Esprit Orchestra

Last updated

The Esprit Orchestra is an orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada that is dedicated to the performance of new orchestral works. It was established in 1983 by music director and conductor Alex Pauk, and is Canada's only full-sized orchestra devoted exclusively to new music. [1] Currently, there are 45 full-time members. A season typically features five concerts featuring 20th and 21st century music as well as newly commissioned works. Notable composers who have written for Esprit include John Burke, Alexina Louie, John Rea, Chan Ka-Nin, Murray Schafer, Owen Underhill, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and John Beckwith. [2]

In the 1990s, the Esprit Orchestra recorded and released renditions of several never previously recorded compositions by Colin McPhee. [3] This resulted in McPhee receiving posthumous Juno Award nominations for Best Classical Composition for "Symphony No. 2" at the Juno Awards of 1998 and "Concerto for Wind Orchestra" at the Juno Awards of 1999.

The orchestra has also participated in film recordings for directors such as Larry Weinstein, Don McKellar, Jeremy Podeswa, Don McBrearty and Deepa Mehta.

In October 2009, Esprit began to perform in the Koerner Hall and has since called it home. Its concerts have also been recorded and broadcast by CBC Radio Two. Three of the orchestra's commercial recordings have been nominated for Juno Awards.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colin McPhee</span> Canadian composer and ethnomusicologist (1900-1964)

Colin Carhart McPhee was a Canadian-American composer and ethnomusicologist. He is best known for being the first Western composer to make a musicological study of Bali, and to develop American gamelan along with fellow composer Lou Harrison. He wrote original music influenced by that of Bali and Java, decades before compositions based on world music became widespread.

The CBC Radio Orchestra was a Canadian orchestra based in Vancouver, British Columbia, that was operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Until the early 1980s CBC had a number of orchestras located in Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal, and Halifax but due to federal government budget cuts they were eliminated and the CBC Vancouver Orchestra was promoted to national status. It changed names in 2000 to reflect its status as the CBC's only broadcast orchestra; the last radio orchestra in North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spirit of the West</span> Canadian rock band

Spirit of the West were a Canadian folk rock band from North Vancouver, active from 1983 to 2016. They were popular on the Canadian folk music scene in the 1980s before evolving a blend of hard rock, Britpop, and Celtic folk influences which made them one of Canada's most successful alternative rock acts in the 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lighthouse (band)</span> Canadian rock band formed 1969

Lighthouse is a Canadian rock band formed in 1969 in Toronto, Ontario, whose repertoire included elements of rock music, jazz, classical music, and swing and featured horns, string instruments, and vibraphone. They won Juno Awards for Best Canadian Group of the Year in 1972, 1973, and 1974.

Anton Emil Kuerti, OC is an Austrian-born Canadian pianist, music teacher, composer, and conductor. He has developed international recognition as a solo pianist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phil Nimmons</span> Canadian jazz musician (1923–2024)

Phillip Rista Nimmons was a Canadian jazz clarinetist, composer, bandleader, and educator. Nimmons played "free jazz" and mainstream styles, and other genres including classical music. He composed more than 400 pieces in various genres, and for various instrumentations including film scores, music for radio and television, chamber music, music for large ensembles, concert band and symphony orchestras. He studied clarinet at the Juilliard School, and composition at the Royal Conservatory of Music.

Alexina Diane Louie,, is a Canadian composer of contemporary classical music. She has composed for various instrumental and vocal combinations in a variety of genres. She has fulfilled a number of commissions, and her works, which have been performed internationally, have earned her a number of awards, including the Order of Canada and two Juno Awards.

Andrew Paul MacDonald is a Canadian classical composer, guitarist, conductor, and music educator. His compositions have been performed in many countries and recorded by well-known musical ensembles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Serouj Kradjian</span> Canadian pianist and composer

Serouj Kradjian is a Canadian Grammy-nominated and Juno-winning pianist and composer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Brady</span> Canadian composer, musician and producer

Timothy Wesley John Brady is a Canadian composer, electric guitarist, improvising musician, concert producer, record producer and cultural activist. Working in the field of contemporary classical music, experimental music, and musique actuelle, his compositions utilize a variety of styles from serialism to minimalism and often incorporate modern instruments such as electric guitars and other electroacoustic instruments. His music is marked by a synthesis of musical languages, having developed an ability to use elements of many musical styles while retaining a strong sense of personal expression. Some of his early recognized works are the 1982 orchestral pieces Variants and Visions, his Chamber Concerto (1985), the chamber trio ...in the Wake..., and his song cycle Revolutionary Songs (1994).

The Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra (TBSO) is a Canadian professional orchestra based in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

Jeffrey Ryan is a Canadian composer based in Vancouver, British Columbia. His compositional style ranges from opera, art song, and choral music to chamber ensemble and orchestral works. Ryan has been commissioned by the Cleveland Orchestra, the Windsor Symphony, Esprit Orchestra, Tapestry New Opera Works, the Arditti Quartet, and Elektra Women's Choir. Repeat performances have been presented by the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra, the Victoria Symphony, the Canadian Chamber Choir, the Florida Orchestra, and the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, as well as a number of art song teams and chamber ensembles. He is an Associate Composer with the Canadian Music Centre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phil Dwyer (musician)</span> Musical artist

Phil Dwyer is a Canadian jazz saxophonist, pianist, composer, producer and educator. In 2017 he graduated from the University of New Brunswick (UNB) Faculty of Law in Fredericton, New Brunswick and was called to the bar of British Columbia in 2018. Dwyer is Member of the Order of Canada, having been invested in 2013 "For his contributions to jazz as a performer, composer and producer, and for increasing access to music education in his community." Dwyer has been nominated for Juno Awards six times and won Best Mainstream Jazz Album in 1994 with Dave Young for Fables and Dreams and Contemporary Jazz Album of the Year in 2012 for the recording Changing Seasons. Dwyer has also appeared on Juno Award winning recordings with Hugh Fraser (1988), Joe Sealy (1997), Natalie MacMaster (2000), Guido Basso (2004), Don Thompson (2006), Molly Johnson (2009), Terry Clarke (2010), and Diana Panton (2015). He is an alumnus and Honorary Fellow of The Royal Conservatory of Music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Togni</span> Musical artist

Peter Anthony Togni is a freelancer Canadian composer and broadcaster based in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Chan Ka Nin is a Canadian composer and music educator of Chinese descent. He became a naturalized Canadian citizen in 1971. He has been commissioned to write works for the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, the CBC Radio Orchestra, the Esprit Orchestra, the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, the National Arts Centre Orchestra, New Music Concerts, the Quebec Contemporary Music Society, and Symphony Nova Scotia among many others. He has also been awarded funds to compose works by the Canada Council, Ontario Arts Council, Ontario's Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration, and the Toronto Arts Council. He has won two Juno Awards for Best Classical Composition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denis Gougeon</span> Canadian composer and music educator (born 1951)

Denis Gougeon is a Canadian composer and music educator. His more than 80 compositions encompass a wide variety of genres, including orchestral works, chamber music, opera, ballet, and pieces for solo instruments and voice. Notable ensembles to have included his compositions in their performance repertoire include the Bavarian State Ballet, the Canadian Opera Company, the I Musici de Montréal Chamber Orchestra, Le Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, New Music America, the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet, the Quebec Contemporary Music Society, and the Vancouver New Music Society.

James Scott Irvine is a Canadian composer, arranger, and tuba player based in Owen Sound, Ontario. An associate of the Canadian Music Centre and a member of the Canadian League of Composers, he has been commissioned to compose works by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the Laidlaw Foundation, and the Ontario Arts Council. His works have been recorded on a number of commercial releases, including CDs by Joan Watson, Jack Grunsky, the Canadian Chamber Ensemble, and the Berlin Philharmonic. Most of his compositions are written for concert band and brass instruments.

Alice Ping Yee Ho is a Canadian pianist and composer, considered to be "among the most important composers writing in this country".

Charles Cozens is involved in the music industry in Canada as an arranger for solo artists; a composer writing in multiple genres for diverse organizations including chamber ensembles, musical theatre, and television; a conductor and producer of crossover orchestral shows; a performer on piano and accordion in jazz, classical, and pop styles; and as a recording artist and producer.

Alexander Peter Pauk is a Canadian conductor and composer, most noted as the founder of the Esprit Orchestra.

References

  1. "Toronto's Esprit Orchestra Receives $10,000 Gift". Archived from the original on June 11, 2012. Retrieved November 21, 2010.
  2. Olds, David. "Esprit Orchestra". thecanadianencyclopedia.ca.
  3. Kaptainis, Arthur (February 24, 1996). "Esprit release yields two Juno nominees". Montreal Gazette.