Pratik Gandhi he/him/his

Biography

Pratik Gandhi (he/him/his) is a conductor, percussionist, clinician, and researcher based in Tkaronto (Toronto). He was recently appointed as music director of the Milton Philharmonic Orchestra, starting in the 2024-25 season. He currently serves as music director of the Rouge River Winds and sessional instructor at the University of Toronto Faculty of Music, where he directs the Wind Symphony. He was also the founding music director of Soup Can Theatre and served as resident conductor for the Toy Piano Composers.

In frequent demand as a guest conductor and adjudicator across Canada, Pratik serves as adjudicator and Vice-Chair for the concert band division of MusicFest Canada, as well as syllabus coordinator for the OBA Provincial Band Festival. Most recently he has adjudicated at AIBF North in Edmonton and the Kiwanis Music Festival of London. Pratik regularly presents workshops on conducting techniques, wind repertoire, and percussion pedagogy.

Pratik is also a champion of new music, and has conducted the premiere of numerous works, including Jodi Vander Woude’s Quiet you with my love: lullaby, for soprano solo, female chorus, and large orchestra, and Kristie Hunter's Stronger Than, for orchestra. Under his leadership, the Rouge River Winds have helped to commission works from composers Steven Bryant, Pete Meechan, Cait Nishimura, Giovanni Santos, and Bill Thomas. With the Toy Piano Composers, Pratik has directed the premieres of works by Elisha Denburg, Alex Eddington, Joseph Glaser, August Murphy-King, Julia Mermelstein, Monica Pearce, Fiona Ryan, Bekah Simms, and Tyler Versluis, among others. With the University of Toronto Wind Symphony, he has premiered new works by composers-in-residence including Stephen Morris, Homa Samiei, and Yuhan Zhou. Pratik is credited as conductor on three albums of contemporary music: Bekah Simms’ impurity chains (conducting two tracks, including the Juno-nominated “Granitic”); the Toy Piano Composers’ self-titled debut album; and the premiere recording of Benjamin Sajo’s The Great War Sextet.

Pratik is a PhD student in the department of music at York University, where his research, supported by an Ontario Graduate Scholarship, investigates issues of equity and representation among Canadian composers of music for wind band. He is also a recipient of a research grant from the Helen Carswell Chair of Community-Engaged Research in the Arts, for a workshop on improvisation and creative music-making for wind, brass, and percussion students. Pratik holds degrees in music education and conducting from Western University, where he studied conducting with James McKay, Dr. Colleen Richardson, and Jerome Summers, and percussion with Dr. Jill Ball.