The VSO's Exciting Season Finale!

The VSO’s Season Finale is a real barn-burner: Carl Orff’s extraordinary masterpiece Carmina Burana is a musical setting of medieval poetry, from the sacred to the profane, from devotional love and piety to drinking songs and debauchery! It also happens to be one of the wildest live concert experiences you can possibly have. Combined with Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms, this concert is a magnificent Season Finale for Lower Mainland audiences, and a prelude to the excitement of the 2009/2010 Season!

Maestro Bramwell Tovey wields the baton in this massive concert that features soprano Laura Whalen, tenor Colin Ainsworth, baritone Hugh Russell, the Vancouver Bach Choir, and the Vancouver Bach Children’s Chorus. Concerts take place on Saturday and Monday, June 13^th and 15^th, 8pm at the Orpheum Theatre.

Carmina Burana was German composer Carl Orff’s first and greatest success. It is a scenic cantata composed between 1935 and 1936 based on 24 of the poems found in the medieval collection of the same name. In 1803, at the monastery of Benediktbeuern in Upper Bavaria, musicologist J. A. Schmeller discovered a manuscript collection of lyrics, dating from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries and eventually published it in 1847. The polite side of the collection includes six plays based on the Christmas, Passion and Easter mysteries. The earthier part contains some 200 drinking songs, love lyrics and recruiting songs.

When Orff came across the manuscript in 1935, he saw in it the ideal vehicle to express the kind of basic, uncomplicated human emotions he had in mind. Choosing two dozen poems from the collection, with the assistance of Michel Hofmann, he matched them with equally direct music, featuring simple yet striking rhythms, melodies and harmonies. “It’s not sophisticated, not intellectual,” he wrote, “and the themes of my work are themes that everyone knows…There is a spiritual power behind my work, that’s why it is accepted throughout the world.” The premiere took place in Frankfurt on June 8, 1937.

The illuminated pictures that accompanied the original poems intrigued Orff virtually as much as the words. The cover showed luck as a revolving wheel, blindly governing people’s destinies. Orff begins his Carmina Burana with a grandiose hymn, Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi (Luck, Empress of the World), saluting this inscrutable, unpredictable concept. O Fortuna is one of the grandest statements in all of music, and has become famous world-wide. This extraordinary music from the beginning of Carmina Burana has been used in movies, commercials, and in sports arenas around the world as a trigger for creating feelings of drama and thrilling anticipation. Primo vere (In Springtime), follows. It deals, mostly in quiet, mysterious fashion, with the anticipated arrival of that season. Joy eventually breaks forth as Spring itself appears. It is celebrated in the section entitled Uf dem anger (On the Green).

The next segment, In Taberna (In the Tavern) salutes the juice of the grape in riotous fashion. The tenor soloist, singing in falsetto, takes the role of a swan roasting slowly and sadly on a spit. The baritone is an Abbot who launches the men of the choir into a rollicking ode to drink.

Cour d’amours (Court of Love) brings several of Orff’s loveliest, most lyrical moments. The soprano solo In trutina (In the Balance) a glowing anticipation of fulfillment, is a particular highlight. After the ecstatic fervor of Blanziflor et Helena (Blanchefleur and Helen, the principal characters in a medieval romance), Orff’s ode to luck returns, to close Carmina Burana as majestically as it began.

Igor Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms was commissioned in 1929 by conductor Serge Koussevitzky, for the fiftieth anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He used this opportunity to realize a project he had been considering for some time: a setting of selected Biblical Psalms for chorus and orchestra.

“I began with Psalm 150,” Stravinsky wrote. “After finishing the fast-tempo sections, I went back to compose the first and second movements…The first movement, Hear my prayer, O Lord, (Psalm 39) was composed in a state of religious and musical symbolism in any of my music before The Flood. It consists of an upside-down pyramid of fugues.

“The Allegro in Psalm 150 (Finale of the Symphony) was inspired by a vision of Elijah’s chariot climbing to the heavens; never before had I written anything quite so literal as the triplets for horns and piano to suggest the horses and chariot. In setting the words of this final hymn, I cared above all for the sounds of the syllables, and I have indulged my besetting pleasure of regulating prosody in my own way.”

Stravinsky, who had become a regular communicant of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1926, inscribed the score of Symphony of Psalms “To the Glory of God.” The orchestration includes enlarged wind and brass sections, but excludes violins and violas.

CONCERT INFO

Masterworks Diamond Series:

Carmina Burana!

Saturday & Monday, June 13 & 15, 8pm, Orpheum Theatre

Bramwell Tovey, conductor

Laura Whalen, soprano

Colin Ainsworth, tenor

Hugh Russell, baritone

Vancouver Bach Choir

Vancouver Bach Children’s Chorus

Stravinsky Symphony of Psalms

Orff Carmina Burana

Tickets $25 to $78.50 (Student, Senior and Subscriber discounts available)

Tickets available by phone at 604.876.3434 or online at www.vancouversymphony.ca

Twenty-Year Old Piano Prodigy Ran Jia makes her Vancouver Debut

Twenty-Year Old Piano Prodigy Ran Jia makes her Vancouver Debut with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra

Vancouver BC – Twenty-year-old wunderkind Ran Jia took her homeland China by storm, performing from the age of seven – now, she sets her sights on North America. The VSO is honoured to present her Vancouver debut in an all-Mozart series finale in the Bach & Beyond and Beltone Symphony Sundays series packages. She will perform Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 12, while Maestro Bramwell Tovey leads the orchestra in Mozart’s Paris and Linz symphonies.

Pianist Ran Jia has been hailed as “China’s new champion” and a “piano poet.” The daughter of Professor Daqun Jia, Dean of the Graduate Study Programs at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and one of China’s leading composers, she began studying the piano at age 3 and immediately showed extraordinary natural abilities. Her professional career skyrocketed when she was the only concert pianist invited to perform at Thelonious Monk’s 90^th birthday in New York. The winner of numerous accolades the world over, she now studies with Gary Graffman at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.

This concert celebrates the music of history’s greatest musical genius, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Symphony No.31, better known as the “Paris” Symphony, is one of Mozart’s most famous symphonies. Longing to escape from the tyrannical, unappreciative grip of his employer, the Archbishop of Salzburg, in September 1777 Mozart and his mother set out to find him a new job. They arrived in Paris and over the next six months, Wolfgang and his music drew an indifferent response. To make matters worse, his mother died in July. One of the few bright spots of the Parisian period was his association with the Concert spiritual, a series of public musical events managed by Jean Le Gros. This impresario commissioned several works from Mozart including Symphony No.31 which was positively received by Parisian audiences.

Mozart composed Symphony No.36 in the autumn of 1783. After an emotionally strained visit with his family in Salzburg, he and his wife Constanze stopped in the city of Linz during their return journey to Vienna. They enjoyed the hospitality of Count Thun, a music-loving nobleman whose wealth allowed him the luxury of his own orchestra. As a gesture of gratitude to his host, Mozart composed this work for him. Written in just four days, it has been known as the Linz Symphony ever since.

Mozart launched his life as a freelance artist in Vienna in May 1781. Since he was best known there as a pianist, he composed numerous piano works, including Piano Concerto No.12 in A Major, to play at his own subscription concerts. Despite the modest nature and scoring of this concerto, it stands out in Mozart’s early works for that instrument.

CONCERT INFO

Bach & Beyond and Beltone Symphony Sundays Series:

Music of the Master: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Friday & Saturday, May 15 & 16, 8pm, Chan Centre

Sunday, May 17, 2pm, Orpheum Theatre

Bramwell Tovey, conductor

Ran Jia, piano

Mozart Symphony No. 31, Paris

Mozart Piano Concerto No. 12

Mozart Symphony No. 36, Linz

Tickets $35 to $59 (Student, Senior and Subscriber discounts available)

Tickets available through VSO Customer Service at 604.876.3434 and online at www.vancouversymphony.ca

Chan Centre performance tickets also available at the Chan Centre Box Office, or Ticketmaster Charge-by-Phone, 604.280.3311.

Generously Supported By:

The Bach & Beyond Series has been endowed by a generous gift from the Chan Foundation of Canada.

Radio Sponsor: CHQM-FM

Symphony Sundays Series Sponsor: Beltone

BIOGRAPHIES

Bramwell Tovey, conductor

A musician of striking versatility, Bramwell Tovey is acknowledged around the world for his artistic depth and warm, charismatic personality on the podium. Tovey’s career as a conductor is uniquely enhanced by his work as a composer and pianist, lending him a remarkable musical perspective.

Tovey garnered a 2008 Grammy Award and a 2008 Juno Award for his recording with violinist James Ehnes and the Vancouver Symphony. Recently named Principal Guest Conductor for the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, he works frequently with the Toronto Symphony, Montreal Symphony, Royal Philharmonic and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestras, among many others. He has presided as host and conductor of the New York Philharmonic’s Summertime Classics series at Avery Fisher Hall since its founding in 2004.

As a composer, he was honored with the Best Canadian Classical Composition Juno Award in 2003 for his Requiem for a Charred Skull. New works include a co-commission for the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonics’ 2008 summer seasons as well as a full-length opera for the Calgary Opera, The Inventor, to premiere in January of 2011.

Tovey has been awarded honorary degrees, including a Fellowship from the Royal Academy of Music in London, honorary Doctorates of Law from the universities of Winnipeg and Manitoba, and Kwantlen University College, as well as a Royal Conservatory of Music Fellowship in Toronto. In 1999, he received the M. Joan Chalmers National Award for Artistic Direction, a Canadian prize awarded to artists for outstanding contributions in the performing arts.

Ran Jia, piano

At twenty, pianist Ran Jia is already regarded as a striking musician with unusual natural abilities. Tan Dun hailed her a “piano poet with dramatic skill in music-making”.

Born on December 31, 1988 in Chengdu, Sichuan, China, Ms. Jia began studying piano at the age of three. She made her solo debut in 1995, and has since performed publicly in Shanghai, Nanjing, Chengdu, Fuzhou, and Xiamen in China. Her numerous awards include The Special Prize for her performance of a Mozart Sonata in the Second Piano International-E-Competition in 2004; the Silver Medal in The National Cultural Ministry Dandelion Youth Arts Competition in Nanjing, China in 2001; First Prize and the Osaka Mayer Prize in the Shanghai-Osaka Chinese and Japanese Friendship Youth Piano Competition in 2000; First Prize in The Sichuan Youth Piano Competition in 1998; and Second Prize in The National Xinghai Cup Piano Competition in 1998.

In October 2001, Ms. Jia performed Mozart’s Sonata in F major (K. 533) at a master class at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Piano master Fou T’song praised her talent in the Evening News Standard in Shanghai as “an amazing natural feeling for music.” In May 2004, Ms. Jia presented an ambitious recital at the Heluting Concert Hall at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. The program included sonatas by Mozart, Prokofiev, and Schubert, Chopin’s Ballade No. 1, Debussy’s Preludes and Liszt’s Mephisto Waltz No. 1. Her recital was received with great enthusiasm by the audience and the media. Oriental TV broadcasted two documentaries featuring Ran’s life as a young artist including her live performance at the Conservatory.

In November 2005, Ms. Jia was selected to perform at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall with her teacher, Gary Graffman, and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at a “Junior/Senior Concert” organized by the Musicians Emergency Fund, Inc. Ms. Jia performed Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major, K. 467 under Maestro Li Jian. Highlights of 2006 included a return, sold-out concert at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, and a performance of two Mozart concerti with the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra at the Shanghai Concert Hall. She has recently been featured in a live concert on Chicago’s classical music station WFMT and has given her recital debut at the concert series of Rockefeller University in New York. She was the only classical pianist invited to perform for a celebration concert in New York City in honor of Thelonious Monk’s 90^th Birthday. This concert was broadcast worldwide on WQXR. Ms. Jia will make her debut at the Klavierfestival Ruhr in Germany in the summer of 2008 and will make her Carnegie Hall recital debut in the 08/09 season and return to Shanghai for a solo recital.

Ran Jia is currently studying with Gary Graffman at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Her father, Professor Daqun Jia, is one of the leading composers in China and Dean of the Graduate Study Programs at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.

Laudate Singers present VIVA VIVALDI! May 22

Laudate Singers present

VIVA VIVALDI!

with

Nancy DiNovo, violin

and Baroque instrumentalists

Friday May 22, 2009 at 8:00 pm

St. David's United Church, West Vancouver

(Taylor Way @ Hwy 1)

Tickets $25 / $20 / Free for ages 17 & under (reservation required)

604.729.6814 or info@laudatesingers.com

www.laudatesingers.com

Laudate Singers and artistic director Lars Kaario bring their 14th season to an exhilarating close, as they join forces with violinist Nancy DiNovo and an ensemble of Vancouver’s finest Baroque instrumentalists for Viva Vivaldi! The choir and orchestra will present such beloved Vivaldi masterpieces as the joyful Gloria, the refined Beatus Vir (both featuring soprano soloists Catherine Crouch and Heidi Ackermann and mezzo-soprano Jennifer Stephanson) and the Credo. DiNovo will also perform the glittering Spring movement from Vivaldi's most famous work, The Four Seasons.

Viva Vivaldi! provides a brilliant, spirited conclusion to a season that – in true Laudate fashion – has ranged from the very old to the brand new, including several world premieres of new pieces by Canadian composers. The choir’s varied programming has spanned centuries, cultures and musical styles, taking audiences on a journey through the ancient mysteries of the medieval mass, the colourful sounds of the tango and, now, the beauties of a Baroque Venetian spring. Hearts will be lifted and ears dazzled, as Laudate Singers, Nancy DiNovo and friends give virtuoso performances of some of the most popular works in the Western classical canon.

www.laudatesingers.com

VSO's May Concert Listings

The VSO’s May Concert Listings

Vancouver, BC – The month of May is jam-packed with a thrilling array of musical choices, beginning with Russian piano prodigy Alexander Gavrylyuk, playing Tchaikovsky’s rarely-performed Piano Concerto No. 2 (a piece that is not nearly as famous as its big brother, but just as exciting!). This Rubinstein Competition winner is without a doubt one of the top pianists of his generation, and he makes his VSO debut on this concert pair at the Orpheum and the Bell Performing Arts Centre in Surrey. Next up is another young piano genius, eighteen-year old Ran Jia, also in her VSO debut. She will be highlighted in this all-Mozart Bach & Beyond series finale at the Chan Centre, and Beltone Symphony Sundays series finale at the Orpheum.

Moving along, the final Vancouver Sun Symphony at the Roundhouse concert of the season features a new work by VSO Composer-In-Residence Scott Good titled …blood which flowed. The final Pacific Arbour Tea & Trumpets of the season is next, featuring local choir En Chor in an explosive concert of Musical Fireworks.

A spectacular London Drugs VSO Pops concert celebrates the beloved music of George Gershwin. Principal Pops Conductor Jeff Tyzik, Canadian pianist Jon Nakamatsu and vocalist Doug LaBrecque are featured in some of the most memorable and enjoyable music ever written, including the delicious Rhapsody in Blue. Next up is the season’s final concert for the little ones: Tiny Tots Let’s Have a Playdate with Let Your Music Shine with Lisa and Linda. Toddlers can play games to the classic music of Brahms. Older children can enjoy the fun Spectra Energy Kids Koncert How the Gimquat Found Her Song featuring renowned children’s entertainers Platypus Theatre. Through the captivating tale of an imaginary creature in search of her identity, this program explores the history of western music from Gregorian chant to the present day. With stops in Leipzig, Vienna, Berlin and New Orleans among many more, Gimquat and the children discover the music of the ages.

Last up in May is pianist Benjamin Hochman making his VSO debut, with VSO Conductor Laureate Kazuyoshi Akiyama in a concert that features a rare Mozart piano concerto and the passionate music of Russian master Sergey Prokofiev.

May is a month of concerts sure to thrill and excite Vancouver audiences, who will voraciously consume information about these extraordinary, world-renowned artists making their VSO debuts performing some of the greatest artistic works ever created in a remarkable month of concert events.

CONCERT INFO:

Musically Speaking Series:

Exciting Russian Classics! Gavrylyuk Plays Tchaikovsky

Saturday, May 9, 8pm, Orpheum Theatre

Bramwell Tovey, conductor

Alexander Gavrylyuk, piano*

Rimsky-Korsakov Russian Easter Overture, Op. 36

Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Major*

James Maxwell Olympic Commission

Shostakovich The Age of Gold Suite

Tchaikovsky 1812 Overture

Rubinstein Competition winning piano prodigy Alexander Gavrylyuk is one of the top pianists of his generation, standing shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Lang Lang and Yundi Li. His performance of Tchaikovsky’s other piano concerto will blow you away.

Tickets $20 to $56 (Student, Senior and Subscriber discounts available)

Tickets available by phone at 604.876.3434 or online at www.vancouversymphony.ca

Generously Supported By:

Video Screen Sponsor: TELUS

Video screen presentations created and produced by students and staff of digital video productions at Columbia Academy.

May 9 Concert Sponsor: HSBC Canada

Surrey Nights Series:

Exciting Russian Classics! Gavrylyuk Plays Tchaikovsky

Monday, May 11, 8pm, Bell Performing Arts Centre

Bramwell Tovey, conductor

Alexander Gavrylyuk, piano

Rimsky-Korsakov Russian Easter Overture, Op. 36

Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Major*

James Maxwell Olympic Commission

Shostakovich The Age of Gold Suite

Tchaikovsky 1812 Overture

Rubinstein Competition winning piano prodigy Alexander Gavrylyuk is one of the top pianists of his generation, standing shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Lang Lang and Yundi Li. His performance of Tchaikovsky’s other piano concerto will blow you away.

Tickets $37 (Student, Senior and Subscriber discounts available)

Tickets available by phone at 604.876.3434 or online at www.vancouversymphony.ca

Generously Supported By:

The Surrey Nights Series has been endowed by a generous gift from Werner and Helga Höing.

Bach & Beyond Series:

Music of the Master: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Friday & Saturday, May 15 & 16, 8pm, Chan Centre

Bramwell Tovey, conductor

Ran Jia, piano

Mozart Symphony No. 31, Paris

Mozart Piano Concerto No. 12

Mozart Symphony No. 36, Linz

An all-Mozart series finale! The VSO celebrates the music of history’s greatest musical genius, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Eighteen year-old pianist Ran Jia has been praised as “a poet, with dramatic skill in music making.” She will perform an early Mozart piano concerto in her VSO debut.

Tickets $35 to $59 (Student, Senior and Subscriber discounts available)

Tickets available ONLY through Ticketmaster outlets, Charge-by-Phone at 604.280.3311 or online at www.ticketmaster.ca

Generously Supported By:

The Bach & Beyond Series has been endowed by a generous gift from the Chan Foundation of Canada.

Radio Sponsor: CHQM-FM

Beltone Symphony Sundays Series:

Music of the Master: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Sunday, May 17, 2pm, Orpheum Theatre

Bramwell Tovey, conductor

Ran Jia, piano

Mozart Symphony No. 31, Paris

Mozart Piano Concerto No. 12

Mozart Symphony No. 36, Linz

An all-Mozart series finale! The VSO celebrates the music of history’s greatest musical genius, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Eighteen year-old pianist Ran Jia has been praised as “a poet, with dramatic skill in music making.” She will perform an early Mozart piano concerto in her VSO debut.

