If you would like to download our new, 2018/2019 Season Brochure now, just click here.
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Website updates scheduled for early September.
Hello, fans of the Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra! We just wanted to let you know that we will be updating our website, including posting more thorough details about each of our coming season’s concerts, and much more. We’re also working to streamline navigating our website. We appreciate your patience during the coming week, or so. If you would like to get our brand new, 2018/2019 Season Brochure right now, just click here. Season Ticket Subscriber Packages should be in the mail by the end of this week. Don’t worry, our first concert of our 39th Season is Saturday, October 27 (8pm)
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We’re putting the finishing touches on our 2018-19 Season!
As the 2017-18 Season finishes with our final concert this evening, the SPO Team is working hard to finalize our upcoming 2018-19 Season. We’re certain it will be entertaining, as this fantastic group of musicians continues to improve and grow under the leadership of our Music Director, Ron Royer. Please check back in the coming weeks for more information and announcements!
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A Canadian Panorama – Special CD launch concert
The Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra will launch “Canadian Panorama,” its first commercial CD, on February 4, 2017 in celebration of Canada’s 150th birthday. The launch concert will feature music from the CD, a group of wonderful Canadian compositions that the SPO commissioned 2 years ago for a wind ensemble of 13 players. This group features 2 flutes (including a piccolo), 2 oboes (including an English horn, 2 clarinets (including a bass clarinet), 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 1 trumpet, 1 percussion player and a string bass. Seven of the pieces in this concert come from Canadian composers: the SPO’s Ronald Royer will
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Holiday Concert – An SPO Family Tradition
December 3, 2016 – 7:30 p.m. (an early start for families with young children) This concert will celebrate various Canadian musical traditions, as well as music for the holiday season. Classical music, jazz, traditional Canadian carols, children’s music and First Nations music will be represented on this concert. The SPO will feature First Nations guest artist Cat Criger who will discuss and demonstrate the role of music in his culture. The concert will feature 150 young singers from three choirs from our Scarborough community: Sistema Toronto, Woburn Collegiate and St. Paul’s L’Amoreaux Anglican Church. The SPO has strong relationships with
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2016-17 Season Opener – Let’s Dance!
This concert will celebrate how dance music has been an important inspiration to composers over time. A variety of different styles of dance music will be featured, including music from Canada, Argentina, France, Russia and Spain. The players of the SPO love musical challenges, and Ravel’s Daphnis and Chloe, Suite No. 2 will especially keep our woodwind players busy. Premiering at this concert is a piece by Bruno Degazio, the SPO’s Composer-in-Residence for 2016-17. To enhance the dance atmosphere of this concert, Ian and Kaitlin Crewe, dancers from the Scarborough community will accompany our performance of Daniel Leo Simpson’s Tuscaloosa
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Introducing our 2016-2017 Concert Season
Celebrating Canada’s 150th Anniversary through Great Music Making and the Launch of Our First Commercial CD Recording, “A Canadian Panorama” Welcome to the Scarborough Philharmonic’s 37th Concert Season, celebrating Canada’s 150th birthday in 2017 through great music making and the launch of our first commercial CD recording, A Canadian Panorama. During the season, we will be giving six world premieres by five Canadian composers. For the opening concert of Let’s Dance, Bruno Degazio, our new composer-in-residence, will be presenting his Ontario Pictures, based on traditional folksongs. Sam Bisson, our principal cellist and personnel manager has composed an enjoyable waltz for
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Great Romantic Music by Beethoven and Brahms
The Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra (SPO) continues its highly successful 2015-2016 season with a tribute to the romantic era music of Beethoven and Brahms, conducted by SPO Music Director Ronald Royer. This concert features guest performances by Toronto violinist Conrad Chow and British cellist Jacob Shaw. Conrad Chow received his doctorate in Musical Arts degree from the State University of New York (Stony Brook), having studied under noted violinists Pamela Frank, Ani Kavafian, and Philip Setzer. He later pursued further postdoctoral work with Eduard Schmieder at Temple University in Philadelphia. Award winning British cellist Jacob Shaw has given acclaimed concerts across
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Family Holiday Concert
Wear PJs to a concert? Absolutely! The Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra is well known for its innovations in musical entertainment. The Orchestra’s family holiday concert will be no exception – children will be invited to wear their PJs, bring a pillow and a blanket and curl up for a very special performance of Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf. What makes this performance special? We’ve invited a secret Toronto personality to narrate. A prominent politician? A sports star? A media personality? You’ll have to wait to see – it’s a surprise! (Free childcare will be provided after the intermission, so parents
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Even bad can sound good
Sound confusing? The Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra will make it all crystal clear at its October concert – Breaking Bad: Colourful Characters in Music. The concert is sponsored by the Rotary Club of North Scarborough. “Bad characters” have become popular in television and film (think Breaking Bad, House of Cards, Madmen, and more). But the theme is hardly unique – classical composers have featured dark characters for a long time. The SPO’s October concert will shed some light into the darkness. The concert will open with Mozart’s famous Don Giovanni Overture. Alexander Rapoport has been commissioned by the SPO to compose
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