Dr. Andrew Staniland (BMus '00)
2015 Distinguished Alumnus of the Year
The University of Lethbridge Alumni Association (ULAA) Distinguished Alumnus/a of the Year Award recognizes individuals for exceptional professional achievements, academic excellence and/or contributions to society. In 2015, the Association was proud to recognize Andrew Staniland (BMus '00), who is already recognized as one of Canada's leading contemporary classical music composers.
Andrew Staniland discovered his passion for composition at the University of Lethbridge, where he credits several of his professors with igniting that flame. He continued his studies at the University of Toronto where he earned his Master’s and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees. He worked as an affiliate composer with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and National Arts Centre Orchestra before starting an academic career at Memorial University of Newfoundland in 2010.
A prolific composer since his graduate school days, Andrew Staniland has amassed more than 100 national and international performances of his work and been chosen to represent Canada at prestigious festivals in Poland, France, and Hong Kong. His compositions have received numerous awards and accolades, and the prestigious Naxos Canadian Classics record label released the first disc of his music last year. Only five years into his academic career, Andrew Staniland has already established himself as a rising star at Memorial University. In 2014, he received the President’s Award for Outstanding Research. That same year he was elected in the inaugural cohort to the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists, one of the highest honours for an academic in Canada.
Through his success as a composer, his teaching and several areas of interdisciplinary music research, Staniland continues to share his passion and kindle student interest in composing and performing the music of our time.
The University Alumni Association is proud of Andrew Staniland’s professional accomplishments and looks forward to his future successes. It is with great pleasure that the Association recognizes Dr. Andrew Staniland for his outstanding achievements as a contemporary classical music composer.