The Kindred Spirits Orchestra (KSO) is a civic orchestra based in Markham, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 2009 with music director Kristian Alexander.
Music director Kristian Alexander first discussed creating an orchestra in Markham in 2007. Auditions began in April2009 with rehearsals in September[3] and the orchestra's first concert was performed at Glenn Gould Studio on 3November 2009.[1] In its early years, the KSO had 38 musicians and focussed on presenting Baroque and classical repertoire.[1] Since then, it has grown to 86 musicians[citation needed] required for more complex and large-scales compositions.[2][3] The KSO has commissioned original pieces and has performed works of Canadian composers Brian Current, Gary Kulesha and Larysa Kuzmenko.[2]
Outside of its subscription concert series, the KSO has performed special concerts for Canada Day, Chinese New Year, the Markham Contemporary Music Festival[2] and New Year's.[4] In 2017, the KSO accompanied Bollywood composer A. R. Rahman at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts (now Meridian Hall).[2] The orchestra has also performed at the Isabel Bader Theatre, and the Unionville Millennium Theatre.[2]
The KSO also has community outreach and educational programs, with professional development opportunities for emerging artists, music educators, conductors,[1][3] and composers.[citation needed]
In 2021, the KSO announced that it had become the first orchestra in Canada to replace paper-based sheet musicparts with a digital library accessible via iPad Pro tablets made available to all musicians.[5]
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