Member of the Order of Canada
Awarded on: 2014-05-08
Invested on: 2015-09-23
For his contributions to the development of contemporary Canadian orchestral music and for his promotion of Canada’s composers.
Conductor and composer Alex Pauk directs the only full-sized orchestra in this country exclusively devoted to performing new music. He founded Esprit Orchestra in 1983, to help revitalize a stagnating contemporary music scene. Over the ensuing decades, his commitment to excellence, his many educational outreach initiatives, and his dedication to commissioning unknown and well-known composers alike have helped turn this tide. His uncompromising stewardship of the ensemble—together with his championship of Canada’s composers—has generated a legacy of new Canadian orchestral music.