Colleen Muriel
About Colleen
Flautist and composer Colleen Muriel, [M .A. (Music), B. Music, FRSM, FTCL, ARCT ] has been performing in public for many years. Venues include Holy Rosary Cathedral, Christ Church Cathedral and the Silk Purse, Vancouver, Canada; Telford International Centre, Telford; Regent Theatre, Ipswich; In Scotland – Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Edinburgh’s Usher Hall, Perth Concert Hall, Inverness Eden Court Theatre, and Aberdeen Music Hall; In Wales – The University of Wales, Aberystwyth; In London – Holy Trinity Church, Brompton; Regent Hall, Oxford Street (composition performed at 15th Annual London New Wind Music Festival); The Savage Club (Liberal Club) Whitehall, St. Paul’s Covent Garden (the historic actor’s church in the Covent Gardens Market Place) and The Royal Albert Hall. Attendees at Concerts include Boris Johnson – (mayor of London) and Bear Grylls (Adventurer, writer, and Chief Scout of the Boy Scouts) Colleen’s performances, compositions and arrangements cover a wide range of styles moving from folk music through to the avant-garde. Included in her list of compositions are solo vocal works, piano solos, and music for chamber ensembles, string quartets, lots of flute music, and simple folk and hymn tunes. Her recordings and books can be found in the National Library of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario; The British Library, London,; and The Library Fondazione Adkins Chiti Donne in Musica, (Italy). The first two concerts of Colleen’s compositions were given in 1997 and 1998: Since then her music has been performed in a number of countries including England, Australia, and the United States. Her church music is represented by Christian Copyright Licensing International (CCLI) and her hymns are sung by various congregations throughout the U.S.A. as well as within the London, England area.
Colleen's Reviews
From customers:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Denis Bedard - well known Canadian composer and Music Director of Holy Rosary Cathedral, Vancouver, Canada says, "Colleen Muriel is an outstanding flutist. A born musician, her technique is highly developed and her playing is musically excellent and very imaginative. A very hard worker, she also has a warm personality. She loves playing flute for audiences and audiences love her." Colleen is indeed a rather exceptional musician, deeply committed to making the best of herself as a flautist, not from any desire to be a 'star' but simply from her passion to express herself through music and to arrive ever more closely at the musical truth of the pieces she plays. Julian Jacobson MA (Oxon), GRSM, ARCM Professor of Piano and Chamber Music, Royal College of Music, London (pianist, composer, conductor) In my ten years of being an activity organizer I have very rarely been lucky enough to find a musician as talented as Colleen Muriel ... ... the afternoon was a true delight ... ... Kay Wheatley (Activities Organizer, Pilgrim Wood Residential Home, July 2007) ----------------------------- 'Colleen is an accomplished flautist ... ... who has presented an impressive number of concerts in churches in London' Connie Bromley Edmonton Journal, December 19, 2008 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VANTERHEYDEN has made a comment on Rainfall - Composed by Colleen Muriel. Performed by Graeme Thewlis: Very nice - Intense, dramatic but spot on. Colleen’s CD, Welcoming the Christ Child (live music from Holy Rosary Cathedral) is just what is needed to warm the heart on a cold winter’s night. Some of the phrases in the lower register have depth and warmth of a clarinet. My cat, Paws really loved the high notes. Mollie Kingham, London, England February 2010 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Colleen plays not just from the heart, but from the very depths of her being, that is, from her soul!" Irene English......Vancouver, B.C. Canada ------------------------------------------------ Emotionally saturated, wonderful flute music author: Rudolf Penner, musician, Vancouver, BC Canada Colleen's medium is the music, true music that ranks in quality with the greatest classical opera singers of 100 years ago. Her flute offerings, which span the emotional spectrum, have the a wonderful yearning timbre filled with rich colour. They are a treasure that I indulge in over and over and never tire of. Amazing!
Review in The Recorder, London, Thursday February 25, 2010 Flute and piano indulge in rich programme Two accomplished performers indulged themselves and their Redbridge Music Society audience last week at the Lambourne Room, Redrbridge Town Hall, with a rich programme of music for flute and piano. Canadian flautist Colleen Muriel gave an unscheduled solo opening to the evening, wandering the hall like the Pied Piper with her long red hair flowing. It was clear from the beginning of the ‘official’ programme, the Alleluia adapted from Mozart’s Exsultate Julilate, that Muriel would be emphasising the vocal qualities of her instrument. This was particularly notable in her rendering of the Meditation from Massenet’s Thais, surely one of the most touching melodies ever written. It is no surprise that Manuel Villet, as a former student of the great Nadian Boulanger, should include piano music by Debussy in his programme. The wide-ranging and complex sonorities of L’lsle joyeuse and the mystical sound-painting in La cathedrale engloutie are obviously in the blood, as well as the fingers, of this mature artist, although the upright piano of the Lambourne Room did neither him, nor Debussy, any favours. In the second half, two pano compositions by Muriel evoking her rain-drenched native Vancouver, were followed by an engaging piece by Ken Dodkins, a member of the RMS, suitably entitled Enchantment. Obviously enjoying themselves, the two instrumentalists then took us on an unexpected visit to the 18th century with an elegantly structured slow movement from Vivaldi’s conceto Il Cardellino. Perhaps the highlight of the evening was the Rondo from the Concierto Pastoral by Rodrigo. This is music with attitude. It has dynamism and energy, which is all the more impressive in that Rodrigo was 78 when he wrote it. Muriel and Villet gave it their feisty best. Mandy Bentley The Recorder, London February 25, 2010 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
