The Atlantic Symphony Orchestra (ASO) was a professional Canadian

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: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, ce ...

Atlantic Canada Atlantic Canada, also called the Atlantic provinces (french: provinces de l'Atlantique), is the region of Eastern Canada comprising the provinces located on the Atlantic coast, excluding Quebec. The four provinces are New Brunswick, Newfoundlan ...

that was active during the second half the 20th century. It was unusual in that it was the only full-time regional professional orchestra in Canadian history.

History

The orchestra was formed shortly after the demise of both the Halifax Symphony Orchestra and New Brunswick Symphony Orchestra. This left Canada's Atlantic region without a full-time professional symphony orchestra. The ASO was established by joint committees in Halifax,

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, Saint John,

Moncton Moncton (; ) is the most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of New Brunswick. Situated in the Petitcodiac River Valley, Moncton lies at the geographic centre of the The Maritimes, Maritime Provinces. The ...

, and

Fredericton Fredericton (; ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of New Brunswick. The city is situated in the west-central portion of the province along the Saint John River, which flows west to east as it bisects the city. The river is the do ...

on 12 June 1968. Many of the committee members had been previously associated with the two disbanded orchestras.
The Atlantic Provinces in Confederation
'. University of Toronto Press; 1993. . p. 457–. The new orchestra's first conductor was Klaro Mizerit; he led the orchestra from 1968 until 1977. With an emphasis on Canadian compositions,Ryan Edwardson.
Canadian Content: Culture and the Quest for Nationhood
'. University of Toronto Press; 24 May 2008. . p. 273–. the orchestra made several commercial recordings in the 1970s and was featured on many broadcasts on

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 ...

. Conductor Victor Yampolsky led the orchestra from 1977 until 1983,Tom Henighan.
Maclean's Companion to Canadian Arts and Culture
'. Raincoast Books; 2000. . p. 56. at which time it was disbanded because of financial problems. A smaller group,

Symphony Nova Scotia Symphony Nova Scotia is a Canadian orchestra based in Halifax Regional Municipality, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Their primary recital space is at the Dalhousie Arts Centre's Rebecca Cohn Auditorium. History Symphony Nova Scotia began in 19 ...

, continued to perform with some of the same musicians.

Discography

* ''Atlantic Symphony Orchestra / Orchestre Symphonique Atlantique'', 1970, Independent * ''The Atlantic Symphony Orchestra Conducted By Klaro Mizerit and Kenneth Elloway'', 1972, CBC Radio Canada * ''The Picasso Suite'', 1975, CBC Radio Canada

References

{{authority control Canadian orchestras Disbanded orchestras Musical groups established in 1968 Musical groups disestablished in 1983 Symphony orchestras 1968 establishments in Canada 1983 disestablishments in Canada