Andrew Staniland

Composer • Film Composer • Storyteller


Andrew Staniland creates music where cinematic storytelling, emotional depth, and sonic imagination converge.



An award-winning Canadian composer working across film, orchestral music, opera, chamber music, and creative technology, Andrew has built an international reputation for music that is both emotionally compelling and artistically fearless. His work has been described by The New Yorker's Alex Ross as "alternately beautiful and terrifying," while the National Arts Centre has called him a "new music visionary."



Whether composing for the concert stage or the screen, Andrew is drawn to stories that demand a distinctive musical voice. His music combines rich orchestral writing, contemporary textures, electronics, and innovative sound design to create immersive sonic worlds that deepen narrative and amplify emotional impact.

Recent screen projects include The King Tide, Sweetland, The Righteous, SKEET, A Small Fortune, and Immaculate Memories: The Uncluttered Worlds of Christopher Pratt, with films appearing at major international festivals including TIFF, Fantasia, Busan, and Atlantic International Film Festival. [CodeInterpreter | Undefined]

His concert music has been commissioned and performed by many of Canada's leading arts organizations, including the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra, Soundstreams Canada, Gryphon Trio, Esprit Orchestra, and Quasar Saxophone Quartet. His work has earned multiple JUNO nominations, ECMA Awards, and national recognition for artistic innovation and creative excellence.

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At the heart of Andrew's work is a belief that music should do more than accompany an experience—it should transform it. Whether creating a feature-film score, an orchestral commission, or an interdisciplinary performance, he seeks to build music that connects deeply with audiences and leaves a lasting emotional imprint.



Based in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Andrew collaborates with filmmakers, producers, performers, and creative partners across Canada and internationally.


AWARDS AND HONOURS

2026 JUNO nomination: Classical Composition of the Year: The Laws of Nature

2026 ECMA Nomination: Composer of the Year: The Laws of Nature

2026 ECMA Nomination: Instrumental Album of Year: The Laws of Nature

2026 ECMA Nomination: Electronic Album of the Year: The Laws of Nature

2024 ECMA Award: Composer of the Year: Blackwood Sketches

2023 ECMA Award Nomination: Classical Artist of the Year: Reddened by Hammer. 

2023 ECMA Award Nomination: Composer of the Year

2022 MusicNL Nomination: Classical Artist of the Year. 

2021 ECMA Award Nomination: Peter Quince at the Clavier. Classical Composition of the Year.

2020 Orion Constellation Theory selected for performance as part of the official Canadian selection for the ISCM World Music Days in Auckland/Christchurch New Zealand. 

2019 ECMA Award Nomination: Earthquakes and Islands. Classical Composition of the Year. 

2018 Nickel Independent Film Festival Best Music Award for the original score “Immaculate Memories: The Uncluttered Worlds of Christopher Pratt”

2018 JUNO Nomination: Phi, Caelestis. Classical Composition of the Year. 

2018 ECMA Award: The River is Within Us. Classical Composition of the Year. 

2017 JUNO Nomination: Dark Star Requiem. Classical Composition of the Year. 

2017 JUNO Nomination: Dark Star Requiem. Classical Recording of the Year: Choral or Vocal.

2016 Terra Nova Young Innovators Award, Suncor/Memorial University. ($50,000)

2015 University of Lethbridge Distinguished Alumnus of the Year. 

2014 Elected to the Inaugural Cohort of the College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists Royal Society of Canada (RSC). 

2014 President’s Award for Outstanding Research, Memorial University of Newfoundland. 

2014 Harry Freedman Recording Award: Talking Down the Tiger. 

2012 Pentagrams selected as part of the official Canadian selection for the 2014 ISCM World Music Days in Wroclaw, Poland.

2012 International Music Prize for Excellence in Composition 2011. Finalist. National Academy of Music (USA).

2010 Government of Newfoundland and Labrador Research and Development Corporation IRIF Ignite! Research Grant: $ 100,000

2010 Nominated for the KM Hunter Award in Music – Ontario Arts Council. 

2009 National Grand Prize ($20,000), Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s Evolution Composers Competition: Devolution 

2009 Prix de l'Orchestre de la Francophonie Canadienne, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s Evolution Composers Competition: Devolution

2008 First Prize, Prairie Emerging composer Award: Protestmusik 

2007 Gaia chosen by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to represent Canada at the UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers in Paris, France. 

2007 Second Prize, Pierre Mercure Award, SOCAN Young Composers Competition: Full Circle

2006 First Prize, Hugh LeCaine Award, SOCAN Young Composers Competition: Despite Bright Ideas

2006 Second Prize, Pierre Mercure Award, SOCAN Young Composers Competition: Air

2006 After the Crash selected for performance during the 2007 ISCM World Music Days in Hong Kong

2005 First Prize, Pierre Mercure Award, SOCAN Young Composers Competition: After the Crash

2004 Finalist, Toronto Symphony Orchestra New Creations Competition

2004 Toronto Emerging Composer Award

2004 Karen Kieser Prize in Canadian Music: Tapestry

2002 Third Prize, Sir Earnest MacMillan Award, SOCAN Young Composers Competition: Variations on a Theme by D.H. Lawrence

2002 Third Prize, Pierre Mercure Award, SOCAN Young Composers Competition: for violin #3

2001 Second Prize, Godfrey Ridout Award, SOCAN Young Composers Competition: 13 Images

1999 A.K Putland Award in Music

1999 Geoff Dimmer Memorial Award in Composition

1995 Victoria Arts Society Award for Excellence in the Arts