Mission & History

The Prince Edward Island Symphony Orchestra (PEISO) began its inaugural season in the fall of 1967 and was incorporated on April 16, 1968. For over forty years the PEISO has been bringing orchestral music to the Charlottetown and broader Prince Edward Island communities, providing performance experiences for both professional and non-professional musicians and increasing exposure to and experience with symphonic repertoire.

Our goals are:

1. To provide live symphonic music of high quality for the people of Prince Edward Island, and to contribute to the artistic life of the community through the presentation of a series of live concerts;

2. To provide experience and practical training in orchestral music for Island students and community musicians; to provide the members of the orchestra with the opportunity to learn orchestral music representative of all styles and periods, and to perform it in concert to the very best of their individual and collective technical and musical abilities;

3. To provide gifted PEI performers with the opportunity to perform with a large orchestra.

Every season the PEISO presents four concerts, held in downtown Charlottetown at the Confederation Centre of the Arts. Three of the four concentrate on classical and modern orchestral music. The fourth, our “pops” concert, maintains a percentage of classical content while showcasing a popular guest artist. When selecting soloists, we aim to promote local or regional Canadian performers. The orchestra often features music by contemporary Maritime composers and includes Canadian compositions on almost every concert.

The PEISO brings together players from different walks of life and experience, including professional musicians from the Island and other areas in the Maritimes as well as university professors, school teachers, students, business people and amateurs. Our programming is selected to engender growth in the performers while providing live music that is appealing and satisfying to the audience.