FRANCIS WINSPEAR CENTRE FOR MUSIC EDMONTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 2017/2018 ANNUAL REPORT BOARD OF DIRECTORS - REFLECTIONS We are beginning an exciting chapter in the I wish to acknowledge the members of the life of the Winspear Centre and ESO. With Board of Directors who have served with me the welcome approval of funding from our this season. I would especially like to extend City of Edmonton and Government of Alberta my gratitude to past Board Chair, Reg Milley, partners, we are poised to realize our dream who steps off the board at the AGM. His of creating a community hub and gathering dedication remains an inspiration, and he place for music. The Winspear Project - a will be missed. We also bid farewell to board dream 20 years in the making - will expand members Megan Evans and Jim McKillop, the current Winspear facility to include a whose contributions have been invaluable. 600 seat performance space, classrooms, a A special thank you also goes out to our public living room, and studio spaces for the third board student intern, Renée Anielski, community. This will give us greater capacity who joined us from the University of Alberta to be a true centre for music, through the School of Business. ability to offer concurrent, diverse and more frequent programming to better serve the The ESO | Winspear Centre is sincerely community. Construction is scheduled to grateful to all levels of government, as they begin in early 2019 with the goal of opening support the creative growth of communities in 2022. across the nation. We also express our gratitude to the many businesses and 2017/2018 marked the first season for a new individuals who provide financial support and model of artistic leadership. Our new Chief to our dedicated volunteers who contribute MESSAGE FROM PEGGY GARRITTY Conductor, Alex Prior, took over the broad their time to all areas of the organization. BOARD CHAIR artistic responsibilities of music director, Finally, I extend my thanks to Annemarie complemented by our first Artistic Partner, Petrov and her team for their creative energy Edmonton-born violinist Andrew Wan. This and to the musicians of the ESO for another was Alex Prior’s first year as a builder and inspiring season of live orchestral music. artistic leader of the ESO, and he inspired us With no shortage of reasons to celebrate, all through his delivery of music: experiences the 2017/2018 season has set us up for that were impactful and full of life. Alex has success in the years ahead. a vision that is inclusive and expansive. In his words: “…an orchestra must be outward and forward looking. While we are custodians of old traditions, a great heritage, we are also responsible for forging new traditions.” Meanwhile, during Andrew Wan’s Peggy Garritty partnership, he visited schools, worked with Chair, Board of Directors YONA-Sistema (Youth Orchestra of Northern Alberta) students, and participated in fund- raising, outreach and promotional initiatives in addition to his performances. Andrew told us he was proud and thrilled with having shared so much music with his “home town” orchestra and audience. We continue to engage our community as a whole, and develop individuals through the process of making music, on their own terms. With the goal of ensuring that music is readily accessible to school-aged children, and beyond, we continue to build and grow our programs for children. Enrollment in all outreach programs is increasing, which speaks to the interest and impact we have in the community. 1 CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER - REFLECTIONS The Winspear Centre was created by our at the front entrance of our building. The community to bring people together in the City of Edmonton is a close partner, and shared joy of music. We are entrusted with we share in the expectation that this its mission, and believe that music is an short-term pain is for long-term gain that integral part of who we are as people and will serve everyone well. In the short term, that through music we feel more deeply, however, it has translated into a loss on are enriched, and more connected to one our operations for the past year. The loss another. Music lives inside us all and is offset through transfers from internally when we experience live music together, restricted funds that were established for our relationships are deepened, and our circumstances such as these, but this can communities become stronger. only be sustained in the short term. Going forward, careful planning and mitigation I am deeply proud of what the ESO|Winspear strategies are being implemented to see us Centre accomplishes together with our through the next several years of downtown community. Each season, we delight construction. We know that the revitalization audiences with performances featuring will benefit all