CBC Radio Orchestra
Encyclopedia
The CBC Radio Orchestra was a Canadian
orchestra
based in Vancouver
, British Columbia
that was operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
. Until the early 1980s CBC had a number of orchestras located in Winnipeg
, Toronto
, Montreal
, and Halifax but due to federal government
budget cuts
they were eliminated and the CBC Vancouver Orchestra was promoted to national status. It changed names in 2000 to reflect its status as the CBC's only broadcast orchestra; the last radio orchestra
in North America.
Over the years guest conductors have included Raffi Armenian, Kees Bakels
, Michel Corboz
, Victor Feldbrill, Serge Garant, Monica Huggett, Milton Katims
, Gary Kulesha, Sir Ernest MacMillan
, Ettore Mazzoleni
, Geoffrey Moull
, Harry Newstone, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Jaap Schroeder
, Georg Tintner
, Owen Underhill, Heinz Unger, and Jon Washburn. Most of Canada's leading concert artists have appeared as soloists.
The orchestra had 45 members at the time its dissolution was announced. It has had only four conductor
s in its existence. The first was John Avison
who led the orchestra until 1980. For 2 years the baton was held by John Eliot Gardiner
. Between 1984 and 2006 the lead conductor was Mario Bernardi
. On April 30, 2006, Canadian trombonist Alain Trudel
was named musical director of the orchestra, replacing Mario Bernardi as of fall 2006.
The orchestra generally performed two (fall and winter/spring) or three concert series each season. It has performed in Festival Vancouver for a number of years. Past tours have included an Arctic Tour in 1973, Coastal B.C. tour in the early 1970s, Markham and Toronto, Ontario in the late 1990s, a trip to Yellowknife
in the December 2004 and to Iqaluit, Baffin Island in September 2008. The orchestra performs most of its concerts at the Chan Shun Concert Hall of the University of British Columbia
. Although from time to time it also performs at the Theatre in Vancouver. For 65 years the orchestra's main services were as a studio broadcast and vinyl l.p. and c.d. recording orchestra responsible for an active program of commissioning, performing and recording new Canadian compositions. Its successful business plan was dramatically altered and they were restricted to performing in public broadcast concerts only at the Chan Shun Concert Hall in Vancouver.
The CBC also formed the CBC Symphony Orchestra in Toronto in 1952, relying heavily on members of the Toronto Symphony. The ensemble had weekly broadcasts until it was disbanded in 1964.
The demise of the CBC Radio Orchestra was met with a negative reaction in the classical music community and significant coverage in the media including a front page, large article in the Vancouver Sun, a prominent article in Vancouver's Georgia Straight and even coverage in the New York Times. There have also been protests outside CBC locations across Canada. Several Members of Parliament from different parties expressed their opposition to the orchestra's demise at a May 2, 2008 meeting of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage; Bill Siksay
(NDP - Burnaby—Douglas), Denis Coderre
(Liberal Canadian Heritage Critic) and Ed Fast
(Conservative - Abbotsford).
announced that the orchestra would attempt to continue independently of the CBC, as the National Broadcast Orchestra of Canada
with plans to perform six to 10 concerts a year with a contingent of between 35 to 50 players. The NBO will have a projected budget of $1 million to be provided through fundraising though the ensemble hopes to eventually qualify for government grants. Trudel says the orchestra will continue to concentrate on North American music and new works by Canadian composers and intends to be a multimedia
orchestra utilizing webcasting as well as undertaking radio and television projects.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
based in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
that was operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
. Until the early 1980s CBC had a number of orchestras located in Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
, Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, and Halifax but due to federal government
Government of Canada
The Government of Canada, formally Her Majesty's Government, is the system whereby the federation of Canada is administered by a common authority; in Canadian English, the term can mean either the collective set of institutions or specifically the Queen-in-Council...
budget cuts
Canadian federal budget
In Canada, federal budgets are presented annually by the Government of Canada to identify planned government spending, expected government revenue, and forecast economic conditions for the upcoming year....
they were eliminated and the CBC Vancouver Orchestra was promoted to national status. It changed names in 2000 to reflect its status as the CBC's only broadcast orchestra; the last radio orchestra
Radio orchestra
A radio orchestra is an orchestra employed by a radio network in order to provide programming as well as sometimes perform incidental or theme music for various shows on the network. In the heyday of radio such orchestras were numerous, performing classical, popular, light music and jazz...
in North America.
