TorQ
PERCUSSION QUARTET
"What made the evening special was the tight connection between these four players, which gave everything they did a sense of unbreakable continuity and energy."
- LUDWIG-VAN.COM
BIOGRAPHY
RICHARD BURROWS
ADAM CAMPBELL
JAMIE DRAKE
DAN MORPHY
TorQ Percussion Quartet is Canada's premiere percussion ensembles and consistently brings new vitality to percussion repertoire and performance in every situation and opportunity. Renowned for their engaging performances, Richard Burrows, Adam Campbell, Jamie Drake and Daniel Morphy are committed to making percussion music accessible to audiences that span generations and as The Toronto Star states "[TorQ] can stand proud among the growing throng of chamber percussion ensembles around the world."
Since coming together in 2004, they have performed across Canada and have seen major inroads into the United States with extensive tours in Alaska, Washington, Idaho and residencies in Ohio and Michigan. In 2016, TorQ had its first American symphonic collaboration with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. They have collaborated with both the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Orchestre symphonique de Montréal. Their program, Together on the Beat!/Ensemble, à tout coup! designed in collaboration with OSM, won the 2018 Prix Opus award for Young Audience Concert. Some other international highlights include the International Percussion Quartet Festival (Luxembourg), Percussive Arts Society International Convention-PASIC (San Antonio and Indianapolis) and with the Stuttgart Chamber Choir. At home, TorQ has made appearances at the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival, PEI's Indian River Festival, MusicFest Canada (Vancouver), Toronto's Soundstreams, Elora Festival, and Kitchener's Open Ears Contemporary Music Festival. They have been Selected by Canadian touring organisations, Jeunesses Musicales Canada, Prairie Debut and Debut Atlantic. As collaborative artists, TorQ has performed with the Larkin Singers, Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, Elora Festival Singers, and the Hamilton Children's Choir.
TorQ has presented many Canadian and world premieres including percussion quartet concerti by Canadian Composers Dinuk Wijeratne, Monica Pearce, and premiering in 2019 with Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, a work by Nicole Lizée. Their discography consists of four recordings on Bedoint Records.
TorQ is actively involved in music education initiatives and performs approximately 80 school shows per year. During summers, TorQ hosts their annual TorQ Percussion Seminar (TPS), a five-day percussion event. TPS has partnered with Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance in Nova Scotia and Stratford Summer Music in Ontario.
January 2023
REVIEWS
"What made the evening special was the tight connection between these four players, which gave everything they did a sense of unbreakable continuity and energy."
- LUDWIG-VAN.COM
“These guys clearly have fun performing, and it’s fun watching and listening to them.”
- THE WHOLENOTE
"What made the evening special was the tight connection between these four players, which gave everything they did a sense of unbreakable continuity and energy."
- MUSICALTORONTO.COM
“They also show off the wide range of mood, melody and counterpoint possible in a carefully laid out and layered programme....effort that can stand proud among the growing throng of chamber percussion ensembles around the world."
- THE TORONTO STAR
"TorQ percussion, was outstanding. No, make that astonishing.”
- THE OTTAWA CITIZEN
"TorQ is an exhilarating ensemble that leaves audiences amazed with their showmanship and musicianship. Their commitment to excellence, and the ability to meaningfully connect with any level of audience, makes them a unique musical ensemble."
- Dr. Darrin Oehlerking,
Assistant Professor of Music Education and Director of Bands
at the University of Saskatchewan
"I was just knocked out, by their nuanced music-making; their sense of line and phrase; and their deep, deep understanding of the underlying structure of the piece. Really blew my mind."
- Eric Whitacre,
renowned American choral composer and conductor
“It is no surprise that they continue, undaunted by the path less travelled, to be pioneers of sorts in the world of modern percussion.... Manitouwadge joined the long list of Canadian venues to end the musical journey on which TorQ had taken them by [giving the ensemble] a standing ovation.”
- ONTARIO NEWS NORTH
"I'm sure that we can all look forward to the next magical multi-dimensional presentation from TorQ - highly musical percussive artistry without artifice or gimmicks."
-THE WHOLENOTE
PREFERRED CONCERTO LIST
2020–23
Bob Becker*
Music on the Moon (4perc & orch)
Michael Colgrass*
Deja vu (4perc & orch)
Paul Frehner*
Corpus (4perc & ch)
Brian Graiser
Concerto No. 1 (4perc & wind ens)
Promethean Concertino No. 1 (4perc & orch)
David Gillingham
Concertino for Four Percussion (4perc, wind ens)
Kevin Lau*
Charon's Dance (4perc & wind ens)
Riho Maimets
Misericordia (4perc & ch)
Orff
Carmina Burana (2pn, 4perc & ch)
Monica Pearce*
Whirly (4perc & orch)
R. Murray Shafer*
Avon River (4perc, sop & ch)
Soul of God (4perc & ch)
Dinuk Wijeratne*
Invisible Cities (4perc & wind ens)
*Denotes Canadian composer
Recital repertoire available upon request
Master classes and workshops available
Other concerti available upon request
DISCOGRAPHY
Modulations
Bedoint Records BR004
Without A Map
Bedoint Records BR003
two + two
Bedoint Records BR002
TorQ Percussion Quartet
Bedoint Records BR001
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