Tickets $20 to $56 (Student, Senior and Subscriber discounts available)

Tickets available by phone at 604.876.3434 or online at www.vancouversymphony.ca

Generously Supported By:

Series Sponsor: Beltone

The Vancouver Sun Symphony at the Roundhouse Series:

That was then, these are now

Sunday, May 17, 8pm, Roundhouse Theatre

Bramwell Tovey, conductor

György Ligeti Chamber Concerto

Jocelyn Morlock Music of the romantic era

Jordan Nobles Entropy

Scott Good …blood which flowed

John Adams Chamber Symphony

Tickets $27 (Student, Senior and Subscriber discounts available)

Tickets available by phone at 604.876.3434 or online at www.vancouversymphony.ca

Generously Supported By:

Series Sponsor: The Vancouver Sun

Financial Support By: SOCAN Foundation

Pacific Arbour Tea & Trumpets Series:

Musical Fireworks!

Thursday, May 21, 2pm, Orpheum Theatre

Evan Mitchell, conductor

En Chor, choir*

Bernstein Candide: Overture

Handel/Harty Royal Fireworks

Shostakovich Festive Overture

Tchaikovsky 1812 Overture*

Mussorgsky Night on Bald Mountain

Dvorak Slavonic Dance

This music created quite a stir in its time, and continues to do so. Thrill to the sounds of Handel’s Royal Fireworks Music, Dvorak’s Slavonic Dances, Mussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Flight of the Bumblebee, Glinka’s Russlan and Ludmilla, and many more exciting classics.

Tickets $36 (Student, Senior and Subscriber discounts available)

Tickets available by phone at 604.876.3434 or online at www.vancouversymphony.ca

Generously Supported By:

Series Sponsor: Pacific Arbour

London Drugs VSO Pops Series:

A Gershwin Celebration

Friday & Saturday, May 22 & 23, 8pm, Orpheum Theatre

Jeff Tyzik, conductor

Jon Nakamatsu, piano

Doug LaBreque, vocalist

Gershwin Funny Face Overture

Gershwin I Got Rhythm

Gershwin Embraceable You

Gershwin They Can’t Take That Away From Me

Gershwin An American in Paris

Gershwin Catfish Row

Gershwin Fascinatin’ Rhythm

Gershwin Our Love Is Here To Stay

Gershwin Swanee

Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue

The iconic, beloved music of George Gershwin needs no introduction. This spectacular concert is an all-Gershwin celebration that fills the Orpheum with some of the most memorable and enjoyable music ever written.

Tickets $25 to $78.50 (Student, Senior and Subscriber discounts available)

Tickets available by phone at 604.876.3434 or online at www.vancouversymphony.ca

Generously Supported By:

Series Sponsor: London Drugs

Radio Sponsor: CHQM-FM

Tiny Tots Series:

Let’s Have a Playdate!

Friday, May 22, 10:00am, 11:30am, 1:30pm, Vancouver Playhouse Theatre

Saturday, May 23, 10:00am, 11:30am, Terry Fox Theatre

Let Your Music Shine with Lisa and Linda, entertainers

Featuring the music of Brahms. Hide and seek, bounce the ball and other favourite games set to the music of the classics.

Adult Tickets $15, Child Tickets $7

Tickets available by phone at 604.876.3434 or online at www.vancouversymphony.ca

Premier Education Partner:

TELUS

The VSO's Tiny Tots series has been endowed by a generous gift from Mary and Gordon Christopher.

Spectra Energy Kids’ Koncerts Series:

How the Gimquat Found Her Song

Sunday, May 24, 2pm, Orpheum Theatre

Evan Mitchell, conductor

Platypus Theatre, entertainers

Through the captivating tale of an imaginary creature in search of her identity, this program explores the history of western music from Gregorian chant to the present day. With stops in Leipzig (where the audience becomes Bach’s choir!), Vienna, Berlin and New Orleans among many more, Gimquat and the children discover the music of the ages.

Tickets $26 (Student, Senior and Subscriber discounts available)

Tickets available by phone at 604.876.3434 or online at www.vancouversymphony.ca

Generously Supported By:

Series Sponsor: Spectra Energy

Premier Education Partner: TELUS

The Kids’ Koncerts Series has been endowed by a generous gift from the William and Irene McEwen Fund.

PricewaterhouseCoopers Masterworks Silver Series:

Melody and Power: Mozart and Prokofiev

Saturday & Monday, May 30 & June 1, 8pm, Orpheum Theatre

Kazuyoshi Akiyama, conductor

Benjamin Hochman, piano

Kabalevsky Colas Breugnon: Overture, Op. 24

Mozart Piano Concerto No. 9 in E-flat Major, Jeunehomme

Prokofiev Symphony No. 5 in B-flat Major, Op. 100

An early Mozart piano concerto is a rarely heard musical treat. This is followed up by the main course: the huge, exciting, passionate music of Russian master Sergey Prokofiev.

Tickets $25 to $78.50 (Student, Senior and Subscriber discounts available)

Tickets available by phone at 604.876.3434 or online at www.vancouversymphony.ca

Generously Supported By:

Series Sponsor: PricewaterhouseCoopers

Video Screen Sponsor: TELUS

Video screen presentations created and produced by students and staff of digital video productions at Columbia Academy.

The VSO Presents the Legendary Judy Collins for One Night Only!

The VSO presents the legendary Judy Collins for One Night Only!

Vancouver BC – The iconic Judy Collins makes her debut with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and conductor Evan Mitchell, for one night only on March 30, 8pm, at the Orpheum Theatre. Known as one of folk music’s pioneers, Ms. Collins has firmly established herself as a legend of the genre with a career that spans over four decades.

While Judy Collins made her public debut performing Mozart's "Concerto for Two Pianos," at the age of 13, it was the music of traditional folk artists such as Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger that sparked Judy Collins’ love of lyrics. By 16, Ms. Collins moved away from classical piano and began her lifelong love of guitar. For nearly 45 years, she has galvanized a generation with more than 40 albums, numerous Top 10 hits, Grammy nominations and gold and platinum selling albums.

Ms. Collins is often noted in her career for her rendition of "Both Sides Now" on her classic album Wildflowers, a song which has since been entered into the Grammy Hall of Fame. She was also awarded the "Song of the Year" at the 1975 Grammy Awards for her version of "Send in the Clowns", a ballad written by Stephen Sondheim for the Broadway musical, "A Little Night Music". Without doubt, the definition of a living legend, Ms. Collins has seen her artistry influence music and politics over the decades and her vocal interpretations and charity work inspire millions around the world. Ms. Collins has also given inspiration to many who have felt the grief of loved ones lost too soon, with the release of her book, Sanity and Grace: A Journey of Suicide, Survival and Strength. This book is a deeply moving memoir, focusing on the death of her only son and the healing process following the tragedy. The book speaks to all who have endured the sorrow of losing a loved one before their time. In the depths of her suffering, Judy found relief by reaching out to others for help and support. Now, she extends her hand to comfort other survivors whose lives have been affected by similar tragedy.

Truly a unique, powerful and lasting performer, the inimitable Judy Collins appears for one night only with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra on March 30th, 2009, 8pm at the Orpheum. Visit Ms. Collins online at www.judycollins.com.

CONCERT INFO

Specials:

Judy Collins in Concert with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra!

Monday, March 30, 8pm, Orpheum Theatre

Evan Mitchell, conductor

Judy Collins, entertainer

Visit Judy Collins at: www.judycollins.com

Tickets: $35 to $55 (Senior, Student & Subscriber discounts available)

Tickets available by phone at 604.876.3434 or online at www.vancouversymphony.ca

BIOGRAPHIES

Evan Mitchell, conductor

Conductor Evan Mitchell is proving to be one of Canada’s most promising young conductors. Currently the Assistant Conductor of the Vancouver Symphony, Evan is slated to play a key role in programming, artistic development and of course performance with the VSO, leading the orchestra through a wide assortment of concerts.

Equally at home with chamber music, opera and full symphonic masterpieces, Evan has enjoyed critical acclaim with recent operatic performances including Britten’s Albert Herring, Ward’s The Crucible, Hindemith’s “Hin und Zuruck” and the world premiere of Glenn James’ opera “To Daniel.” Evan also won positions with the National Academy Orchestra of Canada for four consecutive years as both conductor and percussionist and now holds the title of Associate Mentor with the orchestra. Highlights include conducting violin soloist Elizabeth Pitcairn, the concertmaster of the New West Symphony and owner of the Mendelssohn Stradivarius 1720 “Red Violin.”

Evan is an advocate of contemporary music. Recently the resident conductor of NUMUS New Music Ensemble, he has premiered several new works, toured across Canada conducting a festival of contemporary Chinese music and recorded works for the CMC, collaborating with such Canadian artists as the Pentaedre Wind Quintet, Penderecki String Quartet and Dancetheatre David Earle. Evan has also conducted and performed works during the highly acclaimed Open Ears Festival.

As a percussionist Evan has enjoyed equal success. In demand as a recitalist and concert soloist (recent performances of the Rosauro Marimba concerto and the Mayuzumi Xylophone concerto), Evan’s percussive performance has been hailed as “breathtaking in (his) sensitivity” as well as “wizardly” and “awe-inspiring.” Evan has toured Canada, the United States and abroad, including a memorable tour as Canadian ambassador during a concert tour with virtuoso composer/percussionist Nebojsa Zivkovic, during which he performed as concert soloist and along with the composer in a sold out performance of Zivkovic's celebrated “Trio per Uno” at the Stuttgart International Theatre. Evan is a frequent performer with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony and has performed with Orchestra London and the Toronto Symphony. Evan has also been a faculty member and guest lecturer with Wilfrid Laurier University, primarily as Music Director of the Flute Ensemble.

Awards include First Prize at the Werlde Musik Kontest in Kerkrade, Netherlands, finalist at the upcoming TD Canada Trust Elora Festival Competition and Winner in Marching category as part of the Kavaliers DCI Drum Corps. Evan is also the winner of the 2006 Pioneer Leading Edge Arts Award.

Evan is a graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University where he completed an Bachelor of Music degree as a percussion major; he is also a graduate of the University of Toronto, where he studied on a full scholarship sponsored by Elmer Iseler and Victor Feldbrill, earning a Masters degree in conducting. His principal conducting teachers include Raffi Armenian, Doreen Rao, Paul Pulford and Boris Brott. Additionally, he has studied and performed in concert series with Denise Grant, Martin Fischer-Dieskau and most notably, Helmuth Rilling, in the inaugural Toronto Bach festival.

Judy Collins, entertainer

Judy Collins has thrilled audiences worldwide with her unique blend of interpretative folksongs and contemporary themes. Her impressive career has spanned more than 40 years. At 13, Judy Collins made her public debut performing Mozart's "Concerto for Two Pianos" but it was the music of such artists as Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger, as well as the traditional songs of the folk revival, that sparked Judy Collins' love of lyrics. She soon moved away from the classical piano and began her lifelong love with the guitar. In 1961, Judy Collins released her first album, A Maid of Constant Sorrow, at the age of 22 and began a thirty-five year association with Jac Holzman and Elektra Records.

Judy Collins is also noted for her rendition of Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now" on her classic 1967 album, Wildflowers. "Both Sides Now" has since been entered into the Grammy's Hall of Fame. Winning "Song of the Year" at the 1975 Grammy's Awards show was Judy's version of "Send in the Clowns," a ballad written by Stephen Sondheim for the Broadway musical "A Little Night Music."

Released on September 29th, Judy's new book, Sanity and Grace, A Journey of Suicide, Survival and Strength, is a deeply moving memoir, focusing on the death of her only son and the healing process following the tragedy. The book speaks to all who have endured the sorrow of losing a loved one before their time. In the depths of her suffering, Judy found relief by reaching out to others for help and support. Now, she extends her hand to comfort other survivors whose lives have been affected by similar tragedy.

In a recent appearance on ABC's Good Morning America, Judy performed "Wings of Angels," the heartbreaking ballad that she wrote about the loss of her son. The song is currently available on the newly released Judy Collins Wildflower Festival CD and DVD, which also feature guest artists Arlo Guthrie, Tom Rush and Eric Andersen. This extraordinary concert was filmed at the famed Humphrey's By the Bay in San Diego, CA. The concert was the culmination of a 25 city national tour.

Judy Collins continues to create music of hope and healing that lights up the world and speaks to the heart.

Mikhail Simonyan's VSO Debut

The VSO presents the Vancouver debut of trail-blazing

Russian violinist Mikhail Simonyan

Vancouver BC – The VSO proudly presents Mikhail Simonyan – a violinist hailed as having “a flawless, liquid line and ravishing tone,” by The Washington Post – performing Chausson’s Poème and Ravel’s Tzigane. The program, Fine French Fantasies, will be conducted by VSO Assistant Conductor Evan Mitchell and also features Berlioz’s Le corsaire, Op. 21, Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite and Dukas’ The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. The concerts take place on Saturday, March 28 at 8pm and Sunday, March 29 at 2pm at the Orpheum Theatre and will mark Mr. Simonyan’s debut with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. Marking another debut, this concert features Evan Mitchell’s 2008/2009 Musically Speaking concert debut. These two great young artistic talents team up for a beautiful concert of French repertoire.

Mikhail Simonyan, who hails from Novosibirsk (the same city that Vadim Repin and Maxim Vengerov call home), began to study the violin at the age of five. As part of the first generation of artists to forge careers in an era with substantially decreased government support, he has blazed a trail for young musicians in Russia. In 1999, at 13, Mr. Simonyan made his acclaimed New York debut at Lincoln Center with the American Russian Young Artists Orchestra (ARYO) and his debut in St. Petersburg, Russia at the Mariinsky (Kirov) Theatre in ARYO's joint concert with the Mariinsky Youth Orchestra, performing the Szymanowski Violin Concerto No. 1.

Mr. Simonyan has earned first prize awards at the all-Russia Competition in Saint Petersburg, the Siberian Violin Competition, the National Prize Prizvanie in Moscow, and the Salon de Virtuosi in New York. He is a winner of the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation Award, and received the 2000 Virtuoso of the Year award in Saint Petersburg. In 2003, the National Academy of Achievement selected him for an award in the Performing Arts. In 2005, he received the highest level of recognition when President Putin received him at the Kremlin, in acknowledgment of his status as one of Russia’s most promising young musicians.

Now in his early twenties, Mr. Simonyan is recognized as one of the great talents of his generation. Celebrated for his “breadth, lyricism and fleet technique” by The New York Times and compared to master violinist David Oistrakh “on a good day” by The Miami Herald, Mr. Simonyan proves that he has the talent and dedication to be one of the great talents of our time.

CONCERT INFO

Musically Speaking Series & Beltone Symphony Sundays Series:

Fine French Fantasies: Simonyan Plays Ravel and Chausson

Saturday, March 28, 8pm, Orpheum Theatre

Sunday, March 29, 2pm, Orpheum Theatre

Evan Mitchell, conductor

Mikhail Simonyan, violin

Berlioz Le corsair, Op. 21

Ravel Mother Goose Suite

Chausson Poeme, Op. 25

Ravel Tzigane

Dukas The Sorcerer’s Apprentice

Tickets $20 to $56 (Student, Senior and Subscriber discounts available)

Tickets available by phone at 604.876.3434 or online at www.vancouversymphony.ca

Generously Supported By:

Musically Speaking Series Video Screen Sponsor: TELUS

Video screen presentations created and produced by students and staff of digital video productions at Columbia Academy.

Symphony Sundays Series Sponsor: Beltone

BIOGRAPHIES

Evan Mitchell, conductor

Conductor Evan Mitchell is proving to be one of Canada’s most promising young conductors. Currently the Assistant Conductor of the Vancouver Symphony, Evan is slated to play a key role in programming, artistic development and of course performance with the VSO, leading the orchestra through a wide assortment of concerts.

Equally at home with chamber music, opera and full symphonic masterpieces, Evan has enjoyed critical acclaim with recent operatic performances including Britten’s Albert Herring, Ward’s The Crucible, Hindemith’s “Hin und Zuruck” and the world premiere of Glenn James’ opera “To Daniel.” Evan also won positions with the National Academy Orchestra of Canada for four consecutive years as both conductor and percussionist and now holds the title of Associate Mentor with the orchestra. Highlights include conducting violin soloist Elizabeth Pitcairn, the concertmaster of the New West Symphony and owner of the Mendelssohn Stradivarius 1720 “Red Violin.”

Evan is an advocate of contemporary music. Recently the resident conductor of NUMUS New Music Ensemble, he has premiered several new works, toured across Canada conducting a festival of contemporary Chinese music and recorded works for the CMC, collaborating with such Canadian artists as the Pentaedre Wind Quintet, Penderecki String Quartet and Dancetheatre David Earle. Evan has also conducted and performed works during the highly acclaimed Open Ears Festival.

As a percussionist Evan has enjoyed equal success. In demand as a recitalist and concert soloist (recent performances of the Rosauro Marimba concerto and the Mayuzumi Xylophone concerto), Evan’s percussive performance has been hailed as “breathtaking in (his) sensitivity” as well as “wizardly” and “awe-inspiring.” Evan has toured Canada, the United States and abroad, including a memorable tour as Canadian ambassador during a concert tour with virtuoso composer/percussionist Nebojsa Zivkovic, during which he performed as concert soloist and along with the composer in a sold out performance of Zivkovic's celebrated “Trio per Uno” at the Stuttgart International Theatre. Evan is a frequent performer with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony and has performed with Orchestra London and the Toronto Symphony. Evan has also been a faculty member and guest lecturer with Wilfrid Laurier University, primarily as Music Director of the Flute Ensemble.

Awards include First Prize at the Werlde Musik Kontest in Kerkrade, Netherlands, finalist at the upcoming TD Canada Trust Elora Festival Competition and Winner in Marching category as part of the Kavaliers DCI Drum Corps. Evan is also the winner of the 2006 Pioneer Leading Edge Arts Award.

Evan is a graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University where he completed a Bachelor of Music degree as a percussion major; he is also a graduate of the University of Toronto, where he studied on a full scholarship sponsored by Elmer Iseler and Victor Feldbrill, earning a Masters degree in conducting. His principal conducting teachers include Raffi Armenian, Doreen Rao, Paul Pulford and Boris Brott. Additionally, he has studied and performed in concert series with Denise Grant, Martin Fischer-Dieskau and most notably, Helmuth Rilling, in the inaugural Toronto Bach festival.

Mikhail Simonyan, violin

At just 22 years of age, Mikhail Simonyan is already recognized as one of the most celebrated talents of his generation. The New York Times has praised his, “breadth, lyricism and fleet technique,” and reported that “Mr. Simonyan play[s] as if every note counted.” The Miami Herald has declared, “Mikhail Simonyan . . . played with the poise, perfection and inner burning fire of a master like David Oistrakh – in his prime on a good night.”

Mr. Simonyan has performed with, among others, the Russian National Orchestra, the Kirov Orchestra, the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, the Kremlin Chamber Orchestra, the Vienna Tonkünstler Orchestra, the Novosibirsk Philharmonic, and the Moscow Virtuosi. He has worked with conductors including Valery Gergiev, Mikhail Pletnev, Constantine Orbelian, Vladimir Spivakov, Arnold Katz, Kristjan Järvi, Leon Botstein, and the late Yehudi Menuhin.

