Derek Bate is a versatile conductor equally at home in opera, operetta and musical theatre. Currently the Resident Conductor of The Canadian Opera Company, he has conducted many productions there including most recently "Luisa Miller" in 2007, and was assistant conductor for the "Wagner's Ring Cycle" opening the new Four Seasons Centre in 2006.

In the 2007/2008 season he'll be conducting Eugene Onegin and Renard.

In a career of more than 30 years, he has conducted operettas from both the Viennese and Gilbert and Sullivan repertoires with the Canadian Opera Company, Toronto Operetta Theatre, Calgary Opera, Edmonton Opera, National Arts Centre, and Gilbert & Sullivan Society of Toronto. In the musical theatre genre, he was musical director of the original Toronto production of Les Miserables, Harold Prince's production of Show Boat in New York and on tour throughout the U.S., and conducted over 1000 performances of The Phantom of the Opera (Toronto and Canadian National Tour).

Derek has also created fantastic reductions of the following musical scores. Originally performed by Toronto Operetta Theatre. They are based on the original orchestrations and maintain the style and character of the larger works, and work wonderfully for smaller productions.
For further information on renting these scores, contact Derek at:
derek . bate @ sympatico . ca(no spaces, no spam).

The Mikado (Gilbert & Sullivan): strings 1-1-1-1-1, oboe, clarinet, trumpet, percussion

The Gondoliers (Gilbert & Sullivan): strings 1-1-1-1-1, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, percussion

Patience (Gilbert & Sullivan): strings 1-1-1-1-1, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, horn, percussion

Die Fledermaus (J. Strauss): strings 2-2-1-1-1, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, horn, percussion

The Merry Widow (Lehar): strings 3-2-2-1-1, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, horn, percussion, synthesizer