Ennio A. Paola, (B.Mus., B.Ed.)
Born: Conflenti, (Cz.) Italy; raised in the heart of Canada's Niagara Region. Earned Honours Music degree from the University of Windsor (B. Mus. '75); graduate, Faculty of Education, Queen's University at Kingston (B. Ed. '76).
ACTIVITIES: Founder | Collaborative Composer | Artistic Curator & Director of Music - Significant Music®™, a Music Education, Publishing and Collaborative Arts Learning Studio featuring an Opus Library that: "strives to underscore; a quality and individuality that can grow as real artistry -- moving towards thinking differently; with “something intriguing to say”. • Days of Culture Movement - Independent Activities Organizer (Canada - since 2010). • Teaching experiences include: (from: 1976-2008) positions with the Toronto District School Board, Toronto Catholic District School Board, Ministry of Education for the Government of the Bahamas. • 2014 - Present ... Composer/Conductor/Host ... Significant Music®™ | New Horizons Band.
AFFILIATIONS: O.R.M.T.A. (Ontario Registered Music Teachers' Association), ATN (Affiliate Teachers' Network, Royal Conservatory of Music), SOCAN (Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers).
RESOURCE CONTACT PERSON: Sharing Teaching Excellence (Canadian Teachers' Federation), United Nations Who's Who Reference Contact, United Nations Hague Appeal For Peace program (2001-2010) International Decade For a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence For the Children of the World (Geneva, Switzerland)
HONOURS: Several, including: • Roy C. Hill Award (Canadian Teachers' Federation) (1998), Pickering Civics Award (Arts & Culture) (1999), Nominee for the Prime Minister's Award For Teaching Excellence (2003).
• Conducted before Pope John Paul II (two occasions), Lady Marguerite Pindling - First Lady of the Bahamas, and before Canadian Comic Actor John Candy.
Winner – • Category 10 “Chord Sequence”: adapted from: “Chorale Theme: LUX IN TENEBRIS: La Commedia di Dante, Cantica I: Canto I (Lost In A Dark Wood) ...“Improvisation Composition Competition”: BBC Music Magazine & Cellist/Director Matthew Barley & Between the Notes Ensemble (Competition Co-Partners & Judges) CD Recording (Track 4: “Chord Sequence”): “Between the Notes: Extraordinary Improvisations” (FMRCD234-0707)
WORKS: • On Film: Multi-Award Winning and Internationally recognized "IN TACIT UNDERSTANDING: One Community Under The Same Sky" program filmed by National Geographic Society (Washington, D.C., U.S.A.) - Glencoe McGraw-Hill (co-producers) as featured piece in NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY: WORLD REGIONS (DVD: 0-07-825826-X).
• On Stage: • Composer | "Comets and Shadows". Opus Underscore to the companion stage play “Angelika’s Promise” in support of podcasts to the Exhibit: “Angelika Hoerle: The Comet of the Cologne Avant-Garde 1912-1923” (May 23 to August 23, 2009). Organized by the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), from the Fick-Eggert Collection. Guest Curated by: Angie Littlefield. Dada Podcasts (Audio): "Dada and Music" - “Toronto musician and composer Ennio Paola takes us into the Dada arts scene of post World War I Germany, relating the musical compositions of Erwin Schulhoff to visual artist Angelika Hoerle". Duration: 6':19" http://artmatters.ca/wp/2009/07/summer-at-the-ago-dada-podcasts-audio/ “Angelika’s Promise” Captures Spirit of 1920s Artist; 2 Performances only June 17 & June 24, 2009 @ Jackman Hall Theatre, AGO.
