Eric Paetkau

Canadian Eric Paetkau (payte-co) is the Music Director of the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra and is also Founder and Music Director of Toronto-based group of 27. Known for his intense musicality and artistic excellence, Mr. Paetkau has conducted many orchestras including the Calgary Philharmonic, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, Windsor Symphony, and Les Violons du Roy, among others. He returns to London after conducting the musicians of London Symphonia several times, most recently in the spring of 2019.

With the dynamic and innovative group of 27, he’s produced a concert recording with JUNO award winning soprano Shannon Mercer on Centaur Records, as well as a recording of Canadian concerti with bassoonist Nadina Mackie Jackson and trumpeter Guy Few on the MSR label. Both discs were nominated for two Classical Album of the Year categories for the 2104 JUNO Awards. The orchestra also collaborates with Toronto’s Regent Park School of Music and Dixon Hall Music School with an outreach performance program for Toronto’s at-risk youth.

Mr. Paetkau has also held the position of Resident Conductor with Quebec City’s world-renowned Les Violons du Roy. He led the orchestra in over 40 concerts with repertoire ranging from the Baroque to the contemporary with soloists such as contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux, harpist Valérie Milot, and violinist Pascale Giguére.

As a violist, Mr. Paetkau was a member of the Nuremburg Symphony in Germany, and has played with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Canadian Opera Company, the National Ballet of Canada Orchestra, Les Violons du Roy, and Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra.

“This is the work of a master artist. In some places, it’s almost difficult to realize that it is only being played by 27 musicians, so full and rich are the textures, and Paetkau shows how good he is in shaping and pacing this music.” (Fanfare, Lynn René Bayley, February 2013 on group of 27’s JUNO nominated Centaur CD)

“The music making was fantastic. The pieces played by the orchestra were impeccably rendered, with Paetkau shaping the music with a balanced combination of sensitivity and dramatic flair.” (Musical Toronto, John Terauds)

For more information, please visit http://groupof27.com.