About

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Michael Borkovic is a composer, improvisor and educator living in Montreal, QC. He is a multi-instrumentalist but has been working mostly as a saxophonist with a special interest in avant-garde improvisation for the last few years from Kitchener/Waterloo’s music scene to Toronto and Ottawa. Michael draws on extended techniques extensively in his performances in an attempt to detach the saxophone from it’s conventional role in jazz music and its role as a melodic instrument. Using these techniques, Michael has been invited to play in groups or as a soloist at Nuit Blanche, The Button Factory, The Jazz Room, Centre in the Square, Silence, The Boathouse, Pressed Cafe, and Hillside Festival.

 
Formerly a student at Wilfrid Laurier University, Michael has studied under Glenn Buhr, Linda Catlin-Smith, Kathryn Ladano, Martin Arnold, Richard Windeyer, Dave Gray (Conestoga College), and performed and studied with Dong-Won Kim, Kyle Brenders, and Casey Sokol. As a composer, Michael is new to having works performed but has already been commissioned for several film scores and is currently writing a guitar piece that will be performed in British Columbia in February.
 

Michael Borkovic has performed and/or shared the stage with the following musicians:

Douglas Ewart, Casey Sokol, Joe Sorbara, Ben Grossman, Dong-Won Kim,Ÿ Kathryn Ladano,Ÿ Richard Burrows,Ÿ Colin Labadie,Ÿ Glenn Buhr,Ÿ Davey James, Kyle Brenders,Ÿ Brandon Valdivia,Ÿ Dave Klassen,Ÿ Alexis Castrogiovanni,Ÿ Andy Dolgin,Ÿ Kasia Czarski-Jachimowicz,Ÿ Evan Pointner, and bands:

Stealth, BLiND (now From Here), Treephones, Black Santa, Aneeq Kalson,Ÿ NUMUS Improvisation Ensemble,Ÿ The Surgeons

 

Composition

I consider myself a composer because it includes so many facets of music that I am already involved in. I am not limited to creating new works, but I feel the title of composer gives me license to a lot of freedoms as a musician. I find myself more available to perform/improvise, conduct,and record as well as write original works. It is necessary to wear many hats in music, but these come together more harmoniously for me under the title of composer.

Improvisation

Repair

I have been repairing instruments since 2011 when I bought an old and beat up Buescher baritone sax on eBay. Learning to repair my instruments has changed my relationship to the saxophone enough that I recommend that everyone learns more about how their instruments function - mechanics and the physics of sonic production - it is liberating to not be at the mercy of your saxophone. Be warned, this is can explode into a serious endeavour if you are trying to save money doing some of the heavier work.
I have been repairing instruments since 2011 when I bought an old and beat up Buescher baritone sax on eBay. Learning to repair my instruments has changed my relationship to the saxophone enough that I recommend that everyone learns more about how their instruments function – mechanics and the physics of sonic production – it is liberating to not be at the mercy of your saxophone. Be warned, this is can explode into a serious endeavour if you are trying to save money doing some of the heavier work.

Credits

Hosting for this site is provided by my brother at dambhost since July 2015. His site is still under construction, but the service is active.

Also hosted by dambhost is my site mijofoto: for photography, design, and visual art projects. I am considering linking these sites eventually, but while this site is under construction, they will still separate.