• Dante: "Honouring the Master Poet" ... "LUX IN TENEBRIS: LA COMMEDIA DI DANTE" - Original compositions “Cantica I: Canto I (Lost In A Dark Wood)” opens & “Cantica III: Canto XXXIII (Dante Beholds The Universe)” closes a historic presentation of Dante’s “Divine Comedy”. October 2, 2005, Toronto, ON, Canada. With selected readings (in Italian) by Paola Gassman and Ugo Pagliai; (in English) by Jennifer Dale. • Pages from LUX IN TENEBRIS: LA COMMEDIA DI DANTE - “Cantica I: Canto I (Lost In A Dark Wood)” and “Cantica III: Canto XXXIII (Dante Beholds The Universe)” included in a companion Art and Rare Books Exhibit on Dante: Honouring the Master Poet. In Exhibition: from October 2, 2005 to November 15, 2005, Joseph D. Carrier Gallery - Columbus Centre, 901 Lawrence Avenue West, Toronto, ON Canada.Visual artists reprsented included: Salvador Dali, Gustave Doré, Vittorio Alinari, Amos Nattini & Rare Books of the “Divine Comedy” on display from the Middle Ages - the 20th Century.
On Television (Newscasts): C.B.C., Global-T.V., City-T.V., CFMT-T.V., OMNI-TV, RAI-International. • In print (Books): Original music score contributions to the analysis section of scholarly text DANTE AND MUSIC: Musical Adaptations of the Commedia from the Sixteenth Century to the Present, Maria Ann Roglieri, Ashagate Publishing Limited, Aldershot, England.
• In print (Magazines): Renaissance (RTO), Niagara Life, Arts & Entertainment in Canada, Bahamas T.V. Guide & People Magazine, Asian Wave (Chinese/English).
• In print (Newspapers/Periodicals): Welland Evening Tribune, Nassau Guardian, East End Express, Scarborough Mirror; (in Italian) Li Conflenti, Lo Specchio, Trentagiorni, Villa Charities Newsletter, All’Ombra della Quercia Conflenti - Gironalino5, Ontario Historical Society News. • Reading and Remembrance: Province-wide Remembrance Day 2007 Project - Women & War ... students featured on CBC-Radio One “Metro Morning” with Andy Barrie. • "Reading and Remembrance 2006" – Holocaust & Anti-Racism Education, Student and Teacher Resource Materials: «"Kristallnacht: Night of Broken Glass"» Movie- Trailer, To View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDUwxS893CM• Celebrating the Year of the Veteran 2005 – Province-wide initiative (Ontario, Canada). Student and Teacher Resource Materials: «Della Quercia : Hymn of Faith, Hymn of Hope, Hymn of Peace» project ; L.O.V.E. I.S. … (Let's Oppose Violence Everywhere … In Schools | In Society") project. UN and UNESCO endorsed Peace Education contributions: • A CANADA FIT FOR CHILDREN - Canada’s plan of action in response to the May 2002 United Nations Special Session on Children of April 2004. Arts and Culture: Sections 160, 161, 162. © Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, 2004, Paper Catalogue No. SD13-4/2004E; ISBN No. 0-662-36985-8
• Song contributions: U4P! (United For Peace); L.O.V.E. I.S. (Let's Oppose Violence Everywhere …In Schools | In Society"), NEW SONGS FOR PEACE (UNESCO endorsed project celebrating the International Decade For A Culture Of Peace And Non-Violence For The Children Of The World (2001-2010) Hague Appeal For Peace (UN). Visit: http://www.newsongsforpeace.org/songs-paola2.html
• Composer / Director of Music, Significant Music®™ Piano Competitions & Festivals:City of Pickering (Durham Region) 200th Anniversary Celebrations Event (2011); City of Welland (Niagara Region) 150th Anniversary Celebrations Event (2008); @ Paramount Canada’s Wonderland (1996 & 1997).