members of the community artists from a wide range of musical genres through increased accessibility and services, and styles, from orchestral performances of drawing people downtown and making our Tchaikovsky, the music of Lord of the Rings, community more vibrant. renowned folk rock ensemble the John Butler MESSAGE FROM ANNEMARIE PETROV Trio, to a diverse array of local emerging As always, our sincere gratitude extends to PRESIDENT & CEO artists. The Winspear Centre brings people the three orders of government who support inside its doors each year to experience live us every year through the Edmonton Arts music in a renowned acoustic hall, in ways Council and the City of Edmonton, Alberta that are relevant and meaningful. Foundation for the Arts and Government of Alberta, and Canada Council for the Arts and This year, we lost our dear friend Tommy Canadian Heritage. We are also thankful Banks. Tommy advocated passionately for for the contributions from foundations, and the importance of music in our lives,t and support from our dedicated partners in the especially early in life. Part of his spirit business and arts communities. Above all, lives on through the Tommy Banks Centre we want to thank our patrons who share for Musical Creativity. Launched together their appreciation for live music by attending with Tommy several years ago, this is the our concerts and support our growth through umbrella for every activity and program that personal donations. engages people in the making of music and it has been growing ever since. This year, we It is with great anticipation that we enter launched Kipohtakâw YONA, at Alexander Alex Prior’s second year as Chief Conductor, First Nation, a Sistema inspired initiative whose concerts are original, affecting, and that provides high quality music instruction intimate. I also wish to extend my thanks to two days a week to over 50 children. Our all of the musicians, staff, and volunteers Core YONA-Sistema (Youth Orchestra of who drive this organization forward with Northern Alberta) program at St. Alphonsus their talent and dedication. I am privileged now serves 85 students, and our partnership to work with a committed Leadership team with the Buchanan Centre for Parkinson’s and Board of Directors, whose wide-ranging continues to support our Parkinson’s Jam expertise and innovative thinking keeps Sessions program for adults. Now, we are us moving in new and exciting directions. dreaming big with plans for The Winspear Together, we ensure that everyone has Project, and aim to break ground in early access to those wonderful and magical 2019. musical experiences that remind us of who we are and what we share with each other. While we celebrated milestones in 2017/2018, one of our challenges lies in mitigating the impact to the Winspear Centre from the downtown construction and Annemarie Petrov revitalization, much of which is concentrated Chief Executive Officer 2 CHIEF CONDUCTOR - REFLECTIONS It has been my pleasure as Chief Conductor who took leave from his regular position to to introduce our orchestra and audiences write music for the ESO. We were honoured to new music. My job, as I see it, is to to debut his Concerto for 2 Horns (Mountain ensure that our concerts are so emotionally Triptych), written for ESO musicians Allene impactful and visceral that you will be Hackleman and Megan Evans. surprised at just how familiar, personally intimate, and important this music, its Our Composers-in-Residence make initiatives sounds and its stories, become. My hope like the Young Composers Project possible is that the audience feels not as passive each year. The Young Composers Project spectators, but as active parts of the music: has been a mainstay of our programming experiencing the journey, feeling comfort since 1994, when it was conceived by John and joy. Estacio. Each year, a high school student is given the opportunity to work alongside our In 2017/2018 I shared some of my favourites Composer-in-Residence to compose a new with you - key works that made me fall work for the ESO to perform. Eighteen year- in love with music. We started off the old Vivian Kwok was our young composer season with Harmonielehre by the American last year. It is imperative to nurture young sound-sculptor John Adams, my hero since Canadian artists, and it was a pleasure to childhood. The music is mesmerizingly conduct Ms. Kwok’s first orchestral work, hypnotic, and seldom will you encounter a Purge and Perseverance, at Symphony Under MESSAGE FROM ALEXANDER PRIOR work as relevant, youthful, and yet eternal. the Sky. CHIEF CONDUCTOR This is a piece that is everything we at the ESO are - grounded in ancient traditions, My sincere thank you to all of my talented while speaking to and inspired by twenty- colleagues in the orchestra: for their first century lives, issues, and styles.