History
The orchestra was founded in 1938 under the name the CBC Vancouver Chamber Orchestra. A predecessor of the CBC, the Canadian National Railway Radio network also had a radio orchestra. The Canadian National Railway Radio Orchestra was conducted by Henri Miro in 1931-32.Over the years guest conductors have included Raffi Armenian, Kees Bakels
Kees Bakels
Kees Bakels is a Dutch conductor.Bakels began his musical career as a violinist, and later studied conducting at the Amsterdam Conservatory and the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy...
, Michel Corboz
Michel Corboz
Michel Corboz is a Swiss conductor.Corboz was born in Marsens, Switzerland and educated in his native canton of Fribourg. He founded the Ensemble Vocal de Lausanne, with which he has recorded and toured extensively...
, Victor Feldbrill, Serge Garant, Monica Huggett, Milton Katims
Milton Katims
Milton Katims was an American violist and conductor. He was music director of the Seattle Symphony for 22 years . In that time he added more than 75 works, made recordings, premiered new pieces and led the orchestra on several tours. He expanded the orchestra's series of family and suburban...
, Gary Kulesha, Sir Ernest MacMillan
Ernest MacMillan
Sir Ernest Alexander Campbell MacMillan, CC was an internationally renowned Canadian orchestral conductor and composer, and Canada's only "Musical Knight". He is widely regarded as being Canada's pre-eminent musician, from the 1920s through the 1950s...
, Ettore Mazzoleni
Ettore Mazzoleni
Ettore Mazzoleni was a Canadian conductor, music educator, writer, and arts administrator of Swiss birth. He was one of the Canadian Opera Company's principal conductors during its early years, working there from 1958-1968...
, Geoffrey Moull
Geoffrey Moull
Geoffrey Moull is a professional conductor and pianist.- Education :Geoffrey Moull was born in London, Ontario, Canada and studied conducting with Kirill Kondrashin, Sergiu Celibidache and Martin Stephani...
, Harry Newstone, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Jaap Schroeder
Jaap Schröder
Jaap Schröder or Jaap Schroeder is a Dutch violinist, conductor, and pedagogue.He studied at the Amsterdam Conservatory and at the Sorbonne in France. He has served as the director and concertmaster of the Academy of Ancient Music, and in 1982 he was appointed the visiting music director of the...
, Georg Tintner
Georg Tintner
Georg Tintner CM was an Austrian-born conductor whose career was principally in New Zealand, Australia, and Canada....
, Owen Underhill, Heinz Unger, and Jon Washburn. Most of Canada's leading concert artists have appeared as soloists.
The orchestra had 45 members at the time its dissolution was announced. It has had only four conductor
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
s in its existence. The first was John Avison
John Avison
John Avison, CM was a Canadian conductor and pianist. From 1938 to 1980, he was the founding conductor of the CBC Vancouver Chamber Orchestra . He was a longtime member of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and was married to VSO violinist Angelina Avison...
who led the orchestra until 1980. For 2 years the baton was held by John Eliot Gardiner
John Eliot Gardiner
Sir John Eliot Gardiner CBE FKC is an English conductor. He founded the Monteverdi Choir , the English Baroque Soloists and the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique...
. Between 1984 and 2006 the lead conductor was Mario Bernardi
Mario Bernardi
Mario Bernardi, is a Canadian conductor and pianist. He has conducted 75 different operas and over 450 other works with the National Arts Centre Orchestra.-Early years:...
