| Winners of the 2009 Mississauga Arts Council award for "Best Emerging Performing Arts Ensemble", TorQ Percussion Quartet was formed by four Canadian percussionists looking to add new energy to percussion repertoire and performance. Renowned for their engaging performances, members Richard Burrows, Adam Campbell, Jamie Drake and Daniel Morphy are committed to making new music accessible to audiences that span generations and geography. TorQ has performed to critical acclaim and standing ovations across Canada and beyond, including performances at the International Percussion Quartet Festival (Luxembourg), Ottawa Chamber Music Festival, Indian River Festival (Prince Edward Island), Stratford Summer Music Festival, MusicFest Canada (Vancouver) and the Open Ears Contemporary Music Festival (Ontario). They have presented many Canadian and world premieres, including the premiere of David Gillingham's Concertino for Four Percussion and Orchestra with the Mississauga Symphony.
TorQ is committed to commissioning new works for percussion quartet from both established and up-and-coming composers. A constantly evolving repertoire gives them the opportunity to combine the most recent commissions with better-known works by composers such as John Cage, David Lang and Nebojsa Zivkovic. TorQ has served as co-teachers with distinguished composer Christos Hatzis for the class "Composing for Percussion" at the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto. This initial collaboration led to many new works, including Hatzis' own In the Fire of Conflict for percussion quartet and pre-recorded audio. Upcoming commissions currently in progress include a work by Toronto composer Kevin Lau and a multi-media and theatre collaboration with the Hamilton Children's Choir and award-winning composer Eric Robertson.
Their self-titled debut album, featuring a wide variety of music reflective of TorQ live performances, was released to excellent reviews (including 3.5/4 stars in the Toronto Star) in November 2009. Their sophomore release, due June 2011, will feature works by Jason Stanford, Christos Hatzis, Nebojsa Zivkovic and John Cage.
In addition to promoting new music, TorQ is also firm believer in the importance of music education. In combination with Ontario based organization "Prologue for the Performing Arts", TorQ performs approximately 70 shows per academic year to elementary and secondary school audiences across the province. They are also frequent educational collaborators with Soundstreams Canada, and present masterclasses and workshops for various organizations across the country. All four members of TorQ are faculty members of the Durham Integrated Arts Camp, run by the Durham School Board.
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