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, 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 conductors 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.
Read more about this topic: CBC Radio Orchestra
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