The Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra (SSO) is a professional orchestra based in

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

, Saskatchewan, administered by the non-profit Saskatoon Symphony Society. The orchestra was founded in 1927 as an amateur orchestra, but today has 10 core members and up to 50 sessional musicians.

University of Saskatchewan The University of Saskatchewan (U of S, or USask) is a Universities in Canada, Canadian public university, public research university, founded on March 19, 1907, and located on the east side of the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatch ...

Department of Music, University Chorus, Greystone Singers, Saskatoon Chamber Singers, Saskatoon Children's Choir,

Regina Symphony Orchestra The Regina Symphony Orchestra (RSO) was founded by Frank Laubach, in Regina, Saskatchewan, as the Regina Orchestral Society in 1908, giving its inaugural concert December 3 of that same year. Becoming the Regina Choral and Orchestral Society in 1 ...

, Saskatoon Youth Orchestra, and the Amati Quartet have all produced concerts with the SSO. The

Canadian Opera Company The Canadian Opera Company (COC) is an opera company in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the largest opera company in Canada and one of the largest producers of opera in North America. The COC performs at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performin ...

ensemble, National Ballet, and the

Royal Winnipeg Ballet The Royal Winnipeg Ballet is Canada's oldest ballet company and the longest continuously operating ballet company in North America. History It was founded in 1939 as the "Winnipeg Ballet Club" by Gweneth Lloyd and Betty Farrally (who also fou ...

have all performed with accompaniment provided by the SSO. The SSO celebrated its 75th anniversary in the Fall of 2004.

History

In 1903, William Preston, who was also involved with the Saskatoon Oratorio Society, began an amateur orchestra in Saskatoon. Fredrick William Musselwhite conducted the Saskatoon orchestra as early as 1905 with John Jackson as concertmaster. In 1913, John Jackson began a Saskatoon orchestra, followed by a temporary orchestra established in 1924 by Allan Clifton. In 1931 the current orchestra was established, under the direction of Arthur Collingwood, the Professor of Music at the University of Saskatchewan. The SSO offers students grants and hosted a national cello competition in 1990. Dwaine Nelson was responsible for the development of a full-time core of musicians, initially with a size of six, but later expanded to the present-day ten members. In the summer of 2014, the SSO announced that Maestro Victor Sawa would move into the position of Conductor Emeritus at the end of the 84th season. In March 2015, the SSO announced Eric Paetkau as the 16th Music Director of the orchestra.

Funding

The SSO received major funding from the Carnegie Institute in 1931. The

Canada Council The Canada Council for the Arts (), commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation established in 1957 as an arts council of the Government of Canada. It is Canada's public arts funder, with a mandate to ...

, the

Saskatchewan Arts Board The Saskatchewan Arts Board is an arms-length funding agency that provides support to artists, arts organizations and communities. Established in 1948, it was the first agency of its kind in Canada, predating the Canada Council for the Arts by ...

, and the City of

have all provided sponsorship of the SSO through the years. In the spring, the symphony holds a Saskatoon Symphony Book & Music Sale to raise funds for the orchestra.

Music directors, concertmasters, and current artistic leadership

The conductors of the SSO, a position that includes artistic direction, have been: * Arthur Collingwood, (1931–1947) * Professor J.R. Macrae (1947–1950) * Victor Kviesis (1950–1956) * Professor Murray Adaskin (1957–1960) * Alexander Reisman (1960–1963) * Professor David Kaplan (1963–1969, 1970–1971) * Franz Zeidler (1969–1970) * Dwaine Nelson (1971–1976) * Ruben Gurevich (1976–82) * David Gray (1982–1984) * Professor Daniel Swift (1984–1991) * Dennis Simons (1993–1997) * Earl Stafford (1997–2002) * Douglas Sanford (2002–2008) * Earl Stafford (2008–2010) – interim artistic director * Victor Sawa (2010–2015) * Eric Paetkau (2015–2022)

Performing venue

Currently performances are held at

TCU Place TCU Place, formerly known as the Saskatoon Centennial Auditorium, is a convention and arts centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. Situated in the Central Business District it is located next to Midtown Plaza. The Saskatoon Centennial Audito ...

. Historically, Bessborough Hotel's ballroom, the Capitol Theatre, and Convocation Hall at the

have provided venues for the SSO performances.

Concert series

Each year the SSO presents a varied and dynamic range of concerts through multiple series and specials. The Masters Series features the orchestra in performance of standard orchestral repertoire, concertos, symphonies, from all eras of music including living composers and Canadian repertoire. Guest artists have included James Ehnes, Angela Cheng, Jane Coop,

Maureen Forrester Maureen Kathleen Stewart Forrester, (July 25, 1930 – June 16, 2010) was a Canadian operatic contralto. Life and career Maureen Forrester was born and grew up in Montreal, Quebec, one of four children of Thomas Forrester, a British cabinetma ...

Jon Vickers Jonathan Stewart Vickers, (October 29, 1926 – July 10, 2015), known professionally as Jon Vickers, was a Canadian heldentenor. Born in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, he was the sixth in a family of eight children. In 1950, he was awarded a s ...

, Angela Hewitt, and

Pinchas Zukerman Pinchas Zukerman (; born 16 July 1948) is an Israeli-American violinist, violist and conductor. Life and career Zukerman was born in Tel Aviv, to Jewish parents and Holocaust survivors Yehuda and Miriam Lieberman Zukerman. He began his musica ...

. The Pops Series presents concerts featuring pop music from jazz to rock; performances have featured the music of The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Queen, Duke Ellington, Frank Sinatra, and Led Zeppelin. Symphony Chamber Players began in 1985. Great Music for Kids introduced children to orchestral music in 1984. 1993 saw the inauguration of Music for a Sunday Afternoon, the series is now known as Sunday Chamber Series.

Canadian Federation of Musicians

Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra is a member of Canadian Federation of Musicians. Canadian Federation of Musicians purports to help musicians who may need assistance with any number of issues related to the recording and performing of their craft. Services range from immigration, media recordings, symphonic and theatrical matters, touring, freelance musicians and membership services, contract negotiations and administration and royalty streams.

Recordings

In 2005, the SSO, under the direction of Earl Stafford, recorded a program of music written by Neil Currie. The resulting album, entitled ''Passionscape'', was nominated for Outstanding Classical Composition at the 2006 Western Canada Music Awards. The album includes pieces with solo artists Alain Trudel and Allen Harrington. The SSO also records regularly for

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control, state=collapsed Symphony orchestras

Symphony Orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

Orchestras in Saskatchewan Musical groups established in 1927 1927 establishments in Saskatchewan Organizations based in Saskatoon