In August 1999, while I was co-hosting Radio Music Gallery, I was fortunate to have composer Ann Southam (1937-2010) as a guest. It was optional content for the show, unrelated to promoting the concert calendar at The Music Gallery, but more than relevant to the focus of the organization in those years. Early on a Friday morning, she ascended the stairs to the attic studio in the old 91 St. George St. location of CIUT, introduced tracks from recent CD releases of her work, and answered a few questions.
Unfortunately, due either to nervousness or studio chaos, I neglected to record the interview until after it started. The recording begins while she is discussing a recent commission. I loved doing the show but was still inexperienced at doing interviews and a bit brash. Despite that, an iconic Southam is in evidence: engaging, wise, funny, and disarmingly homespun. The fragment is a fractal.
My co-host Christina Jol was present for the interview, and her voice can also be heard at points.
I recently rediscovered the cassette of this recording, around the time I was thinking of dedicating a composition in Southam’s memory. That eventually happened with ex tempore (2024). It’s hard to say whether Southam’s music was more of an influence on my style or simply an inspiration; it was certainly both. She loomed large in Canadian composition, and deservedly so given how extraordinary her music is. She was also a wonderful human being.
At the end of the interview, I asked her if she had advice for young composers, to which she responded, “Don’t get pushed around by influences, just listen to your own voice as much as you can.” That seems to symbolize her own work as much as it invites examination, like any platitude. Southam’s work embodied both her unquestionable uniqueness as a musician, and her relationship to a style movement (minimalism) that tended to erase women from its early narratives.
Technical note: I’ve posted the digitized audio of the cassette without any editing or cleanup. Two recordings of her music can be heard briefly (15-20 seconds each).
EL MAHBOOB 