About RPS

We are the Toronto Recorder Players Society. Our members are amateur musicians who meet regularly to explore recorder repertoire from its beginnings in the Renaissance up until modern times. At each meeting, we form small chamber ensembles (from 4 to 8 people) with usually one person per part.

Members who have just recently learned to play the recorder or who haven’t played the recorder in many years are encouraged to start in the large ensemble. More than one person will play each part of a piece at the same time so that they may gain (or regain) confidence in their playing ability.

Beginners should be comfortable with the key of C fingerings of the soprano or tenor recorders, for example, or the key of F fingerings of the alto or bass recorders. Beginners should eventually learn both C and F fingerings so that they can become flexible in playing different parts of a musical piece.

Recorder players with more experience may group themselves into small ensembles of various sizes. These ensembles are free to look at whatever aspects of recorder repertoire and performance they like. An evening could be spent sight-reading many pieces of music or studying a few pieces in detail to achieve a high level of musical performance.

The music could range from simple Renaissance tunes to technically complex 20th-century pieces. The ensembles often change from one meeting to the next depending on the people who show up each night. Our goal is to learn and have fun at the same time!

Members may select music from our extensive library of recorder music sorted by the number of players in the ensemble. Our library contains hundreds of works spanning a period of five centuries.

For further information, email rpstoronto1964@gmail.com

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