Charles T. Cozens is an award winning, internationally known arranger, orchestrator, composer, conductor, music director and producer. Labeled by the Canadian Press as “one of Canada’s premiere arrangers”, Mr. Cozens won the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s 1986 National Workshop Arranger’s Competition. Since then, major orchestras in North America and Europe have performed his orchestral arrangements consistently to critical acclaim, and he has been continuously recognized, with numerous awards and nominations.
Winner of the Established Performing Artist Award from the Mississauga Arts Council, he has also been nominated for the Dora Award (Most Outstanding Musical: Swingstep) and the Chalmers Award in Composition (Peter Pan: The Return). His 2006 album Balance was nominated for a Juno Award for Instrumental Album of the Year. Widely prolific, Mr. Cozens has over 100 CDs to his credit as conductor, composer, arranger, pianist and producer, for prestigious recording labels such as Universal, Sony, CBC SM 5000, Attic, Solitudes, Avalon, Reflections and Jazz Inspiration.
Mr. Cozens special career highlights have included a Command Performance for HRH Queen Elizabeth as an Arranger and Composer (London, 1984), and as Conductor for The Duke Of Edinburgh Awards, HRH Prince Philip (Toronto, 2004: Mozart and Bach program with members of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra).
Mr. Cozens has guest conducted many of Canada’s leading symphony orchestras coast to coast including Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Regina, Winnipeg, Kitchener-Waterloo, Hamilton, Mississauga, members of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Symphony Nova Scotia in both pops and concert music idioms. He has also conducted and recorded in Moscow with the Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Russian National Cinema Orchestra and members of the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra.
Other conducting credits include numerous television and film soundtracks, CD recordings, and over 40 theatrical productions including Fiddler On The Roof, Beauty And The Beast, My Fair Lady, Miss Saigon, Crazy For You, Anne Of Green Gables, Man Of LaMancha, and The King And I.
Very recent collaborations include arrangements, orchestrations and conducting for The Canadian Tenors (Universal), Eleanor McCain with David Foster, and The Stratford Festival Orchestra (Richard Monette Gala).
As a composer, Mr. Cozens’ recent concert works include "Tres Ballos Latinos" (Robert Cooper/Orpheus Choir), “Suite For Children for Guitar and String Orchestra” (Jason Carter, Helsinki), “Marionette Fandangle” (Acclarion), “Les Petites Dances Demoniques” (Niagara International Chamber Music Festival), “Botanicus” (Hannaford Street Silver Band with Bramwell Tovey) and “The Clown Of Venice” (Quartetto Gelato).
Mr. Cozens’ theatrical works and Canadian cast recordings include The Three Musketeers (Stratford), Swingstep: The Musical (Silver Fox Productions), The Magic Of Love, (North Waterloo Publishing), Showstoppers (Drayton Festival), Peter Pan (Theatre Aquarius), Scrooge: A Christmas Carol (Theatre Aquarius) and Glory Days (Theatre Aquarius).
He has also enjoyed writing for such luminaries as The Canadian Brass, Quartetto Gelato, Rosemary Clooney, Louise Pitre (Mama Mia, Broadway), Michael Burgess (Les Miserables), and The Nylons. He has also scored numerous successful symphonic pops shows including Broadway Today, Bending The Bows and Harlem To Hollywood starring Michael Danso.
Other projects as a composer, orchestrator and conductor have included a new symphonic work for Stratford’s 50th Anniversary, four new orchestral recordings in Moscow for Avalon Records, Angel Harp, with Canadian harp virtuoso Erica Goodman, arrangements for Quartetto Gelato Travels The Orient Express and a plethora of television and film scores including Tek Wars, Ray Bradbury Theatre, The Twilight Zone, At The Midnight Hour, Clarence, Christmas In America and The Long Road Home.
Recently, Mr. Cozens completed scoring two innovative concert programs to rave reviews for the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra; the first for Canadian Country Music star Lindi Ortega, in concert with the WSO, and then a new symphonic pops show for Canada’s legendary rock icon Randy Bachman, entitled “Randy Bachman's Symphonic Overdrive.”
An accomplished pianist and accordionist, Mr. Cozens twice won the Open Canadian Accordion Championship in 1968 and 1969, and subsequently represented Canada in the Coupe Mondiale 1969 in New York City, where he placed among the top ten concert accordionists in the world. As a pianist, he as performed many recitals both classical and jazz, and has had the pleasure of performing with Henry Mancini, Ertha Kitt and Cab Calloway.
The subject of many articles, reviews and journals, Mr. Cozens has been a contributing author to Broadway North: The Dream Of A Canadian Musical Theatre (Mel Atkey) and Glory Days (Bill Freeman).
Mr. Cozens is recognized as an expert in orchestral conducting for the recording environment. Consequently in January 2007, he was invited to be a Guest Keynote Speaker at the International Conductors Guild Conference in Toronto Canada, lecturing on “Conducting For The Recording Orchestra”. This lecture has subsequently been published by the International Conductor’s Guild.
Always involved in the advancement of modern musical concepts in orchestration, conducting and orchestral recording, Mr. Cozens was invited to be a member of the Advisory Committee for Humber College, Music Degree Program (Toronto) and has also been a consultant to Roland Music Corporation among others.
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