The Manitoba Chamber Orchestra ( MCO ) is a chamber orchestra based in Winnipeg , Manitoba , Canada. It offers an annual subscription series at Westminster United Church, which regularly features Canada's leading soloists, such as James Ehnes and Measha Brueggergosman , and Marc-André Hamelin . Other core MCO activities include recording, touring, and engaging extensive outreach in remote communities in northern Manitoba. Currently, Anne Manson serves as the MCO's Music Director, Karl Stobbe as its Concertmaster, and Vicki Young as its managing director.
25-626: The Manitoba Chamber Orchestra was founded in 1972 by Ruben Gurevich. Gurevich served as music director and principal conductor until 1981. After a season of guest conductors, English conductor Simon Streatfeild , a founding member of the prestigious London-based chamber orchestra, the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields , was appointed music director and principal conductor in 1982. He was succeeded by another English conductor, Roy Goodman (2000–2005), and then by Anne Manson, who began her tenure in 2008. In 1984,
50-505: Is a Canadian concert violinist and violist . Ehnes was born in Brandon, Manitoba , the son of Alan Ehnes, long time trumpet professor at Brandon University (Canada), and Barbara Withey Ehnes, former ballerina with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens , Ruth Page's International Ballet, and Chicago Ballet , and former director of the Brandon School of Dance. Ehnes began his violin studies at
75-618: Is based on new music by Michael Oesterle and a script by Rhéal Cenerini , and explores the relationship between a French coureur de bois , a First Nations woman, and Nanabush , the Anishinaabe trickster figure. In October 2019, the MCO were named Classical Artist / Ensemble of the Year at the Western Canadian Music Awards . They were nominated for the same award in 2020. In the same year,
100-625: The London Symphony Orchestra (1956–1965), and was a founding member of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields (1958–1965). He moved to Canada, where he played various roles with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra from 1965 to 1977: Principal Viola, Assistant Conductor, acting Music Director, and Associate Conductor. Streatfeild was conductor of the Vancouver Bach Choir from 1969 to 1981. From 1977 to 1981 he
125-1018: The Montreal Symphony Orchestra , the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra , and the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Canada. In Europe he has performed as soloist with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra , the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig , the London Symphony Orchestra , London's Philharmonia Orchestra , the London Philharmonic , the BBC Symphony Orchestra , the BBC Philharmonic , the Royal Scottish National Orchestra ,
150-537: The Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo for ten years, where he was also Professor of Orchestral Conducting. His recordings included music by Mahler , Berlioz , Shostakovich , Britten , Honegger , Messiaen and others. In 1987 Streatfeild received a Canadian Music Council Medal for outstanding service to music in Canada. James Ehnes James Ehnes , CM OM FRSC (born January 27, 1976)
175-1097: The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic , the Ulster Orchestra , the Munich Philharmonic , the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie , the Orchestre National de Lyon , the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra , the Budapest Festival Orchestra , the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich , and the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra , plus many others. In October 2005, he was awarded a Doctor of Music degree ( honoris causa ) from Brandon University and in July 2007 he became
200-689: The Association of Canadian Orchestras in 1990, the MCO was presented with a SOCAN Award of Merit for "the imaginative programming of contemporary Canadian music." Violinist Aisslinn Nosky is the current MCO Guest Artist-In-Residence, in which capacity singer Measha Brueggergosman precedes her. Kevin Lau is the MCO Composer in Residence. Simon Streatfeild Simon Nicolas Streatfeild / ˈ s t r ɛ t f i l d / (5 October 1929 – 7 December 2019)
225-660: The Loose, which sends six musicians to remote communities in northern Manitoba every year to deliver workshops and concerts; regular performances at Stony Mountain Penitentiary; the MCO's participation in Artists in Healthcare, which sees MCO-affiliated musicians performing in hospitals throughout Winnipeg, Manitoba; the creation of student concerts and educational listening guides; and donating of concert tickets to underserved communities. Among
250-611: The MCO assumed the then recently disbanded CBC Winnipeg Orchestra's Candlelight Concerts series, which was broadcast nationally on CBC Radio . Canadians across the country and fans around the world continue to enjoy the orchestra online and in frequent broadcasts of its recordings. In 1988, the orchestra represented Manitoba at the Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta . The MCO toured southern Italy in August 1999, and British Columbia twice: in
275-493: The MCO launched MCO at Home – an online music hub presenting new and classic MCO performances – to better stay connected with its audiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, the MCO is celebrating their 50th anniversary season, presenting 10 in-person shows and 6 online programs. Over the past two decades, the MCO has expanded its core activities to include a variety of outreach and education programs. Among them are Fiddlers on
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#1733085641679300-407: The MCO's premiere of his cantata Evangeline "one of the supreme moments of my life as an artist, and one I am sure will continue to be so for the rest of my life." Under founding music director and conductor, Ruben Gurevich, the orchestra established its ongoing practice of presenting many contemporary works, including over 100 Winnipeg premieres in its first five seasons. At the biennial meeting of
