THE GSO STORY - Seven Years on

To read the story of the orchestra as published in The Music Times Jan 2008 edition, click here. Reprinted with permission.

About the Guelph Symphony Orchestra

The Guelph Symphony Orchestra’s mandate is to give excellent performances of orchestral classics and new music to audiences in the City of Guelph. Comprised of musicians from the city and region, the orchestra performs regularly in the superb concert hall in the River Run Centre in downtown Guelph. Performances include the annual New Year’s Day concert and each summer’s Music in the Park. The orchestra also performs for other groups, which have included the Liberation Choir of Southern Ontario, the University of Guelph Choir, and the Guelph Chamber Choir. The core of over forty professional and talented amateur players can be expanded to over fifty musicians, as called for in the music to be performed.

The GSO was founded in March 2001. In its now more than 45 concerts, the orchestra has established a fine reputation and has gained popular and critical acclaim. Performances have included such major works as Beethoven’s dramatic Symphony No. 5 and Dvorak’s beautiful ‘New World’ Symphony; many treasured works by Haydn, including his Symphony No. 104, and Mozart, including his Symphony No. 40 and the opera The Magic Flute; such grand piano concertos as Beethoven’s Emperor and Tchaikovsky’s No. 1; the remarkable violin concertos by Beethoven and Mendelssohn; major choral works, including Handel’s majestic Messiah, Haydn’s moving Lord Nelson Mass, and Britten’s charming St. Nicolas Cantata; lesser-known gems such as Bizet’s delightful Symphony No. 1 and the bubbly Cello Concerto by Saint-Saens; and such imaginatively powerful overtures as Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet, Mendelssohn’s Hebrides, Strauss’ Die Fledermaus and Weber’s Oberon. The GSO also performs new and recent works by Canadian composers, some of them commissioned by the orchestra, including compositions by Ronald Royer, Alexander Rapoport, Alan Laing, Rami and Ari Posner, Maria Molinari, and Glen Buhr.

Soloists to perform with the orchestra have included the renowned Anton Kuerti, Mark DuBois, Alexander Tselyakov, Donna Trifunovich, Suzanne Hou, Glyn Evans, Mary DuQuesnay, and such emerging professional performers as Sarah Kramer, Michael Esch, David Gilham, Kevin Ramessar, Michael York, Marion Samuel-Stevens and Andrew Tees. Some of these visiting soloists have generously offered masterclasses for City of Guelph students of all ages.

Each season the winner of the GSO’s Concerto Competition performs in concert with the orchestra. These, to date, have been pianists Ben Chapman, Todd Yaniw and Sarah Choi; cellists Judith Manger and Desirée Abbey; clarinettists Cecilia Kang and Colin Liu; Mark Laver on saxophone; and Winston Hind on tuba. Because of the prize – the opportunity to perform a major work with a quality orchestra in front of a live audience – this competition annually attracts outstanding applicants. Each year a different instrument category is featured: piano, strings, woodwinds and brass.

The GSO’s focus on youth in the Under-23 Concerto Competition is seen also in the annual performance with the orchestra by the Guelph Youth Music Centre Orchestra, when the young performers sit with GSO members and receive encouragement from them during rehearsals and part of a concert. This concern for education also prevails within the orchestra, for seasoned professionals mentor other members, and offer sectional rehearsals.

The GSO has developed creative partnerships with other musical groups in the community, including the Edward Johnson Foundation, the Guelph Youth Music Centre, the Guelph Concert Band, the Music Department at the University of Guelph, and the Liberation Choir.