Master Series Concerts & Tickets
Conductor, Earl Stafford
Master Series 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 & 8Canadian pianist and conductor Earl Stafford began his music education at the age of eight and made his debut two years later with the Thunder Bay Symphony. Since then he has performed around the world, receiving critical accolades for his performances. The Globe and Mail wrote, "His pianistic artistry was sheer poetry".
He was awarded the gold medal as best accompanist at the 1980 International Ballet Competition in Varna, Bulgaria and in 1984 Earl was appointed Music Director and Principal Conductor for Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet, a position he has held ever since. In addition to his work with the RWB, Earl has been music director for the Saskatoon Symphony, and is currently on faculty at the University of Manitoba.
Mr. Stafford was invited by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra to conduct for Queen Elizabeth’s Royal Jubilee Gala in 2002. This past summer Earl was invited to conduct the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra in its highly successful performances at Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre and the world premier of Andrew Belfour’s Voice of the Lake (a commission for the Icelandic Festival in Gimli Manitoba). His most recent recordings are of Neil Currie’s Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra (Tumbling Strain) featuring Alain Trudel and Rhapsody for Saxophone and Orchestra with Allen Harrington. He has made numerous recordings for CBC and has appeared as a piano soloist on Bravo and A&E (Breakfast with the Arts).
Earl also enjoys a very active career as guest conductor with many of Canada's orchestras including the Toronto Symphony, the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Kitchener Waterloo Symphony and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. Internationally, Earl has appeared with the Tokyo Philharmonic, the Hungarian State Opera, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Queen’s Hall Orchestra of London and the Theatre Harmony Orchestra of Moscow.
Maestro Stafford has collaborated with many of the world’s finest artists including: James Ehnes, Janina Fialkowska, Gwen and Desmond Hoebig, Angela Hewitt, Angela Cheng, Josh Groban, Oscar Peterson, Kyoko Takezawa, Mel Torme, Edith Weins, and Mark Zeltzer, to name a few.