Conductors Trevor Wilson and Simon Rivard will take on a new post, and continue in an existing one respectively, in a new announcement by TSO Music Director Gustavo Gimeno.
Trevor Wilson will begin as the TSO RBC Resident Conductor in September, working with the TSO through the 2022/23 and 2023/24 seasons. Simon Rivard’s contract to conduct the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra (TSYO) was extended.
The new RBC Resident Conductor
Trevor was chosen from a pool of working Canadian conductors to succeed Rivard in the role. Rivard has held the position since 2018.
“The Orchestra and I were very impressed by Trevor’s obvious gifts as a conductor,” says Music Director Gustavo Gimeno in a media release. “His audition showed a confidence, musical intelligence and sensitivity that will be an asset to his work and growth with the TSO. We look forward to the next two years together.”
- Wilson with work with Gimeno and the TSO, with access to all TSO rehearsals and performances;
- He’ll lead the TSO’s Young People’s Concerts of Platypus Theatre’s How the Gimquat Found Her Song in November, and The Hockey Sweater in February;
- He will also lead School Concerts in both French and English of The Hockey Sweater, among other orchestral events;
- He’ll also work on specific projects, and with some of the TSO’s guest conductors for coaching and mentoring.
“I am absolutely thrilled to be joining the TSO as Resident Conductor,” says Trevor Wilson. “As a young musician growing up in Ottawa, the opportunity to attend a Toronto Symphony Orchestra performance was always very special to me, and at the time I could only dream of the chance to perform with them myself. I am so grateful to now be joining the TSO family, working in my home country with one of Canada’s foremost artistic institutions, under the exceptional leadership of Maestro Gustavo Gimeno.”
In brief…
- A native of Ottawa, he’s active in that city’s music community, and conducted performances with the University of Ottawa orchestra, among other ensembles;
- He participated in the Orchestre Métropolitain’s Orchestral Conducting Academy under the mentorship of Yannick Nézet-Séguin;
- He’ll also assist in performances with the Orchestre Métropolitain during the 2022–23 season
- He served as the Assistant Conductor of the National Academy Orchestra of Canada under the late Boris Brott in summer 2019.
The TSYO Conductor
Simon Rivard will continue in the role of TSYO conductor through the orchestra’s anniversary season in 2023/24. He’ll add it to a growing list of accomplishments.
- RBC Resident Conductor of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Conductor of the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra since 2018;
- He’s assisted conductors such as Peter Oundjian, Donald Runnicles, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, John Storgårds, Barbara Hannigan, Xian Zhang, Eun Sun Kim, and Sir Andrew Davis;
- He’s participated in an Equilibrium Young Artist, as part of Canadian soprano and conductor Barbara Hannigan’s mentorship program for early-career professional musicians;
- In 2020, he was appointed Associate Conductor of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, Canada’s largest choral organization;
- As guest conductor, he has worked with many orchestras across North America and Europe, including recently the Orchestre symphonique de Québec, Orchestre symphonique Sherbrooke, and the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra;
- He has conducted the Edmonton Opera, as well as with Against the Grain in Holst’s Sāvitri.
“I am extremely pleased that Simon Rivard will continue in the position of TSYO Conductor through the Orchestra’s milestone 50th season,” says Gustavo Gimeno. “Simon’s energy, enthusiasm and commitment to the next generation of musicians and music lovers has been invaluable to the TSO. He has demonstrated extraordinary leadership of the TSYO and has kept members active, engaged, and inspired through the unprecedented challenges of the past two years.”
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