Corey Lyle Gemmell, a native of Hamilton, currently makes his home in Markham, Ontario. He has distinguished himself as a soloist and chamber musician throughout Canada, Germany, the United States and China. At present he is concertmaster for the Mississauga Symphony Orchestra, the Burlington Symphony Orchestra and Orchestra Toronto. Mr. Gemmell was the concertmaster for Esprit Orchestra’s 2024/2025 season. He has also served in this capacity with Sinfonia Ancaster, the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, the Brott Music Festival/ National Academy Orchestra, the Elora Festival Orchestra, the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir Orchestra, the Ontario Philharmonic, the Toronto Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Burlington New Millenium Orchestra.
As a soloist Mr. Gemmell has performed much of the standard repertoire for violin and orchestra. In recent seasons he performed solos and concertos by Brahms, Sarasate, Mendelssohn, Beethoven, Sibelius, Prokofiev, Mozart and Vivaldi.
Mr. Gemmell is presently pursuing chamber music with the Gemmell & Smith Duo, for violin and piano, and Duo Regale, for violin and organ. He has been a member of Ensemble Vivant, the Elgin String Quartet, and the National Piano Trio. Mr. Gemmell has been a frequent guest artist with New Music Concerts, with whom he performed and led workshops at the National Conservatory of Beijing in 2016 and has been a guest on such series as Live!@WestPlains in Burlington, the Chamber Music Society of Mississauga, Array Music, and the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society.
Mr. Gemmell is a member of the faculty for the National Music Camp of Canada as well as a member of the Royal College of Examiners. He has also been on faculty at the Great Lakes International Summer Music Institute at Algoma University, the Royal Conservatory of Music, and the University of Western Ontario. Mr. Gemmell regularly appears as an adjudicator for music festivals across Canada, including the Canadian Music Competition and as a juror for the Juno Awards.
A strong advocate for new music, Mr. Gemmell can be heard on several recordings of Canadian composers. He can also be heard in recordings of the Mozart Effect, having recorded several of Mozart’s Violin Sonatas and many of Mozart’s String Quartets for the series. With Ensemble Vivant he completed three albums, including a 2022 release, “iFugue”, to critical acclaim. He was one of the contributing artists to record the Royal Conservatory of Music’s complete violin syllabus in 2013. He has also recorded other works by Mozart, Brahms, Ravel, Robert A. Baker as well as numerous movie and commercial recordings.
Mr. Gemmell plays on a violin made in Milan in 1907 by Cipriano Briani and a violin made for him in 2005 by renowned Toronto luthier, Hratch Armenious, as well as bows by Lamy, Martin and Voirin.
