Darren Russo

Darren Russo is a composer born in 1984 in Montreal, Quebec.

In 2006 he began his bachelor’s degree in music composition at McGill University’s Schulich School of Music. During that time he studied under Chris Paul Harman and Jean Lesage. He was awarded positions as composer-in-residence for the Contemporary Music Ensemble and the McGill University Chorus (Tick Tock, Bang Bang – 2009, Missa Syllabis – 2010 [first prize winner of the SOCAN Foundation Awards for Young Composers, Godfrey Ridout category] in July 2011). He also collaborated with celebrated writer Sheldon Rosen, creating music for his typographical play Hansel and Gretel which was staged at Ryerson University in May 2009. It was later featured at the LyricCANADA national conference at Brock University in October 2010.

In August 2011, at the invitation of Tapestry New Opera, he participated in their composer/librettist laboratory. There, he worked closely with artistic director and CEO Wayne Strongman C.M., and Professor Michael Albano (University of Toronto) in an intensive workshop geared towards meeting the challenges of writing music for the stage. It led to the development of his opera Storybook, commissioned by Opera Five in Toronto for their 2013-2014 season.

He is currently pursuing a Master’s degree at McGill, studying under Denys Bouliane and Philippe Leroux.