Category: What’s Happening?

The SPO has a special “Flute Music by Women Composers: An International Online Festival” YouTube playlist prepared where you can watch all 19 performance videos (plus our short promo video) in one place. Click here to watch now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPns7P574YQ&list=PLnNaA-kDVr4KUU3ysDdOjyeyGYXKLU0cF.

February 4, 2022 — Last evening, the SPO and Flute 360 Podcast with Dr. Heidi Kay Begay officially launched the Flute Music by Women Composers: An International Online Festival with a fantastic Zoom meeting, where everyone had the chance to meet the Festival organizers, to meet composers and performers, and have a really excellent open dialogue of celebration. If you love the flute, you won’t want to miss any of this February’s content! Click https://www.spo.ca/flute-music-by-women-composers-festival-2022/ for full access now!

February 4, 2022 — The FLUTE MUSIC BY WOMEN COMPOSERS: An International Online Festival is now on, with 7 Podcast Episodes posted, and the first set of four videos released just today! Click https://www.spo.ca/flute-music-by-women-composers-festival-2022/ to check out the videos, podcasts, composer and performer bios, plus links, bonus information, and much more! This festival is presented by the SPO and Flute 360 Podcast hosted by Dr. Heida Kay Begay.

The Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra is pleased to announce that our 2021/2022 New Generation Composers Workshop application is now available to download (PDF).

If you would like experience and mentoring to help you compose for a string quartet, this is a great opportunity.

Deadline to apply is Wednesday, December 15, 2021. 

If you require more information, please send an email (Subject: New Gen 2022) to spo@spo.ca.  One of our team will respond as quickly as possible.

The Canadian Music Centre (Ontario branch) has announced the winners of the 2021 Beckwith Award. And your SPO has been selected as a WINNER!

Congratulations to all the winners, including music educators Bernie Andrews, Catherine Kloepfer, and Laura Lee Matthie, music ensemble the Kingston Symphony, and the presenter NUMUS.

The process of making and sharing music connects so many communities, and CMC Ontario is inspired by the work of the 2021 award winners who embrace this role in their work. These individuals and organizations explore new models for career development among artists, unique approaches to learning and self-expression, and programs that invite in a variety of audiences.

The Beckwith Award is named for composer John Beckwith—who just celebrated his 94th birthday. Beckwith is one of the founding members of Canadian Music Centre, an ardent supporter of the organization, and a champion of contemporary Canadian music. We feel the enthusiasm that Beckwith shares with the CMC is reflected in the incredible work of the 2021 winners. View all the details here.

We just posted a fantastic new video from our friends at the Toronto Choral Society, “Sim Shalom”.

You can watch it right now on our YouTube Channel — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZO6ZkE_TMUY&list=PLnNaA-kDVr4LALJk52EQxhnDaKEvA7Prl&index=4.

An amazing performance from their ensemble and Cantorial Soloist, Geoffrey Butler. Also, an amazing video showing so many of the singers. Just great!!!!

Hi, everyone!       As some of you will know, when the SPO holds our annual Holiday Concert at The Salvation Army Scarborough Citadel, we often encourage you to support their Kettle Drive.    For many in Scarborough, and in the area where we hold our large ensemble concerts, there is need this holiday season.     Please show your support, if you can — with thanks from the Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra!!!

To learn more about their onsite Food Bank, visit their website www.scarboroughcitadel.ca.

Here’s their Virtual Kettle campaign graphic.  You can participate by clicking the QR code on the graphic, or by using this link https://kettle.salvationarmy.ca/17021/fill-the-kettle-2020/99638/fillthekettle-scarborough.

The Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra is proud to present our sixth episode of our #SPOGreatMusic Podcast Series — our SPECIAL 40th ANNIVERSARY episode! We had hoped to celebrate this milestone with all of you in April of this year, but the pandemic shut things down, fast. No Beethoven’s 9th with the Toronto Choral Society. No balloons. No cake. And no you.

Well, we’ve really turned lemons into lemonade with this special episode, bringing you great interviews with people who lived, or are living, the rich history which is the Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra. Thanks to all of our special guests who participated, including past Music Directors Chris Kitts, Jerome Summers, and John Barnum; longtime musicians, Robert Ketchen, Wendy Frey, and Lesley Duff; Allan Shantz, who performed at the very first SPO concert; and President Emeritus, Paul Bolton.

We’ll also be releasing a further special episode to celebrate 40 years, featuring amazing anecdotes and stories from more of our SPO family members through the years. So, stay tuned!

Special thanks to our Digital Production Team who are really going all out for the SPO, including our podcast host and 2020/2021 Composer-in-Residence, Dr. Daniel Mehdizadeh, our Music Director, Ronald Royer, and our Executive Director, Devin Scott.

This episode is, well, one for the history books!!!   Check out the episode now!

LISTEN TO OUR PODCASTS AND WATCH OUR VIDEOS DIRECTLY THROUGH OUR WEBSITE! We’ve done some tinkering and are pleased to announce that every single 2020/2021 SPOGreatMusic Podcast episode, and every SPOGreatMusic Performance Series video, can be accessed right here, through our website.

Our new Podcast Episode Guide is here. Just click on an episode number and it will take you to a new page with the podcast player right at the top.

Our new Performance Series Guide is here. Just click on the episode number and it will take you to a new page with all the videos playable right there. to click here.

Thanks to our Webmaster, Devin Scott, for making it easier for you to connect with this amazing digital content right now!

Friday, September 18, 2020 — This is a day that will go down in history for the SPO. Our premiere episode of our all-new SPOGreatMusic Podcast Series is now posted and available to enjoy! You can learn more information (and also find additional podcast platforms) by clicking here, or find our new episode release schedule here, or go directly to top platforms, like Apple Podcasts and Spotify, to listen now. If you’d like to learn more about our guest interviewees for this episode, click here. Thanks for our 2020/2021 Digital Content production team: Devin Scott, Executive Producer and Audio Engineer; Ronald Royer, Producer and Content Programmer; and Dr. Daniel Mehdizadeh, Host and Segment Audio Engineer.