Performance highlights for Mr. Simonyan include a solo appearance with Leonard Slatkin at the Kennedy Center's 35th Anniversary Gala in 2001, after which he made his official debut with Maestro Slatkin and the National Symphony Orchestra in 2002. Later that same year, he performed at the Davos World Economic Summit.

In 2004, Mr. Simonyan made his debut with the Kirov Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre under Maestro Valery Gergiev in Eduoard Lalo's Symphonie Espagnole at the Grand Opera House in Wilmington, DE, and at Mechanics Hall in Worcester. Also in 2004, he made his subscription debut with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra performing the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with Maestro Gergiev. He also soloed with Maestro Constantine Orbelian at the Moscow State Conservatory’s Great Hall, and in Saint Petersburg with the Novosibirsk Philharmonic.

In addition, he was selected to appear at the Horatio Alger Awards Dinner in Washington DC. In spring of 2004, he performed the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto at SUNY Performing Arts Center and with the Boston Pops Symphony Orchestra.

In the autumn of 2004, after studying at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, Mr. Simonyan returned to Russia and was immediately in demand by the leading Orchestra’s of his home country. After his debut with the Russian National Orchestra, the Moscow Times wrote, “… he seems destined to be ranked on the same Superstar level as fellow Novosibirsk natives Maxim Vengerov and Vadim Repin.” Highlights of the 2004-2005 season included his debut in Vienna’s Musikverein as soloist with Maestro Kristjan Järvi and the Tonkünstler Orchestra, a highly acclaimed solo recital debut in Washington D.C. at the Kennedy Center, as well as recitals and orchestral performances in New York and other cities across the US.

Other performance highlights of Mr. Simonyan’s past seasons include a tour of the United States with the Kirov Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre under Maestro Valery Gergiev, concerts with Maestro Kristjan Järvi and the Russian National Orchestra, his debut at the Prague Spring Festival under Maestro Pletnev, and recitals in Europe, Asia and the United States.

Highlights of Mr. Simonyan’s current concert season include debuts at the Wigmore Hall in London and at the Berlin Philharmonie; his debut at the Teatro Municipal in Santiago, Chile, performing the Bruch Violin Concerto; a recital during the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Musikfestival in Germany as part of the “Junge Elite” concert series; appearances with the Seoul Philharmonic, the Vienna Tonkünstler Orchestra at the Musikverein, and the Vancouver Symphony; and recitals in the United States and Russia. In addition, his much anticipated debut recording of the Prokofiev Sonatas for Violin and Piano, recorded with Grammy Award-winning producer Adam Abeshouse, will be released in 2008.

Mr. Simonyan continues to work with Victor Danchenko in the United States and now lives in Philadelphia. He performs on a Zygmuntowicz violin. He is managed worldwide by Tanja Dorn at IMG Artists.

April Concert Listings

The VSO’s April Concert Listings

Vancouver BC – Spring is in full swing in April, and so is the VSO! The month’s journey begins in the Baroque era with a Pacific Arbour Tea & Trumpets matinee on April 2^nd, featuring host Christopher Gaze, conductor Evan Mitchell, and featured members of the VSO’s cello section: Janet Steinberg and Zoltan Rozsnyai. Next up, we Stay Tuned with Five by Design – a trip down memory lane to the golden era of television in the London Drugs VSO Pops series. The same weekend sees the orchestra perform for children and families with Dandi Productions, in the Spectra Energy VSO Kids Koncerts series.

One of classical music’s most exciting superstars performs with the VSO on April 17^th: Joshua Bell, hailed as the “greatest American violinist active today.” Bell will perform Lalo’s Symphonie espagnole for Violin and Orchestra in an all-Spanish night also featuring Ravel’s Bolero.

From Argentina, pianist Ingrid Fliter is a major star who makes her VSO debut playing Chopin on April 19^th and 20^th. The following weekend, another great pianist – local prodigy turned international star Avan Yu – takes a turn with the VSO performing Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, one of the most popular piano works of all time. Avan Yu performs with the Symphony three times, April 25^th to 27^th.

Another great, action-packed month at the VSO!

CONCERT INFO

Pacific Arbour Tea & Trumpets Series:

The Best of Baroque

Thursday, April 2, 2pm, Orpheum Theatre

Evan Mitchell, conductor

Janet Steinberg, cello*

Zoltan Rozsnyai, cello*

Gabrieli Canzona, Primi Toni

JS Bach Suite No. 1 in C Major, BWV 1066;

Overture; Courante; Gavotte I; Minuet II; Passpied

Jeremiah Clarke The Prince of Denmark’s March

Vivaldi Concerto for Two Cellos in G minor, RV531*

Gabrieli Sonata Piane Forte

Handel Water Music

Overture; Air; Minuet; Bouree; Hornpipe

Pachelbel Canon

Ah, Bach. The beautiful sounds of Baroque will weave their gossamer webs throughout the Orpheum. You will be enchanted by the music of Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, and of course, Pachelbel’s Canon.

Tickets $36 (Student, Senior and Subscriber discounts available)

Tickets available by phone at 604.876.3434 or online at www.vancouversymphony.ca

Generously Supported By:

Series Sponsor: Pacific Arbour

London Drugs VSO Pops Series:

Stay Tuned!

Friday & Saturday, April 3 & 4, 8pm, Orpheum Theatre

Evan Mitchell, conductor

Five By Design, entertainers

Following in the tradition of the Modernaires, Manhattan Transfer and New York Voices, the extraordinarily talented singers of Five by Design present their latest show: Stay Tuned, a trip down memory lane – in Variety Show style – to the early days of television. Re-live the good times, unique characters, and great tunes of a truly golden era in entertainment.

Tickets $25 to $78.50 (Student, Senior and Subscriber discounts available)

Tickets available by phone at 604.876.3434 or online at www.vancouversymphony.ca

Generously Supported By:

Series Sponsor: London Drugs

April 4 Concert Sponsor: Craftsman Collision

Radio Sponsor: CHQM-FM

Spectra Energy Kids’ Koncerts Series:

Dandi Productions: The Mysterious Maestro

Sunday, April 5, 2pm, Orpheum Theatre

Evan Mitchell, conductor

Dandi Productions, entertainers

The Mysterious Maestro is a concert-story about a little girl named Hannah who loves to sing..who moves to a town where music is forbidden; a town named Hamelin, about thirty years after the infamous Pied Piper led all Hamelin’s children away. Her passion for music eventually wins out, and music is restored to Hamelin. A bewitching concert featuring the music of Verdi, Mendelssohn, Liszt and Villa-Lobos, with top notch performances by Dandi Productions.

Tickets $26 (Student, Senior and Subscriber discounts available)

Tickets available by phone at 604.876.3434 or online at www.vancouversymphony.ca

Generously Supported By:

Series Sponsor: Spectra Energy

Premier Education Partner: TELUS

Specials

Joshua Bell with the VSO!

Friday, April 17, 8pm, Orpheum Theatre

Bramwell Tovey, conductor

Joshua Bell, violin

Chabrier España

Rimsky-Korsakov Capriccioso espagnol, Op. 34

Ravel Bolero

Lalo Symphonie espagnole, Op. 21

The VSO is proud to perform with Joshua Bell, hailed as one of the greatest violinists of the last fifty years. Thrill to a concert filled with music flavoured by the full-blooded passion of Spain. Maestro Bramwell Tovey conducts.

Tickets $25 to $78.50 (Student, Senior and Subscriber discounts available)

Tickets available by phone at 604.876.3434 or online at www.vancouversymphony.ca

Masterworks Diamond Series:

Great Classics: Ingrid Fliter Plays Chopin

Saturday & Monday, April 18 & 20, 8pm, Orpheum Theatre

Kazuyoshi Akiyama, conductor

Ingrid Fliter, piano

Mendelssohn Ruy Blas Overture, Op. 95

Chopin Piano Concerto No.2 in F minor, Op. 21

Schumann Symphony No.1 in B-flat Major, Op. 38, Spring

Wherever award-winning Argentine pianist Ingrid Fliter goes, accolades follow. The world has caught on: this pianist is a major star. Hear her VSO debut, performing the beautiful music of Chopin.

Tickets $25 to $78.50 (Student, Senior and Subscriber discounts available)

Tickets available by phone at 604.876.3434 or online at www.vancouversymphony.ca

Generously Supported By:

April 20 Concert Sponsor: Canadian Western Bank

Radio Sponsor: CKNW AM980

PricewaterhouseCoopers Masterworks Silver Series:

Great Romantics: Rachmaninoff, Debussy and Stravinsky

Saturday & Monday, April 25 & 27, 8pm, Orpheum Theatre

Bramwell Tovey, conductor

Avan Yu, piano*

Debussy Prélude à L’après-midi d’un faune

Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini*

Stravinsky Petrouchka

Beauty, enchantment, and excitement: these words merely begin to describe the music of Debussy, Rachmaninoff, and Stravinsky. Hometown pianist Avan Yu’s career is skyrocketing, and we are happy to have him on the Orpheum stage once again.

Tickets $25 to $78.50 (Student, Senior and Subscriber discounts available)

Tickets available by phone at 604.876.3434 or online at www.vancouversymphony.ca

Generously Supported By:

Series Sponsor: PricewaterhouseCoopers

April 25 Concert Sponsor: Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Video Screen Sponsor: TELUS

Video screen presentations created and produced by students and staff of digital video productions at Columbia Academy

Radio Sponsor: CKNW AM980

Beltone Symphony Sundays Series:

Great Romantics: Rachmaninoff, Debussy and Stravinsky

Sunday, April 26, 2pm, Orpheum Theatre

Bramwell Tovey, conductor

Avan Yu, piano*

Debussy Prélude à L’après-midi d’un faune

Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini*

Stravinsky Petrouchka

Beauty, enchantment, and excitement: these words merely begin to describe the music of Debussy, Rachmaninoff, and Stravinsky. Hometown pianist Avan Yu’s career is skyrocketing, and we are happy to have him on the Orpheum stage once again.

Tickets $20 to $56 (Student, Senior and Subscriber discounts available)

Tickets available by phone at 604.876.3434 or online at www.vancouversymphony.ca

Generously Supported By:

Series Sponsor: Beltone

The VSO collaborates with the innovative Kokoro Dance

Vancouver BC – The VSO presents its second Vancouver Sun Symphony at the Roundhouse Series concert of the season, a co-presentation with Kokoro Dance, on March 20, 8pm at the Roundhouse Theatre in Yaletown. VSO Assistant Conductor Evan Mitchell leads the concert which features in addition to Kokoro Dance, mezzo-soprano Viviane Houle, saxophonist Wallace Halladay, the VSO’s Principal Violist Neil Miskey, and Principal Second Violin Brent Akins. This collaboration is set to the music of Scott Good’s Babbitt’s Concerto for Saxophone(s), Arvo Pärt’s Tabula Rasa, and Gareth Farr’s The Pagan Prayer.

Scott Good’s Babbitt’s Concerto for Saxophone(s) is a reflection of George F. Babbitt the character, rather than an attempt to relate the narrative of the Sinclair Lewis novel Babbitt (1922). Dr. Good explains, “I find his character to be interesting, in that although he is a shallow conformist, whose self worth is always related to the status quo, he feels genuine emotions of love, loneliness, and despair. This multiplicity of character speaks well to a concerto for multi-instrumentalist, and I was able to focus each saxophone on a different quality of his personality. The baritone is a greedy salesman, the tenor is frustrated at everyone, the alto is the lonely hero, and the soprano dreams of the fairy child.”

Avro Pärt’s Tabula Rasa (Latin: blank slate) refers to an epistemological concept that suggests human beings are born without any thought content, and that their entire scope of knowledge is built over time. Tabula Rasa was originally composed in 1977 for violinist Gideaon Cramer. Within its two movements, Ludos (to play or deceive) and Silentium (Silence), the full maturation of Pärt’s compositional technique “tintinnabulation” is reached. [Program Notes © 2009 Scott Good]

Gareth Farr’s the Pagan Prayer is a dramatic setting of two poems by Charles Baudelaire, Le Rebelle and La Prière d’un Païen. Farr’s music is particularly influenced by his extensive study of percussion, both Western and non-Western. Rhythmic elements of his compositions can be linked to the complex and exciting rhythms of Rarotongan log drum ensembles, Balinese gamelan and other percussion music of the Pacific Rim. In addition to his music for the concert chamber, Farr has written music for dance, theatre and television. On-stage, Farr also performs as his alter-ego percussion-playing drag queen, Lilith Lacroix.

CONCERT INFO

The Vancouver Sun Symphony at the Roundhouse Series:

the rebel

Co-presentation with Kokoro Dance

Friday, March 20, 8pm, Roundhouse Theatre

Evan Mitchell, conductor

Viviane Houle, mezzo-soprano

Wallace Halladay, saxophone

Neil Miskey, viola

Brent Akins, violin

Kokoro Dance, dancers

Gareth Farr the Pagan Prayer

Scott Good Babbitt-Concerto for Saxophone(s)

Arvo Part Tabula Rasa

Tickets $27 (Student, Senior and Subscriber discounts available)

Tickets available by phone at 604.876.3434 or online at www.vancouversymphony.ca

Generously Supported By:

Series Sponsor: The Vancouver Sun

Financial Support By: SOCAN Foundation

BIOGRAPHIES

Evan Mitchell, conductor

Conductor Evan Mitchell is proving to be one of Canada’s most promising young conductors. Currently the Assistant Conductor of the Vancouver Symphony, Evan is slated to play a key role in programming, artistic development and of course performance with the VSO, leading the orchestra through a wide assortment of concerts.

Equally at home with chamber music, opera and full symphonic masterpieces, Evan has enjoyed critical acclaim with recent operatic performances including Britten’s Albert Herring, Ward’s The Crucible, Hindemith’s “Hin und Zuruck” and the world premiere of Glenn James’ opera “To Daniel.” Evan also won positions with the National Academy Orchestra of Canada for four consecutive years as both conductor and percussionist and now holds the title of Associate Mentor with the orchestra. Highlights include conducting violin soloist Elizabeth Pitcairn, the concertmaster of the New West Symphony and owner of the Mendelssohn Stradivarius 1720 “Red Violin.”

Evan is an advocate of contemporary music. Recently the resident conductor of NUMUS New Music Ensemble, he has premiered several new works, toured across Canada conducting a festival of contemporary Chinese music and recorded works for the CMC, collaborating with such Canadian artists as the Pentaedre Wind Quintet, Penderecki String Quartet and Dancetheatre David Earle. Evan has also conducted and performed works during the highly acclaimed Open Ears Festival.

As a percussionist Evan has enjoyed equal success. In demand as a recitalist and concert soloist (recent performances of the Rosauro Marimba concerto and the Mayuzumi Xylophone concerto), Evan’s percussive performance has been hailed as “breathtaking in (his) sensitivity” as well as “wizardly” and “awe-inspiring.” Evan has toured Canada, the United States and abroad, including a memorable tour as Canadian ambassador during a concert tour with virtuoso composer/percussionist Nebojsa Zivkovic, during which he performed as concert soloist and along with the composer in a sold out performance of Zivkovic's celebrated “Trio per Uno” at the Stuttgart International Theatre. Evan is a frequent performer with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony and has performed with Orchestra London and the Toronto Symphony. Evan has also been a faculty member and guest lecturer with Wilfrid Laurier University, primarily as Music Director of the Flute Ensemble.

Awards include First Prize at the Werlde Musik Kontest in Kerkrade, Netherlands, finalist at the upcoming TD Canada Trust Elora Festival Competition and Winner in Marching category as part of the Kavaliers DCI Drum Corps. Evan is also the winner of the 2006 Pioneer Leading Edge Arts Award.

Evan is a graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University where he completed an Bachelor of Music degree as a percussion major; he is also a graduate of the University of Toronto, where he studied on a full scholarship sponsored by Elmer Iseler and Victor Feldbrill, earning a Masters degree in conducting. His principal conducting teachers include Raffi Armenian, Doreen Rao, Paul Pulford and Boris Brott. Additionally, he has studied and performed in concert series with Denise Grant, Martin Fischer-Dieskau and most notably, Helmuth Rilling, in the inaugural Toronto Bach festival.

Viviane Houle, mezzo-soprano

Musical maverick Viviane Houle is a vocalist, improviser, and songwriter who defies categorization. With her uncanny ability to mix musical styles as diverse as opera and avant-garde improvisation, Viviane captivates audiences wherever she performs.

In the opera house and concert hall she has performed with Vancouver Opera, Standing Wave Ensemble and pianist Leslie Uyeda. In the jazz world, she regularly collaborates with the lions of today's improv scene, including musicians like Jesse Zubot, Ron Samworth, Peggy Lee, and Coat Cooke. As a producer, she is co-artistic director of Pictures for the Sky and developed "gesture4," an acclaimed collaboration with Viviane and laptop artist Stefan Smulovitz, dancer and choreographer Noam Gagnon, and video artist jamie griffiths.

Viviane's appearances at such festivals as the Festival international de musique actuelle de Victoriaville, Vancouver International Jazz Festival, and San Francisco's soundwave>series have been marked by a freshness and commitment to musical innovation. Her premieres of work by some of Canada's pre-eminent composers have brought life to new scores.

Upcoming highlights include a Vancouver performance with leading composer Louis Andriessen, a European tour with Stefan Smulovitz, and the release of a CD of duets with leading improvisers. For more information, visit Viviane at vivianehoule.ca.

Wallace Halladay, saxophone

Canadian saxophonist Wallace Halladay captures the qualities of the modern virtuoso, being at home in numerous styles, from the traditional to jazz and beyond. A specialist in the performance of contemporary music, Wallace has commissioned and premiered numerous works for saxophone. In addition to performances of concerti by Ibert, Schmitt, Husa, Scelsi and Donatoni, he has worked with composers Michael Colgrass, Mauricio Kagel and Scott Good on the Canadian premieres of their concerti, the latter a commission with the Esprit Orchestra. Wallace also inaugurated the Intersections Series with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony in an entire concert of music for saxophone and orchestra entitled “The Story of the Saxophone”.

Frequently broadcast on CBC Radio, Wallace has also recorded the two saxophone Sequenzas of Luciano Berio and the Colgrass concerto for NAXOS Records. He has been presented by and performed with new music groups across the country, including New Music Concerts, Continuum, Sound Symposium, CCMW, 5-Penny New Music, Kumquat, Earshot!, Contact, and Toca Loca. Wallace was the Artistic Director of the Scelsi Centenary, Franco Donatoni, and Gubaidulina Chamber Projects. His orchestral experience includes performances with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, National Ballet Orchestra of Canada, and as a fellow of the Tanglewood Music Centre.

Wallace holds a Bachelor’s degree in Performance and Composition from the University of Toronto, a Master’s from New England Conservatory in Boston, and a doctorate from the Eastman School of Music. Wallace also studied at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam with internationally acclaimed virtuoso Arno Bornkamp with a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts. He has previously taught saxophone, chamber music and theory at Memorial University of Newfoundland and the Eastman School of Music, and presently teaches at the University of Toronto.

