Mentorship

OUR COMMITMENT TO EDUCATION

In addition to presenting our main concert series, Continuum remains equally dedicated to sharing expertise in the practice of contemporary chamber art music. Through our many original mentorship programs designed for artists in adolescence through early-career, we engage in meaningful mentorship opportunities for composers, performers and conductors, often in mixed ensemble performance practice.

Most importantly, when possible, we continue engagement with past participants of our programs in their professional careers through new collaborations, commissions, and hiring practices within our core ensemble. In this sense, we serve our mandate to create a true continuum.

HATCH

Launched in 2019, HATCH is Continuum’s annual summer music mentorship project for performers, composers, and conductors and includes a tour of Southern Ontario summer music festivals. Seven performers (flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, percussion and conductor) mentor with Continuum’s core ensemble, while three composers mentor with two professional composers. The resulting programme is a mix of these three world premieres and works by their composer mentors performed live by the HATCH ensemble over several concerts on tour. Hatch is made possible with the generous support of The Azrieli Foundation.

Mentorship in Artistic Production (MAP)

This program is designed to help facilitate a new generation of Artistic Producers replete with knowledge of administrative infrastructure to go forward and create projects responsibly and sustain administrative operations in good practice. Two Artistic Producers join Continuum for a two-season term to learn about Continuum’s processes and engage in ongoing conversations informed by each artists’ interests, questions, and perspectives on the evolving practice of contemporary chamber music today. Through this exchange of ideas, the producers work toward the shared goal of developing a co-curated program informed by each artists’ vision.

PIVOT

Working in partnership with the Canadian League of Composers and the Canadian Music Centre since 2017, PIVOT is a recurring national mentorship program for early-career composers. Continuum’s ensemble works closely with six composers (selected by a national jury)  in the creation, performance and recording of the premieres of their new works, all of which are mentored by individually selected professional composers over the course of six months. Through our partnerships, the composers also attend numerous professional development sessions.

Teen Composer Award

Since 2017, Continuum’s annual Teen Composer Award has offered adolescent composers the opportunity to receive mentorship in the creation of a new work from a professional composer, culminating in workshops, rehearsals and a live recorded performance by Continuum’s ensemble on our main concert series.

Continuum in the Classroom

Delivered annually in partnership with the Toronto District School Board, Continuum in the Classroom is a multifaceted program that offers an opportunity for highschool musicians to work closely with Continuum musicians on the creation and performance of new works. Over the course of seven years, Continuum has worked with over 7500 students in the creation of over 80 world premieres.