Invocation

It is important to Mathieu-Chua Duo that their collaborations and performances spark new artistic and social developments. They hope to contribute to the evolution of classical music as well as forge new connections between composers and audiences – two parties that might otherwise remain isolated without committed performers and committed performances. They aim to inspire emerging Canadian composers to the artistic and technical possibilities of instrumental chamber writing and to inspire the next generation of performers to the potential of contemporary repertoire.

Meeting in 2012, Mathieu-Chua Duo has quickly established themselves in Canada. They have presented recitals at Music Toronto’s Discovery Series, 21C Festival at the Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto), Sound Symposium XVII (St. John’s, NF), New Works Calgary, Ottawa New Music Creators, 5-Penny New Music Concerts (Sudbury, ON), Palais Montcalm (Quebec City), and COC’s Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre (Toronto); as well as at Universities of Ottawa, Western Ontario, Guelph, and Waterloo. Mathieu-Chua Duo have also presented outreach performances at the Royal Conservatory of Music’s Music Champion Celebration (Peterborough, ON), Cambridge Libraries, and as part of the Canadian Music Centre’s New Music In New Places. In their history together, Mathieu and Chua have commissioned and premiered a number of works by emerging Canadian composers including Gabriel Dufour-Laperrière, Brian Harman, Emilie Lebel, Adam Scime, and Caitlin Smith, and established composers Alice Ping Yee Ho (Canada) and David Vayo (United States). They have collaborated with the composers of Spectrum Music (Toronto ON) and Canadian-born, Brooklyn-based interdisciplinary artist Karen Ostrom to present Patent Pending, an installation, animated film accompanied by live music at CONTACT Photography Festival 2014 (Toronto). The duo released their debut recording True North in 2017, and Gapplegate Classical-Modern Review noted that the duo “trip the light fantastic with a dramatic sense of expression and a remarkable sense of balance and poise.”