Our Mission

Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and founded in 2002 by its musician members, the award winning Turning Point Ensemble has a mandate to bring to the stage extraordinary music for large chamber ensemble written from the early twentieth century through to the present day. The ensemble’s goal is to draw audiences to this music through outstanding performances, and intelligent programming that creates a lively context for the music. Our programming explores relationships and connections between composers and their music, presents significant large-scale works from the Canadian and international repertoire, and has as a goal to establish meaningful long-term relationships with some of Canada’s most talented composers through commissioning and championing this creativity with multiple performances. Turning Point has been reaching larger and diversely interested audiences through innovative interdisciplinary events; stimulating concerts that cross genres and historical periods; incorporating new technologies that expand the definition of a traditional chamber ensemble; partnerships with a variety of leading professional artistic organizations; and through recordings and tours.

About TURNING POINT ENSEMBLE

Turning Point Ensemble audiences have had the opportunity to enjoy live premiere or once-in-a-generation performances such as a fully staged presentation major modern works including John Adams’ Son of Chamber Symphony, Thomas Adès’ Living Toys; and the Rio Tinto Alcan Award-winning Firebird 2011 with music by Jocelyn Morlock and choreography by Simone Orlando. More recently, the ensemble presented the Canadian premiere of Toru Takemitsu’s Archipelago S. and the live professional premiere of Barbara Pentland/Dorothy Livesay’s 1954 opera, The Lake. Winners of the 2011 Rio Tinto Alcan Performing Arts Award, Turning Point Ensemble is active in encouraging and nurturing new work and has commissioned and/or premiered large scale new works from prominent Canadian composers. The ensemble is committed to nurturing creativity in children and we are in our eighth year of delivering our educational program Creating Composers: Nurturing Life-Long Musical Expression Through Composition.