The Turning Point Ensemble was formed by its musician members in 2002 with the goal of presenting rarely-heard concert-music for a large-sized chamber ensemble. Our mandate is to increase the appreciation and understanding of music composed during the past hundred years. The Turning Point Ensemble’s players are among the region's most accomplished instrumentalists, and it has quickly earned a stellar reputation for outstanding programming and musicianship.  

Since its debut program in the Music in the Morning series in January 2003, the ensemble has presented some fifteen concerts, and has been recorded on a number of occasions by the CBC. Our critically acclaimed debut CD on the Artifact label, Strange Sphere (the music of Rudolf Komorous) was released in 2004. The ensemble is also committed to building a new repertoire through working closely with outstanding composers. Currently the ensemble is collaborating with Vancouver based composers Bradshaw Pack, John Korsrud, and Jocelyn Morlock. In March 2006, the ensemble was again the featured ensemble for Vancouver Pro Musica's Sonic Boom Festival, premiering nine new works of emerging British Columbia composers.   

The Turning Point Ensemble continues to seek out opportunities to be a musical partner in exciting interdisciplinary events. In 2004, the ensemble received international acclaim for their efforts in performing Hanns Eisler’s Vierzen Arten den Regen zu beschreiben (Fourteen Ways to Describe Rain) in synchronization with Joris Ivens’ 1929 film Regen (Rain). The 2005-06 season included a collaboration with SFU School for the Contemporary Arts in Vancouver’s first fully staged professional production of Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale in over 20 years; a presentation cited by the Globe and Mail and Vancouver Courier as one of the season’s most exciting arts events. In January 2007, TPE joined forces with the Vancouver Art Gallery, CABINET, the Roundhouse Community Centre, and the PuSH Festival to present an evening of music and video featuring the Canadian premiere of Edgard Varèse’s groundbreaking 1954 composition Déserts set to video created in 1994 by Bill Viola. Our 2007-08 season includes an exciting collaboration with the Gamelan Gita Asmara ensemble celebrating the long history of Gamelan music and its inspiration to Canadian composers.

The Turning Point Ensemble is pleased to have presented programs in collaboration with Heritage Vancouver, Festival Vancouver, CBC Radio, the Music in the Morning concert series, Vancouver Opera, the Vancouver Art Gallery, the Taiwanese Economic and Cultural Bureau, the Egret School of Music, the Canadian Music Centre, Vancouver Voices, Groundswell, New Music Concerts Toronto, and the Simon Fraser University School for the Contemporary Arts.

For more information, please visit: Turning Point Ensemble website