MUSICAL INFLUENCES: Erik Satie, Bernard Hermann, The Beatles, ELP, Scott Joplin, Leonard Cohen, Claude Bolling, Jacques Loussier
VISUAL ART INFLUENCES: French Impressionists
LITERARY INFLUENCE: Dante: "Commedia"
FILM/TELEVISION INFLUENCES: Chaplin, Hitchcock; "Danger Man"
RECENT PROJECTS: (1) Culture Days (2) Significant Music®™ Piano Competition & e-NewMediaArts Festival (3) “Satiesque Small Talk”- Children’s DADA Circus Theatre Opus based on Erik Satie’s Children’s pieces of 1913. (4) “Dante & Music” - Music Course based on scholarly text of the same name.
Workshop Presentations: • Music Literacy • "In Tacit Understanding: Peace Education through Music & the Comprehensive Arts”; • “Dada Satie”: Satiesque small talk: Grand Opus for Children’s Dada-Circus Theatre”; • “Dada & Music • “Dante & Music”
MOTTO: Sempre avanti! (Always forward!)
Tel. : (905) 509--3815
e-mail: sigmuse@pathcom.com
REVIEWS: Re: "Rise To Challenge ~ [In Jubilee]" ~ "War of 1812-1815: Celebrating a Bicentennial of Peace"
"This is great! Simple, yet powerful; filling a noticeable gap in Bicentennial activities, and doing so in a modern, unique and more importantly FUN way! "
Andrea Izzo, Coordinator of Communications, Ontario Historical Society
Re: "Rag Times and Eclectic Related Music"
"Ennio A. Paola is no stranger to the ragtime genre of music. In fact, his featured opus' include "Hawkins' Hill Rag" which is recognized as the last published Ragtime work of Canada's Ragtime Revival Period (1960's-1980)."
Katrina Pyke, Coordinator, Museum Operations, Pickering Museum Village
Re: "Comets and Shadows"
"Check out Ennio Paola’s AGO podcast on Schulhoff and listen to his brilliant score for "Angelika’s Promise". Paola’s echoes of the time period are as haunting as Angelika herself." "You were the Comet this time. Your musical brilliance added so much to the exhibition and play. Thank you so much!"
Angie Littlefield, Guest Curator and Grand Niece of Angelika Hoerle (1899-1923) (The Comet of Cologne Dada).
via “The Art of Piano Pedagogy” FB Group - March 17, 2013 • “This is all so beautiful! I absolutely love your dissonances and beautiful basses. Very moving. I really loved your compositional style - since I am particularly fond of the Modernist school, and could recognize its legacy in your music. Fantastic and really touching.” • Ana Beatriz Gaertner • Pianist | Cellist • Brasilia, Brazil
• “Comets & Shadows” http://soundcloud.com/ennio-a-paola/comets-shadows
• “LUX IN TENEBRIS: La Commedia di Dante” http://soundcloud.com/ennio-a-paola/lux-in-tenebris-cantica-i
Re: “Chord Sequence: BETWEEN THE NOTES: EXTRAORDINARY IMPROVISATIONS” BBC Music Magazine & Matthew Barley, Cellist/Director
“We particularly liked this Chord Sequence entry from Ennio Paola in Canada because it was so un-BTN which made it fun to work with. It was also only the musical starting point for an improvisation.”
Matthew Barley, Cellist/Director, Principal Judge “Classical Star” UK
Re: READING AND REMEMBRANCE PROJECT in Honour of the Year of the Veteran
“... Ennio Paola, like his Italian forebears, is a Renaissance man. He has worked and continues to work on a variety of initiatives that involve tributes to Dante, Peace, Erik Satie, and his ancestrial home, Conflenti in Calabria, Italy. … You’re an inspiration.”
Angie Littlefield, Writer, Curator, Communications Specialist, past Executive Director, Durham West Arts Centre
Re: PEACE EDUCATION PROJECTS
"Dear Ennio Paola, You are welcome to let your class know the existence of www.IMAGINEPEACE.com. We are promoting people to take action in doing their own thing - such as downloading our IMAGINE PEACE sign, make posters out of it and hanging it in their windows and on their walls. They should also send posters or postcards or buttons, T shirts, anything they make out of the sign, to their family and friends. We encourage them, also, to email us pictures of what they did (email address is imaginepeacetower@mac.com) and tell us what the result was.
