Wind Symphony
The UPEI Wind Symphony is comprised of music students at UPEI and dedicated community musicians. Its mandate is to provide opportunities for its participants to apply their performance skills and develop musically through the study and performance of wind band literature. In addition, it is a forum through which professional attributes of ensemble performance are developed. It is within its mission to give its audiences meaningful and personal experiences with quality wind music, in the widest possible range of musical style and expression. With performances throughout PEI and beyond each year, partnerships with PEI school music programs, and utilizing unique performance spaces, the Wind Symphony is among PEI's most respected large ensembles. Commissioning new compositions, featuring outstanding student and professional soloists, and showcasing masterworks of the wind band genre are all hallmarks of this ensemble. The Wind Symphony has one two-hour rehearsal each week.
Each year the Wind Symphony performs two recitals on campus and tours selected areas of the region to provide its membership with additional performance experiences. The ensemble has been acclaimed for its progressive approach to performance and programming. Under the direction of its former conductor, Dr. Karem J. Simon, for twenty-two years the Wind Symphony produced an annual compact disc featuring selected repertoire from each year’s performances. Cathedrals, released in May 2010, received the 2011 Music PEI Award for Best Classical Recording. In February 2011, the Wind Symphony’s recording of Howard Cable’s arrangement of O Canada was provided to all PEI schools. In 2014, the Wind Symphony received the Music PEI award for Achievement in Classical Music.