The NIck Lavkulik Quintet
In just his first year out of high school, Nick Lavkulik earned The New Voices Composer in Residency chair for Spectrum Music's Early Expressions Concert. Inspired by an image of prehistoric handprint cave art seen as symbolic for the most vulnerable portrayal of self expression, Nick composed his piano quintet “Handprints.” The premier of “Handprints” was performed by Florian Hoefner with the Ton Beau String Quartet, alongside David Braid performed his internationally toured piano quintet “Chauvet.” The concert also included works by Ben Dietschi, Caitlin Smith and Daniel Jamieson – Nick's advising Spectrum composer. The Spectrum Residency acted as the catalyst for a formal introduction into chamber music. This foray connecting as well as challenging a prior conception of music, has led to Nicholas pursuing new musical avenues.
During his early teens, Nick enrolled in the highly regarded Humber College Community School. The six years of invaluable direction with the school’s elite faculty included private instruction from world renowned jazz guitarist, Lorne Lofsky. As a participant of the vigorous program, Nick inherited many skills including composing. His piece “B.E.T. on Yorke” was featured in numerous performances including at Canada’s National Musicfest competition. The piece received comparisons to Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring” and recognized in the international Downbeat Magazine Student Awards of 2013. It was presented the award of “Outstanding Performance” for the High School Jazz Composition (Lead Sheet) category.
Nick is currently enrolled in his fourth year of Jazz Performance at the University of Toronto and studying privately with remarkable guitarist and composer, David Occhipinti. Nick's influences include The Wayne Shorter Quartet, Frank Ocean and Jim Hall. Actively working in multiple musical projects including his quintet and 'Gymnoped' Nick can be found performing in various venues in Toronto.
The Nick Lavkulik Quintet performs original music composed by Nick, influenced by artists across varied traditions but rooted in the spirit of jazz improvisation. The featured repertoire has received international recognition from Downbeat Magazine and The John Lennon Songwriting Competition.
Performance
Saturday, September 10, 2016
12:20 pm
U Stage