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Heritage

The McGill Chamber Orchestra is one of Canada’s most established chamber orchestras. It was founded in 1939 by Artistic Director Alexander Brott and his wife, Lotte Brott. Mrs. Brott served the Orchestra as cellist and General Manager until her passing in 1998.

The orchestra began as the McGill String Quartet and soon thereafter grew into an ensemble which had as its members principal teachers of the McGill Conservatory of Music and eventually principal players in the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal where Alexander Brott served as Concertmaster and Lotte played in the cello section. The orchestra was quickly recognized as an ensemble of international standing.  

Some of the greatest artists of this century regularly appeared with the McGill Chamber Orchestra at its concerts, first in McGill’s Redpath Hall and later at Place des Arts where the orchestra was orchestra in residence at the Théâtre Maisonneuve.

Artists who regularly appeared with the orchestra include Yo-Yo Ma, David Oïstrakh, Lili Kraus, The Beaux Arts Trio, Mstislav Rostropovitch, Isaac Stern, Joseph Szygeti, Ida Haendel, Peter Serkin, Marilyn Horne, Maureen Forrester, Yehudi Menuhin, Glenn Gould, Jean-Pierre Rampal, and Richard Stoltzman.

The McGill Chamber Orchestra has recorded regularly for the CBC and commercial labels, and it appears regularly on television. Of particular note have been its annual tours. The orchestra has appeared in the United States, Russia, Europe, Israel, South America, Mexico, Japan, Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan and the Yukon. These concert tours were made possible thanks to grants from the Department of External Affairs of Canada and the Touring Office of the Canada Council.

Lotte Brott, as the orchestra’s General Manager for the first 59 years of its existence, pioneered corporate sponsorships in the arts in Québec, attracting major international and Canadian corporations to support the orchestra. The MCO is pleased to continue this tradition.

The McGill Chamber Orchestra has championed Canadian and Québec composers throughout its history. Alexander Brott, himself one of Canada’s foremost composers, annually commissioned works from Canada’s most significant creative artists, many with the help of the CBC and the Samuel Lapitsky Foundation.

The MCO has throughout its history been dedicated to education. The orchestra regularly toured to Montréal area schools and participated in the Conseil des arts de Montréal's “Jouer dans L’Île” project. It initiated bilingual cutting edge multi-media schools concerts in association with the Montreal Gazette at Théâtre Maisonneuve. It pioneered a “Stained Glass” series in Montréal area churches and annual education tours to Cowansville and Lennoxville as well as annual multi-media Christmas concerts in economically challenged areas of the city.

Boris Brott, eldest son of Alexander and Lotte, joined the orchestra as Associate Conductor in 1989. He spearheaded new projects in community outreach and education and regularly shared concerts with his father and in 1999 he was appointed joint conductor of the orchestra. In 2005 Boris was appointed Artistic Director on the death of his father at age 90.

The McGill Chamber Orchestra is a piece of Québec’s bedrock artistic history. The orchestra in its almost 70 years of existence has presented annual concert series, thus providing employment and important artistic experiences to many of Montréal’s finest musicians. Moreover it has accomplished this within fiscal responsibility. It has thus continued to serve great music, the Montréal public and carried with it on tour, in recordings and on television, Québec’s reputation as a highly cultured society.

Since its inception the Orchestra has benefited by a distinguished Board of Directors including some of Montréal and Québec’s most prominent citizens, cultural, professional and business leaders. The MCO is most fortunate to have as its current President the distinguished Dr. Hans P. Black.

The McGill Chamber Orchestra is most grateful for the continuing support and guidance of the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, the Conseil des arts de Montréal and the Canada Council for the Arts.