Calgary Philharmonic Society Ticket Hotline

Let’s face it, the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra (CPO) is Calgary’s biggest band and it employs the city’s most talented interpreters of music. Over the last few years, with the CPO’s evolution, it has truly shown the range of what an orchestra is capable of, be it playing works from baroque compositions to classic rock. Under a team that includes president and CEO Ann Lewis Luppino, director of artistic planning Heather Slater and music director Roberto Minczuk, Calgary’s most prominent classical music organization has diversified its yearly program and its audience. Classical performers such as star violinist Joshua Bell and Calgary piano virtuoso Jan Lisiecki have been featured guests, as have been country music hero George Canyon and smooth jazz auteur Kenny G. The music of Pink Floyd and the soundtracks from James Bond movies are performed with the same vigour as Tchaikovsky’s best or Mahler’s Symphony No. 6.

The CPO’s diversification has paid off, with 2014 ticket sales jumping to 70 per cent of venue capacity from just 50 per cent in 2006. “We have grown the more traditional classics audience,” says Ann.