Rosemary THomson

Conductor Rosemary Thomson has proven herself as a highly skilled musician with experience in conducting a wide variety of repertoire and programming innovative audience-centred presentations. Rosemary is currently in her sixteenth season as Music Director of the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra (OSO). Under her leadership, the orchestra has blossomed and seen unprecedented audience growth. In 2020, Rosemary was appointed the Artistic Director for Opera Kelowna, where she recently conducted Berlioz’s rarely performed opera Béatrice et Bénédict (2022).

Equally at home conducting orchestral, choral, contemporary, or operatic repertoire, Rose has enjoyed an over thirty year career at the podium. Prior to her time at the OSO, Thomson was the Resident Conductor and Chorus Master at the Calgary Philharmonic and the Conductor in Residence for the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. For fourteen season, Rose was the conductor of Toronto’s new music ensemble Continuum, with whom she toured Canada and Europe, and conducted several recordings of music by Canadian composers. She has also led a number of Canadian orchestras as an invited guest, including those of Edmonton, Kingston, National Arts Centre, Regina, Toronto, Thunder Bay, Vancouver, and Victoria.

In the operatic field, she was, for four seasons, the Assistant Conductor to Richard Bradshaw for the Canadian Opera Company. She has guest conducted for numerous opera companies, including Tapestry Opera where she was nominated for a 2019 Dora Award for Music Direction of the world premiere of Shanawdithit by Yvette Nolan and Dean Burry. Thomson recently made her Vancouver Opera debut, conducting Gilbert and Sullivan’s H.M.S. Pinafore and conducted the premiere of Pomegranate by Amanda Hale and Kye Marshall for the Canadian Opera Company in 2023. Other operatic conducting has included engagements with Opera Garden (Scotland), Calgary Opera, and Highlands Opera Studio.

Inspired by training she received from Hans Graf, Boris Brott and Bramwell Tovey, Thomson enjoys a reputation for working with emerging artists in both festival and university programs. Ms. Thomson serves as a Regional Director for the Canadian Music Centre and sits on the Advocacy and EDI committee with Orchestras Canada. Her work has been recognized with the Honour in the Arts Award through the Kelowna Civic and Community recognition program as well as the Okanagan Arts Awards in the Music category. In 2021, she was awarded the Community Spirit Award by the BC Provincial Achievement Foundation.

Rosemary is a national mentor and integral part of the Women in Musical Leadership initiative, a program run by Tapestry Opera, Pacific Opera Victoria and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.

December 2023

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