About Hope

Hope Salmonson (she/they) is a composer, tubist-improviser and educator based in Kjipuktuk (unceded Mi’kmaq territory called Halifax, NS). She is building relationships on the provincial, national and international levels, across a variety of instrumentations and styles. With a focus on process over product, she seeks to ensure that every voice in the room is heard, on and off the stage. Hope is always chasing opportunities to connect with others through music, valuing community first and foremost.

As a composer, Hope is queering their music through a cross-genre style and a burning desire to share the creative experience with performers. Her compositions explore a wide range of topics, but they hope that others may see themselves in her own musical self-explorations. She especially takes pride in works where she can collaborate directly with other thinkers and makers across disciplines. Hope has served as composer-in-residence for the University of British Columbia Bands and the University of New Brunswick Contemporary Music Festival, among others.

As a performer, Hope feels equally comfortable moving between improvisation and through-composed music, much like she does playing tuba and singing. For her, contemporary and older styles are two sides of the same coin, and the tuba and voice are both a part of her when she uses them. She currently plays with Glass Winds and Scotia Brass, but she’s just as likely to find herself in choirs, small chamber groups, recital settings or the occasional kitchen party.

Hope’s educational philosophy is built on the firm belief that anybody who wants to can make music. Teaching brass instruments and composition at the Chelsi Madonna School of Music, she works with both new and experienced performers and composers. Hope prioritizes meeting students where they’re at and getting them where they’re going rather than prescribing a blanket stylistic approach or method. Hope has also hosted “contemporary contemporary” workshops, introducing musicians of all styles and backgrounds to improvisational contemporary music in a judgement-free zone.

Hope holds a BMus from Mount Allison University and a MMus in Composition from the University of British Columbia. Her composition instructors have included Kevin Morse, T. Patrick Carrabré, Jennifer Butler, Keith Hamel and Dorothy Chang, and she continues to learn from the musicians she teaches and works with. In her spare time, she frequents cafes, thrift stores, picnic blankets and board game nights with her loved ones.