Bill132199-3 copyA native of Saskatoon, Bill Linwood is the co-founder and Artistic Director of Aventa Ensemble. He has conducted such classic repertoire as Boulez’s Le Marteau sans maître and Dérive II, Ligeti’s Chamber Concerto and Ferneyhough’s Flurries, as well as Canadian premieres of a wide variety of Canadian and international repertoire. A champion of the music of Quebec composer Gilles Tremblay, Bill has conducted several programs and recordings devoted to his music. In May 2011 he presented the European premiere of Tremblay’s epic À quelle heure commence le temps? in Sweden. Other recent conducting highlights include the Danish premiere of Norwegian Rolf Wallin’s Appearances , the North American premiere of Anders Nordentoft’s opera On this Planet and the US premiere of Poul Ruders’ Abysm in New York City. In 2009, in recognition of his dedication and commitment to Canadian music, Bill was named a CMC Ambassador as part of the Canadian Music Centre’s 50th anniversary. In 2013, Bill conducted the inaugural season of Ensemble 1534, a pan-Canadian group based in Ottawa at the National Arts Centre dedicated to the performance of Canadian new music. In 2015, he conducted the Australian premiere of Gavin Bryars’ opera Marilyn Forever, as part of the Adelaide Festival and made his US debut with Long Beach Opera to critical acclaim: “…expert conducting” – Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times “…Linwood conducts stylishly and authoritatively” – Jim Ruggirello, Gazettes, Los Angeles In 2017 he makes his debut with the Victoria Symphony, leading the orchestra in their Explorations and New Music Festival.