The award winning Georgian Bay Symphony (GBS) located in

Owen Sound Owen Sound ( 2021 Census population 21,612) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. The county seat of Grey County, it is located at the mouths of the Pottawatomi and Sydenham Rivers on an inlet of Georgian Bay. The primary tourist attract ...

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 was founded in 1972 by a small group of dedicated area musicians and became a Canadian Registered Charity in 1982. It is considered a significant cultural institution in Owen Sound and area. The GBS is a community orchestra with over 60 volunteer musicians and a core group of professionals under the musical direction of François Koh. The GBS performs five "Main Series" concerts at the East Ridge Community School in the 761-seat

Owen Sound Collegiate and Vocational Institute Owen may refer to: Origin: The name Owen is of Irish and Welsh origin. Its meanings range from noble, youthful, and well-born. Gender: Owen is historically the masculine form of the name. Popular feminine variations include Eowyn and Owena. ...

Community Auditorium each season. Guest artists have included some of Canada’s best musical talent including

Shauna Rolston Shauna Rolston (born 31 January 1967 in Edmonton, Alberta) is a Canadian cellist. Rolston was a cello child prodigy and attended the Geneva Conservatory in Switzerland at age fourteen. She studied with Pierre Fournier, and later at the Britten- ...

Alain Trudel Alain Trudel (born 13 June 1966) is a Canadian conductor, trombonist and composer. Biography Born in Montreal, Quebec, Trudel first became known to the public as a trombone soloist. He made his solo debut at the age of 18, with Charles Dutoit a ...

, George Gao,

Adrian Anantawan Adrian Anantawan is a Canadian violinist. Anantawan, who began studying violin at age nine, has performed with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and at the White House.

, Richard Raymond, and Jonathan Crow. In 1985, the orchestra played host to a unique on ice live performance with

Toller Cranston Toller Shalitoe Montague Cranston, CM (April 20, 1949 – January 24, 2015) was a Canadian figure skater and painter. He won the 1971–1976 Canadian national championships, the 1974 World bronze medal and the 1976 Olympic bronze medal. ...

. In 1990, they hosted a performance of the

Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra The Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra is an orchestra based in Moscow, Russia. It was founded in 1951 by Samuil Samosud, as the Moscow Youth Orchestra for young and inexperienced musicians, acquiring its current name in 1953. It is most associated wit ...

on a good will tour of Canada. In 2016, the symphony collaborated with Canadian author

Roch Carrier Roch Carrier (born 13 May 1937) is a French Canadian novelist and author of "contes" (a very brief form of the short story). He is among the best known Quebec writers in English Canada. Life He was born in Sainte-Justine, Quebec, and studied at ...

to present an orchestral version of "

The Hockey Sweater ''The Hockey Sweater'' (''Le chandail de hockey'' in the original French) is a short story by Canadian author Roch Carrier and translated to English by Sheila Fischman. It was originally published in 1979 under the title "'" ("An abominable map ...

, by Canadian composer

Abigail Richardson-Schulte Abigail Richardson-Schulte (born 1976) is an English-born Canadian composer. She was born Abigail Richardson in Oxford. Although she was diagnosed as incurably deaf at the age of five, she had fully recovered her hearing a few months after moving ...

. Over the years, the orchestra has also premiered work by several Canadian composers:

F. R. C. Clarke Frederick Robert Charles Clarke, known largely by his initials F. R. C. Clarke (August 7, 1931 – November 18, 2009) was a Canadian musician and composer who spent most of his musical career in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Clarke was born in Van ...

's "Saugeenia" March 8, 1981 in concert with the Centennial Singers in Port Elgin.

Andrew Ager Andrew Ager (born 12 February 1962) is a Canadian composer of symphonies, operas, chamber, and solo music. He lives in Ottawa, where he composes full-time. Early life Andrew Ager was born to a musical family. His maternal grandfather, Charles A ...

's "Autumn Overture" October 25, 2003. Kevin Lau's "Sea of Blossoms" March 3, 2007 and "The White Horse" February 2009. Luc Martin's "Concerto for Recorder and Double Base" February 7, 2015. Richard Mascall was the Composer in Residence from 2007-2010. While holding this position, he created several works that were premiered by the GBS: "Giizhigoong" commissioned as part of the City of Owen Sound’s 150 Anniversary celebrations, "Dream of the Anishnabaek", "Ojibway Songs", "Nanabush and the Giant Beaver", Manitoulin". Many of these works have been performed by many other groups including "Manitoulin" by

Vancouver Symphony Orchestra The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (VSO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The VSO performs at the Orpheum, which has been the orchestra's permanent home since 1977. With an annual operating budget of $16 million, it is ...

. In 2022 the orchestra won the Owen Sound Arts & Culture Award for Outstanding Event In 2017, the orchestra was the recipient of the Vida Peene Award from the

Ontario Arts Council The Ontario Arts Council (OAC) is a publicly-funded Canadian organization in the province of Ontario whose purpose is to foster the creation and production of art for the benefit of all Ontarians. Based in Toronto, OAC was founded in 1963 by On ...

and in 2018 won the Outstanding Group category at the Owen Sound Cultural Awards. These are not the first awards for the orchestra. In 2014, the GBS won an Owen Sound Cultural Award in the same category and in 1999, the Symphony was a recipient of the Lieutenant-Governor's Award for the Arts The Symphony participates in many community events including performing the National Anthem before at least one OHL Jr A

Owen Sound Attack The Owen Sound Attack are a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League based in Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada. Based in Owen Sound since 1989, and operating under the current name since 2000, the Attack play their home games at the J.D. M ...

hockey game each season. The GBS is supported by the

, the Leflar Foundation and its many sponsors and subscribers. During the pandemic the Georgian Bay Symphony was one of the only community orchestras in Canada to launch a full digital season. John Barnum retired as Music Director and Conductor of the GBS in 2015, after serving in that role for over two decades. In his final year he was honoured with the Owen Sound Cultural Life Time Achievement Award. During the 2014-15 season, four guest candidates conducted to become Barnum’s successor: Viljar Weimann, François Koh, Matthew Jones and Yunior Lopez. François Koh was chosen to replace Barnum. Koh, a native of Seoul Korea is a resident of Toronto and holds a Doctorate in conducting from the

University of Toronto, Faculty of Music The Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto is one of several professional faculties at the University of Toronto. The Faculty of Music is located at the Edward Johnson Building, just south of the Royal Ontario Museum and north of Queen's ...

Conductors

* Hermon C. Dilmore (1971–1976) * Eric Woodward (1976–1979) * Jim White (1979) * Jerome Summers (1980–1981) * Erna Van Daele (1981–1983) * Kerry Stratton (1983–1989) * Clyde Mitchell (1990–1993) * John Barnum (1993–May 2015) * François Koh (June 2015)

References

External links

Georgian Bay Symphony
{{authority control Canadian orchestras Owen Sound Musical groups established in 1972 Musical groups from Ontario 1972 establishments in Ontario

Conductors

See also

References

External links