Wishing you the best, yoko ono"
Declared: "Celebrity Composer" Niagara Life Magazine Volume 19, No. 5
Re: “A CANADA FIT FOR CHILDREN”
“Dear Mr. Paola: It is my great pleasure to send you in booklet format “A Canada Fit For Children” Canada’s National Action Plan for Children. “A Canada Fit For Children” was officially launched on Parliament Hill on May 10, 2004, the second anniversary of the United Nations Special Session on Children and fulfills the commitment Canada made there. I would like to express my appreciation for your extraordinary contribution during our eighteen months of intense interaction to lay out the issues and challenges confronting children and their families at home and abroad. I hope you will recognize your voice in the strategies and actions present in “A Canada Fit For Children”.
The Honourable Senator Landon Pearson, Senate of Canada
Re: Circle of Friendship with Italy (CFI)
Steps have been taken to make this event an international call for peace and understanding and therefore increase its audience appeal. In this regard, peace educator and Canadian composer Ennio Paola will provide mentoring and support. Ennio Paola is known for his multi-award winning "In Tacit Understanding - One Community Under the Same Sky", a musical video program recently endorsed by the United Nations Peace Education. Co-produced by National Geographic Society and Glencoe McGraw – Hill, the video is featured in Regions Of The World."
NATIONAL CONGRESS OF ITALIAN CANADIANS "Congratulations to Ennio Paola" The board of directors of the National Congress of Italian Canadians - Toronto District congratulates music educator and composer Ennio Paola on two counts: (1) the publication of two original compositions in the scholarly text DANTE AND MUSIC: Musical Adaptations of the Commedia from the 16th Century to the Present, by Maria Ann Roglieri (Ashgate Publishing Ltd., Aldershot, Hampshire, UK); and (2) his multi-award-winning video In Tacit Understanding: One Community Under the Same Sky, filmed on location at Union Station, Toronto, for a segment of REGIONS OF THE WORLD, a seven-part video series co-produced by the National Geographic Society of Washington, DC, and Glencoe McGraw-Hill. Ennio Paola is a winner of the *Roy C. Hill Award of the Canadian Teachers' Federation and the **Pickering Civics Award/Arts and Culture. *Roy C. Hill Award (Canadian Teachers' Federation): "In recognition of the initiative and professional enterprise displayed in the development and successful application of an important educational innovation." **Pickering Civic Award: Arts & Culture: "For outstanding achievements"
Re: IN TACIT UNDERSTANDING: One Community Under The Same Sky "A Multi-Award Winning / Internationally Recognized Peace Education Program Celebrating Peace, Respect and Cultural Diversity: In the Media, on the Net and Through the Arts "
"... spirit, significance and vigor ... the piece packs a good whallop in a short time."
Chris Intagliata, Film Director, REGIONS OF THE WOLRD National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C., U.S.A.
"We love the segment and feel that anyone who sees it will too. I believe we created some wonderful segments that will be a powerful tool in educating our young people. A wonderful show!"
Marlene Walker-Golden, Associate Producer Full House Productions, Takoma Park, MD, USA
"Proud of your segment and many thanks for sharing your experiences."
Linda Goldman, Executive Producer Full House Productions, Takoma Park, MD, USA
Re: LUX IN TENEBRIS: La Commedia di Dante: Cantica I, Canto I (Lost In A Dark Wood), Cantica III, Canto XXXIII (Dante Beholds The Universe)
"Paola's two intimate piano pieces, Cantica I: Canto I (Lost In A Dark Wood) and Cantica III: Canto XXXIII (Dante Beholds The Universe), beautifully convey Dante's personal reactions to the beginning and end of his extraordinary journey through the intimacy, beauty, and creativity of his musical themes."
