Jaelem Bhate is a conductor and composer whose diversity has come to define his career. A strong proponent of reinvention and accessibility, Jaelem works to reimagine the role of instrumental music in the 21st century. He was named to CBC’s hot 30 under 30 classical musicians in 2019 and continues to grow his reputation of sensitive and collaborative artistry and musicianship at home and internationally.
As a conductor, Jaelem founded Symphony 21; a professional orchestra based in Vancouver producing a wide variety of collaborative and unique projects for largely new-to-orchestra audiences. Jaelem is the music director of the Vancouver Brass Collective in 2019 and is preparing for the release of the ensembles first studio album Acoustic Alloy in 2024. He has guested with the symphonies of Vancouver, Winnipeg, Guelph and Kamloops, NAO Canada, and is the newly appointed music director of the Prince Edward Island Symphony Orchestra. He’s also served as cover conductor with the National Arts Centre Orchestra multiple times. An advocate for new music, he has conducted over 20 world premieres, including a studio recording of Canadian composer Katerina Gimon’s operetta ‘Did I just say that?’.
As a composer, his works have been performed by the Vancouver and Victoria Symphonies, as well as many chamber ensembles and soloists. In the jazz world, he has released two albums with the Jaelem Bhate Jazz Orchestra; on the edge, and Carmen, a reimagining of Bizet’s opera for jazz ensemble. on the edge won the Julian Award for emerging Canadian jazz excellence and spent two weeks at the top of the EarShot national jazz charts. Recent commissions include the Canadian National Jazz Orchestra as the winner of the Hugh Fraser Composer Award, the Vertical Orchestra by Redshift Music, and a 20-minute orchestral work for Tutta Musica Orchestra on the renowned Leaflabel, nominated for a 2024 East Coast Music Award. Jaelem has received grants from the Canada Council for the Arts and FACTOR Canada for his compositions, including for a new orchestral work paired with original cinematic video A City Soundscape funded by the Canada Council in partnership with Canadian videographer Andrij Lyskov.
Jaelem is an advocate for the role of music and music making in everyday life. As such, he is proud to be a board member of Orchestras Canada. He has presented at the BC Board Voice conference, and the BCMEA conference. As the music director of the Vancouver Brass Collective, he created an online symposium entitled 'BRASS-ENMBLY', aimed at providing education and engagement for students and the community.
Jaelem holds a MMus in orchestral conducting and BMus in percussion performance from the University of British Columbia where he studied with Dr. Jonathan Girard and Vern Griffiths respectively. He has furthered his conducting studies with Alexander Shelley, Bramwell Tovey, Boris Brott, Gerard Schwarz, and Christian Macelaru. He twice served as assistant conductor with the National Academy Orchestra of Canada and was a conducting fellow at the NACO mentorship program with Alexander Shelley, the Cabrillo Festival, Eastern Music Festival, and PRISMA festival. Jaelem studied composition with Fred Stride, and has furthered his education with Jocelyn Morlock, Rufus Reid, John Clayton, and Ron Miles. He served on faculty at the University of British Columbia School of Music prior to his position in Prince Edward Island, where he lectured in conducting and ensembles. He also served as interim director of orchestras and bands, leading landmark performances of Louise Farrenc's third symphony, Beethoven's fifth, and a artist in residence concert with JUNO award winner Jodi Proznick.
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