Edmonton Symphony Orchestra
| Edmonton Symphony Orchestra | |
|---|---|
| Orchestra | |
 |
|
| Founded | 1952 |
| Location | Edmonton, Alberta, Canada |
| Concert hall | Francis Winspear Centre for Music |
| Principal conductor | William Eddins |
| Website | www |
The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra (ESO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Edmonton, Alberta. As the professional orchestra of Alberta's creative capital city it presents over 85 concerts a year of symphonic music in all genres, from classical to country. Currently in its 65th season, the orchestra is composed of 56 professional musicians who perform 42 weeks per season and who play an active role in the musical life of Edmonton and elsewhere as performers, teachers and recording artists. The ESO also performs as the orchestra for Edmonton Opera and Alberta Ballet productions, and its recordings are regularly heard across Canada on CBC Radio 2.
The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra was initially formed as Edmonton's community orchestra and gave its first concert on November 14, 1920. The orchestra suspended operations in 1932, but was revived on October 31, 1952, when it was incorporated as a registered not-for-profit organization (the Edmonton Symphony Society), and gave its first performance on November 30, 1952. It made the transition to a fully professional orchestra in 1971. In 1973, it was decided to restrict the orchestra to "classical" size. Today the ESO's budget is over $10 million, and its players are the highest paid Canadian orchestral musicians west of Toronto.
Music and Artistic Directors
Conductors
Concertmasters
Current artistic leadership
In September 1997, the Edmonton Symphony Society and the Edmonton Concert Hall Foundation successfully completed a two-decade, $45 million capital campaign, and the ESO moved from the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium (the orchestra's principal performing venue since 1957) into its new concert hall, the acoustically superb, 1716 seat Francis Winspear Centre for Music. The inaugural gala, at which the ESO performed Mahler's Symphony of a Thousand with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, took place on September 13, 1997.
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Wikipedia