Continuum Contemporary Music presents the work of emerging Canadian composers alongside works by established national and international composers in its concert series, at festivals, on tour, over the air waves and through recordings. The Chalmers Award-winning group has collaborated on interdisciplinary projects such as SHE!, with celebrated Vancouver choreographer Conrad Alexandrowicz, and the presentation in 2003 of Distillation, an interdisciplinary work involving video installation by Montreal artist Ramona Ramlochand and new works by two young Canadian composers.

Formed in 1985, Continuum features the core ensemble of flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano and percussion, as well as unusual instrumental combinations. The organization has been responsible for commissioning and premiering more than 100 new works from emerging Canadian composers; Continuum was awarded the 1994 Jean A. Chalmers Award for its focus on new works for voice and for its extensive commissioning of works for soprano Barbara Hannigan.

Continuum is dedicated to the development of new audiences for contemporary music. Through workshops at the University of Toronto, York University, the University of British Columbia, the Banff Centre and Trinity College of Music in London, England, Continuum has played a direct part in forming the next wave of composers.

In 1999, under the artistic direction of Jennifer Waring, Continuum toured Canada performing works both from its repertoire of commissions and from its debut CD Continuum 1; the following year it formed the ensemble for a new Centrediscs release of works by Chris Paul Harman. Recent seasons have seen collaborations with John Oswald and noted French flutist and conductor Patrick Gallois; with the Royal Ontario Museum, Continuum presented l’Oreille Fine, a festival of concerts and a symposium on new music featuring philosophers, poets, critics and a psychologist. In 2003 Continuum made its European debut with a tour of The Netherlands, Great Britain and Belgium, where appearances included concerts at the old IJsbreker and the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival; the group was picked up by three radio broadcasters including the BBC and VPRORadio. In 2006 Continuum was instrumental in organizing soundaXis, a Toronto festival of music and architecture focusing on the work of Iannis Xenakis, and in 2007 it released its latest CD, Sea Change, featuring Canadian and British composers.

Continuum is supported through grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council and the city of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council; the SOCAN and Emerald foundations; Aurora Tewksbury Reford and Christopher Des Brisay; and through the generosity of many private donors.