Recent and upcoming highlights include recitals with pianist Peter Tiefenbach; the music of Karlheinz Stockhausen; Karel Husa’s Concerto; a duo concert of premieres with percussionist Ryan Scott; the concerto of Hanspeter Kyburz; the K-W Open Ears Festival; and festivals in New York, Philadelphia, Huddersfield (UK), and Aberdeen (Scotland).

Wallace is a Conn-Selmer Artist and plays Selmer (Paris) saxophones.

Neil Miskey, viola

Currently Principal Violist with both the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and the CBC Radio Orchestra, Neil began his career in Vancouver after winning first prize in the CBC National Competition. He has appeared as soloist with the VSO, including performances of Berlioz's Harold in Italy, Vaughn Williams' Flos Campi, and Bramwell Tovey's Viola Concerto. He has also performed as soloist with the CBC Orchestra, and been featured on CBC radio broadcasts.

A native of Edmonton, he received music performance degrees from the University of Alberta and the University of Michigan, and has studied at the Banff Centre. As a recipient of a Canada Council Award, he also spent a year studying in Germany.

In addition to performing both in the orchestra and as a soloist, Neil enjoys performing as a chamber musician. He has appeared as a guest artist with the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival, Festival Vancouver, the San Juan Summer Music Festival, and also in various groups in Vancouver. A recent highlight was a string quartet rafting tour of the Grand Canyon.

Brent Akins, violin

Brent Akins is Principal Second Violin of the Vancouver Symphony and Concertmaster of the CBC Radio Orchestra in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Mr. Akins earned his Bachelor of Music/Performance degree at the University of Southern California, under Eudice Shapiro, violin, and Milton Thomas, viola. As a member of the Vuillaume String Quartet, he has performed and worked with the Tokyo String Quartet and Rapheal Hillier.

Before coming to Vancouver, Mr. Akins was a member of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra under Sir Neville Mariner, and was Assistant Principal Second Violin of the St. Louis Symphony, Leonard Slatkin, conductor. He has also served as Guest Concertmaster for the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa.

Mr. Akins has performed as soloist with the Vancouver Symphony, CBC Radio Orchestra, Spokane Symphony, American Ballet Theatre Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony and the Oregon East Symphony.

As a member of the Vuillaume Duo with Marka Wilcox, he gives numerous recitals and has recorded violin duo repertoire for CBC Radio Orchestra broadcasts as well as CBC Radio's Westcoast Performances. In 2000, the "Orpheum Masters" label released the Vuillaume Duo’s first CD, "Sonatas for Two."

As a co-founder of Notes of Compassion: Symphony Musicians Reaching Out, he is involved in numerous benefit concerts throughout the Vancouver area.

Kokoro Dance, dancers

Kokoro Dance fuses the aesthetics of East and West in programs of dance that have earned critical acclaim across Canada and around the world.

When Kokoro Dance formed in 1986, Barbara Bourget brought to it her years dancing with such distinguished dance companies as the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and les Grands Ballets Canadiens, and Jay Hirabayashi drew upon his experiences dancing with the Karen Jamieson Dance Company and the Paula Ross Dance Company, competitive alpine skiing, and studying Buddhism. Both directors also carried the need to produce dances that stirred the heart, stimulated the mind, and moved the spirit of their audiences, and these intentions are perfectly reflected in the name of the company, Kokoro, a Japanese word meaning heart, mind, and spirit.

For Jay and Barbara, the approach to dance best reflecting these intentions is an unorthodox aesthetic called butoh.

BUTOH
Marked by both provocatively disturbing and evocatively spiritual physicality, the butoh aesthetic rose out of the post-nuclear demoralization of the Japanese psyche.

Kokoro Dance creates a Canadian hybrid butoh aesthetic that marries kinetic and visual elements from Japan and the West. Through workshops with butoh pioneers such as Koichi Tamano, Hiroko Tamano and Natsu Nakajima, Kokoro Dance gains insights about the butoh approach to motivating original movement expression. This information is then filtered through Kokoro’s own grounding in western dance training and choreography.

Combining a choreographic structure that allows for a degree of improvisational choice with the interior imagery that conducts the butoh dancer, Kokoro Dance performs an intense, concentrated style of dance alive with sparks of spontaneity.

We love to dance. We live to dance. We dance to live. As simplistic as that may sound, that sums up our intent. We search continually through our creativity, our performances, and our teaching for a distillation through movement of our essential being. It is an impossible search without an end. There is no definitive, penultimate expression in dance. The path we have chosen combines interior poetic imagery with technical application. We have been inspired by our Japanese butoh masters. We have a lifetime heritage of western dance training. Our work fuses streams from Japan and Europe. Kokoro Dance is not one or the other of these streams, but a confluence of both.

Announcing the VSO's 2009/2010 Season!

Vancouver, BC – VSO Music Director Maestro Bramwell Tovey and the VSO are proud to announce the 2009/2010 Season! This season features a strong line-up of guest artists, mixing the next generation of stars with long-established superstars and local favourites (a VSO programming hallmark), great classical repertoire both new and old, hot Symphony Pops, matinees, and a range of concerts for children and families. And the VSO once again takes its show in the road, with concerts performed in fourteen different venues throughout the Lower Mainland.

 

A Season filled with gems and treasures – and a few surprises! – awaits Lower Mainland audiences in the 2009/2010 Season. Please see the VSO’s Media Room online at www.vancouversymphony.ca for bios and photos of all the great guest artists in the exciting 2009/2010 Season. PDF downloads of the new Season Brochure and complete concert listings are also available online.

 

 

A few of the many Season repertoire highlights include:

 

Mahler Symphony No.8 Symphony of a Thousand

Bruckner Symphony No.4 Romantic

Strauss An Alpine Symphony (Eine Alpensinfonie)

Szymanowski Violin Concerto No.1

Sibelius Symphony No.2

Mozart Requiem

Chopin Piano Concerto No.1 and No.2

Stravinsky Rite of Spring

Rimsky-Korsakov Scheherazade

Beethoven Piano Concerto No.5 Emperor

R. Strauss Brentano Lieder

Mozart Symphony No.25 and Symphony No.41 Jupiter

Elgar Symphony No.1

Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations

Holst The Planets

Wieniawski Violin Concerto No.2

Grieg Piano Concerto

JS Bach Orchestral Suite No.3

Vivaldi Four Seasons

Haydn Symphony No.103 Drum Roll

Stravinsky/Pergolisi Pulcinella: Suite

Respighi Ancient Airs and Dances

Beethoven Symphony No.9

Shostakovich Violin Concerto No.1

Clara Schumann Piano Concerto

Bruch Violin Concerto

Scott Good (VSO Composer-in-Residence) Between the Rooms for Trumpet and Orchestra

 

 

The line-up of classical guest artists includes many established stars and exciting young stars representing the next generation of classical musicians:

 

Itzhak Perlman violin

Lang Lang piano

Shlomo Mintz violin

Sir Andrew Davis conductor

Yevgeny Sudbin piano

Arabella Steinbacher violin

Barry Douglas piano

Vadim Gluzman violin

Measha Brueggergosman soprano

Nicola Benedetti violin

Garrick Ohlsson piano

Rachel Barton Pine violin

Julie Albers cello

Joyce Yang piano

Angela Cheng piano

Janina Fialkowska piano

Celena Shafer soprano

Stewart Goodyear piano

Adrian Anantawan violin

Martin Haselbock organ/conductor

Elizabeth Wallfisch violin/conductor

 

 

In addition to all the great classical concerts, the 2009/2010 London Drugs VSO Pops series is an outstanding one. The series features exciting artists and conductors who have never before performed with the VSO, including Cirque de la Symphonie, extraordinary Cirque acrobats who perform their incredible acts on stage with live music performed by the VSO; young star-in-the-making Pops conductor Steven Reineke, protégé of Erich Kunzel and newly appointed Music Director of the New York Pops; Dave Bennett, one of the world’s very best jazz clarinetists performing a 100^th Anniversary Celebration of Benny Goodman; and Radiance, Motown superstars who bring to life the golden era of Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross and the Supremes, Sister Sledge, and more. In addition, the VSO is happy to welcome back Pops legend Erich Kunzel, conducting his beautiful Music of the Night Broadway program; and we are very happy to continue our association with Principal Pops Conductor Jeff Tyzik, one of the most in-demand Pops conductors and arrangers in North America.

 

Matinee traditions continue to see audience growth every year: Symphony Sundays presents classical concerts in the afternoon, drawn from the main series classical series; and Tea & Trumpets, featuring VSO Assistant Conductor Evan Mitchell and narrator Christopher Gaze – with tea and cookies served in the lobby one hour before each concert – includes light classics mixed with narration.

 

Concerts for kids and families are always popular, with Tiny Tots for the little ones from toddlers to age four or five at both the Playhouse Theatre in Vancouver and the Terry Fox Theatre in Port Coquitlam, and Kids’ Koncerts, featuring the full orchestra and aimed at children from four/five to ten/eleven years of age.

 

And of course, a Symphony Season would not be complete without presentations of great Special Concerts – and this upcoming Season contains a very Special line-up:

 

• Itzhak Perlman with the VSO. The VSO is thrilled and honoured to present the legendary Itzhak Perlman, one of the greatest musicians of this or any era, performing Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto
• The Mendelssohn and Schumann Festival. The VSO celebrates the 200^th Anniversary of the births of Felix Mendelssohn and Robert Schumann, two of classical music’s greatest composers. This Festival includes pianist Angela Cheng performing Clara Schumann’s Piano Concerto and Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No.1, as well as superstar pianist Lang Lang performing Schumann’s Piano Concerto
• Mahler’s Symphony No.8 ‘Symphony of a Thousand’. The VSO partners with VANOC to present the flagship event of the 2010 Cultural Olympiad just two weeks before the start of the Winter Olympics. Mahler’s 8^th is one of the largest, most spectacular live concert events one can imagine, with a large orchestra, eight vocal soloists, the Vancouver Bach Choir, the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, and the Vancouver Bach Children’s Chorus
• A Traditional Christmas in many venues around the Lower Mainland with Assistant Conductor Evan Mitchell and narrator Christopher Gaze of Bard on the Beach fame
• The Sinatra Project with Michael Feinstein. One of the most passionate advocates of the Great American Songbook, Michael Feinstein and the orchestra perform Frank’s greatest hits – and a few unknown gems – in an exciting, Pops-style special concert
• Nosferatu! The 1922 Silent Film classic starring Max Schrek’s and his frightening and eerie performance as Count Orlock (the original film Dracula!) is shown with the full orchestra performing the score live on stage. A Hallowe’en Special – come in costume!

 

 

 

 

Ticket Availability:

 

·         The Subscription Renewals Campaign runs from the first week of March through to the Renewals Deadline of April 24^th, 2009

 

·         New Subscriptions can be ordered at any time through VSO Customer Service at 604.876.3434 or order online at www.vancouversymphony.ca

 

·         Single concert tickets go on-sale Monday, August 24^th at 10:00am through VSO Customer Service and online. Tickets are only available as Subscription packages until that date

 

·         Special Concert tickets can only be ordered by VSO Subscribers until Monday, August 24^th, as above

 

·         There are fifteen different subscription packages available, including a “Make Your Own” package option. Subscribing saves customers up to 30% over purchasing the same concerts individually, and gives customers guaranteed seating throughout the Season

Tiny Tots: Magical Melody Train Ride

Vancouver BC – The VSO presents Tiny Tots: Magical Melody Train Ride on March 13^th at 10:00am, 11:30am and 1:30pm at the Playhouse Theatre in Downtown Vancouver and March 14^th at 10:00am and 11:30am at the Terry Fox Theatre in Port Coquitlam. Dance and sing to music from the New World, focusing on the great classical composer Antonin Dvorak, in these interactive concerts that engage the entire family.

Tiny Tots is a 4-concert series for the little ones, from toddlers to five years of age, held in the intimate performance spaces of the Playhouse Theatre in Downtown Vancouver and the Terry Fox Theatre in Port Coquitlam. This series features professional music educators and musicians, Let Your Music Shine with Lisa and Linda also known as twin sisters Lisa Allison and Linda Sebenius – a pair that is devoted to developing and presenting “The Very Best Music for the Very Young^TM”. Visit Lisa and Linda at www.musicshinemedia.com.

CONCERT INFO

Tiny Tots Series:

Magical Melody Train Ride

Friday, March 13, 10:00am, 11:30am, 1:30pm, Vancouver Playhouse Theatre

Saturday, March14, 10:00am, 11:30am, Terry Fox Theatre

Let Your Music Shine with Lisa and Linda, entertainers

Featuring the Music of Dvorak. Dance and sing, by land and sea to music from the New World.

Adult Tickets $15, Child Tickets $7

Tickets available by phone at 604.876.3434 or online at www.vancouversymphony.ca

Premier Education Partner:

TELUS

Special Thanks:

The VSO's Tiny Tots series has been endowed by a generous gift from Mary and Gordon Christopher

BIOGRAPHIES

Let Your Music Shine with Lisa and Linda, entertainers

Lisa G. Allison
Artistic Director (M.A. Music Education)
As Artistic Director, Lisa co-ordinates staging, set design, and costuming for live performances. In addition, Lisa is footage coordinator and lead editor for Music Shine Media video productions. When not performing with Let Your Music Shine and editing amazing footage, Lisa is a Voice/Performance Coach and Director of LGMusic Voice Studio and an Elementary Music Specialist for the Lake Washington School District.

Linda Sebenius
Music Director (B.A. Music Theory/Composition)
As Music Director, Linda is the lead orchestrator and arranger for Let Your Music Shine. Whether it is a brass quartet playing Beethoven's Fifth, or a string quartet playing Vivaldi's Four Seasons, Linda makes the magic of classical music come alive for the youngest listener. As a composer, Linda's original works were featured in the 2003 and 2005 New Works/New Hope concerts to benefit Gilda's Club. Linda also scores music for film and won a 1999 Nell Shipman award for the hilarious short film "Pendemonium."

For more information visit: www.musicshinemedia.com

Laudate Singers present VOICE OF THE TANGO

Laudate Singers present

VOICE of the TANGO

with

Douglas Schmidt, bandoneon

Kay Sleking, guitar

Saturday March 21, 2009 at 8:00 pm

St. David's United Church, West Vancouver

and

Tuesday March 24, 2009 at 8:00 pm

Capilano University Performing Arts Theatre, North Vancouver

Tickets $25 / $20 / Free for ages 17 & under (reservation required)

For March 21^st: 604.729.6814 or www.laudatesingers.com

For March 24^th: as above, and via Capilano University at 604.990.7810 or boxoffic@capilanou.ca

Laudate Singers and artistic director Lars Kaario invite Vancouver audiences to dance a few steps off the beaten path with Voice of the Tango: a ground-breaking programme of sensuous, alluring choral music from Central and South America, featuring internationally-renowned instrumentalists Douglas Schmidt (on bandoneon, the quintessential instrument of the tango) and Kay Sleking (guitar). The repertoire – much of it very seldom performed in Canada to date – will include works by Astor Piazzolla, Oscar Escalada, Miguel Matamoros, Gustavo “Cuchi” Leguizamón, Eduardo Ferraudi, Jorge Cardoso, Carlos Gardel and Hector Stamponi among others, as well as newly commissioned works for choir, bandoneon and guitar by Douglas Schmidt and Laudate’s composer-in-residence Bruce Sled.

Laudate Singers – well known for their high level of technical skill and interpretive flexibility, as well as for consistently presenting repertoire that spans centuries and continents in a relevant and accessible manner – are excited about the artistic challenge of performing this dynamic, passionate music. They also look forward to working with and learning from instrumentalists who are internationally recognized experts in Latin and South American music. Mr. Schmidt, a transplanted British Columbian best known in Canada as a member of Tango Paradiso and Montreal's Quartango, comes to Vancouver from Germany. Mr. Sleking is based in Amsterdam, and works extensively in Europe both as a soloist and as a member of several high-profile tango ensembles.

www.laudatesingers.com

19th Annual Symphony Lovers' Ball - Most Successful Ever!

The 19^th Annual Symphony Lovers’ Ball –

Most Successful Ever!

Vancouver BC – The Vancouver Symphony announces that the 19th Annual Symphony Lovers' Ball held on Thursday, February 12^th, 2009, in the Pacific Ballroom of the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver was the most successful ever, thanks in great part to the critical support of our sponsors in Vancouver’s corporate community! We are thrilled to report that this event netted $620,000 to VSO operations.

Hosted by Master of Ceremonies Christopher Gaze, Vancouver’s very own Bard, more than 400 guests enjoyed an evening inspired by the remarkable achievements of this past year: winning a GRAMMY and a JUNO award, the Raymond James Beethoven Festival (all nine of Beethoven’s symphonies performed chronologically), the Wall Centre Brahms Festival (all four of Brahms symphonies performed chronologically, as well as all of his concertos), and the VSO’s triumphant Asia-Pacific Tour to China, South Korea, and the Special Administrative Region of Macau. Later this season, commencing May 1^st, the VSO will also tour Eastern Canada, making stops in Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City, and Ottawa.

“The entire Symphony Lovers’ Ball Committee is so proud to support the VSO,” said Maria Menten, Volunteer Chair of the Lovers’ Ball Committee. “To have raised more than ever before is especially thrilling given today’s economic climate. It really speaks to the understanding of the VSO’s value as a pillar of our community, and a cultural pillar of our society. We couldn’t be happier!”

Vancouver Symphony Society Chair, Arthur Willms stated, “Thanks to our extraordinary volunteers, dedicated sponsors and generous attendees, this year’s Symphony Lovers’ Ball was a particular triumph. Not only did we raise more money than ever before in benefit our community’s cultural cornerstone, but we did it during incredibly tough economic times. This year, over 50,000 children will experience the wonder of the VSO through various educational initiatives and programs, thanks to such thoughtful generosity.”

The funds raised at the annual Symphony Lovers’ Balls support the VSO's performances each season of more than 140 concerts featuring over 60 celebrated guest artists attended by more than 250,000 people in 12 venues throughout the Lower Mainland. It also contributes to VSO education programs that reach more than 50,000 children each year. Since its inception in 1991, the Symphony Lovers' Ball has netted over $5 million in support of the Vancouver Symphony's many projects and continuing operations.

The Vancouver Symphony gratefully acknowledges the following for their generous support of the Nineteenth Annual Symphony Lovers’ Ball:

SUPER SPONSORS

Blake Cassels & Graydon LLP

Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Concord Pacific Group Inc.

Deloitte

Ernst & Young LLP

Goldcorp Inc.

HSBC Bank Canada

Pacific Newspaper Group

Wesbild Holdings Ltd.

We would also like to thank the following for their generous support

Chan Foundation of Canada – Rix Family Foundation

EVENT SPONSORS

Anthem Properties

Eminata Group

Peter Kiewit Sons Co.

Larco Investments Ltd.

Polygon Homes Ltd.

Raymond James

Rennie Marketing Systems

TELUS

We would also like to thank the following for their generous support

Arthur H. Willms & Mary Ann Clark

MAESTRO’S CIRCLE

Allied Holdings

CIBC World Markets

Kingwood Capital Corporation

KPMG LLP

Larkspur Foundation

Michael O'Brian Foundation for the Arts

Opus Hotels - Stikeman Elliott

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

Spectra Energy

CONCERTMASTER’S CIRCLE

Deans Knight - Haywood Securities

Genus Capital Management

Philips, Hager & North

Stikeman Elliott

The James and Kathleen Winton Foundation

Hot Trumpet Nights with Allen Vizzutti!

