CONCERTMASTER COREY GEMMELL
BURLINGTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Corey Lyle Gemmell, a Hamilton native, began violin lessons with local Hamilton teacher Jackie Sutherland and later continued lessons with Mark Fujino before studying with David Zafer and Mark Skazinetsky at the University of Toronto. While studying in Hamilton he joined the Hamilton Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (HPYO) where he played concertmaster under the direction of the legendary Glenn Mallory.
Mr. Gemmell currently makes his home in Markham, Ontario. He has distinguished himself as a soloist and chamber musician throughout Canada, Germany, the United States and China. At present he is concertmaster for the Burlington Symphony Orchestra, Mississauga Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Toronto, and the Scarborough Philharmonic. He has also served in this capacity with the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, the Brott Music Festival/ National Academy Orchestra, Esprit Orchestra, the Elora Festival Orchestra, the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir Orchestra, the Ontario Philharmonic, and the Toronto Philharmonic Orchestra. Very active in Toronto’s thriving musical theatre scene, Mr. Gemmell has been concertmaster in such musicals as Miss Saigon, Beauty and the Beast, The Sound of Music, the Phantom of the Opera, Hamilton, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to name but a few. One of his personal favourites was performing as concertmaster in the Hugh Jackman Show.
As a soloist Mr. Gemmell has performed much of the standard repertoire for violin and orchestra. In recent seasons he performed solos and concertos by Brahms, Sarasate, Mendelssohn, Beethoven, Sibelius, Prokofiev, and Vivaldi.
Mr. Gemmell has been a member of Ensemble Vivant, the Elgin String Quartet, and the National Piano Trio. He has been a frequent guest artist with New Music Concerts, with whom he performed and led workshops at the National Conservatory of Beijing in 2016 and has been a guest on such series as Live!@WestPlains in Burlington, the Chamber Music Society of Mississauga, Array Music, and the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society.
Mr. Gemmell is a member of the faculty for the National Music Camp of Canada as well as a member of the Royal College of Examiners. He has also been on faculty at the Great Lakes International Summer Music Institute at Algoma University, the Royal Conservatory of Music, and the University of Western Ontario.
In 2022 Mr. Gemmell recorded several new works of solo and chamber music by Canadian composers Ronald Royer, Daniel Mehdizadeh, Brandon Walker, and Elizabeth Raum in association with the Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra, and was released in 2023. He can be heard in recordings of the Mozart Effect, having recorded several of Mozart’s Violin Sonatas and many of Mozart’s String Quartets for the series. With Ensemble Vivant he has completed three albums, including a 2022 release, “iFugue”, to critical acclaim. He was one of the contributing artists to record the Royal Conservatory of Music’s complete violin syllabus in 2013. He has also recorded other works by Mozart, Brahms, Ravel, Robert A. Baker as well as numerous movie and commercial recordings.
Mr. Gemmell plays on a violin made in Milan in 1907 by Cipriano Briani and a violin made for him in 2005 by renowned Toronto luthier, Hratch Armenious, as well as bows by Lamy, Martin and Voirin.
“Music is not something you do in order to have a really comfortable life… music is really it’s something that chooses you. It’s a vocation… music for the love of it. No matter what happens, no matter who is there, no matter how many are there, that’s what we’re there for.”
Educating the next generation, Mr. Gemmell proudly serves on the faculty for the inaugural season of the Great Lakes International Summer Music Institute and the National Music Camp of Canada. His insights have also enlightened students at the Royal Conservatory of Music and the University of Western Ontario. An esteemed member of the Royal College of Examiners, he regularly imparts knowledge in masterclasses and judicates at music festivals, reinforcing the classical music experience for many.
Listeners can revel in Mr. Gemmell’s virtuosity in recordings, such as the Mozart Effect, and works with Ensemble Vivant. His collaboration for the Royal Conservatory of Music’s syllabus on compact discs stands as a testament to his calibre. His repertoire extends to compositions by greats like Mozart, Brahms, and Ravel.
Crafting his melodies, Mr. Gemmell plays on a custom violin crafted for him in 2005 by the acclaimed Toronto luthier, Hracth Armenious, and a timeless piece from Milan, crafted in 1907 by Cipriano Briani.
