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Odin Quartet
18 September 2022 @ 11h00 - 12h00
While society sheltered in place during the pandemic, luthiers continued to craft their instruments, and composers continued to create their compositions, unsure when the two would be brought together again in performance. At the same time, the Odin Quartet commissioned new pieces written during the pandemic, and received nearly 200 submissions from creatives in Canada and worldwide. Bringing together luthiers, composers, and performers, this event renews and reinvigorates the connections between these three worlds – as well as audiences.
Passionate about chamber music, the Toronto-based Odin Quartet represents the diversity and the promise of youth in Canada. Named after the one-eyed Norse god, seeker of knowledge and holder of the wisdom of the world, the Odin Quartet explores the role of classical music in modern-day storytelling. Since 2015, the ensemble is also dedicated to making classical music accessible to new generations of listeners, by promoting modern Canadian compositions, including those of cellist Samuel Bisson, alongside classical music literature.
In June 2015, the Odin Quartet took part in the Luminato Festival’s epic production of R Murray Schafer’s 1980 oratorio Apocalypsis. Since their 2017 debut at the opening gala of the Music Niagara Festival, the Quartet has been a recurring performer at the summer festival, in 2019 and 2021. Other festival appearances include the University of Toronto’s New Music Festival, Midday Music with Shigeru, the Ottawa Valley Music Festival, Guelph Connections, and Music Mondays Toronto.
The Odin Quartet has enjoyed multiple collaborations with the Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra as its ensemble-in-residence since 2018; most recently, the quartet premiered a new piece for string quartet and symphony orchestra by Samuel Bisson, under the baton of Maestro Ron Royer.
The Quartet has recorded numerous film scores both locally and internationally and is regularly featured in musical projects by other Toronto artists.