Vancouver BC – Allen Vizzutti brought the house down in his last visit to the Orpheum, in what many said was one of the best Pops concerts in years. He makes his eagerly-anticipated return on March 6^th and 7^th at 8pm with the VSO and Principal Pops Conductor Jeff Tyzik. Vizzutti will perform Big Band classics such as Easy Livin', In a Sentimental Mood, Take the 'A' Train and King Porter Stomp – and a special bonus: the Canadian premiere of his own exciting Concierto Mexicano for Trumpet and Orchestra.

 

Jeff Tyzik and Allen Vizzutti have been long-time friends since working together on a trumpet concerto for Doc Severinsen, the leader of the Tonight Show band, during the early 1980's. This initial partnership would lead to a life-long collaboration on projects such as The Carnival of Venus and High Class Brass recordings. 

 

Last year, Yamaha launched Allen Vizzutti's own trumpet model, the YTR 9335VS. His idea was to design a trumpet that "could sing more openly above high 'C', have some classical weight to the sound, project when you lean on it and have a moderate amount of resistance, not to mention good intonation and never miss a note." Vizzutti jokes, "Well, you can't have everything. I got all except the 'never miss a note' part…"

 

Concierto Mexicano for Trumpet and Orchestra is a five-movement work by Allen Vizzutti which premiered this past season with the Greater Bridgeport Symphony Orchestra. Vizzutti says about the piece: "I desired in Concierto Mexicano, to capture elements of Mexican folk melody and harmony, as well as present a piece with some exciting 'Vizzutti' flair. Mexican culture is as steeped in tradition and richness as any culture on earth. I found, altered and orchestrated three existing pieces and wrote two original ones to complete a set of five." The piece is sure to be a smashing success and the VSO is proud to present its Canadian premiere.

 

 

CONCERT INFO

 

London Drugs VSO Pops Series:

 

Allen Vizzutti with the VSO

 

Friday & Saturday, March 6 & 7, 8pm, Orpheum Theatre

Jeff Tyzik, conductor

Allen Vizzutti, trumpet

 

Tickets $25 to $78.50 (Student, Senior and Subscriber discounts available)

Tickets available by phone at 604.876.3434 or online at www.vancouversymphony.ca

 

Generously Supported By:

 

Series Sponsor: London Drugs

 

Radio Sponsor: CHQM-FM

 

 

BIOGRAPHIES

 

Jeff Tyzik, conductor

 

Jeff Tyzik has earned a reputation as one of America's most innovative pops conductors. Described by the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle as "among the best pops conductors in America," Tyzik is recognized for his brilliant arrangements, original programming, and engaging rapport with audiences of all ages. During the 2008/09 season, Tyzik celebrates his 15th season as Principal Pops Conductor of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. Also this season, he begins a new role as Principal Pops Conductor of the Oregon Symphony and continues to serve as Principal Pops Conductor of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.

In his fifteen years with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO), where his contract was recently extended to 2011, Tyzik has developed an incredible relationship with devoted Rochester audiences who appreciate his creative pops programming. Over the course of his tenure, he has written over 160 works for the orchestra. A consummate musician, Tyzik is so appreciated in Rochester that the RPO has taken the unusual step of inviting their principal pops conductor to appear as a guest conductor in the orchestra's classical subscription series calendar on a regular basis. On his classical series concerts, Tyzik has performed works by some of the greatest American composers to critical acclaim. He also conducted the premiere of his own Trombone Concerto, which was funded by a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts and subsequently performed at Carnegie Hall. In May 2007, the Harmonia Mundi label released his recording of works by Gershwin with pianist Jon Nakamatsu and the RPO which by the summer had reached No. 3 on the Billboard classical chart. Alex Ross, music critic for The New Yorker, called it "one of the snappiest Gershwin discs in years".

"His concert is the kind of thing that's likely to give classical music a good name, perhaps even make it seem, dare I say, relevant," writes John Pitcher of the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle (February 3, 2006). "What's great about Tyzik is his way of making any concert (classical or pops) seem contemporary and approachable without sugarcoating anything, without dumbing down the musical experience."

Highly sought after as a guest conductor, Tyzik has recently appeared with orchestras such as the Boston Pops, the Cincinnati Pops, the New York Pops, the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center and the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl. In addition to his commitments in Rochester, Oregon and Vancouver, during the 2008/09 season he continues his annual appearance with the Toronto Symphony and performs with orchestras across North America including Dallas, Detroit, Indianapolis, Milwaukee and New Jersey, as well as The Florida Orchestra and the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, among others.

A native of Hyde Park, New York, Tyzik began his life in music at nine years of age, when he first picked up a cornet. He studied both classical and jazz throughout high school, and went on to earn both his bachelor's and master's degrees from the Eastman School of Music, where he studied composition/arranging with Radio City Music Hall's Ray Wright and jazz studies with the great band leader Chuck Mangione, both of whom profoundly impacted him as a musician.

Tyzik spent the next few years working with Mangione, soaking in every part of the music business. He became a skilled record producer, while continuing to be active as a performer and arranger (which included composing and arranging music for the Maynard Ferguson and Woody Herman Orchestras). These experiences led Tyzik to one of the great early opportunities of his career; the chance to co-compose a trumpet concerto with friend and virtuoso trumpeter Allen Vizzutti to be recorded by pops legend Doc Severinsen.

After that first recording project, Tyzik worked closely with Severinsen on many projects including orchestrating many of the great band leader's symphony orchestra programs, and producing a GRAMMY Award-winning album, The Tonight Show Band with Doc Severinsen, Vol. 1. To this day, he credits Severinsen as his greatest musical and professional inspiration.

As an accomplished composer and arranger, Tyzik has had his compositions recorded by ensembles including the London Symphony Orchestra, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Summit Brass, and his arrangements have been recorded by groups including Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, the RPO, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, and Doc Severinsen with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London. He has also produced and composed theme music for many of the major television networks, including ABC, NBC, HBO, and Cinemax, and released six of his own albums on Capitol, Polygram and Amherst Records.

Committed to performing music of all genres, Tyzik has collaborated with such diverse artists as Tony Bennett, Art Garfunkel, Dawn Upshaw, Marilyn Horne, Arturo Sandoval, The Chieftains, Mark O'Connor, Doc Severinsen, John Pizzarelli, Billy Taylor and Lou Rawls, and has created original programs that include the greatest music from jazz and classical to Motown and swing.

Actively sharing his passion for music with others, Tyzik has been recognized for his community service and educational work by Rotary International, the Monroe County Music Educators, and the Rochester Philharmonic League. He is also the recipient of the Arts & Cultural Council of Greater Rochester's 2002 Performing Artist award.

Tyzik currently serves on the Board of Managers of the Eastman School of Music, and as a board member of the Hochstein School of Music and Dance. He lives in Rochester, New York, with his wife Jill. For more information about Tyzik, please visit www.jefftyzik.com.

 

Allen Vizzutti, trumpet

 

"Beautiful…lyrical…stunning…stupifying."
"Trumpet player supreme." -- Syracuse Post Standard

"Finely tuned wind, easy control, polyharmonic wit, orchestral penmanship, punctuated spiritual warmth…rarely do so many qualities find themselves in one musician." --Chick Corea

Equally at home in a multitude of musical idioms, Allen Vizzutti has visited 40 countries and every state in the union to perform with a rainbow of artists and ensembles including Chick Corea, 'Doc' Severinsen, the NBC Tonight Show Band, the Airmen Of Note, the Army Blues and Army Symphony Orchestra, Chuck Mangione, Woody Herman, Japan's NHK Orchestra and the New Tokyo Philharmonic, the Budapest Radio Orchestra, , the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Leipzig Wind Symphony and the Kosie Wind Orchestra. Performing as a classical and a jazz artist, often in the same evening, he has appeared as guest soloist with symphony orchestras in Tokyo, Germany, St. Louis, Seattle, Rochester N.Y., Syracuse, Milwaukee, Buffalo, Phoenix, Edmonton, Vancouver and Winnipeg to name a few. Music lovers in Germany, Poland, England, Sweden, Brazil, Canada, Japan, Australia and the United States have heard his brilliant sound over the airwaves of national television. Allen's status as an artist has led to solo performances at the Hollywood Bowl, Carnegie Hall, Newport Jazz Festival, Banff Center for the Performing Arts, Montreaux Jazz Festival, the Teton, Vail, Aspen and Brechenridge Music Festivals, the Charles Ives Center and Lincoln Center in New York City.

From his home in Seattle Washington, Allen's current career activities embody an impressive schedule of recitals, concerts, recording and composing. His continued commitment to music education and the value of music in everyday life results in an extensive schedule of guest appearances at universities throughout North America, Europe, Japan and Australia.

Allen's solo jazz recordings include CDs such as "Trumpet Summit" and "Skyrocket" from Summit Records. Classical CDs currently available from DeHaske Music Publishing Recordings are "The Emerald Concerto and Other Gems", with the Budapest Radio Orchestra, "Vizzutti Plays Vizzutti" and "Vizzutti and Soli On Tour". His "High Class Brass", (also DeHaske Recordings), is a wonderfully unique classical and jazz blend co-produced, co-written and performed with fellow trumpet artist, composer and conductor, Jeff Tyzik along with a 90 piece studio orchestra. Also of interest are "Baroque and Beyond", from Sony, "The Carnival of Venus", (Summit Records), and "A Trumpeter's Dream, (Ludwig Music Publishing).

As Artist in Residence, Allen has taught at the Eastman School of Music, the Banff Center for the Performing Arts, Kansas State University, Ohio State University, West Texas State University, the Skidmore Jazz Institute, and the Trompeten Akademie of Bremen Germany. He is currently 'Artist In Residence' at the University of Washington. His extensive treatise, "The Allen Vizzutti Trumpet Method" and his "New Concepts for Trumpet", (Alfred Music Publishing), have become standards works for trumpet study world wide. Many more of Allen's jazz and classical books, play along recordings, and student and recital compositions are published by DeHaske/Hal Leonard, Southern Music, and Ars Nova. His writing includes solo pieces for flute, clarinet, saxophone, trombone, tuba, and harp, chamber groups, wind ensemble, jazz ensemble, and symphony orchestra.

Allen's love of expression through composition has led to premier performances by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Budapest Radio Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic of London, the Nuremberg Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Syracuse Symphony, London Symphony, the renowned Summit Brass and others. After the world premier of his "Emerald Concerto" with the Syracuse Symphony Allen's writing was described in review: "The Emerald Concerto sparkles!...a vivacious treatment which speaks well for both his dramatic instinct and technical prowess as a composer."

While growing up in Montana, Allen was taught by his father, a self taught musician and trumpet player, until he left home to attend the Eastman School of Music on full scholarship. There he earned the Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees, a Performer's Certificate, a chair in the Eastman Brass Quintet faculty ensemble, and the only Artist's Diploma ever awarded a wind player in Eastman's 85 year history.

While living in Los Angeles during the 80's, Allen performed on over 100 motion picture sound tracks, (such as Back To The Future and Star Trek), as well as countless TV shows, commercials and recordings with such artists as Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Neil Diamond, Chick Corea, the Commodores and Prince. His soaring sounds can be heard on projects including the movies "40 Days and 40 Nights", "Unfaithfully Yours", Gridiron Gang", "Scary Movie Four", and the "Medal of Honor" and "Halo II" video games.

ALLEN VIZZUTTI IS A YAMAHA PERFORMING ARTIST

The VSO's March Concert Listings

The VSO’s March Concert Listings

Vancouver BC – March begins with the magnificent violinist Kyoko Takezawa and acclaimed conductor Andrew Litton in an epic concert of Elgar, Rachmaninoff and Walton. This Masterworks Gold concert features a pre-concert talk at 7:05pm with VSO bassoonist Sophie Dansereau.

The month continues with Musical Tales from Vienna, a Pacific Arbour Tea & Trumpets concert led by Assistant Conductor Evan Mitchell, hosted by Christopher Gaze, and featuring eleven year-old pianist Tristan Teo. Much of the world’s most famous and popular classical music came from Vienna, the Musical City – this concert highlights music from the Strauss family, Lehar, Mozart and Von Suppe.

Next up, the VSO’s popular London Drugs Pops Series presents world-renowned trumpeter Allen Vizzutti who brought down the house in his last visit to the Orpheum. He makes his return performing Big Band classics such as In a Sentimental Mood, Take the ‘A’ Train, King Porter Stomp, and the Canadian premiere of his own piece Concierto Mexicano for Trumpet and Orchestra. The VSO’s Principal Pops Conductor Jeff Tyzik conducts.

There is also a special concert for toddlers – Tiny Tots: Magical Melody Train Ride featuring the lovely music of Dvorak. Dance and sing with entertainers and professional educators Let Your Music Shine with Lisa and Linda.

Next, famed guest conductor Kenneth Slowik wields his baton for a concert devoted to the magnificent music of Bach and Haydn. These concerts are performed at the Chan Centre for Performing Arts at UBC and Centennial Theatre in North Vancouver.

We continue the month with the rebel, a co-presentation with the talented Kokoro Dance. This concert also features Canadian saxophonist Wallace Halladay and takes place in the modern and intimate settings of the Roundhouse Community Centre in Yaletown.

The month wraps up with some Fine French Fantasies. Renowned violinist Mikhail Simonyan is recognized as one of the great talents of his generation. Fairy tales, poems and fantasies come to life when Simonyan plays the legendary pieces by Ravel and Chausson, and Evan Mitchell leads the orchestra in beautiful works by Berlioz and Dukas.

March marks the beginning of spring and another great month of VSO concerts!

CONCERT INFO

Masterworks Gold Series:

Epic Elgar and Rachmaninoff, with Kyoko Takezawa

Saturday & Monday, February 28 & March 2, 8pm, Orpheum Theatre

Andrew Litton, conductor

Kyoko Takezawa, violin

Walton Crown Imperial

Elgar Violin Concerto in B minor, Op. 61

Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Op. 44

Celebrated conductor Andrew Litton takes the reins in a concert featuring exciting violinist Kyoko Takezawa, and a rarely performed Romantic gem by Rachmaninoff.

Tickets $25 to $78.50 (Student, Senior and Subscriber discounts available)

Tickets available by phone at 604.876.3434 or online at www.vancouversymphony.ca

Generously Supported By:

Radio Sponsor: CKNW AM980

Pacific Arbour Tea & Trumpets Series:

Musical Tales from Vienna

Thursday, March 5, 2pm, Orpheum Theatre

Evan Mitchell, conductor

Tristan Teo, piano*

Mozart The Magic Flute: Overture

Strauss Tales from the Vienna Woods

Mozart Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K.466 (first movement)

Lehar Gold and Silver Waltz

Von Suppe Light Cavalry: Overture

Strauss Blue Danube Waltz

Strauss Radetzky March

Much of the world’s most famous and popular music came from the Musical City – you will hear from the Strauss family, Lehar, Mozart and von Suppe in a magical afternoon of waltz and song.

Tickets $36 (Student, Senior and Subscriber discounts available)

Tickets available by phone at 604.876.3434 or online at www.vancouversymphony.ca

Generously Supported By:

Series Sponsor: Pacific Arbour

London Drugs VSO Pops Series:

Allen Vizzutti with the VSO

Friday & Saturday, March 6 & 7, 8pm, Orpheum Theatre

Jeff Tyzik, conductor

Allen Vizzutti, trumpet

Allen Vizzutti brought the house down in his last visit to the Orpheum, in what many said was one of the best Pops concerts in many years. He makes his return with the Canadian premiere of his own exciting Concierto Mexicano for Trumpet and Orchestra.

Tickets $25 to $78.50 (Student, Senior and Subscriber discounts available)

Tickets available by phone at 604.876.3434 or online at www.vancouversymphony.ca

Generously Supported By:

Series Sponsor: London Drugs

Radio Sponsor: CHQM-FM

Tiny Tots Series:

Magical Melody Train Ride

Friday, March 13, 10:00am, 11:30am, 1:30pm, Vancouver Playhouse Theatre

Saturday, March14, 10:00am, 11:30am, Terry Fox Theatre

Let Your Music Shine with Lisa and Linda, entertainers

Featuring the Music of Dvorak. Dance and sing, by land and sea to music from the New World.

Adult Tickets $15, Child Tickets $7

Tickets available by phone at 604.876.3434 or online at www.vancouversymphony.ca

Premier Education Partner:

TELUS

Bach & Beyond Series:

The Magnificent Music of Bach and Haydn

Friday & Saturday, March 20 & 21, 8pm, Chan Centre

Kenneth Slowik, conductor

JS Bach Suite No.1

CPE Bach Harpsichord Concerto in G Major

JS Bach Harpsichord Concerto No. 7

Haydn Symphony No.96 in D Major, The Miracle

Baroque specialist Kenneth Slowik leads the orchestra in a performance that epitomizes the Bach & Beyond series: both Bachs, and one of Papa Haydn’s most popular symphonies.

Tickets $35 to $59 (Student, Senior and Subscriber discounts available)

Tickets available ONLY through Ticketmaster outlets, Charge-by-Phone at 604.280.3311 or online at www.ticketmaster.ca

The VSO’s Bach & Beyond Series Endowed By

The Chan Foundation of Canada

The presentation of this series is made possible in part through the generous assistance of the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts of the University of British Columbia.

Radio Sponsor:

CHQM-FM

The Vancouver Sun Symphony at the Roundhouse Series:

the rebel

Co-presentation with Kokoro Dance

Friday, March 20, 8pm

Evan Mitchell, conductor

Wallace Halladay, saxophone

Neil Miskey, viola

Brent Akins, violin

Kokoro Dance, dancers

Gareth Farr the Pagan Prayer

Scott Good Babbitt-Concerto for Saxophone(s)

Arvo Part Tabula Rasa

Tickets $27 (Student, Senior and Subscriber discounts available)

Tickets available by phone at 604.876.3434 or online at www.vancouversymphony.ca

Generously Supported By:

Series Sponsor: The Vancouver Sun

Financial Support By: SOCAN Foundation

North Shore Classics Series:

The Magnificent Music of Bach and Haydn

Monday, March 23, 8pm, Centennial Theatre

Kenneth Slowik, conductor

JS Bach Suite No. 1

CPE Bach Harpsichord Concerto in G Major

JS Bach Harpsichord Concerto No. 7 in G minor

Haydn Symphony No. 96, The Miracle

Baroque specialist Kenneth Slowik leads the orchestra in a performance that epitomizes the Bach & Beyond series: both Bachs, and one of Papa Haydn’s most popular symphonies.

Tickets $37 (Student, Senior and Subscriber discounts available)

Tickets available ONLY through Ticketmaster outlets, Charge-by-Phone at 604.280.3311 or online at www.ticketmaster.ca

Musically Speaking Series:

Fine French Fantasies: Simonyan Plays Ravel and Chausson

Saturday, March 28, 8pm, Orpheum Theatre

Evan Mitchell, conductor

Mikhail Simonyan, violin

Berlioz Le corsair, Op. 21

Ravel Mother Goose Suite

Chausson Poeme, Op. 25

Ravel Tzigane

Dukas The Sorcerer’s Apprentice

Fairy tales, poems and fantasies come to life under the baton of VSO Assistant Conductor Evan Mitchell. At only twenty-two years of age, Russian violinist Mikhail Simonyan is recognized as one of the great talents of his generation.

