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Categories: Quebec culture | Montreal | Canadian Orchestras | Canadian musical groups | Canadian classical music
Montreal Symphony Orchestra
The Orchestre symphonique de Montreal (Montreal Symphony Orchestra) is a major Quebec orchestra. As its name suggests, it is based in Montreal.
There have been a number of organisations with this name, including one formed in 1897 which lasted ten years, and another formed in 1930 which lasted eleven. The current orchestra, however, traces its roots back to 1935, when Wilfrid Pelletier formed an ensemble called Les Concerts Symphoniques. It changed to its current name in 1954.
Principal conductors of the orchestra have included Otto Klemperer (1950-53), Zubin Mehta (1961-67) and Charles Dutoit (1978-2002).
In the early 1960s, when the Orchestra was preparing to move to new facilities at Place des Arts, patron and prominent Montreal philanthropist, John Wilson McConnell purchased the 1727 Laub-Petschnikoff Stradivarius violin for Calvin Sieb , the Symphony's concertmaster and violinist.
In March 2003, the orchestra announced that Kent Nagano will be its new principal conductor starting in 2006 with a contract running to 2012. He gave his first concert in Montreal on March 30 2005. Nagano will be the musical adviser to principal guest conductor Jacques Lacombe for the next two years.
The orchestra won a Grammy award in 1996 for their recording of Hector Berlioz' Les Troyens. It has also won a number of Juno Awards.
See also
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Categories: Quebec culture | Montreal | Canadian Orchestras | Canadian musical groups | Canadian classical music
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