biographical info
The Amadeus Ensemble is a string ensemble formed in Toronto in 1984, and gave its first subscription concert in January 27, 1985.
The original principal players were Moshe Hammer and Fujiko Imajishi on violin, Doulas Perry on viola, Peter Shenkman on cello and Joel Quarrington on double bass.
The Amadeus Ensemble first performed at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Toronto and, beginning in 1986, at the University of Toronto's Walter Hall. From 1998 to 2000, it performed at the Glenn Gould Studio.
The concerts included the traditional chamber repertoire - in particular Mozart, Schubert, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, and Dvořák, and works by less-familiar composers such as Dittersdorf and Suk, Canadian composers such as Willan, MacMillan, Somers and Hétu, and other 20th-century composers such as Gershwin, Ellington, and Ravel.
With additional performers such as oboist Lawrence Cherney and the mezzo-soprano Jean Stilwell, the Amadeus Ensemble performed concertos by Bach, Sammartini, and others; symphonies by Mendelssohn and Shostakovich; vocal works including Bach and Finzi cantatas, as well as Lully arias, and various chamber works.
It performed new Canadian works including Rodney Sharman's Orpheus' Garden and, with the Wilson-McAllister Guitar Duo, Milton Barnes' Double Concerto. In 1988 they performed Donald Steven's Love Where the Nights Are Long with Lawrence Cherney, oboe d'amore, and Diane Loeb, soprano.
The Amadeus Ensemble was also frequently heard on CBC radio, and performed in 1986 as the Amadeus String Ensemble on the album Everyone Sang by the Orpheus Choir, and recorded in 1988 works by Marjan Mozetich.
The 1999/2000 season, which celebrated the 250th anniversary of Bach's death, featured world-renowned cellist Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi performing Bach's Suite for Solo Cello and a string trio arrangement of Bach's Goldberg Variations, which featured Hammer, violist Douglas McNabney, and Amanda Forsyth.
Other guest artists of the 1999/2000 season included the pianist Robert Kortgaard, Holland's Rian de Waal, Israel's Tomer Lev, and the clarinettist James Campbell.