325-1152: The Winnipeg Philharmonic Choir , and local high school choirs. The orchestra also presents regular concerts of small ensemble works, involving either local musicians or such international ensembles as the Borodin , Guarneri , and Tokyo String Quartets , and the Beaux Arts Trio . The orchestra's repertoire ranges from the baroque to the contemporary. Among the composers the MCO has commissioned are Nahre Sol , Larry Strachan, Cris Derksen , Kevin Lau, Christos Hatzis , Jim Hiscott , Serouj Kradjian , Harry Freedman , Jocelyn Morlock , Michael Matthews , Luke Nickel, Heidi Ouellette , John Estacio , Randolph Peters , Glenn Buhr, Andrew Balfour, Stewart Goodyear , Michael Oesterle , Jeffrey Ryan , Dorothy Chang, Heather Schmidt , Karen Sunabacka , Sid Robinovitch , Alan Heard, Alexina Louie , Robert Turner , Gary Kulesha , Stephen Chatman , Donald Steven , Mark Hand, Norman Sherman , and Chan Ka Nin , and Malcolm Forsyth , who called
350-687: The Year. Ehnes was awarded the 2017 Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards in the Instrumentalist category. Ehnes joined the Royal Academy of Music as visiting professor of violin in 2017. Ehnes joined The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music faculty as a professor of practice in violin as of August 1, 2024. Ehnes is artistic director of the Seattle Chamber Music Society . He and violinist Amy Schwartz Moretti , violist Che-Yen Chen, and cellist Edward Arron perform as
375-578: The age of four and at age nine became a protégé of the noted Canadian violinist Francis Chaplin. He studied with Sally Thomas at the Meadowmount School of Music and from 1993 to 1997 at The Juilliard School , winning the Peter Mennin Prize for Outstanding Achievement and Leadership in Music upon his graduation. James Ehnes toured with Jeunesses Musicales Canada during the 1992–1993 season, when he
400-570: The autumn of 2008, the orchestra accompanied the Armenian/Canadian soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian on a tour to San Francisco and Orange County (California) , Vancouver , Toronto , Boston (Massachusetts) , and New York , which culminated in a concert at Carnegie Hall . In January 2018, the MCO presented the Canadian premiere of Philip Glass 's third piano concerto. It was performed with American pianist Simone Dinnerstein , and co-commissioned as
425-433: The inaugural instalment in the MCO's three-year New Concerto Project. In 1995, the MCO released its first compact disc, on Sweden's BIS label. Canadian Music for Chamber Orchestra marked the first recording by a North American orchestra for the prestigious company. It was distributed in more than 45 countries. There have been eight subsequent CDs, four of them with CBC Records. A new disc recorded with Dame Evelyn Glennie,
450-493: The many soloists and ensembles who have appeared with the MCO, or under its auspices, are James Ehnes , Jan Lisiecki , Tracy Dahl , Measha Brueggergosman , Andriana Chuchman , Dame Evelyn Glennie , Marc-André Hamelin , Janina Fialkowska , Angela Hewitt , André Laplante , Liona Boyd , Jon Kimura Parker , Emma Kirkby , Zara Nelsova , Yannick Nézet-Séguin , the Winnipeg Singers , the university (of Manitoba) Singers,
475-700: The spring of 2003, and in the autumn of 2009 together with the celebrated percussion soloist, Dame Evelyn Glennie . The MCO toured with Glennie a second time in the fall of 2016, with stops in Ontario and Quebec . The MCO accompanied k.d. lang in her performance of Leonard Cohen 's " Hallelujah " at the Juno Awards in April 2005. In the summer of 2008, it made its debut appearance at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. In
500-566: The youngest person ever elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada . In 2010, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada . Ehnes performs on the 1715 " ex-Marsick" Stradivarius . His commercial recordings have won many awards and prizes, including 11 Junos , two Grammies , and two Gramophone Classical Music Awards - 2008 Best Concerto for Edward Elgar's Violin Concerto - 2021 Artist of
525-631: Was a British-Canadian violist , conductor and teacher. Simon Nicolas Streatfeild was born in Windsor, Berkshire , England in 1929. He studied viola with Frederick Riddle at the Royal College of Music from 1946 to 1950. He then played with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Royal Opera Orchestra, Covent Garden , became Principal Viola with the Sadler's Wells Orchestra (1953–55) and
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#1733085641679550-643: Was a visiting professor at the University of Western Ontario . He led the Regina Symphony Orchestra 1981–1984, overlapping the last year with his new post as conductor of the Quebec Symphony Orchestra (QSO) in July 1983, succeeding James DePreist and he left the QSO in 1991 over artistic differences. During his tenure the orchestra made its Toronto debut and its first commercial recordings. He
575-739: Was also conductor of the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra (MCO) 1982–2000. In 1983 he led the MCO in the world premiere of Michael Matthews 's work Between the Wings of the Earth . In 2000 Streatfeild served as principal guest conductor and artistic advisor for Symphony Nova Scotia . He regularly guest conducted in Canada, the US, the UK and Europe, and other places. He was Conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of
600-997: Was only 16 years old. Ehnes has performed with all of the major orchestras in North America including the New York Philharmonic Orchestra , the Chicago Symphony Orchestra , the Boston Symphony Orchestra , the Philadelphia Orchestra , the Cleveland Orchestra , the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony in the U.S., as well as the Toronto Symphony Orchestra ,
625-460: Was released in 2017. The orchestra has received three nominations for JUNO Awards: in 1999 for A Britten Serenade ; and in 2005 for So much to tell , which has sold nearly 10 thousand copies, and in 2013 for Troubadour and the Nightingale . In June 2017, the MCO premiered Nanabush and the drum / Nanabozho et le tambour , a theatrical collaboration with Théâtre Cercle Molière . The bilingual work
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