The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra (ESO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Edmonton, Alberta. As the professional orchestra of Alberta's creative capital city it presents over 85 concerts a year of symphonic music in all genres, from classical to country. Currently in its 72nd season, the orchestra is composed of 56 core professional musicians who perform 42 weeks per season and who play an active role in the musical life of Edmonton and elsewhere as performers, teachers and recording artists. The ESO also performs as the orchestra for Edmonton Opera and Alberta Ballet productions, and its recordings are regularly heard across Canada on CBC Radio 2.
History
The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra at the Winspear Centre
The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra was initially formed as Edmonton's community orchestra and performed its first concert on November 15, 1920. The orchestra suspended operations in 1932 due to lack of funds, but was revived on October 31, 1952, when it was incorporated as a registered not-for-profit organization (the Edmonton Symphony Society), and gave its first performance on November 30, 1952. It made the transition to a fully professional orchestra in September 1971. In 1973, it was decided to restrict the orchestra to "classical" size.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ESO's budget was over $10 million, and its players were the highest-paid Canadian orchestral musicians west of Toronto.
Music directors, conductors, concertmasters, and artistic leaders
In September 1997, the Edmonton Symphony Society and the Edmonton Concert Hall Foundation successfully completed a two-decade, $45 million capital campaign, and the ESO moved from the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium (the orchestra's principal performing venue since 1957) into its new concert hall, the acoustically superb, 1716 seat Francis Winspear Centre for Music. The inaugural gala, at which the ESO performed Mahler's Symphony of a Thousand with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, took place on September 13, 1997.
Programming and special events
Each season, almost 30,000 students experience the orchestra's music at the Winspear Centre. The Young Composers Project, with local composers as mentors, allows select high school students to compose orchestral works and hear them in performance. The orchestra's annual outdoor Symphony Under the Sky Festival is a popular destination for Edmontonians on Labour Day weekend.
The ESO's history and the varied nature of its programming reflect its imaginative commitment to its community.
In 1992, a televised ESO performance with k.d. lang conducted by Tommy Banks received a Gemini Award for Best Television Variety Performance.
In 1994, the orchestra undertook a five-city tour (the "Northern Lights Tour") of northern Alberta, the Yukon and the Northwest Territories.
In 1996, the ESO became the first Canadian orchestra to play on a First Nations Reserve.
On May 8, 2012, the ESO made its Carnegie Hall debut, its first performance outside of Canada.
Special concerts
Special ESO concerts drawing sold-out houses have featured, among others, k.d. lang in 1985, Tom Cochrane and Red Rider in 1989, The Arrogant Worms in 2002, Corb Lund in 2005, Paul Brandt in 2006, Video Games Live in 2007, Nikki Yanofsky in 2008, reunion concerts with Procol Harum in 1992 and 2010, Ben Folds in 2012 and 2014, and Ian Tyson on the 100th anniversary of the Province of Alberta on September 1, 2005. In March 2011, the ESO presented a memorable concert devoted exclusively to the music of Frank Zappa, and in December 2005, the orchestra returned to the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium to present two sold-out Christmas concerts with Christian singer/pianist Michael W. Smith. The orchestra continues this tradition of working with musicians from a variety of musical genres. In December 2012, the orchestra performed two Christmas concerts with the Barenaked Ladies. In December 2017, the orchestra performed four Christmas concerts with Jann Arden.
Composers in residence
John McPherson was appointed the orchestra's fourth Composer in Residence in August 2016.
Robert Rival, the orchestra's third Composer in Residence (2011-2014) wrote six major works for the orchestra during his residency:
Delights & Discords (2014)
Northwest Passage Variations (2014)
Symphony No. 2 "Water" (2013)
Achilles and Scamander (2012)
Lullaby (2012)
Whirlwind (2012)
Allan Gilliland
Allan Gilliland, the ESO's second Composer in Residence (2000–2004) composed nine major works for the orchestra, as well as a colorful new orchestration of Canada's national anthem. Before his residency, Gilliland had been commissioned to write two works for the ESO. Following his residency, he was commissioned to write two jazz-flavoured works: a rhapsody for piano and orchestra, and a suite for trumpet and orchestra.
