The Esprit Orchestra is an orchestra based in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada that is dedicated to the performance of new orchestral works. It was established in 1983 by music director and conductor Alex Pauk, and is Canada's only full-sized orchestra devoted exclusively to new music. Currently, there are 45 full-time members. A season typically features five concerts featuring 20th and 21st century music as well as newly commissioned works. Notable composers who have written for Esprit include John Burke,

Alexina Louie Alexina Diane Louie, (born July 30, 1949) is a Canadian composer of contemporary art music. She has composed for various instrumental and vocal combinations in a variety of genres. She has fulfilled a number of commissions, and her works, whic ...

, John Rea, Chan Ka-Nin, Murray Schafer,

Owen Underhill Owen Underhill (born January 26, 1954) is a Canadian composer, flutist and conductor based in Vancouver. He is currently a professor of music at Simon Fraser University. He has been an active contributor to the new music scene on the West Coast, a ...

Ryuichi Sakamoto is a Japanese composer, pianist, singer, record producer and actor who has pursued a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). With his bandmates Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, Sakamoto inf ...

, and John Beckwith. In the 1990s, the Esprit Orchestra recorded and released renditions of several never previously recorded compositions by McPhee. This resulted in McPhee receiving posthumous

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...

nominations for Best Classical Composition for "Symphony No. 2" at the

Juno Awards of 1998 The Juno Awards of 1998 were presented in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The primary ceremonies at GM Place before an audience of 10 000 on 22 March 1998. Actor Jason Priestley of the television series ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' host ...

and "Concerto for Wind Orchestra" at the

Juno Awards of 1999 The Juno Awards of 1999 honouring Canadian music industry achievements were held in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The primary ceremonies at Copps Coliseum on 7 March 1999 were broadcast by CBC Television and hosted by Mike Bullard. Nominations wer ...

. The orchestra has also participated in film recordings for directors such as Larry Weinstein,

Don McKellar Don McKellar (born August 17, 1963) is a Canadian actor, writer, playwright, and filmmaker. He was part of a loosely-affiliated group of filmmakers to emerge from Toronto known as the Toronto New Wave. He is known for directing and writing the ...

Jeremy Podeswa Jeremy Podeswa (born 1962) is a Canadian film and television director. He is best known for directing the films '' The Five Senses'' (1999) and ''Fugitive Pieces'' (2007). He has also worked as director on the television shows '' Six Feet Under ...

Don McBrearty Don McBrearty is a Canadians, Canadian film director. Career In 2003 McBrearty directed the made for television drama film ''Sex and the Single Mom''. It tells the story of Jess Gradwell (Gail O'Grady), a single and overly concerned mother of a 1 ...

and

Deepa Mehta Deepa Mehta, (; born 1 January 1950) is an Indian-born Canadian film director and screenwriter, best known for her Elements Trilogy, Fire (1996 film), ''Fire'' (1996), ''Earth (1998 film), Earth'' (1998), and ''Water (2005 film), Water'' (2005 ...

. In October 2009, Esprit began to perform in the

Koerner Hall The Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM), branded as The Royal Conservatory, is a non-profit music education institution and performance venue headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1886 by Edward Fisher (musician), Edward ...

and has since called it home. Its concerts have also been recorded and broadcast by

CBC Radio Two CBC Music (formerly known as CBC FM, CBC Stereo and CBC Radio 2) is a Canadian FM radio network operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It used to concentrate on classical and jazz. In 2007 and 2008, the network transitioned towards ...

. Three of the orchestra's commercial recordings have been nominated for

References

External links

Esprit Orchestra
{{Authority control Canadian orchestras Musical groups from Toronto Musical groups established in 1983 Contemporary classical music ensembles 1983 establishments in Ontario