Gary Kulesha is one of Canada’s most active and most respected musicians. He is principally a composer, but is also active as a conductor, pianist, and teacher.
Mr. Kulesha’s music has been commissioned, performed, and recorded by musicians and ensembles internationally. His work spans more than 40 years, and several of his works have entered the repertoire of performers all over the world. His music is extensively recorded and broadcasted.
From 1988 to 1992, he was Composer-in-Residence with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra, and from 1993 to 1995, he was Composer-in-Residence with the Canadian Opera Company. He has been the Composer Advisor of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) since 1995, has written several works for the Orchestra, and has conducted them frequently.
Mr. Kulesha has guest-conducted many of the most important orchestras in Canada. Besides the TSO, he has appeared with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Symphony Nova Scotia, the orchestras of Kitchener-Waterloo, Edmonton, Winnipeg, and Victoria, the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, the CBC
Vancouver Radio Orchestra, Thirteen Strings of Ottawa, and many others. He has premièred hundreds of new works, and has conducted standard repertoire extensively. He has also been active as a recording artist in a wide variety of repertoire. This season, he guest-conducts the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and Symphony Nova Scotia in repertoire that ranges from Tchaikovsky to five world premières.
Mr. Kulesha is also on staff at the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto, where he teaches composition and performance. He has worked with young composers throughout his career, and many of his students and the composers he has worked with are now important professionals throughout the world.
Current as of September 2017