“The music of composer Bekah Simms possesses an enormous sonic palette: timbrally vibrant and ranging from superabundant electronic grotesquerie to lush microtonal waves of sound, their varied musical output has been heralded as “cacophonous, jarring, oppressive — and totally engrossing!”

(CBC Music)

Propelled equally by wonderment and terror toward the universe, Bekah's music creates instances of sonic fascination that focus on the raw compelling power of abstract sound, often interweaving the muscularity of metal; formal abandon of prog; tenderness of folk; and extracted fragments of other popular musics.

Bekah is the recipient of over 40 awards, prizes, and competitive selections, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Barlow Prize, and a JUNO Award for Classical Composition of the Year (alongside two additional nominations in the same cateogry.) They have been a finalist for the Gaudeamus Prize and commissioned by and performed at major festivals across Europe and North America including Wien Modern, Time:Spans, Gaudeamus Newmuziekwrek, ACHT BRÜCKEN, Music on Main, and New Music Dublin, premieres at the latter which were twice described as "highlights of the festival" by the Journal of Music in 2021 and 2024. They have worked with some of the top interpreters of contemporary music internationally, including Crash Ensemble - with with whom she was artist-in-residence from 2022-2024 - Nikel, Riot Ensemble, Quatuor Bozzini, Eighth Blackbird, the Zöllner-Roche Duo, and Nouvel Ensemble Moderne. Their chamber orchestra + electronics album Bestiaries was released in 2022 to critical acclaim and was included on several year end best-of lists from the US, Canada, Italy, and the UK. Their music has thrice been included in the Canadian Section's official submission to World Music Days (2016, 2019, & 2021) and in 2023 and 2024 was chosen for inclusion in the World New Music Days in the Faroe Islands and Portugal respectively as an independent submission. In 2016 the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation included them among their annual 30 hot classical musicians under 30.

Bekah is a Lecturer at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, following previous academic positions at the University of Toronto and University of Western Ontario. They hold a D.M.A. and M.Mus in music composition from the University of Toronto, and a B.Mus.Ed. and B.Mus in theory/composition from Memorial University of Newfoundland. Their principal teachers during academic studies were Gary Kulesha and Andrew Staniland, alongside significant private study with Clara Iannotta and Martin Bédard.

“visceral contemporary music that enfolds external inspirations with dazzling rigor and logic” (Peter Margasak), and praised for its "sheer range of ingenious material, expressive range and sonic complexity" (The Journal of Music.)