Violinist Broderyck Olson stands on the Winspear Centre stage, in Edmonton, Thursday, July 16, 2026. The longest-serving member of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Olson recently retired after 65 years. Photo by David Bloom /Postmedia

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Long-time patrons of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra may notice something amiss next year, a difference in the violin section from the past half century; Broderyck Olson will no longer be on stage.

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For the first time in 65 years, the ESO will be without the long-time violinist and assistant concertmaster. The 82-year-old is calling an end to a career with the ESO that has spanned more than six decades after a non-cancerous tumour in his ear affected his hearing. Olson has hung up his violin and moved into retirement, leaving a spot for new talent to join the organization.

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“After being there for 65 years, it was maybe time to move on,” says Olson. “The players that are coming in now, auditioning for the same thing, are fantastic players. Every generation seems to be, you know, the level seems to go up.”

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What the organization is losing is institutional memory, a violinist who has been through major changes with the orchestra. He was the assistant concert master for 45 years, saw the organization move from the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium to the Winspear Centre and, most importantly, moved from a part-time community organization to a professional orchestra.

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From the orchestra’s modern founding in 1952 to 1971, all the musicians were locals who had day jobs. They practiced and performed on weekends and evenings, coming together for less than a dozen performances every year.

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“During the ’50s and ’60s, you were a lawyer, a dentist, a doctor, whatever, and you were playing in the symphony at night. Rehearsing at night,” says Olson. “In 1971, when we became a daytime orchestra, all those people then went to their real job: lawyer, doctor, dentist, or whatever. I mean, we were faced with having to find players and audition throughout the world. And now, we have players coming from everywhere to play.”

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Long-time violinist and assistant concertmaster Broderyck Olson is calling an end to a career with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra that has spanned more than six decades. Photo by David Bloom /Postmedia

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Over the years he’s performed alongside major rock bands, pops concerts with movie scores and video game music and his final ESO performance was a Harry Potter night. He talks about the difficulty of performing the music of John Williams.

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“That music is so bloody hard. It’s all over the bloody place. When you’re sitting in the audience, you can’t tell that we’re sweating bullets up there and we’re missing half the notes. I always come off the stage and say, ‘Geez, I only played half the notes tonight.’ The music went by so bloody fast.”

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His favourite remains the work of the masters, the music of the romantic period and composers such as Tchaikovsky or Brahms. The beautiful melodies and the large orchestration appeal to Olson, with full brass and woodwind sounds coming together to create something greater than the sum of their parts.

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Is he going to miss performing after six-and-a-half decades? Sitting in the cavernous Winspear Centre where he performed his last show, he takes a second to think. His eyes wander up to the seats at the back and the rafters and his voice hitches slightly.