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ALICIA BORISONIK BIOGRAPHY
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Alicia Borisonik was born in 1965 in the Argentinean province Buenos Aires. As a child she started playing music on the recorder at the age of seven, went on to play the organ and guitar, and by 12 or 13 years old she was composing music and writing poetic lyrics for her songs. Fascinated by harmonies, she taught herself by playing music, recording it, and playing over it. The accordion – the same instrument that her grandfather left Russia with as a boy – is an instrument Alicia learned to play as an adult.
Alicia enjoyed countless musical successes in Argentina. As a singer, arranger, composer and performer, Alicia’s talents were regularly called upon in the thriving musical scene of Buenos Aires. She performed and toured with rock groups, Broadway-type musicals and theatre companies. However, she was unhappy living under a repressive and unpredictable regime. While visitng her sister in Canada she fell in love with the sense of freedom the country offered and so, in 1994, Alicia emmigrated to Canada.
Based in Hull Québec, where she now lives with her husband and stepson, Alicia has built a career around composing, teaching and performing. She plays accordion and keyboards, and is a vocalist, composer, and arranger. She is also a professional piano instructor – including jazz and tango piano. She teaches both adults and in schools through support from the SOCAN Foundation, MASC, and the Ontario Arts Council. She has received funding from Ontario Arts Council, Canada Council, Conseil des Arts du Québec and FACTOR for research, composition and recording.
Drawn back to the traditional folk and tango music of her native Argentina, Alicia returned to Buenos Aires for the summer of 2006 to study tango and Argentinian folk music with some of the best local musicians. “Going to Buenos Aires, my city, is for me a tremendous source of inspiration, the local scene is overwhelming, you can feel the lively spirit of the city vibrating all the time.” says Alicia. It is from this experience that she drew inspiration for the compositions on her latest recording, Busco un Lugar. |
Busco un Lugar (“Looking for my Home”), Alicia Borisonik’s second CD, traces Alicia’s life from her teenage years in Argentina living under a brutal dictatorship, through the journey to her current life in Canada. On this new CD, she brings the most traditional influences of her life experiences together with contemporary musical innovations by blending traditional Argentinian music with contemporary vocals, electronic beats and loops, and infusing it with the richness of violin and accordion.
Alicia explains, “This CD, in a way, is a gift to myself, the end of a cycle and the beginning of new ones. It’s a collage of various moments, emotions and scenes from my life... ”
Alicia’s collaborative partner, drummer and artistic producer Ross Murray, created the loops, percussion and arrangements on Busco un Lugar and the roster of musicians on the CD includes Alvaro De Minaya providing bombo leguero and Latin percussion, Stuart Watkins and Tom McMahon on bass, Sunita Gingras playing violin, Rene Gely on guitar, and Daniel Srugo on Spanish guitar. Along with composing and arranging, Alicia Borisonik plays piano, accordion, and vocals. Busco un Lugar will be distributed in Canada by Outside Music. |
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PERFORMANCES & RECENT HIGHLIGHTS
2008
CD Release 4th Stage, National Arts Centre, Ottawa ON
Ottawa International Jazz Festival
SUNFEST, London ONdon ON
2007
National Archives of Canada
- opened for Robert Michaels
Ottawa International Jazz Festival
Awarded Juried showcase @ FOLK ALLIANCE in Memphis,USA
Winner GLOBAL RHYTHM MAGAZINE’s MUSIC CONTEST. Her song TANGO COMPLICADO was featured in the June issue
2006
Studied tango & folklore in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Ottawa International Jazz Festival
2004/05
Yukon Arts Centre - Longest Night, Whitehorse, Yukon
2002
The 4th Stage, National Arts Centre, Ottawa
2001
Teatro La Nostalgia, Argentina
Waterloo Community Centre
2000
Canadian Tulip Festival
released Latin-jazz album ESA LOCURA DE VIVIR
1999
Auberge Symmes, Aylmer
Harbourfront Center, Toronto
GRANTS
1995 - Ontario Arts Council – for composition
1998 - FACTOR - for demo recording
2005 - Canada Council for the Arts – for research
2005 - Conseil des Arts du Québec – for research of Argentinian music
2000 til present – SOCAN Foundation grants for teaching music in schools
2007, 08 – ArtsSmarts grants for school programming |
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