Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
Encyclopedia
The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (VSO) is a Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...

 performing in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

. Over 240,000 people attend its live performances each year. It was founded in 1930 and plays in 12 venues. Its home is the Orpheum theatre. With an annual operating budget of $9.5 million, it is the third largest symphony orchestra in Canada. It performs 140 concerts per season.

History

The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (VSO) was founded by the Vancouver Symphony Society in 1930, largely through the efforts of arts patron Elisabeth Rogers. Two previous un-related orchestras had operated under the name the "Vancouver Symphony Orchestra", the first of which was formed in 1897 by Adolf Gregory and lasted for only one season. The second VSO was formed in 1919 by conductor Henry Green and was led by F.L. Beecher (president) and Mrs B.T. Rogers (vice-president). That orchestra existed for two seasons before financial strains and the disappearance of Green forced the orchestra to cease activities in 1921.

In addition to their regular concert schedule, the VSO also served as the Vancouver Opera company's orchestra during the 1960s and 1970s, until creation of the separate Vancouver Opera
Vancouver Opera
Vancouver Opera is the second largest performing arts organization in British Columbia and the largest opera company in western Canada.It performs in the Queen Elizabeth Theatre accompanied currently by the Vancouver Opera Orchestra, one of two specialized opera orchestras in Canada...

 Orchestra in 1977. During the late 1960s and 1970s the orchestra often appeared in joint concerts with the Vancouver Woodwind Quintet
Vancouver Woodwind Quintet
The Vancouver Woodwind Quintet was a Canadian wind quintet based in Vancouver, British Columbia that was active during the late 1960s and 1970s. The quintet performed roughly 40 concerts a year, both in Vancouver and on tour throughout Canada. Many of their concerts were given in Vancouver schools...

.

Throughout its long history, the VSO has had its successes and struggles. In 1979-80 the VSO had the largest subscription list of any symphony in North America. (Henigham, 2000) However, even with (or perhaps because of) a CBC
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...

 recording contract, a quarterly magazine and an ambitious touring schedule, the VSO began to founder. In 1988 the VSO was forced to shut-down for five months to regroup and deal with a $2.3 million deficit.

With local financial intervention, and a $500,000 federal
Government of Canada
The Government of Canada, formally Her Majesty's Government, is the system whereby the federation of Canada is administered by a common authority; in Canadian English, the term can mean either the collective set of institutions or specifically the Queen-in-Council...

 grant, the VSO began to rebuild, focusing more attention on popular works and collaborations with contemporary artists. To this end, the VSO has continually appointed a composer in residence since 1996.

Since 2000, the VSO's music director is Bramwell Tovey
Bramwell Tovey
Bramwell Tovey, OM is an English-born Grammy Award winning conductor and composer. His musical roots are in The Salvation Army. He was educated at Ilford County High School, the Royal Academy of Music and the University of London. His formal music education was as a pianist and composer...

. His initial contract was extended in December 2004 through the 2009-2010 season, and further extended in January 2010 through the 2014-2015 season. The VSO's conductor laureate is Kazuyoshi Akiyama
Kazuyoshi Akiyama
is a Japanese conductor.-Biography:Born into a musical family, he studied piano at the Toho Gakuen School of Music, but was fascinated by the conducting activities of a fellow student, Seiji Ozawa. He decided to study conducting with Hideo Saito...

, who was music director from 1972 to 1985. Jeff Tyzik is the orchestra's principal pops conductor.

The VSO and Maestro Tovey won the 2008 Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...

 for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (with Orchestra), for their recording of the Korngold, Barber, and Walton violin concerti, featuring Canadian violinist James Ehnes
James Ehnes
James Ehnes, CM is a Canadian concert violinist.The son of Alan Ehnes, trumpet professor at Brandon University and Barbara Ehnes, former director of the Brandon School of Dance, James Ehnes began his violin studies at the age of four...

. The recording won a 2008 Juno Award
Juno Awards of 2008
The Juno Awards of 2008 were held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada on the weekend ending 6 April 2008. These ceremonies honoured music industry achievements in Canada in the latter part of 2006 and in most of 2007....

 for Classical Album of the Year (large ensemble).

The VSO broadcasts 18 times annually on the CBC (6 concerts repeated 3 times each) including their now very popular Christmas concert.

The VSO launched the VSO School of Music on Sept 6, 2011. The VSO School of Music is dedicated to providing a music education experience to students of all ages and abilities. The VSO School of Music offers private music instruction and include the following lessons; piano lessons, guitar lessons, violin lessons, and vocal lessons.

