The Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra is an orchestra based in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest T ...

, Canada. The orchestra gives the majority of its performances in the Jack Singer Concert Hall at

Arts Commons Arts Commons (Formerly EPCOR Centre for the Performing Arts) is a multi-venue arts centre in downtown Calgary, Alberta, Canada, located in the Olympic Plaza Cultural District. Occupying a full city block, Arts Commons is a multi-level complex m ...

. It is also the resident orchestra for the Calgary Opera,

Alberta Ballet Company Alberta Ballet (also known as the Alberta Ballet Company) was founded by Muriel Taylor and Dr. Ruth Carse in 1958 and became a professional company in 1966. The company is a resident company of both the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium in Edmo ...

, and the Honens International Piano Competition.

History

The Orchestra has a relatively short history, which began in 1910 with the founding of the First Calgary Symphony by violinist A.P. Howell. In 1947, the New Calgary Symphony was formed by Clayton Hare with members of the Mount Royal Orchestra and the previous Calgary Symphony. In 1955, the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

conductor Henry Plukker created the Alberta Philharmonic, which in the same year merged with the Calgary Symphony. The new name for the combined orchestra was the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra. ''Prelude'', the orchestra's program magazine, began publication in October 1975 and continues to be their official concert programme. The Orchestra often features the Calgary Philharmonic Chorus, a chorus of over 120 members. In 2001, management of the orchestra initiated a lockout and salaries of the players were cut by an average of 20 percent. In 2002, the orchestra had declared bankruptcy. In 2003, the orchestra came out of receivership, and Mike Bregazzi became their CEO and president. He retired from these posts in 2005. Ann Lewis Luppino became the orchestra's next CEO. Lewis Luppino retired in June 2015, and Paul Dornian was named the new President & CEO.

Hans Graf Hans Graf (born 15 February 1949 in Marchtrenk) is an Austrian conductor. As a child, Graf learned the violin and the piano. He studied at the Musikhochschule in Graz, Austria, and graduated with diplomas in piano and conducting. He also partic ...

, music director from 1994 to 2003, is currently music director laureate of the orchestra. Roberto Minczuk, who was named to the post in July 2005, served as music director from 2006 to 2016. Minczuk now has the title of music director laureate, shared with Graf. In March 2016, Rune Bergmann made his first guest-conducting appearance with the orchestra. Based on this appearance, in July 2016 the orchestra named Bergmann its next music director, effective with the 2017–2018 season.

Live stream

The CPO began live streaming some of their concerts during the 2017/2018 season.

Music directors

* Henry Plukker (1955–1962) * Haymo Taeuber (1963–1968) *

José Iturbi José Iturbi Báguena (28 November 189528 June 1980) was a Spanish conductor, pianist and harpsichordist. He appeared in several Hollywood films of the 1940s, notably playing himself in the musicals ''Thousands Cheer'' (1943), ''Music for Mill ...

(1968–1969) * Maurice Handford (1970–1975) * Arpad Joó (1977–1984) * Mario Bernardi (1984–1992) *

(1995–2003) * Roberto Minczuk (2006–2016) * Rune Bergmann (2017 – )

Recordings

The orchestra has made over 10 recordings for CBC Records, including the following works: *Piano Concerti of Bartok, Prokofiev and Malcolm Forsyth (Jane Coop, piano/Mario Bernardi, conductor) *Franz Liszt Piano Concertos (Janina Fialkowska, Piano) *Cello Concerti of Elgar & Saint-Saëns (Shauna Rolston, Cello) *Mozart – 12 Overtures (Mario Bernardi, Conductor) *Mendelssohn – Symphonies 1 & 5 (Mario Bernardi, Conductor) *Schumann – Symphonies No. 1, 2, 3 & 4 (Mario Bernardi, Conductor) *Mahler – Symphony No. 1 (Hans Graf, Music Director) *Tchaikovsky – Piano Concerto No. 1 with Pavel Kolesnikov (Roberto Minczuk, Music Director and Pavel Kolesnikov, piano) *Rhapsody in Blue: The Best of George Gerswhin (Roberto Minczuk, Music Director) *Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3 (Roberto Minczuk, Music Director) *Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 5 & 8 (Roberto Minczuk, Music Director)

References

External links