The Kingston Symphony is a Canadian

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 Kingston, Ontario

Kingston, Ontario

Kingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post...

. The orchestra was founded in 1953 under the name the New Symphony Association of Kingston. It was renamed the Kingston Symphony in 1963 with the formation of its new umbrella organization the Kingston Symphony Association

Kingston Symphony Association

Kingston Symphony Association is a Canadian arts organization in Kingston, Ontario. The organization was formed in 1963 as a managing umbrella organization of several performing art ensembles in Kingston, including the Kingston Symphony and the Kingston Choral Society...

. The KS is currently led by Glen Fast who has been principal conductor of the orchestra since 1992. The ensemble performs most of its concerts at The Grand Theatre

The Grand Theatre (Kingston)

The Grand Theatre is a historic Canadian theatre located in Kingston, Ontario and is currently one of that city's major performing arts venues. It has been the home of the Kingston Symphony since 1964. The main theatre seats 776 people, and has a proscenium stage and an orchestra pit...

.

The KS's first principal conductor was Graham George

Graham George

Graham Elias George was a Canadian composer, music theorist, organist, choir conductor, and music educator of English birth. An associate of the Canadian Music Centre, his compositional output consists largely of choral works written in the 20th-century Anglican style. He also wrote three ballets,...

 and he led the orchestra's debut concert of Joseph Haydn

Joseph Haydn

Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...

's The Creation on 12 April 1954 at The Grand Theatre with the Kingston Choral Society and baritone

Baritone

Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...

 James Milligan. For its first three years the orchestra performed only two concerts a year, but the number of concerts increased steadily beginning in 1957, and by 1990 the KS season encompassed over a dozen concerts annually. Principal conductors for the orchestra have included William Hill (1957–1959), Edouard Bartlett (1960–1965), Alexander Brott

Alexander Brott

Alexander Brott, , born Joël Brod, , was a Canadian conductor, composer, violinist and music teacher. His wife Lotte was an accomplished cellist...

 (1965–1981), and Brian Jackson

Brian Jackson (conductor)

Brian Jackson is a Canadian conductor, organist, and pianist of English birth. He became a naturalized Canadian citizen in 1974...

 (1982–1991).

Under Fast's direction, the KS has shown a strong commitment towards playing new works by Canadian composers. Recently the orchestra has given the world premieres of Chan Ka Nin

Chan Ka Nin

Chan Ka Nin is a Canadian composer and music educator of Chinese descent. He became a naturalized Canadian citizen in 1971. He has been commissioned write works for such ensembles as the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, the CBC Radio Orchestra, the Esprit Orchestra, the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra,...

's Violin Concerto (1998); Marjan Mozetich

Marjan Mozetich

Marjan Mozetich is a Canadian composer. He was born in Italy to Slovenian parents and has lived in Canada since 1952. He is currently an Adjunct Lecturer in Composition at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario and has won several prestigious awards, including the first prize in the CAPAC -Sir...

's Piano Concerto (2000); Srul Irving Glick

Srul Irving Glick

Srul Irving Glick, CM was a Canadian composer, radio producer, conductor, and teacher.Born in Toronto, Ontario, he received a Bachelor of Music from the University of Toronto 1955, and a Masters of Music , honorary FRCCO...

's last work, Isaiah (2002); John Burge

John Burge

John David Bryson Burge is a Canadian composer, music educator, and pianist. He has won a number of awards for his compositions, including the Alberta Culture Award , the William Erving Fairclough Scholarship , second prize in the Ithaca College Choral Composition Contest and Festival , and five...

's Clarinet Concerto (2004); István Anhalt

István Anhalt

István Anhalt, is a Canadian composer.-Biography:Anhalt was born into a Jewish family in Budapest in 1919 and studied with Zoltan Kodaly before being conscripted into a forced labor camp during World War II...

's The Tents of Abraham (2005); and Peter Paul Koprowski

Peter Paul Koprowski

Peter Paul Koprowski is a Canadian composer, conductor, music educator, and pianist of Polish descent. He became a Canadian citizen in 1976. As a composer he is chiefly known for his large output of symphonic works which began with his still frequently performed In Memoriam Karol Szymanowski...

's Tapestries of Love: Symphony for Soprano and Orchestra (2007).

External links

• Official Website of the Kingston Symphony Orchestra