History

                    

"In the late '70s and early '80s orchestral composition (in Canada) was close to dying out. Things were so dire that a great composer/teacher like John Weinzweig was telling composition students at the (university) faculty not to bother proposing orchestral projects because there would be no-one to play them. The CBC national radio competition for young composers did not have an orchestral category until 1988, (CBC Two New Hours Producer David) Jaeger points out, and. . . "I think you can safely say," he said, "that within English Canada the early activities of Esprit really did rescue orchestral composition from oblivion. . ." - excerpt, Wholenote Magazine; David Perlman

                    See Brief History

                    Esprit Orchestra is Canada's only full-sized orchestra devoted exclusively to commissioning, performing and promoting new orchestral music. Esprit was founded in 1983 by Music Director and Conductor Alex Pauk through generous financial assistance from The Canada Council for the Arts and Suncor Inc.

                    Comprised of a core of 45 dedicated musicians who have the special skills needed to perform contemporary orchestral music, Esprit presents an annual subscription series of concerts in Toronto. The orchestra is devoted to developing a Canadian musical literature. To this end, it commissions and premieres new works each season and ensures continued public access to these works through encore performances, radio broadcasts, compact disc and film recordings, and national and international tours. Esprit's concerts are regularly recorded for broadcast on CBC Radio Two.

                    Currently in its 21st season, Esprit has commissioned over 70 new works from a range of established and emerging composers, including such internationally acclaimed Canadians as José Evangelista, John Rea, R. Murray Schafer and Harry Somers, as well as up-and-coming composers Brian Current, Chris Paul Harman and Yannick Plamondon. Esprit has also premiered new musical works commissioned by NEXUS, CBC Radio, and the Art Gallery of Ontario, among others. See: Commissions

                    Esprit is also committed to setting new Canadian music within an international context. The orchestra has introduced Canadian audiences to major works by such contemporary masters as Takemitsu, Ligeti, Berio, Adams, Schnittke, Kurtag, and Penderecki. Alex Pauk and the orchestra have often collaborated with leading soloists and ensembles, which have included Jean Stilwell, Maureen Forrester, Barbara Hannigan, Rivka Golani, Desmond Hoebig, Richard Margison, the Molinari Quartet, Jon Kimura Parker and his brother James, André Laplante, Robert Aitken, Duo Turgeon, and NEXUS, among others.

                    In September of 1999, Esprit completed a high profile debut European tour. With four concerts in Amsterdam - at the invitation of the International Gaudeamus Music Week - and another in Paris, the tour represented one of the largest-ever presentations of Canadian orchestral music in Europe. Over 90 percent of the repertoire was Canadian. Compatriots Robert Aitken and Erica Goodman were the orchestra's chosen soloists. The previous year, 1998, Esprit toured Western Canada presenting concerts and educational activities to rave reviews.

                    Esprit Orchestra's excellence and commitment to the future of Canadian culture has not gone unnoticed. In 1990, SOCAN's Award of Merit (recognizing imaginative programming of contemporary music over several seasons) was presented to the orchestra.

                    In 1995, Esprit was awarded the Jean A. Chalmers National Music Award for outstanding contributions to musical creativity. The orchestra was also awarded its first Lieutenant Governor's Award for the Arts for success in developing private sector and community support in 1996, and then was again given this prestigious award in 1998. Esprit received the honour for a third time when it received the Lieutenant Governor General's Award for the Arts in 2000. Esprit was also one of 23 recipients sharing a special "million-dollar birthday gift" designed to celebrate Joan Chalmers' seventieth birthday.

                    Esprit's Music Director and Conductor Alex Pauk is a composer of growing international stature and has received many awards and nominations for his outstanding musical compositions and contributions to the development of Canadian music. Esprit's corporate partners have also been rewarded for their strong ongoing support of the orchestra.

                    In 1991, Esprit's founding corporate sponsor, Suncor, twice received Financial Post Business in the Arts Awards for demonstrating innovative support of Esprit's high caliber music presentations. Another of Esprit's many corporate partners, Rhone-Poulenc Canada Inc., received an award of distinction in 1996 at The Financial Post Business in the Arts Awards ceremonies.

