Simon Alami Composer
Share
Canadian composer of concert classical music. He loves to experiment with new forms of expression
03/16/2026
What a beautiful and memorable evening in Seattle this past March 12 for the world premiere of Symphonic Dances.
My deepest thanks to my friend Dr Erin Bodnar for inviting me to write this piece and for bringing it to life with such energy and musical commitment.
I am also profoundly grateful to the wonderful student musicians of the University of Washington Wind Ensemble. Your dedication, openness, and curiosity toward new music made this experience incredibly meaningful. It was a real joy to work with you in rehearsal and to hear the music come alive in performance.
Thank you as well to the University of Washington School of Music for the warm welcome and for supporting the creation and performance of new work.
We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts | Conseil des arts du Canada.
I thank the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québecfor its financial support.
03/08/2026
✈️ Off to Seattle!
Nancy and I are on our way to the University of Washington for the world premiere of my new work Symphonic Dances with the UW Wind Symphony, conducted by my friend Dr. Erin Bodnar.
I’m especially excited to finally meet the amazing student musicians who have been working so hard on this music.
A very special trip — and even more meaningful to share it with my wonderful wife Nancy, my first supporter and most honest musical critic.
I thank the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec for its financial support, which made this trip possible.
Seattle, here we come!
🎧 Steps on the Wind — Dance III from Symphonic Dances
What you're hearing in this excerpt is inspired by the musical traditions of the Atlas Mountains, part of the rich soundscape that surrounded Simon's youth in Morocco. It moves close to the ground, breath-driven, communal. Something ancient that never stopped dancing.
Symphonic Dances is a cycle of five interconnected dances tracing a journey between two worlds that shaped who I am asa composer: Morocco, and Québec, where I have lived for more than forty years. The music doesn't present these traditions as museum pieces — it lets them move, collide, and ultimately find a common language.
The world premiere takes place on March 12 in Seattle with the University of Washington Wind Symphony, conducted by Erin Bodnar — whose invitation to write this piece opened an entirely new world. Wind symphony writing was territory I had never explored before. Her trust changed that, and I look forward to going much further.
A Québec reel excerpt is coming soon — a very different energy, same journey.
The full five-movement listening version is on SoundCloud — link in the first comment. 👇
https://on.soundcloud.com/A0xuU1Ezu8geezOTPh
With gratitude to ethnomusicologist Khalil Moqadem for his insight into Moroccan musical traditions.
We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.
03/03/2026
On March 12, the University of Washington Wind Symphony, conducted by Dr Erin Bodnar, will premiere my five-movement work Symphonic Dances in Seattle.
This piece traces a personal trajectory — from my birth and early musical roots in Morocco, through my life in Québec, to a final movement where both traditions converge in a shared celebration: Dawn of the Dance.
I am deeply grateful to Erin Bodnar for inviting me to write this work and for guiding it to life with such dedication.
Looking forward to hearing it resonate in its full symphonic form.
https://music.washington.edu/events/2026-03-12/wind-ensemble-and-symphonic-band-mystic-threads
On July 31 in Brasília, Evanescent Frequency was performed at the Teatro Nacional Cláudio Santoro by the National Brazilian Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Evan Harger, as part of the Brasília Orchestral Summit.
The work reflects on the accelerating cycles of construction, intensity, and disappearance that shape our contemporary world — a meditation on impermanence within large orchestral form. The excerpt shared here captures one of its evolving structural tensions.
My sincere thanks to the orchestra for their powerful interpretation and to the BOS team for creating this international platform.
We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts | Conseil des arts du Canada.
For presenters, conductors, or artistic directors interested in programming the work, feel free to send me a private message for a perusal score.
More about my music:
https://www.simonalami.com
🇨🇦🇧🇷
10/26/2025
https://youtu.be/RlQoy5EuSS0?si=lC2f6ozW8A9BHoZB
Analysis for Composers # 20 - A checklist for musical quality Here I present my personal checklist: what I look for in a new piece. These are suggestions for musical criteria.
09/08/2025
🎶 Les inscriptions sont maintenant ouvertes pour la 4ème édition du Concours Graham Sommer (GSC) ! 🎶
🎹 Cinq finalistes présenteront leurs nouvelles compositions. 🎉
🇨🇦 Le GSC 2026 est ouvert aux citoyen·ne·s canadien·ne·s ou résident·e·s permanent·e·s de moins de 35 ans. Les finalistes recevront des prix en argent allant de 6 000 à 18 000 CAD. 🌟
📅 Ne manquez pas cette occasion exceptionnelle ! Pour plus d'infos et pour l’inscription, visitez : www.mcgill.ca/gsc/fr
Click here to claim your Sponsored Listing.
Category
Website
Address
University Of Washington, 15th Ave NE And NE 40th St
Seattle, WA
98195