Music directors

  • Allard de Ridder
    Allard de Ridder
    Allard de Ridder was a Canadian conductor, violist, and composer of Dutch birth. He was notably the first conductor of both the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra, the latter of which he founded in 1944...

     (1930–1941)
  • Jacques Singer
    Jacques Singer
    Jacques Singer was an American conductor. His father was the symphony conductor Mark Eli , his mother Rachela “Rose” .-Education:...

     (1947–1950)
  • Irwin Hoffman
    Irwin Hoffman
    Irwin Hoffman is an American conductor, born in New York. He was a protege of Serge Koussevitsky. He conducted the Vancouver Symphony from 1952 to 1964, after which he became Associate Conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He was Acting Music Director of the Chicago Symphony for one...

     (1952–1963)
  • Meredith Davies (1964–1970)
  • Kazuyoshi Akiyama
    Kazuyoshi Akiyama
    is a Japanese conductor.-Biography:Born into a musical family, he studied piano at the Toho Gakuen School of Music, but was fascinated by the conducting activities of a fellow student, Seiji Ozawa. He decided to study conducting with Hideo Saito...

     (1972–1985)
  • Sergiu Comissiona
    Sergiu Comissiona
    Sergiu Comissiona was a Romanian conductor and violinist.-Early life:...

     (1991–2000)
  • Bramwell Tovey
    Bramwell Tovey
    Bramwell Tovey, OM is an English-born Grammy Award winning conductor and composer. His musical roots are in The Salvation Army. He was educated at Ilford County High School, the Royal Academy of Music and the University of London. His formal music education was as a pianist and composer...

     (2000–present)

Composers in residence

  • Rodney Sharman
    Rodney Sharman
    Rodney Sharman is a Canadian composer and flutist based in Vancouver. His music has been performed in over 30 countries worldwide. He has won several international and national awards, including First Prize in the 1984 CBC Competition for Young Composers...

     (1997–2000)
  • Jeffrey Ryan
    Jeffrey Ryan
    Jeffrey Ryan is a Canadian composer. 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...

     (2000–2007)
  • Scott Good (2008–present)

Recordings

  • Open Heart Symphony
    Open Heart Symphony
    Open Heart Symphony is a 1996 album by Spirit of the West, in collaboration with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.The band recorded two shows with the orchestra on May 12 and May 13, 1995. The shows included several renditions of the band's best known songs, and an entire album's worth of songs...

    , a live album recorded by the VSO in collaboration with the folk rock
    Folk rock
    Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...

     band Spirit of the West
    Spirit of the West
    Spirit of the West are a Canadian folk rock band, who 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.-Early years:The band began...

    .
  • Jann Arden Live with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
    Jann Arden Live with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
    Jann Arden Live with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra is a 2002 live album by Jann Arden, recorded in conjunction with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.-Tracks:#"Could I Be Your Girl?" #"Waiting in Canada"...

    a live album recorded in collaboration with pop singer Jann Arden
    Jann Arden
    Jann Arden is a Canadian singer-songwriter.-Life and career:Arden was born and raised near Calgary in Springbank, Alberta and attended Springbank Community High School. Her breakthrough came with her critically acclaimed 1993 debut album Time for Mercy and her first single "I Would Die For You"...

    .
  • Barber
    Barber
    A barber is someone whose occupation is to cut any type of hair, and to shave or trim the beards of men. The place of work of a barber is generally called a barbershop....

    , Korngold
    Korngold
    Korngold is surname of:* Julius Korngold , Jewish Austro-Hungarian music critic* Erich Wolfgang Korngold , Jewish Austro-Hungarian film- and romantic music composer* Piano Concerto for the Left Hand...

    , Walton
    William Walton
    Sir William Turner Walton OM was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera...

    , Violin Concertos, Soloist James Ehnes
    James Ehnes
    James Ehnes, CM is a Canadian concert violinist.The son of Alan Ehnes, trumpet professor at Brandon University and Barbara Ehnes, former director of the Brandon School of Dance, James Ehnes began his violin studies at the age of four...

    , Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Bramwell Tovey
    Bramwell Tovey
    Bramwell Tovey, OM is an English-born Grammy Award winning conductor and composer. His musical roots are in The Salvation Army. He was educated at Ilford County High School, the Royal Academy of Music and the University of London. His formal music education was as a pianist and composer...

    , Grammy Awards winner 2008, Juno Awards winner 2008.
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