Maria A. Roglieri, Author, Professor, St. Thomas Aquinas College, Sparkill, N.Y., U.S.A. "DANTE AND MUSIC: Musical Adaptations of the Commedia from the 16th-Century to the Present", Ashgate Publishing Ltd., Gover House, Croft Road, Aldershot, Hampshire, U.K.
"Your music works are simply magical. They take me out to mysterious and fantastic places. All my respect and congratulations for you compositions.”
Mario Vladimir Botero, Music Master, Universaty of Bucaramanga, Columbia, South America
“Tuneful, accessible and well-written, in the nature of vignettes or sketches; welcoming the accompaniment of other media”.
Curt Cacioppo, Composer | Pianist | Professor of Music, Haverford College, U.S.A.
Re: Danse Suite Hommages En Forme de Erik Satie: Le Gymnopédiste!
"An excellent parody".
Tim Southam, Film Director, "SATIE AND SUZANNE"
"... a beautiful Gymnopédie mood ... in good company with the Camarata Chamber Group's and BS&T's (Blood, Sweat and Tears) variations."
Niclas Fogwall , Satie Site Administrator & Olof Höjer, (Swedish Pianist, recognized as one of the finest interpreters of Erik Satie)
Re: " … L.O.V.E. I.S. … (Let's Oppose Violence Everywhere ... In Schools \ In Society) ..."
"Composer Ennio Paola graced the audience with a beautiful composition … L.O.V.E. I.S. …"
Honey Novick, Creative Vocalization Studio, New Songs For Peace, Project Director
Re: “Della Quercia: Hymn of Faith, Hymn of Hope, Hymn of Peace”
“Ennio ha saputo trasportare queste note sullo spartito transformato, cosi, una melodia “divina” in un fantastico inno.” (“Ennio has known how to transform the spirit of these notes into a “divine” melody and fantastic hymn.”) “La Madonna di Conflenti che si è espressa nella mente di Ennio nella sua lingua; la musica” (“The Madonna of Conflenti who expresses herself in Ennio’s thoughts through his language; music.”)
Mariano Marotta, All’Ombra della Quercia, Anno 2 – n. 2, Agosoto 13, 2006
Re: IN TACIT UNDERSTANDING, performance @ Hart House, University of Toronto
"Let me thank you again for the wonderful performance we enjoyed at Hart House last night. What great work you do! It was truly awesome. My strong desire to offer up a standing ovation was cancelled only by the knowledge that our "main event" would be nowhere near as exciting. Thanks for touching our hearts."
Guru Fatha Singh Khalsa, Campus Sikh Dharma Chaplain, University of Toronto
Re: IN TACIT UNDERSTANDING, performance TAPESTRY: Weaving the World Together Historic Pickering Museum Village, Pickering, ON
“Your poetic sense, compositional ability, and sense of solidarity with fellow artists are inspiring. I look forward to hearing more of your work.”
Artemis Chartier, Co-Founder, SASS (School Association of Student Songwriters)
Re: Significant Music®™ Piano Competitions
"I recommend Ennio Paola’s music for anyone looking for tuneful, accessible and well-written Canadian music.”
Jennifer Knelman, Music Instructor at University of Guelph, Adjudicator
“Looking over your compositions they really are very musical - several layers of interesting sounds in each! I look forward to hearing them played in competition.”
Vanessa Hsu, Concert Pianist, Adjudicator
Re: “Kristallnacht: Night of Broken Glass” ~ Movie Trailer “I value the wisdom you impart and admire your work. Please continue." Judy Weissenber Cohen, Witness / Survivor Editor, Women and the Holocaust -
"Trail Blazer" - Renaissance Magazine (Retired Teachers'' of Ontario)
Music Teaching Goal: “Challenge students to: “D.R.E.A.M”—“Do Respect Everything About Music” –- not just “Notes” (Pitch)”.
Ennio Paola, Clavier Companion Magazine May/June (2014)