2015 Margo Bindhardt and Rita Davies Award Finalist

Alex Pauk is a Member of the Order of Canada and recipient of the Molson Arts Prize.  As a conductor/composer, Alex revitalized orchestral life for composers in Toronto by founding the Esprit Orchestra, which is devoted to new music, in 1983. Alex commissions, performs, and promotes composers. He also has his own plentiful output of imaginative compositions. 

Why are the arts important?

The arts reflect the time we live in. With courage, vision and risk-taking, artists express values and aspirations that create a through-line from the past into the future. It is primarily through the arts that nations and civilizations are identified and how they make their mark in history.

Where do you live in the city?

The High Park area

What is your favourite Toronto neighbourhood?

Roncesvalles

Where can we find you when you’re not working?

In art galleries and movie theatres.

What was your reaction after learning that you are a finalist for the Margo Bindhardt and Rita Davies Award?

I feel honoured that my many years of work in the arts world are being recognized in the city where I was born. There is no other city in Canada where I could have built an orchestra dedicated to new music like Esprit Orchestra and simultaneously developed a multi-faceted career as a composer connected to concerts, dance and film. I’m extremely pleased that my being selected as a finalist for this award acknowledges my role in Toronto’s vibrant arts scene.

Do you have a mentor? Who do you admire?

My mentor was the late Parisian composer/conductor Marius Constant who, through his friendship and sharing of widely varied artistic experiences, inspired me and showed me the path for sustaining a life as both a composer and a conductor.

What do you enjoy most about what you do?

As a conductor, what I enjoy most is programming imaginative concerts and being fully engaged in creating the excitement of history-making world premiere performances. I’ve been most pleased to provide audiences with new discoveries and experiences that many individuals have told me were transformational events in their lives. As a composer, I love the floating, dreaming space in which new pieces begin to form. Equally, hearing the realization of musical dreams in the sound of first performances is an unbeatable reward.

Describe your style of work.

My style as a music director is focused on innovative programming of high caliber new music. This is supported by my own fundraising, administrative and promotional work, artistic decision-making and performances (and by many extended hours!). My own compositions often create a sense of suspended time and space and they don’t adhere to any one school of compositional thought. I often incorporate elements from popular music or music from non-Western cultures.

What keeps you going?

What keeps me going is the satisfaction I get from providing composers and performers with the opportunity to extend their artistic development in a setting that encourages excellence. I still have the same drive and aims as when I started in the field. These activities have yielded a real Canadian musical legacy.

What are your goals?

My goals are to keep up-to-date with the latest creative trends and to find ways to have them positively influence me as a musician. I’m also focused on providing emerging composers with their most important early-career orchestral performances and with developing high-school-age talents through Esprit Orchestra’s Creative Sparks mentorship programme.

How do you feel you contribute to the city?

I contribute to Toronto by conducting music that would otherwise never be heard in this city. I also encourage excellence in performance standards so that musicians and listeners can continue to be fascinated by the experience of sound.