Tickets $20 to $56 (Student, Senior and Subscriber discounts available)

Tickets available by phone at 604.876.3434 or online at www.vancouversymphony.ca

Generously Supported By:

Video Screen Sponsor: TELUS

Video screen presentations created and produced by students and staff of digital video productions at Columbia Academy.

Beltone Symphony Sundays Series:

Fine French Fantasies: Simonyan Plays Ravel and Chausson

Sunday, March 29, 2pm, Orpheum Theatre

Evan Mitchell, conductor

Mikhail Simonyon, violin

Berlioz Le corsair, Op. 21

Ravel Mother Goose Suite

Chausson Poeme, Op. 25

Ravel Tzigane

Dukas The Sorcerer’s Apprentice

Fairy tales, poems and fantasies come to life under the baton of VSO Assistant Conductor Evan Mitchell. At only twenty-two years of age, Russian violinist Mikhail Simonyan is recognized as one of the great talents of his generation.

Tickets $20 to $56 (Student, Senior and Subscriber discounts available)

Tickets available by phone at 604.876.3434 or online at www.vancouversymphony.ca

Generously Supported By:

Series Sponsor: Beltone

Brilliant Canadian pianist Louis Lortie makes his welcome return to Vancouver

The VSO presents distinguished Canadian pianist Louis Lortie, and the exciting music of Liszt and Richard Strauss

Vancouver BC – Louis Lortie is praised as one of Canada’s most electrifying pianists. He makes a welcome return to Vancouver on February 21 & 23 performing Liszt’s Totentanz and Fantasy of Motives from Beethoven’s Ruins of Athens. Maestro Bramwell Tovey conducts this concert which also features Beethoven’s The Ruins of Athens: Overture and Richard Strauss’ Also sprach Zarathustra.

“Charm and dazzle... (Louis Lortie’s) elegant touch turned the music nearly weightless, even at high volume and high speed.”

- Journal Sentinel

Born in Montréal, Louis Lortie made his debut with the Montréal Symphony at the age of thirteen and the Toronto Symphony three years later. In 1984, he won First Prize in the Busoni Competition and was a prize-winner at the Leeds Competition. In 1992 he was named Officer of the Order of Canada, and received both the Order of Quebec and an honorary doctorate from Laval University. As his schedule permits, he teaches at Italy’s renowned piano institute at Imola. Mr. Lortie has lived in Berlin since 1997 and also has a home in Canada. Mr. Lortie performs the magnificent music of Franz Liszt, he perhaps the greatest pianist who ever lived.

The late-Romantic composer Richard Strauss followed in the footsteps of Liszt. Though he was a prolific composer of opera, Strauss’s greatest works were his tone poems, Also Sprach Zarathustra (Thus Spoke Zarathustra) being prominent among them. The work is based on Nietzsche’s prose poem, a deep and dramatic treatise featuring the teachings and sayings of Zarathustra, the ancient Iranian prophet and religious poet credited with the founding of Zoroastrianism. Strauss’s tone poem has become one of the most recognized pieces of music ever written – or at least, the first few minutes have, being prominently features in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. The work, in Strauss’s own words, describes the evolution of humankind: “I meant to convey in music an idea of the evolution of the human race from its origin, through the various phases of development, religious as well as scientific, up to Nietzsche’s idea of the ‘Superman.’” Strauss’s extraordinary and unique orchestration speaks for itself, creating a mystic landscape that speaks of high mythology and profound truths. A fascinating musical construct that figures throughout the work is the conflict between the keys of B Major and C Major, the former representing humanity, the latter the universe. Strauss purposefully leaves this conflict unresolved at the end, with neither key dominant – the classic debate between free will and determinism continues in Strauss’s world, a riddle unsolved and unsolvable.

CONCERT INFO

PricewaterhouseCoopers Masterworks Silver Series:

Fantasies and Odysseys: the Exciting Music of Liszt and Strauss

Saturday & Monday, February 21 & 23, 8pm, Orpheum Theatre

Bramwell Tovey, conductor

Louis Lortie, piano

Beethoven The Ruins of Athens: Overture

Liszt Totentanz

Liszt Fantasy on Motives from Beethoven’s Ruins of Athens

R. Strauss Also sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30

Tickets $25 to $78.50 (Student, Senior and Subscriber discounts available)

Tickets available by phone at 604.876.3434 or online at www.vancouversymphony.ca

Generously Supported By:

Series Sponsor: PricewaterhouseCoopers

Video Screen Sponsor: TELUS

Video screen presentations created and produced by students and staff of digital video productions at Columbia Academy.

CBC Radio 2 will record the concert on February 23 for Sunday Afternoon in Concert

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BIOGRAPHIES

Bramwell Tovey, conductor

A musician of striking versatility, Bramwell Tovey is acknowledged around the world for his artistic depth and his warm, charismatic personality on the podium. Tovey’s career as a conductor is uniquely enhanced by his work as a composer and pianist, lending him a remarkable musical perspective. His tenures as Music Director with the Vancouver Symphony, Luxembourg Philharmonic and Winnipeg Symphony Orchestras have been characterized by his expertise in operatic, choral, British and contemporary repertoire.

The 2007-08 season holds many highlights for Tovey. A recent recording with violinist James Ehnes brought a 2007 Grammy Award to the soloist, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, and Tovey. In his eighth season with Vancouver, Tovey collaborates with guest artists Ben Heppner and Evelyn Glennie and leads the orchestra through an in-depth six-concert Beethoven festival, featuring performances by Lang Lang and Anne-Sophie Mutter. He also appears with orchestras across East Asia, in the spring of 2008, in advance of the orchestra’s fall 2008 tour of China. Highlights for 2008 in the United States include Tovey’s appointment as Principal Guest Conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl. The post, last held by Leonard Slatkin, includes general programming and conducting of Los Angeles Philharmonic concerts in its famed summer venue. Tovey also has been commissioned to write a work for the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonic’s respective 2008 summer seasons.

Prior to his music directorship in Vancouver, Tovey spent twelve years as music director of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, where he founded its highly regarded New Music Festival. A significant milestone in the ensemble’s exploration of new music, the festival premiered more than 250 works by diverse international and Canadian composers under Tovey’s leadership, with every performance broadcast on Canada’s CBC Radio.

In 2004, he founded the New York Philharmonic’s Summertime Classics series at Avery Fisher Hall, and presides annually as its host and conductor. Chief critic of The New York Times Anthony Tommassini has written, “The New York Philharmonic values the British conductor Bramwell Tovey as the host of its Summertime Classics series not only because he is a good musician, but also because he brings such a delightfully avuncular sense of humor to the job of introducing the pieces on the program.”

During his four years as the music director of the Luxembourg Philharmonic, from 2002 to 2006, Tovey led three successful tours in Europe, the Far East and the eastern United States, traveling to China, Korea, Germany, Austria, Italy, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Holland and Belgium. In 2004, Tovey and the orchestra were awarded the “Orphée d’Or” of the Academie Lyrique Francaise, for their critically praised recording of Jean Cras’ opera, Polyphème. The following year, in celebration of the opening of Luxembourg’s new Philharmonic Hall, Tovey conducted the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra and the Europa Academie Choir in the world premiere of Penderecki’s 8th Symphony, composed especially for the occasion.

An esteemed guest conductor, Tovey has worked with orchestras in the UK and Europe including the London Philharmonic, London Symphony, Bournemouth, the Frankfurt Radio Orchestra, and the North Netherlands Symphony where he will lead the Dutch premiere of Penderecki’s 8th Symphony in 2008. In a review of a performance with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra the Scottish Herald wrote “….he’s a sophisticated entertainer, a refined malt whiskey of a man.….(Tovey) produced polished playing…that is too rare in performances of this music.” In North America, along with his work with the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonics, Tovey has made guest appearances with the orchestras of St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Seattle, Toronto and Montreal. A recent review in The St. Louis Post Dispatch noted “…the orchestra played brilliantly, responding to Tovey’s direction like a well-tuned race car.”

With a profound commitment to new music, Tovey has established himself as a formidable composer. He has been commissioned by the Calgary Opera to compose the company’s third original full-length opera. Written with librettist John Murrell, this work is based on the extraordinary life of Alexander “Sandy” Keith, a notorious 19th century con artist and criminal from Halifax, Nova Scotia. An immense undertaking, the piece will premiere in Calgary in January of 2011. Tovey’s other accomplishments as a composer include receiving the Best Canadian Classical Composition 2003 Juno Award for his Requiem for a Charred Skull, performed and recorded by the Amadeus Choir and the Hannaford Band in Toronto. Tovey has also built a strong reputation as an accomplished jazz pianist with two recordings to his name.

Renowned as a choral conductor, Tovey has performed works ranging from Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 to Bach’s Mass in B Minor. In opera, his repertoire includes works by Puccini, Strauss, Mozart, Menotti, Poulenc, Britten and Stravinsky. In 2004, he premiered a new opera by John Estacio, jointly commissioned by the Banff Centre and the Calgary Opera, which he reprised for the National Arts Centre in Ottawa in 2005.

Tovey has made memorable appearances on television, including two documentaries with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and a 1996 CBC TV broadcast of Victor Davies’ Revelation, a full-length oratorio based on the Book of Revelation, with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. He has also recorded several DVDs, of works including Holst’s The Planets Suite with distinguished guests such as percussionist Evelyn Glennie, among many others.

Awarded numerous honorary degrees, Tovey has received a Fellowship from the Royal Academy of Music in London, honorary Doctorates of Law from the University of Winnipeg, the University of Manitoba and Kwantlen University College, as well as a Fellowship from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. In 1999, he received the M. Joan Chalmers National Award for Artistic Direction, a prestigious Canadian prize awarded to premier artists for outstanding contributions in professional performing arts organizations.

Louis Lortie, piano

Canadian pianist Louis Lortie has been praised for the fresh perspective and individuality he brings to a deliberately broad spectrum of the keyboard canon. He studied in Montréal with Yvonne Hubert (a pupil of French pianist, Alfred Cortot), in Vienna with the Beethoven specialist Dieter Weber, and subsequently with Schnabel disciple Leon Fleisher, among others.

Mr. Lortie has performed the complete works of Ravel in London and Montréal for the BBC and CBC, and is also known for his interpretation of Chopin. Following a recital of Chopin’s complete Etudes in London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Financial Times wrote: “Better Chopin playing than this is not to be heard, not anywhere.” He often performs major contemporary works, recently concentrating on pieces by British composer Thomas Ades.

Also celebrated for his interpretation of works by Beethoven, Mr. Lortie has performed the complete Beethoven sonatas in London’s Wigmore Hall, Toronto’s Ford Center, Berlin Philharmonie, and the Sala Grande del Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi in Milan. In Berlin, Die Welt called his performances “possibly the most beautiful Beethoven since the times of Wilhelm Kempff.” With the Montreal and Quebec Symphonies, he performed and conducted all five Beethoven Piano Concertos. In the Beethoven Plus Festival, Mr. Lortie performed Beethoven’s 32 sonatas for piano; plus the complete sonatas and trios with violin and cello. He opened the Bonn Beethoven Festival in 2003 playing Beethoven’s Fourth Concerto with Kurt Masur conducting, and since then has established a particularly fruitful partnership with Mr. Masur. They performed together with the New York Philharmonic, and in Paris with the Orchestre National de France. Future plans include concerts together with the San Francisco Symphony and ONF concerts in the UK, and in Vienna.

Over several seasons Mr. Lortie plays and conducts the 27 Mozart Piano Concertos (in combination with conducting various symphonic works by other composers) with the Montreal Symphony, culminating with 3 concerts in May, 2008. Last season he began his multi-concert Wagner/Liszt project at London’s Wigmore Hall, and performed it in Berlin, Milan, Domain Forget, the Weimar Festival, Bordeaux and Warsaw. He also performed his third recital on Carnegie Hall’s Great Artists series. In 2007-2008 Mr. Lortie explores the music of Schumann and Grieg at several summer festivals, both in solo recital and in chamber music concerts. He also performs with the San Francisco Symphony, the City of Birmingham Symphony, the Orchestre National de Paris, the Sydney Symphony, the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the National Symphony, the Rochester Philharmonic, the Indianapolis Symphony, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and the Northern Sinfonia. He plays recitals in Philadelphia, Florence, Toronto, Milan, San Francisco, Ottawa and London.

Louis Lortie has performed under the baton of conductors Lorin Maazel, Kurt Masur, Seiji Ozawa, Charles Dutoit, Kurt Sanderling, Neeme Jarvi, Sir Andrew Davis, Wolfgang Sawallisch, and Osmo Vanska. He has also been involved in many chamber music projects, with musicians such as Frank Peter Zimmermann, Leonidas Kavakos, Renaud and Gautier Capucon, Jan Vogler, Augustin Dumay and Gidon Kremer. His regular piano-duo partner is fellow Canadian Helene Mercier, with whom he has made successful recordings on the Chandos label.

Mr. Lortie has made over 30 recordings on the Chandos label, ranging from Mozart to Stravinsky. His recording of Beethoven’s Eroica Variations won the Edison Award, and his disc of Schumann’s Bunte Blatter and other works by Schumann and Brahms was named one of the best CDs of the year by BBC Music Magazine. He has recorded Ravel’s complete works for piano and has almost completed the 32 Beethoven sonatas. His recording of the complete Chopin Etudes, opp. 10 and 25, has been cited by BBC Music Magazine’s special Piano Issue as one of “50 Recordings by Superlative Pianists”. Mr. Lortie’s most recent CD release is the final recording in his three-CD series of Liszt’s complete works for piano and orchestra with the Residentie Orchestra of The Hague. It was immediately named “Editor’s Choice” by Gramophone Magazine. In addition to the current Liszt recordings, other recent releases include To the Distant Beloved, with works by Beethoven, Schumann and Liszt, and Franck’s Symphonic Variations with the BBC Symphony.

Born in Montréal, Louis Lortie made his debut with the Montréal Symphony at the age of thirteen and the Toronto Symphony three years later, which as a result engaged him for a historic tour of the People’s Republic of China and Japan. In 1984, he won First Prize in the Busoni Competition and was a prize-winner at the Leeds Competition. In 1992 he was named Officer of the Order of Canada, and received both the Order of Quebec and an honorary doctorate from Laval University. As his schedule permits, he teaches at Italy’s renowned piano institute at Imola. Mr. Lortie has lived in Berlin since 1997 and also has a home in Canada.

Celebrate Valentine's with the VSO and Tchaikovsky's Romantic Romeo & Juliet

Celebrate Valentine’s with the VSO and

Tchaikovsky’s Romantic Romeo & Juliet

Vancouver BC – The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra has the perfect Valentine’s concert featuring the Romantic music of Bizet’s Carmen, Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet and pianist Ian Parker performing Ravel’s exciting Piano Concerto. Concerts take place on February 14^th at the Orpheum Theatre and February 16^th at the Bell Performing Arts Centre. Maestro Bramwell Tovey wields his baton for this concert which also features the Vancouver Youth Symphony Orchestra performing with the VSO in the Bizet and the Tchaikovsky.

Born in Vancouver to a family of pianistic powerhouses, Ian Parker proves that talent runs in the blood. With his fluid artistry and irresistible charm, Parker captivates audiences wherever he goes. A graduate of The Julliard School and First Prize winner of the 2001 CBC National Radio Competition and the Canadian National Music Festival, Parker’s talent was evident and he quickly rose to fame as a soloist who delights audiences internationally.

Established in 1930, the Vancouver Youth Symphony Orchestra has a long history of offering the highest level of musical training for young musicians. Artistic Director, Roger Cole (who is also the VSO’s Principal Oboist) explains that “after 78 years, the VYSO looks forward to not only making a difference in the lives of its members, but in the local and provincial community as well. Conducting the Senior Orchestra is truly a thrill – the superb artistic ability and sheer dedication that goes into making each one of our performances a success is evident on the face of each player.”

CONCERT INFO

Musically Speaking & Surrey Nights Series

Saturday, February 14, 8pm, Orpheum Theatre

Monday, February 16, 8pm, Bell Performing Arts Centre

Bramwell Tovey, conductor

Ian Parker, piano

Vancouver Youth Symphony Orchestra

Nicolai The Merry Wives of Windsor: Overture

Aaron Young Acte-Automaton (Olympic Commission)

Ravel Piano Concerto in G Major
Bizet Carmen Suite
Tchaikovsky Romeo & Juliet

Tickets for February 14: $20-$56 (Senior, Student & Subscriber discounts available)

Tickets for February 16: $37 (Senior, Student & Subscriber discounts available)

Tickets available by phone at 604.876.3434 or online at www.vancouversymphony.ca

Special Thanks:

The VSO’s Surrey Nights series has been endowed by a generous gift from Werner and Helga Höing.

Special Video Screen Presentations for the Musically Speaking series were created and produced by students and staff of Digital Video Productions at Columbia Academy.

Video Screen Sponsor: TELUS

Radio Sponsor: 103.5 QM/FM

The VSO is grateful to the Province of British Columbia for its support of the Olympic Commissioning Project.

BIOGRAPHIES

Bramwell Tovey, conductor

A musician of striking versatility, Bramwell Tovey is acknowledged around the world for his artistic depth and warm, charismatic personality on the podium. Tovey’s career as a conductor is uniquely enhanced by his work as a composer and pianist, lending him a remarkable musical perspective.

Tovey garnered a 2008 Grammy Award and a 2008 Juno Award for his recording with violinist James Ehnes and the Vancouver Symphony. Recently named Principal Guest Conductor for the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, he works frequently with the Toronto Symphony, Montreal Symphony, Royal Philharmonic and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestras, among many others. He has presided as host and conductor of the New York Philharmonic’s Summertime Classics series at Avery Fisher Hall since its founding in 2004.

As a composer, he was honored with the Best Canadian Classical Composition Juno Award in 2003 for his Requiem for a Charred Skull. New works include a co-commission for the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonics’ 2008 summer seasons as well as a full-length opera for the Calgary Opera, The Inventor, to premiere in January of 2011.

Tovey has been awarded honorary degrees, including a Fellowship from the Royal Academy of Music in London, honorary Doctorates of Law from the universities of Winnipeg and Manitoba, and Kwantlen University College, as well as a Royal Conservatory of Music Fellowship in Toronto. In 1999, he received the M. Joan Chalmers National Award for Artistic Direction, a Canadian prize awarded to artists for outstanding contributions in the performing arts.

Ian Parker, piano

Magnetic, easy-going and delightfully articulate, Canadian pianist Ian Parker captivates audiences wherever he goes. He has appeared with the Buffalo Philharmonic, Calgary Philharmonic, Cincinnati Symphony, CBC Vancouver, Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom, Edmonton Symphony, Greenwich Symphony, Honolulu Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic, Mobile Symphony, National Symphony, Quebec Symphony, and the symphonies of Toronto, Vancouver, Victoria, and Winnipeg, among others. One of the highlights of 2006 was Mr. Parker’s dazzling performance of Rachmaninov’s second piano concerto and the Variations on a Theme by Paganini with the Jacksonville Symphony, both at the same concert and on short notice! The tour de force brought the house down in Jacksonville and marked the grand finale of the Jacksonville Symphony’s Classical Madness festivities.

