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Our Story
The Ottawa Symphony Orchestra,
Its Roots, A Brief History and A Bright Future
The Ottawa Symphony Orchestra continues a musical tradition rooted in the nation’s capital as far back as 1894. The present OSO came into being in 1965 when the city and its music lovers were experiencing a dry spell in orchestral music. The old Ottawa Philharmonic had come to an end and Ottawa fans had to rely on infrequent visits from the Montréal Symphony Orchestra to satisfy their taste for classical music.
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Ottawa musicians, with the demise of the “Philharmonic,” were left out in the cold. However, the desire to have their own orchestra proved to be an irresistible force and, under the leadership of Maurice Haycock, local musicians decided to form a new ensemble—the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra. At the outset, the new Orchestra, while full of enthusiasm and talent, was short on funds. It didn’t even possess a podium for its conductor! The first rehearsal took place in the music room at Glebe Collegiate, and on April 14, 1966, the Ottawa Technical High School was jammed with eager concertgoers who welcomed the new ensemble with enthusiasm. The rest, as they say, is history. The Ottawa Symphony Orchestra is now the National Capital Region’s largest orchestra with 100 musicians, specializing in performing music from the large symphonic repertoire.
Thanks to the support of its growing audiences, the OSO’s commitment to continuing the distinguished orchestral heritage begun in 1894, is alive and thriving.
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The OSO and the Community
Almost all of the members of the OSO are local musicians, and its audience base is drawn almost entirely from local municipalities. Over the past several years, audience numbers have been increasing steadily—an enthusiastic response to the unique programmes of large-scale music.
Support too for the OSO is largely local with municipal, provincial and federal grants. Its Conductor has been a resident of Ottawa for over 30 years, the volunteer Board of Directors and the Executive Committee are all well known in the community, and the teams of volunteers who assist at special events and who serve on various committees give the Orchestra yet another strong link to the Ottawa-Carleton region.
Conductor
David Currie: Music Director
David Currie is a graduate of the University of Michigan and the Interlochen Arts Academy where, as principal double bass of the Academy Orchestra, he won the Young Artist Award and toured extensively throughout Canada and the United States. A member of the National Arts Centre Orchestra since 1971, Mr. Currie retired as Principal Bass in 1991.
Mr. Currie’s conducting training took place in Siena, Italy with the renowned Maestro Franco Ferrara, and at the prestigious Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo with Profesor Morihiro Okabe and Maestro Kazuyoshi Akiyama.
Since 1982, Mr. Currie has been conductor of the University of Ottawa Orchestra, leading the ensemble in its concert series each season. He is the founding conductor of the Tabaret Ensemble, a unique string ensemble comprised of seven professors and seven advanced students from the Music Department of the University of Ottawa.
David Currie is also the founding conductor of the Pierrot Ensemble, a group dedicated to the performance of 20th century music. The Ensemble has gained a large, enthusiastic following in the National Capital Region and in September 1988 he took the Ensemble to Holland. In addition, Mr. Currie is in demand as a teacher and in recent years has seen several of his students placed in prominent orchestras in Canada and the United States.
Mr. Currie has conducted the National Arts Centre Orchestra in its Premier, Pops and Youth concerts and has also conducted performances for Opera Lyra Ottawa. He has conducted many performances with other groups across Canada, some of which were broadcast on the national networks.
In May 1992 Mr. Currie was appointed Music Director of the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra, a full-size symphony specializing in the repertoire of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Mr. Currie has returned to the Interlochen Arts Academy where he guest conducts the Academy Orchestra. During 1998 he conducted the European-based music theatre company ARBOS in performances of Viktor Ullmann’s opera The Emperor of Atlantis in Prague, Washington, D. C. and Los Angeles.
Concertmaster
David Stewart is Professor of Violin at the University of Ottawa. Born in Quebec, he studied with Oscar Shumsky at Yale University and privately with Camilla Wicks. Mr. Stewart was for many years Concertmaster of the Bergen Philharmonic in Norway, appearing often as soloist with that, and other Scandinavian orchestras. He was also active as a member of many chamber music ensembles in Scandinavia. He has commissioned and recorded several new works, among them Andrew P. MacDonald’s Violin Concerto, for which the composer won a Juno award.
Professor Stewart gives masterclasses at institutions like the Glenn Gould School, Mount Royal College in Calgary, Université de Montréal and is a regular guest at the Grieg Akademi in Norway.
Recently, Mr. Stewart made his third tour of China, playing as soloist with the Jinan Symphony and as recitalist throughout the country. He will return in 2007 as soloist and conductor with the Hebei Symphony and will continue to give recitals and masterclasses.
Participation in summer festivals have taken him to San Diego, (Mainly Mozart) Quebec, (Domaine Forget and Mount Orford) Robbiston, Maine (Saeverud Festival) Finland (Sysman Suvisoitta) and the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival. He also regularly works as a coach for l’Orchestre de la Francophonie Canadienne.
Mr. Stewart is co-founder of the Agassiz Chamber Music Festival in Winnipeg, the Norwegian contemporary music ensemble BIT-20 and the Quatuor Lumiere, a period instrument quartet performing works of the Classical era.
Board of Directors
- President: Martha Hynna
- Past President: Susan Annis, Executive Director - Cultural Human Resources Council
- Vice-President Orchestra Relations: Stephen Richards
- Treasurer: Ronald J. Holowka, C.A.
- Chair, Fund Raising: Allison Dingle
- Chair, Special Events: Snookie Lomow - Executive Director, Canadian Hard of Hearing Association
- Chair, Symphony for Schools: Oliver Javanpour - Senior Partner, Cyrus Echo Corporation
- Chair, Marketing: Elisabeth Fournier
- Bill Allen, Senior Communications Business Partner, TELUS
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- Daniel Boivin, Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP
- Lori Burns, Vice-Dean, Research, Faculty of Arts, University of Ottawa
- Cheryl Casey
- Caroline Leonaredelli * - Musician
- G. Alexander Macklin, Q.C.
- George Stathopoulos * - Musician
- Judith Manley
- Ian Glen, Chair of the Board of Directors, Canadian Air Transport Security Authority.
- Ian Sterling, CFA, President - P.J. Doherty & Associates Co. Ltd.
- Martina Todd
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* Playing member of the Orchestra.
OSO is a proud member of Orchestras Canada, the national association for Canadian orchestras.
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