Darren’s busy concert schedule has taken him across Canada, the UK, US, and France. He has been a featured performer with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, New Music Edmonton, New Works Calgary, Kensington Sinfonia, Instrumental Society of Calgary, Theatre Calgary, and Calgary ProArts Society. A passionate advocate of new music, Darren is a core member of the experimental music collective Timepoint Ensemble and with them has given premieres of many new compositions. He also performs and records regularly as a member of the bands Diatessaron, Jung People, Evan Freeman, and Lucky Sonne.
Recent compositions by Darren include a work in collaboration with dance soloist Alèn Martel as part of “SHED | knowing each other as different and the same” (Pam Tzeng, Dancers’ Studio West), as well as the soundtrack and sound design for “Se Pa Ra Ti Sm” (Swallow-A-Bicycle Theatre), which premiered in December 2021. In 2018 he premiered “PARTNERS”, a 50-minute song cycle for 12 musicians, comprised of short, character-based fragments that explore different aspects of human interaction and connectivity. “PARTNERS” was written for Diatessaron & Timepoint Ensemble and had its debut performance in February 2018 as part of the 2017-18 Timepoint Ensemble Season. Darren also created the music for “Know The Rules, Win The Game” (Cloudsway Dance Theatre), which was presented at the CanAsian Dance Festival in Toronto, ON (September 2018) and was filmed by the National Arts Centre of Canada in early 2021 for a streamed event. Darren has also composed incidental music for the dance productions “8-Bit: The Video Game Dance Show” (Cloudsway Dance Theatre, April 2019), and “Deep END” (Project InTandem, March 2020). He is currently working on a collaboration with percussionist Nia Devetzis and animator Quinn Goddard set to debut in Spring 2023.
On September 10, 2021 Darren released a single under the name Dmfyoung, a remix for the band FORQ on the GroundUp Music label.
In 2015 Darren co-wrote the soundtrack to the film “Empyrean” with his band Jung People, for which they won an AMPIA Award for Best Original Score (Drama, Over 30 Minutes). The film premiered at the 2015 Calgary International Film Festival, and the soundtrack was officially released in September 2017.
Darren is the President of the Classical Guitar Society of Calgary, an organization that promotes guitar and arts education, and brings internationally acclaimed classical guitarists to Calgary for concerts and Masterclasses. He has twice attended the prestigious Aspen Music Festival and School, holds degrees in performance from the University of Calgary and the University of Toronto, and is currently on faculty at the Mount Royal University Conservatory in Calgary.
September 2022
Phone Darren Young 403-402-1506
Email dmfyoung@gmail.com
Website http://www.dmfyoung.com/