The CBC Winnipeg Orchestra (CBCWO) was a radio orchestra based in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

, Canada. It was operated by the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

for 37 years. The orchestra mainly performed 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 ...

, but also occasionally performed live concerts in Winnipeg, including the CBC Winnipeg Festival. Many of its members also played in the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.

History

The CBCWO was established in 1947 under the leadership of conductor

Eric Wild Eric Wild (6 November 1914 – 10 August 1991) was Bishop of Reading from 1972 to 1982. Educated at Manchester Grammar School and Keble College, Oxford, he was ordained in 1938. His first post was as a Curate at ''St Anne, Stanley, Liverpool''. ...

. Wild remained principal conductor for 27 years. During his tenure he conducted the premieres of several works by Canadian composers. He notably recorded

Calixa Lavallée Calixa Lavallée (December 28, 1842 – January 21, 1891) was a French-Canadian-American musician and Union Army band musician during the American Civil War. He is best known for composing the music for "O Canada," which officially became the n ...

's comic opera ''The Widow'' with the CBCWO in 1967. Upon Wild's retirement in 1974, the CBCWO's concertmaster Arthur Polson served as interim director. In April 1975

Boris Brott Boris Brott, (March 14, 1944 – April 5, 2022) was a Canadian conductor and motivational speaker. He was one of the most internationally recognized Canadian conductors, having conducted on stages around the world, including Carnegie Hall and ...

was appointed conductor of the orchestra. He remained in that post until the orchestra was disbanded in 1984."WSO's Quality Touted"
''Winnipeg Free Press'', via Newspaper Archives. March 12, 1983 - Page 27

References

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Radio and television orchestras Canadian orchestras Disbanded orchestras Musical groups established in 1947 Musical groups disestablished in 1984 1947 establishments in Manitoba 1984 disestablishments in Manitoba Musical groups from Winnipeg {{orchestra-stub