An enthusiastic recitalist, Ian Parker has performed across the United States, Western Europe, Israel, and throughout Canada on tours with Debut Atlantic and Jeunesses Musicales du Canada. He made his Lincoln Center recital debut at the Walter Reade Theater in 2004 and moderates a new recital series in Vancouver for the introduction of young artists.

Mr. Parker was invited to collaborate with the internationally renowned Vogler Quartet during its twentieth anniversary tour in 2005-06 throughout the U.S. and Canada. Following the tour’s tremendous success, he was invited to join them again for several concerts in the spring of 2006, as well as an extensive North American tour in the 2006-07 season.

First Prize winner at the 2001 CBC National Radio Competition, Ian Parker has also won the Grand Prize at the Canadian National Music Festival, the Corpus Christie International Competition and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra Competition. At The Juilliard School, he received the 2002 William Petschek Piano Debut Award and, on two occasions, was the winner of the Gina Bachauer Piano Scholarship Competition. Heard regularly on CBC Radio, Mr. Parker has also performed live on WQXR (hosted by Robert Sherman) in New York.

Born in Vancouver to a family of pianists, Ian Parker began his piano studies at age three with his father, Edward Parker. He holds both the Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School, where he was a student of Yoheved Kaplinsky. While at Juilliard, the Canada Council for the Arts awarded him the Sylva Gelber Career Grant, which is given annually to the “most talented Canadian artist.”

Vancouver Youth Symphony Orchestra

The Vancouver Youth Symphony has a long, proud history in Vancouver, dating back to 1930. An amateur flautist named R. Cyril Haworth was the prime mover in forming the "Vancouver Little Symphony", first under the direction of the students themselves and later, under the baton of it’s first Music Director, Mr. George Coutts. Mr. Coutts was known to be "one of the very best", "a fun kind of chap" and a Scottish trained, all round musician with talent and generosity as a community leader. The orchestra thrived and in 1938, the ensemble became an "educational project" of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and the name was changed to "Vancouver Junior Symphony Orchestra". In 1945 the group was reorganized as an independent and became the "Vancouver Youth Symphony Orchestra". Today, the Vancouver Youth Symphony Orchestra is a dynamic, independent organization that is recognized throughout Greater Vancouver for its very fine, multi level orchestral training programme.

VYSO musicians continue to proudly represent Vancouver locally, nationally and internationally. Many former VYSO musicians have gone on to acclaimed musical careers and there is never a shortage of current young VYSO musicians following in their paths. The Vancouver Youth Symphony Orchestra continues to offer the highest level of musical training, to nurture and develop young musicians for decades to come.

The VYSO helps to develop young musicians, both artistically and as individuals. Its programs, including performances, rehearsals, tours, and workshops, provide musicians with the opportunity to discover and realize their potential in a secure yet challenging environment. The orchestra conducts annual concerto competitions, the winners of which receive a cash prize and an opportunity to perform as concert soloists with the orchestra.

The VYSO is firmly committed to keeping its program accessible to young musicians, regardless of their financial and cultural background. In order to ensure that tuition fees remain affordable, the VYSO maintains a continuous and intense fundraising effort. Bursaries are available to assist students who might otherwise be unable to participate.

The VYSO also contributes to the community at large. It actively pursues opportunities to join with other community organizations in support of their youth programs. The VYSO regularly invites music students and senior citizens to enjoy its concerts as guests.

Young Composers' Competition - Deadline Approaching!

Vancouver Chamber Choir presents

9^th Biennial

Young Composers' Competition

DEADLINE APPROACHING!

(VANCOUVER, CANADA) - The Vancouver Chamber Choir encourages young composers (ages 8-22) to submit applications to the 9th Biennial Young Composers' Competition. It is an opportunity to compose for Canada's premiere choir, have the composition performed in the choir's concert series, and receive a cash award!

APPLICATION DEADLINE:

5pm Friday, February 27, 2009

Entries are judged in three age categories: Elementary (8-12), Secondary (13-17) and College/University (18-22), with several special awards for the best submissions by residents of British Columbia. A panel of musicians selected by the Vancouver Chamber Choir adjudicates the competition by assessing the originality and craftsmanship of the music and, where appropriate, the words.

Finalist compositions will be performed at the concert YOUTH & MUSIC on Friday, May 1, 2009 at 8pm (Ryerson United Church, Vancouver). Cash awards will be presented to two winners in each age group and also in the special BC categories. Young composers are encouraged to seek the support of their own choir or school, which may also be eligible for an award.In addition, all entrants will receive four tickets to a Vancouver Chamber Choir subscription series concert of their choice in the 2009-2010 season.

For more details and to download an application form visit www.vancouverchamberchoir.com/outreach. Forms are also available by emailing info@vancouverchamberchoir.com or phoning 604-738-6822.

Jon Washburn founded the Vancouver Chamber Choir in 1971. Under his guidance, the ensemble has become an amazing success story, ranking with the handful of North America's best professional choruses. In addition to touring and a busy season of concerts, broadcasts and recording, the Choir presents five award-winning educational programs.

For more information, please contact:

Karen Seaboyer Manager, Communications & Production

kseaboyer@vancouverchamberchoir.com 604-738-6822, ext 24

1254 West 7^th Avenue, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6H 1B6

www.vancouverchamberchoir.com

Vancouver Chamber Choir Auditions - Jan 24

AUDITIONS

FOR CHORAL ENSEMBLE

JANUARY 24, 2009

VANCOUVER, BC, CANADA (JANUARY 2009) - The Vancouver Chamber Choir is holding auditions for professional-level singers on Saturday, January 24. All voices (SATB) are invited to audition. Please call Natasha at 604-943-9789 or email natashaneufeld@telus.net for an appointment or further information.

The Vancouver Chamber Choir employs professional singers for approximately 10 local concerts and up to two tours per year, plus other engagements. Regular rehearsals are Tuesday through Thursdays, 10:00 am – 12 noon. Additional rehearsals may be required near concert dates and will be scheduled as needed.

The Vancouver Chamber Choir is Canada's outstanding professional vocal ensemble. Based on the Pacific coast in British Columbia, conductor Jon Washburn and his 20 singers are noted for their diverse repertoire and performing excellence.

The Choir won the Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence, recognizing outstanding contribution to the choral art. As well, Jon Washburn was honoured with the prestigious Louis Botto award, given at the 2000 Chorus America Conference in recognition of Washburn's innovative and entrepreneurial spirit in the development of a professional choral ensemble of exceptional quality.

In addition to a full concert subscription series and recordings, the Choir tours nationally and internationally and presents five award-winning educational programs.

The latest CD release UNEXPECTED GIFTS music for healing II follows the successful FINDING THE STILL POINT in the music for healing CD series.

For more information about this posting contact:

Karen Seaboyer, Manager, Communications and Production

Vancouver Chamber Choir

kseaboyer@vancouverchamberchoir.com 604-738-6822, ext 24

1254 West 7^th Avenue, Vancouver, BC Canada V6H 1B6 www.vancouverchamberchoir.com

The VSO proudly presents the Wall Centre Brahms Festival!

The VSO proudly presents the Wall Centre Brahms Festival

with world-renowned guest artists James Ehnes, Jan Vogler

and Peter Donohoe

Vancouver BC – The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra is extremely proud to present the Wall Centre Brahms Festival, a musical celebration of one of history’s greatest composers. Firmly cast in the Romantic era, yet gracefully writing in the Classical style of Mozart and Haydn, Johannes Brahms wrote some of the most extraordinary music the world has ever known. The Wall Centre Brahms Festival consists of four concerts and will take place between January 17^th and 26^th at 8pm at the Orpheum Theatre. VSO Music Director Bramwell Tovey will conduct all four concerts.

January 17^th features the VSO’s GRAMMY and JUNO partner, violinist James Ehnes performing one of the greatest works for violin ever written, Brahms Violin Concerto. Also featured in this concert is Symphony No. 1 and the Academic Festival Overture. James Ehnes is widely considered one of the most dynamic and exciting performers in classical music. He has performed in over 20 countries on five continents with many of the world’s most renowned orchestras and conductors. Recently, Ehnes paid tribute to the world’s most celebrated violin-makers with his recording and DVD, HOMAGE, released on the ONYX label in November in Canada and in early 2009 to the rest of the world. This unique project features performances on 12 of the greatest instruments ever made, all belonging to the Fulton collection, one of the most important private collections in the world.

January 19^th showcases James Ehnes and cellist Jan Vogler performing the famous Brahms Double Concerto for Violin and Cello, in an evening that also features Brahms’s Second Symphony and Hungarian Dance No. 1. Jan Vogler is hailed for his “spiraling virtuosity” and “lyrical intuition”. A world-renowned cellist, Vogler plays with passion and the right amount of risk, unafraid of expanding his style and refining his musical language.

January 24^th features internationally-renowned pianist Peter Donohoe performing the first of Brahms’s two monumental piano concertos. Also on the program is the beautiful Symphony No. 3 and the legendary Tragic Overture. January 26^th also features pianist Peter Donohoe performing one of the greatest works for piano ever written, Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 2. This concert will also feature Brahms’s final symphony, Symphony No. 4, and his Hungarian Dance No. 10. Peter Donohoe is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest British pianists alive today – acclaimed for his musicianship, stylistic versatility and commanding technique. Born in Manchester, he studied piano at the Royal Northern College of Music and later in Paris with Olivier Messiaen. Donohoe shot to fame after winning the 1982 International Tchaikovsky Competition and began touring the world as a soloist. Prior to appearing with the VSO, Mr. Donohoe will perform with the prestigious Czech Philharmonic, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Celebrate the music of one of history’s most important composers with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Maestro Bramwell Tovey and world-renowned guest artists in a festival that features all four Brahms Symphonies and all of his concertos. The VSO is proud to present the Wall Centre Brahms Festival Pass: purchase all four concerts and receive 25% off regular pricing!

CONCERT INFO

WALL CENTRE BRAHMS FESTIVAL

Saturday, January 17, 8pm, Orpheum Theatre

Bramwell Tovey, conductor

James Ehnes, violin

Brahms Academic Festival Overture, Op. 80

Brahms Violin Concerto in D Major

Brahms Symphony No.1 in C minor

Monday, January 19, 8pm, Orpheum Theatre

Bramwell Tovey, conductor

James Ehnes, violin

Jan Vogler, cello

Brahms Hungarian Dance No.1

Brahms Concerto for Violin & Cello in A minor

Brahms Symphony No.2 in D Major

Saturday, January 24, 8pm, Orpheum Theatre

Bramwell Tovey, conductor

Peter Donohoe, piano

Brahms Tragic Overture, Op. 81

Brahms Piano Concerto No.1 in D minor

Brahms Symphony No.3 in F Major

Monday, January 26, 8pm, Orpheum Theatre

Bramwell Tovey, conductor

Peter Donohoe, piano

Brahms Hungarian Dance No. 10

Brahms Piano Concerto No.2 in B-flat Major

Brahms Symphony No.4 in E minor

Johannes Brahms was one of the world’s greatest composers. Firmly cast in the Romantic era, yet gracefully writing in the Classical style of Mozart and Haydn, Brahms wrote some of the most extraordinary music the world has ever known. Join the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Maestro Bramwell Tovey and world-renowned guest artists in a celebration of the music of one of history’s most important composers.

Tickets $25 to $78.50 (Student, Senior and Subscriber discounts available)

Wall Centre Brahms Festival Pass: Purchase all 4 concerts and receive 25% off regular pricing!

Tickets available by phone at 604.876.3434 or online at www.vancouversymphony.ca

Festival Sponsor:

Wall Centre

BIOGRAPHIES

Bramwell Tovey, Conductor

A musician of striking versatility, Bramwell Tovey is acknowledged around the world for his artistic depth and warm, charismatic personality on the podium. Tovey’s career as a conductor is uniquely enhanced by his work as a composer and pianist, lending him a remarkable musical perspective.

Tovey garnered a 2008 Grammy Award and a 2008 Juno Award for his recording with violinist James Ehnes and the Vancouver Symphony. Recently named Principal Guest Conductor for the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, he works frequently with the Toronto Symphony, Montreal Symphony, Royal Philharmonic and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestras, among many others. He has presided as host and conductor of the New York Philharmonic’s Summertime Classics series at Avery Fisher Hall since its founding in 2004.

As a composer, he was honored with the Best Canadian Classical Composition Juno Award in 2003 for his Requiem for a Charred Skull. New works include a co-commission for the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonics’ 2008 summer seasons as well as a full-length opera for the Calgary Opera, The Inventor, to premiere in January of 2011.

Tovey has been awarded honorary degrees, including a Fellowship from the Royal Academy of Music in London, honorary Doctorates of Law from the universities of Winnipeg and Manitoba, and Kwantlen University College, as well as a Royal Conservatory of Music Fellowship in Toronto. In 1999, he received the M. Joan Chalmers National Award for Artistic Direction, a Canadian prize awarded to artists for outstanding contributions in the performing arts.

James Ehnes, Violin

James Ehnes has rapidly established a pre-eminent reputation among concert violinists. He has performed with such renowned conductors as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Sir Andrew Davis, Charles Dutoit, Ivan Fischer, Lorin Maazel, Michael Gielen, Hans Graf, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Richard Hickox, Paavo Järvi, Andrew Litton, Zdenek Macal, Sir Charles Mackerras, David Robertson, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, Christian Thielemann, Bramwell Tovey, and Bobby McFerrin, appearing with orchestras throughout Europe, Asia, the United States, and Canada. Recent engagements include appearances in Europe with the London Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Philharmonic, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the Ulster Orchestra, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, the Orchestre de Lyon, the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, the Budapest Festival Orchestra, and the Finnish Radio Orchestra, in Asia with the NHK Symphony Orchestra (Tokyo), the Malaysian Philharmonic and the Hong Kong Philharmonic, and in North America with the major orchestras of New York, Cleveland, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Detroit, Minnesota, St. Paul, Houston, Dallas, Seattle, Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, and Montreal.

Recitals have taken Mr. Ehnes to major cities around the world including London, Paris, Prague, Washington D.C., Tokyo, Osaka, Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. He has also appeared at major international festivals including Chicago's Ravinia Festival, the Marlboro Festival, the Seattle Chamber Music Festival, the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival, the Tokyo Summer Music Festival, the Bermuda Festival, the Montreux Festival, the Festival de la Chaise-Dieu, the Festival Côte St. André, the Moritzburg Festival, and the Festival of the White Nights. As a chamber musician, he has performed in trio with cellist Jan Vogler and pianist Louis Lortie and has collaborated with such artists as Leif Ove Andsnes and Yo-Yo Ma.

Following a busy summer featuring appearances in Seattle and Vail, and his first tour to Australia and New Zealand, the 2008-2009 season takes James Ehnes to Malaysia, Western and Eastern Canada, as well as to Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands, the UK, Detroit, Nashville, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa.

In Europe, James will be featured in concerts with l'Orchestre de la Swisse Romande in Geneva, the Duisberger Philharmoniker, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, the Bournemouth Symphony, the Gürzenich Orchester Köln, the Philharmonia Orchestra, the BBC Philharmonic, and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the Göteborg Symfonieorkester, l'Orchestre philharmonique de Liège, the Munich State Opera Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra.

Canada claims James for performances with the Winnipeg, Toronto, Edmonton, Montreal, Vancouver, St. John's and Timmins Symphony Orchestras, and the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa; in the US, he will appear with the Florida West Coast Symphony and at the San Diego Mostly Mozart Festival.

As well, James will return to Australia in November for performances with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and appear with the Malaysian Symphony Orchestra. In addition to his many concert appearances, James will appear in recital in Detroit, Toronto, Tilburg (Netherlands), London's Wigmore Hall, and undertake tours of Eastern and Western Canada.

An extremely prolific and multi-award-winning recording artist, with five JUNO Awards and the 2008 GRAMMY Award, James Ehnes recently added to his impressive discography of over 20 recordings with the release of Elgar's Violin Concerto with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Sir Andrew Davis on the Onyx label and a disc of works by Paul Schoenfield with pianist Andrew Russo (Black Box). James's CD featuring the violin concertos of Korngold, Walton and Barber with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Bramwell Tovey conducting (CBC) was widely considered a highlight of 2006 and won the 2008 GRAMMY and JUNO Awards.

In January 2006, he celebrated the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth with the release of a recording of Mozart's complete oeuvre for solo violin and orchestra. The five Violin Concertos and three single movement works- Adagio K 261, Rondo K 269, and Rondo K 373 - features an ensemble of extraordinary musicians which Ehnes gathered from around the world and directed himself (CBC Records) and has widely received top praise making it "a clear first choice in the field" (Classic FM).

James Ehnes has recorded repertoire ranging from Bach Violin Sonatas to John Adams Road Movies. His CBC recordings with l'Orchestre symphonique de Montréal of Max Bruch's Concertos nos. 1 and 3 (with Charles Dutoit) and Concerto no. 2 with the Scottish Fantasy (with Mario Bernardi) won back-to-back Juno awards in 2001 and 2002 for Best Classical Recording. In January 2002, he was named Young Artist of the Year at the Cannes Classical Awards for his Six Sonatas & Partitas for Solo Violin by Bach (Analekta), which was also awarded a JUNO award in 2001.

James Ehnes was born in 1976 in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada. He began violin studies at the age of four, at age nine he became a protégé of the noted Canadian violinist Francis Chaplin. He studied with Sally Thomas at the Meadowmount School of Music, then in 1993 at The Juilliard School. He graduated from Julliard in 1997, winning the Peter Mennin Prize for Outstanding Achievement and Leadership in Music. Mr. Ehnes first gained national recognition in 1987 as winner of the Grand Prize in Strings at the Canadian Music Competition. The following year he won the First Prize in Strings at the Canadian Music Festival, the youngest musician ever to do so. At age 13, he made his orchestral solo debut with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal. He has won numerous awards and prizes, including the first-ever Ivan Galamian Memorial Award, the Canada Council for the Arts' prestigious Virginia Parker Prize, and a 2005 Avery Fisher Career Grant. In October 2005, James was honoured by Brandon University with a Doctor of Music degree (honoris causa) and in July 2007 he became the youngest person ever elected as a Fellow to the Royal Society of Canada.

James Ehnes plays the "Ex Marsick" Stradivarius of 1715 and gratefully acknowledges its extended loan from the Fulton Collection. He currently lives in Bradenton, Florida with his wife Kate.

Jan Vogler, Cello

Since he dedicated himself to his instrument he has constantly been working on expanding the spectrum of his cello sound and refines his musical language in an enduring dialogue with renowned contemporary composers and interpreters – with passion and the required dose of risk. The New York Times admires Jan Vogler’s “lyrical intuition”, the Gramophone Magazine praises his “spiraling virtuosity” and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung certified him the talent to be able to “let his cello speak like a singing voice”. „From Screaming to singing – Jan Vogler and his cello“ was the title of a 2004 Strad issue. In October 2006, Jan Vogler received the European Award for Culture.

