georgia Straight