Chris Byman  &  Fraser Linklater

The two winners of the 2020 Canadian Band Association Howard Cable Memorial Prize in Composition are Autumn Down a Maple Lane by Manitoba Composer Chris Byman, and Sprouts by Manitoba Composer Fraser Linklater. Mr. Byman & Mr. Linklater will each receive $1,000 for their efforts from the Canadian Band Association.   

CHRIS BYMAN obtained B.Mus and M.Mus degrees in clarinet performance from Brandon University, where he also studied composition and wind conducting.  As an emerging composer and arranger, Chris enjoys writing for orchestras, concert bands and chamber groups and has had the privilege of working with multiple ensembles, including the Brandon University New Music Ensemble, the University of Lethbridge Incanto Singers, the Brandon Community Orchestra, and the Vancouver Chamber Choir.  Most recently, Chris has had the opportunity to collaborate with multiple home-grown musicians by creating symphonic arrangements of their charts in partnership with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra. These artists include: Justin Lacroix, Rayannah, Jocelyne Baribeau, Raine Hamilton, and the Juno Award winning group, the Bros. Landreth.  Chris has studied with clarinetists Sharon Atkinson, Micah Heilbrunn, Catherine Wood, composer T. Patrick Carrabré, and conductor Wendy McCallum. Currently, Chris is a freelance clarinetist, clinician, arranger, and composer living in Winnipeg, Manitoba.  For more information about Chris and his music, Read More Here!

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FRASER LINKLATER is now retired from the Desautels Faculty of Music at the University of Manitoba, where he directed the Wind Ensemble, Concert Band, and Chamber Winds and taught courses in music education from 1999 to 2016.   At the provincial level, Dr. Linklater served on the Executive Board of the Manitoba Band Association for almost two decades and coordinated all three levels of the MBA honour band program. In October 2002, he received the MBA Award of Distinction for his services to music education in Manitoba.   Nationally, Dr. Linklater was an associate editor of Canadian Winds, the national journal of the Canadian Band Association, and contributed over twenty-five articles to this journal. An authority on Canadian wind band repertoire, in addition to his writing on the topic Dr. Linklater founded the North Winds recording project, conducting five CDs of Canadian band music with the University of Manitoba Wind Ensemble.  In May 2006 Dr. Linklater was the guest conductor of the National Youth Band of Canada and has also guest conducted wind groups several times at the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra’s New Music Festival. In October 2014, Dr. Linklater was presented with the 2014 National Band Award by the Canadian Band Association, in recognition of outstanding contribution to band at the educational, community and professional level in Canada. In June 2019, he conducted a concert at the University of Manitoba entitled Homages, featuring nine of his works performed by an ensemble of UM alumni and professional musicians. Apart from music, Fraser and his wife Joan enjoy traveling and spending time with friends, family and their two grandchildren.  For additional information on Fraser Linklater and his music education resources, Read More Here!

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Now in its 9th year, the CBA’s 2020 Howard Cable Memorial Prize in Composition received twenty eight (28) entries from across the nation.  Entries are reviewed annually by the CBA Canadian Consortium Members from across Canada and the United States.

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