. On April 30, 2006, Canadian trombonist Alain Trudel
Alain Trudel
Alain Trudel is a Canadian musician, composer and conductor. He began his career playing the trombone, but has more recently turned to conducting....
was named musical director of the orchestra, replacing Mario Bernardi as of fall 2006.
The orchestra generally performed two (fall and winter/spring) or three concert series each season. It has performed in Festival Vancouver for a number of years. Past tours have included an Arctic Tour in 1973, Coastal B.C. tour in the early 1970s, Markham and Toronto, Ontario in the late 1990s, a trip to Yellowknife
Yellowknife, Northwest Territories
Yellowknife is the capital and largest city of the Northwest Territories , Canada. It is located on the northern shore of Great Slave Lake, approximately south of the Arctic Circle, on the west side of Yellowknife Bay near the outlet of the Yellowknife River...
in the December 2004 and to Iqaluit, Baffin Island in September 2008. The orchestra performs most of its concerts at the Chan Shun Concert Hall of the University of British Columbia
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...
. Although from time to time it also performs at the Theatre in Vancouver. For 65 years the orchestra's main services were as a studio broadcast and vinyl l.p. and c.d. recording orchestra responsible for an active program of commissioning, performing and recording new Canadian compositions. Its successful business plan was dramatically altered and they were restricted to performing in public broadcast concerts only at the Chan Shun Concert Hall in Vancouver.
The CBC also formed the CBC Symphony Orchestra in Toronto in 1952, relying heavily on members of the Toronto Symphony. The ensemble had weekly broadcasts until it was disbanded in 1964.
Demise
The orchestra was disbanded at the end of November 2008.The demise of the CBC Radio Orchestra was met with a negative reaction in the classical music community and significant coverage in the media including a front page, large article in the Vancouver Sun, a prominent article in Vancouver's Georgia Straight and even coverage in the New York Times. There have also been protests outside CBC locations across Canada. Several Members of Parliament from different parties expressed their opposition to the orchestra's demise at a May 2, 2008 meeting of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage; Bill Siksay
Bill Siksay
William Livingstone Siksay, former MP is a Canadian politician, and was the Member of Parliament who represented the British Columbia riding of Burnaby—Douglas for the New Democratic Party from 2004 to 2011.Receiving his high school diploma from McLaughlin Collegiate and Vocational Institute in...
(NDP - Burnaby—Douglas), Denis Coderre
Denis Coderre
Denis Coderre, PC, MP is a Canadian politician from Quebec, Canada. Coderre is the Liberal Member of Parliament for the Montreal riding of Bourassa.-Background:...
(Liberal Canadian Heritage Critic) and Ed Fast
Ed Fast
Edward D. "Ed" Fast, is a Canadian politician, currently the Member of Parliament for Abbotsford, and serving as the Minister for International Trade and as Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway.-Biography:...
(Conservative - Abbotsford).
National Broadcast Orchestra
On November 1, 2008, CBCRO musical director Alain TrudelAlain Trudel
Alain Trudel is a Canadian musician, composer and conductor. He began his career playing the trombone, but has more recently turned to conducting....
announced that the orchestra would attempt to continue independently of the CBC, as the National Broadcast Orchestra of Canada
National Broadcast Orchestra of Canada
The National Broadcast Orchestra is a Canadian orchestra based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Created after the CBC Radio Orchestra was disbanded in November, 2008, the National Broadcast Orchestra was founded by conductor Alain Trudel and businessman Philippe Labelle...
with plans to perform six to 10 concerts a year with a contingent of between 35 to 50 players. The NBO will have a projected budget of $1 million to be provided through fundraising though the ensemble hopes to eventually qualify for government grants. Trudel says the orchestra will continue to concentrate on North American music and new works by Canadian composers and intends to be a multimedia
Multimedia
Multimedia is media and content that uses a combination of different content forms. The term can be used as a noun or as an adjective describing a medium as having multiple content forms. The term is used in contrast to media which use only rudimentary computer display such as text-only, or...
orchestra utilizing webcasting as well as undertaking radio and television projects.