Name: Alain Francois Joseph Andre Mayrand

Musical training:Master's degree in music composition.

First instrument : Guitar, at age 5. Piano soon after that. I took flute a few years ago and I am now learning cello.

Earliest musical memory:Recording the Star Wars score on a Radio Shack cassette player so I could play as I feel asleep.

Favourite composer: Bach. So much of his music is perfect. I am awed by it. It is a goal to reach for that I will likely never attain. It keeps me working.

Favourite piece: The Rite of Spring. Hearing it opened up a whole new world for me, and I immediately wanted to be part of it. This is the piece that changed my life, or ruined it, depends on how you look at it.

Favourite piece of mine: I love them all for various reasons, regardless of their imperfections. But I don't like to play my own music.

Proudest moment: Having professional musicians flip out over a piece of mine that had been rejected by my teachers. It shows you have to believe in yourself.

Wildest Dream: To write music that has the logic of tonality but with complete freedom.

Favourite place to write: My basement studio, which I call The Cave. It has my piano, my writing board, lots of paper and, most importantly, it has silence. I need solitude to write.

Creative inspiration: I have this idea of what my music could be, and reaching that while solving the musical problems it creates along the way is what stimulates me and keeps me going.

Biggest challenge:To write music that is at once new and free of cliches that still feels natural and organic.