                    In 1988, the orchestra initiated an education and audience development program, Toward a Living Art (TALA). Since then, TALA has involved over 3,000 students in workshops, rehearsals and concerts with conductor Alex Pauk, Esprit's musicians, leading soloists and composers, as well as other professionals.

                    In November of 1996, Esprit organized a Toward a Living Art Festival - a weeklong open house where students and the general public had the opportunity to meet with composers visiting from across Canada. The Festival featured open rehearsals, workshops, artists' talks, film screenings and concerts. The following year, Esprit initiated its Student Audience Program, providing 500 high school students with complimentary tickets to Esprit's regular subscription concerts.

                    In the Spring of 2002, Esprit presented its first ever Young Composers Festival, The Weekend. The Orchestra brought together a large group of young Canadian composers with young composers and filmmakers from Holland for a compact two-day event featuring two evenings of concerts, pre-concert talks by composers, special performances by featured artists, talks by leading cultural figures, and short film presentations by leading Canadian and Dutch filmmakers. The Dutch filmmakers and composers who participated in The Weekend were assisted by the Netherlands' government as part of a longstanding relationship of musicmaking between Esprit and The Netherlands.

                    Esprit Orchestra has recorded soundtracks for several Rhombus Media films, including: Perfect Pie; Toothpaste, an opera written by composer Alexina Louie and librettist Dan Redican, which has charmed broadcast audiences and forums around the world, including audiences at The Louvre's 2002 film/tv fest, in Paris - Toothpaste was given its world premiere concert performance by Esprit in February, 2002; Larry Weinstein directed docudrama Ravel's Brain; Ravel; The Radical Romantic; For The Whales; September Songs: The Music of Kurt Weill; The Eternal Earth about Canadian composer Alexina Louie; Don McKellar's Last Night; Jeremy Podeswa's 24fps, a short film commissioned to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the Toronto International Film Festival; Podeswa's award-winning feature film The Five Senses; and his award-winning made-for-television movie After the Harvest.

                    Esprit has also recorded six CDs of Canadian music for CBC Records and Centrediscs. These include: Harry Somers/Celebration by CBC Records (2000) featuring music by Canadian Composer Harry Somers with guest artist performances by James Parker (piano) and Jean Stilwell (mezzo-soprano); Tabuh-Tabuhan - Music of/Musique de Colin McPhee by CBC Records (1997), featuring the music of Composer Colin McPhee (1900 - 1964); Music for Heaven and Earth by CBC Records (1996), featuring music by Canadian Composers Colin McPhee, Harry Freedman, Alexina Louie and Robert Aitken with guest artists Robert Aitken (flute) and NEXUS (percussion); Music for Heaven and Earth received a five-star rating by BBC Music Magazine in 1996; Iridescence by CBC Records (1995) featuring music by Istvan Anhalt, Harry Freedman, Chris Paul Harman, Alex Pauk, and R. Murray Schafer; The Esprit Orchestra by CBC Records (1991) featuring compositions by Brian Cherney, Tomas Dusatko, Chan Ka Nin, Alex Pauk and R. Murray Schafer; and, most recently, Music for a Thousand Autumns by Centrediscs featuring the music of Canadian Composer Alexina Louie (a multiple JUNO award-winning Canadian composer who was twice-named most performed Canadian contemporary classical composer by SOCAN).

                    Esprit is a non-profitable organization governed by its volunteer Board of Directors. Esprit receives financial support from The Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, the City of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council, The Ontario Trillium Foundation, The SOCAN Foundation, The George Cedric Metcalf Charitable Foundation, The Harold E. Ballard Foundation, The Laidlaw Foundation, The Royal Netherlands Embassy, Muziek Groep Nederland, CBC Radio Two, Scotiabank Group, Yamaha Canada Music Ltd, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, Bravo!FACT, Roger D. Moore, a bequest by the estate of Margery Griffith, annual Subscription Series subscribers, individual ticket buyers, and donors.