The ESO has a long tradition of commissioning and performing works by Canadian – and particularly Albertan – composers. On April 29, 2005, the ESO presented a highly acclaimed concert of music by five contemporary Alberta composers – Allan Gordon Bell, John Estacio, Malcolm Forsyth, Allan Gilliland and Jeffrey McCune – in Southam Hall at Ottawa's National Arts Centre as part of the Alberta Scene festival. In May 2012, the ESO performed the US premieres of music by its first three Composers in Residence at Carnegie Hall's second annual Spring for Music festival.
Works commissioned by the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra include:
Louis ApplebaumConcertante / Prelude / Incantation / Sinfonia / Evocations for Two Pianos and Orchestra
Conquistador / Whaling Stories / A Salty Dog / All This and More / In Held 'Twas In I / Luskus Delph / Simple Sister (Rehearsal Version) / Shine on Brightly (Rehearsal Version) / A Salty Dog (Rehearsal Version) / Luskus Delph (Rehearsal Version)
Scarlet and Gold / L'Escarlet et L'Or - Alberta R.C.M.P. Century Celebrations, 1874-1974
(Members of the Gleichen Alberta Blackfoot Indian Reserve1, Father Colin Levangie chanter1, Father Jacques Jolie chanter1, Father Ubald Duchesneau chanter1, Roy Warhurst fiddle1, Tommy Banks conductor, 1974) (Denali SGLP 1001)
Dere Overture1/ Rebellion / Tribute to the R.C.M.P.
"E sogno o realtà?" (Falstaff) / "Morir! tremenda cosa...Urna fatale de mio destino" (La forza del destino) / "Cortigiani, vil razza dannata" (Rigoletto) / "Vanne! la tua meta già vedo...Credo in un Dio crude!" (Otello) / "Perfidi!...Pietà, rispetto, amore" (Macbeth) / "Tutto è deserto...Il Balen del suo soriso" (Il trovatore) / "Di Provenza il mar, il suol" (La traviata) / "Alzati! là tuo figlio...Eri tu che macchiavi quell’anima" (Un ballo in maschera)
Great Tenor Arias
(Ermanno Mauro tenor, Uri Mayer conductor, 1986) (CBC SM 5046, SMC 5046, SMCD 5046)
(Tom Cochrane, Red Rider, George Blondheim conductor, 1989) (EMI C2 0 7777 2654 2 8)
Light in the Tunnel / Human Race / Can't Turn Back / Napoleon Sheds His Skin / White Hot / Big League / Calling America / Avenue "A" / Bird on a Wire / Boy Inside the Man / Lunatic Fringe / Good Times / The Next Life
Django / Charlie Parker Medley / Bossa Nova Medley / They Kept Bach's Head Alive / Ballad Medley / Hand In Hand / Harlem Nocturne / The Old Castle / Strike Up The Band
Overture / Big Fat Road Manager / Canada's Really Big / Rocks and Trees / Log In to You / I am Cow / Last Saskatchewan Pirate / Gaelic Song / Me Like Hockey / Carrot Juice is Murder / Dangerous / Billy the Theme Park Shark / Celine Dion / We are the Beaver
(Jolaine Kerley soprano, Joy-Anne Murphy alto, Benjamin Butterfield tenor, Paul Grindlay bass, André Moisan clarinet, Grzegorz Nowak1 and Leonard Ratzlaff2 conductors, 2011; recorded in 2002) (DOREMI DHR-6011-3)
Grand Overture in C minor, Opus 1421 / Overture in E major2 / Offertorium: "Benedicat nos Deus", Opus 7372
Logos Futura
(Antonio Peruch accordion, Grzegorz Nowak conductor, 2011; recorded in 2001) (FisarmonicArt AP201101)