Highlights of the 2007/08 season are concerts with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Mark Elder and the Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra in December. In February, Jan Vogler presents an extraordinary program together with the Camerata Bern in Dresden, in which he will also perform solo pieces. Also his successful cooperation with pianist Martin Stadtfeld will be continued in this season. The German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra has invited him for February, and in April he will perform Brahms’ double concerto together with violinist Mira Wang in the Cologne Philharmonie. In 2006/07, Jan Vogler has toured the USA, Asia and Europe. He performed together with Moritzburg Festival artists in Berlin Philharmonie, and he was guest of the Freiburg Philharmonic, Mecklenburgische Staatskapelle Schwerin, Staatsorchester Halle and the Munich Chamber Orchestra. Jan Vogler and the mdr Symphony Orchestra performed at the Leipziger Gewandhaus and at the Prague Autumn Festival, and in May 2007, Jan Vogler gave his debut with the Vienna Symphony.

Jan Vogler, who currently lives in Dresden and New York together with his wife and two daughters started as principal cellist of the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden only aged 20 but left the position in 1997 in order to fully concentrate on his already successful career as a soloist. Career highlights include his performances with the New York Philharmonic, one of them with Lorin Maazel during the reopening festivities of the Dresden Frauenkirche in 2005. Jan Vogler plays the precious Montagnana ‘Ex-Hekking’ cello from 1721.

Alongside the standard pieces Jan Vogler’s orchestra repertoire includes exceptional works such as the cello concerto Dunkle Saiten by Jörg Widmann which is dedicated to Jan Vogler, and the cello concertos by Samuel Barber and Michael Haydn. Together with the New York Philharmonic he premiered English composer Colin Matthews’ Berceuse for Dresden in the Dresden Frauenkirche in 2005.

Vogler is also a passionate chamber musician. Co-founder of the Moritzburg Festival, he is its artistic director and also takes the festival ensemble on tours. He regularly performs with pianists such as Hélène Grimaud, Martin Stadtfeld, and Louis Lortie. Together with Lortie he offers special programs, for example a Lieder program with works by Wagner, Wolf and Liszt.

Vogler began his successful collaboration with Sony Classical in 2003/04 with a recording of Strauss’ Don Quixote and Romance with the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden and Fabio Luisi. Another Sony recording, titled The Secrets of Dvorak’s cello concerto with the New York Philharmonic and David Robertson, was awarded the Diapason d’Or, among others. Following a CD with Fauré and Ravel piano quintets, in 2006 two new CDs were released with musicians of the Moritzburg Festival, performing Mozart chamber works. One of them was awarded the ECHO Klassik 2006. His highly successful recordings for Berlin Classics include the cello concertos by Samuel Barber and Erich Wolfgang Korngold. His latest CD My Tunes, was released on Sony Classical in February 07. The next CD from September 07 includes cello concerti by Hasse, Graf, Michael Haydn (world premiere recordings), and C.P.E. Bach, recorded with the Munich Chamber Orchestra and Reinhard Goebel.

Peter Donohoe, Piano

Peter Donohoe was born in Manchester in 1953. He studied at the Royal Northern College of Music with Derek Wyndham and then in Paris with Olivier Messiaen and Yvonne Loriod. Since his unprecedented success as joint winner of the 1982 International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, he has developed a distinguished career in Europe, the USA, the Far East and Australasia. He is acclaimed as one of the foremost pianists of our time, for his musicianship, stylistic versatility and commanding technique. In 2006 he was invited by the Netherlands to be Ambassador for Music in the Middle East.

During the 2007/8 season Peter Donohoe’s performances include the City of Birmingham Symphony and Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestras, an extensive tour to South America and concerts in Moscow and St Petersburg. He will also take part in a major Messiaen Festival in the Spanish city of Cuenca, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the composer’s birth and performs solo recitals throughout the UK, including London’s Cadogan Hall. Last season Peter Donohoe’s engagements included the complete works for piano and orchestra by Tchaikovsky with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.

Peter Donohoe played with the Berliner Philharmoniker in Sir Simon Rattle’s opening concerts as Music Director. He has also recently performed with all the major London Orchestras, Royal Concertgebouw, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Munich Philharmonic, Swedish Radio, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Vienna Symphony and Czech Philharmonic Orchestras. He was an annual visitor to the BBC Proms for seventeen years and has appeared at many other festivals including six consecutive visits to the Edinburgh Festival, La Roque d’Anthéron in France, and at the Ruhr and Schleswig Holstein Festivals in Germany. In the United States, his appearances have included the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Boston, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Detroit Symphony Orchestras. Peter Donohoe has worked with many of the worlds’ greatest conductors including Christoph Eschenbach, Neeme Jarvi, Lorin Maazel, Kurt Masur, Andrew Davis and Yevgeny Svetlanov.

Peter Donohoe is a keen chamber musician and performs frequently with the pianist Martin Roscoe. They have given performances in London and at the Edinburgh Festival and have recorded discs of Gershwin and Rachmaninov. Other musical partners have included the Maggini Quartet, with whom he has made recordings of several great British chamber works.

In 2001 Naxos released a disc of music by Finzi, the first of a major series of recordings which aims to raise the public's awareness of British piano repertoire through concert performance and recordings. Discs of music by Rawsthorne, Bliss, Darnton, Rowley, Ferguson, Gerhard, Alwyn, Pitfield and Harty have now also been released to great critical acclaim.

Peter Donohoe has made many fine recordings on EMI Records and has won awards for them including the Grand Prix International du Disque Liszt and the Gramophone Concerto award for the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto no. 2. His recordings of Messiaen with the Netherlands Wind Ensemble for Chandos Records and Litolff for Hyperion have also received widespread acclaim.

Vivaldi's Four Seasons

Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with the VSO and the Canadian debut of violinist/conductor Duncan Riddell

Vancouver BC – Vivaldi’s Four Seasons is a timeless classic and a fundamental staple for the Holiday season. This year, Duncan Riddell will lead the orchestra from the violin in his interpretation of the piece, as well as chamber works by Mozart and Mendelssohn. The concerts take place on December 19^th and 20^th at the Chan Centre for Performing Arts and, NEW this year, the VSO returns to Massey Theatre in New Westminster on December 21^st for one performance at 7:30pm.

Currently the Concertmaster of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Duncan Riddell has appeared as guest concertmaster with several prestigious orchestras around the United Kingdom including the London Symphony and London Philharmonic. Mr. Riddell is a chamber music specialist and will lead and perform in his element. The VSO welcomes Mr. Riddell in his Canadian debut.

Vivaldi’s Four Seasons is of course one of the most popular works ever written. Vivaldi played a significant role in many important music developments, most notably the rise of the concerto. He wrote over five hundred concerti(!) for various instruments, the most popular of those being for the violin. Vivaldi was paid the tremendous compliment of having no less a musical titan as Johannes Sebastian Bach transcribe many of his concerti, such a fan of Vivaldi’s music he was. The Four Seasons are of course Vivaldi’s most enduringly popular works, probably due both to their exceptional quality and the programmatic, or descriptive, nature of the music. Vivaldi made pioneering efforts in the area of descriptive composition, and was explicit to a greater degree than any of his other compositions in terms of his elaborate description of what the music portrays. The Four Seasons has become an iconic work, standing alongside the likes of Beethoven’s 9^th as the most recognized and loved music ever written. It is now a beloved Lower Mainland music tradition, in its eight consecutive season at the Chan Centre in late December with the VSO.

CONCERT INFO

Bach & Beyond & Specials:

Vivaldi’s Four Seasons

Friday & Saturday, December 19 & 20, 8pm, Chan Centre

Sunday, December 21, 7:30pm, Massey Theatre

Duncan Riddell, leader/violin

Mozart Divertimento, K.136

Mendelssohn Sinfonia No.9 in C Major

Vivaldi Four Seasons

Tickets for December 19 & 20 at the Chan Centre:

Tickets $35 to $59 (Student, Senior and Subscriber discounts available)

Tickets available ONLY through Ticketmaster outlets, Charge-by-Phone at 604.280.3311 or online at www.ticketmaster.ca

Tickets for December 21 at the Massey Theatre:

Tickets $37 (Student, Senior and Subscriber discounts available)

Tickets available by phone at 604.876.3434 or online at www.vancouversymphony.ca as well as the Massey Ticket Centre 604.521.5050

The VSO’s Bach & Beyond Series Endowed By:

The Chan Foundation of Canada

The presentation of this series is made possible in part through the generous assistance of the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts of the University of British Columbia.

Radio Sponsor:

CHQM-FM

BIOGRAPHIES

Duncan Riddell, leader/violin

British born violinist Duncan Riddell studied with Professor Nicholas Roth from the age of eleven and subsequently as a student at Trinity College of Music in London. During this time he became Concertmaster of both the European Community Youth Orchestra under the baton of Claudio Abbado and the International Festival Youth Orchestra with C M Giulini, as well as winning internal college prizes and the silver medal at the first Shell/London Symphony Orchestra scholarship for string players in1978. On leaving Trinity College, he founded the Roth String Quartet with whom he won international prizes, performed extensively around Britain and in Europe and made many recordings for BBC Radio as well as on disc. In 1989, the quartet disbanded and Duncan accepted a principal position in the North German Radio Philharmonic in Hannover which led to recordings and performances as a soloist and with chamber groups in Germany. At the beginning of 1994, he was appointed co-concertmaster of the London Philharmonic Orchestra with whom he also made recordings and concert appearances as a soloist and director.

“Duncan Riddell assumes the mantle of [Wolfgang] Schneiderhan with no mean success.”

(Gramophone Magazine, Maria Trypticon-Frank Martin)

Duncan Riddell is currently Concertmaster of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra with which he has appeared many times as soloist including a live BBC Radio 3 broadcast of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with Andrew Litton. His increasingly frequent appearances as director of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra in both chamber and string orchestra form have elicited considerable critical acclaim.

He also continues to appear as guest concertmaster with many of the orchestras around the UK including the London Symphony and London Philharmonic orchestras and was invited to lead a joint orchestra of the members of the London Philharmonic and Orchestre National de France for Maestro Kurt Masur’s 80th birthday concert at the BBC Promenade Concerts in the summer of 2007.

Bugs Bunny on Broadway is coming

What’s Up, Doc?!

Bugs Bunny is coming to town next month!

Vancouver BC – The Wascally Wabbit is back! The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and Global ComedyFest are proud to present Bugs Bunny on Broadway – a unique and extraordinary concert experience that celebrates the world’s favourite classic Looney Tunes cartoons and their real classical scores. A great holiday gift, Bugs Bunny on Broadway is a fun family experience and a hilarious trip down nostalgia lane!

The large video screen show cartoon jewels like What’s Opera, Doc?, The Rabbit of Seville, Long Haired Hare and a Corny Concerto while the Orchestra plays the classical soundtracks on stage. This roller coaster ride of a concert has sold-out the world’s greatest concert halls from The Hollywood Bowl to the Sydney Opera House (and in the past, the Orpheum and Queen Elizabeth Theatre!) and created an enthusiastically-devoted international audience of animation fans and classical music lovers alike.

Bugs conductor and co-creator George Daugherty takes the podium with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra for this extra-special concert event. During the show, Daugherty explains how the genius of Chuck Jones and Warner Bros. took real classical and operatic scores, such as Rossini’s Barber of Seville and Wagner’s Ring Cycle, and set not only Bugs Bunny cartoons to this great classical music, but many others as well. It’s an eye-opening experience for audiences to learn that as they were growing up watching the hilarious antics of Bugs and friends, they were also listening to classical music!

Bugs Bunny on Broadway is a uniquely spirited, fun, and sophisticated combination of classic animation and spectacular symphonic music. George Daugherty and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra will perform three concerts from December 28^th to December 29^th at the Orpheum Theatre.

Tickets for Bugs Bunny on Broadway are going fast – the matinee performance is nearly sold out, but good seats remain for the two evening performances. Tickets are available exclusively through the VSO website at www.vancouversymphony.ca, and VSO Customer Service at 604.876.3434.

TM & ã Warner Bros. Entertainment

(s08)

CONCERT INFO

Specials

Bugs Bunny on Broadway

Sunday, December 28, 2pm & 7:30pm, Orpheum Theatre

Monday, December 29, 7:30pm, Orpheum Theatre

George Daugherty, conductor

Tickets: $32 to $38 (Senior, Student and Subscriber Discounts Available)

Please note: Tickets for Bugs Bunny on Broadway go on-sale Wednesday, October 1 at 10:00am

Presentation Partner:

Destination Funny Entertainment Inc.

BIOGRAPHIES

George Daugherty

Conductor George Daugherty is one of the classical music world's most diverse artists. In addition to his 30-year conducting career which has included appearances with the world's leading orchestras, ballet companies, opera houses, and concert artists, Daugherty is also an Emmy Award winning / five-time Emmy nominated creator whose professional profile includes major credits as a director, writer, and producer for television, film, innovative and unique concerts, and the live theater.

Daugherty's 2006-07-08 conducting schedule includes return performance with The Cleveland Orchestra (at both Severance Hall and The Blossom Festival), The Los Angeles Philharmonic at The Hollywood Bowl, The Philadelphia Orchestra, The San Francisco Symphony, The National Symphony at Wolf Trap and The Fort Worth Philharmonic.

Daugherty debuted with The Cleveland Orchestra in 2004 and has since conducted the orchestra in numerous concerts at The Blossom Festival, and made his Severance Hall debut with the orchestra in 2007. His Cleveland Orchestra repertoire has included Tchaikovsky Suite No. 3, numerous major works by Wagner, compositions by Rossini, Mozart, and Strauss, as well as his signature concert "Bugs Bunny On Broadway." He has also conducted The Blossom Festival Orchestra, where he returns again in 2008. He created the film-and-orchestra concert "Rodgers & Hammerstein On Stage and Screen" for The Blossom Festival in 2007 (which broke attendance records in its two performances) and in 2008, he premieres another new concert, Blossom Night At The Movies Celebrating The 85th Anniversary of Warner Bros.

He is Music Director and Conductor of London's Sinfonia Britannia, which made its world premiere at Easter 2005 during a one week engagement at the newly-opened Wales Millennium Centre. The orchestra made its U.S. tour debut in San Francisco in February 2006, and made its London West End debut in September 2006.

Mr. Daugherty has also been a frequent conductor of London's Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra with whom he conducted "A Royal Christmas," a 15 city U.S. and Canadian concert tour with the orchestra and guest artists Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Charlotte Church, The Westminster Choir and Bell Ringers, and ballet dancers from The Royal Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet, Kyev Ballet, Royal Winnipeg Ballet, and other major international companies. The tour played sold-out performances in such major North American cities as Boston, Toronto, Pittsburgh, Ottawa, and the New York City area.

Daugherty made his debut with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra in London's Royal Festival Hall in 1999, and has also since conducted the orchestra on tour throughout The United Kingdom. His performances with the RPCO have received rave reviews from such diverse international publications as The Times of London, The Boston Globe, and The Ottawa Citizen.

As a frequent guest conductor of The Los Angeles Philharmonic, Daugherty has conducted eleven engagements with the Philharmonic at the legendary Hollywood Bowl, and returns for a 12th in 2008. He also made his Dorothy Chandler Pavilion debut with the orchestra in December, 1994. He has also conducted four performances with The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.

Daugherty, a San Francisco resident, has also been a popular guest conductor with The San Francisco Symphony since his debut with the orchestra in 1998, performing with the SFS frequently in Davies Symphony Hall, as well as numerous performances around the Bay Area. He also returns to the SFS in summer 2008.

In 2000, Daugherty also made a highly successful conducting debut with The Philadelphia Orchestra, and returned again to conduct the orchestra in 2001, 2002, 2004, and 2006, conducting such repertoire as Mendelssohn's "Midsummer Night's Dream" with Shakespeare's text, as well as major works by Wagner, Rossini, Elgar, Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Mascagni, Humperdinck, and other composers.

He has been a frequent quest conductor at The Sydney Opera House since 1996, and in 2002 and 2005, he returned to guest conduct The Sydney Symphony for one week engagements at the Sydney Opera House. He also made his debut with The Melbourne Symphony in Melbourne's Victoria Arts Centre in 2002, and returned for a one week engagement in 2005, followed by debuts with The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and The Auckland Philharmonic. His international conducting appearances have ranged from Moscow's Kremlin Palace to Shanghai's Grand Theatre.

Daugherty has appeared with numerous other major American and international symphony orchestras, ballet companies, and opera houses, including American Ballet Theatre, The Sydney Opera House Orchestra, The Munich State Opera Orchestra, The Munich State Opera Ballet, The Pittsburgh Symphony, The Atlanta Symphony, The Cincinnati Symphony, The Houston Symphony, The Fort Worth Symphony, The Vancouver Symphony, The Buffalo Philharmonic, The Louisville Orchestra, The Indianapolis Symphony, The Phoenix Symphony, The Moscow Symphony, Seiji Ozawa's New Japan Philharmonic, The Shanghai Radio Orchestra, The Seoul Philharmonic, The Kremlin Palace Orchestra of The Russian Federation, The Kiev Ballet, The Nashville Symphony, The Grant Park Symphony Orchestra, The Columbus Symphony, The RCA Symphony Orchestra, The Saddlers Wells Royal Ballet, Mexico City's Bellas Artes Opera House, The Montreal Symphony, The Winnipeg Symphony, The Rochester Philharmonic, The New Orleans Symphony, The Venezuela Symphony, Mexico's Xalapa Symphony, The Oklahoma City Philharmonic, The National Arts Centre Orchestra, and major Italian opera houses in Rome, Florence, Turin, and Regio Emilia.

Mr. Daugherty made the professional guest conducting debut of his entire career in November 1979, at the age of 22, with The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra in The Eastman Theatre.

In addition to his appearances with American Ballet Theatre and other major ballet companies, he has also served as Music Director of The Louisville Ballet, The Chicago City Ballet, and Ballet Chicago, where he conducted the world premiere of Daniel Duell's "Glazunov Violin Concerto" ballet, performed by violinist Cho Liang Lin. Daugherty has also conducted for some of the ballet world's greatest stars, including Mikhail Baryshnikov, Gelsey Kirkland, Suzanne Farrell, Natalia Makarova, and virtually every top ballet dancer of the past two decades.

As a director, writer, and producer of music-based television programs, Daugherty has created several major productions for the ABC Television Network project, including a primetime animation-and-live action production of Sergei Prokofiev's "Peter and The Wolf", which he created, co-wrote, and directed (and for which he conducted the score with The Utah Symphony.) "Peter and The Wolf" starred Lloyd Bridges, Kirstie Alley, and Sleepless in Seattle's Ross Malinger (as Peter), along with new characters created by legendary Warner Bros. animation director Chuck Jones. The production -- and Daugherty -- earned a coveted Emmy Award when "Peter and The Wolf" was named Outstanding Primetime Children's Television Program. He also received a second Emmy nomination for Outstanding Music Direction for the production, as well as a Writers Guild of America / WGA Award nomination.

He collaborated with The Joy Luck Club author Amy Tan on a television adaptation of her celebrated children's book The Chinese Siamese Cat. The Emmy Award-winning series debuted on PBS in the fall of 2001 as a daily-animated children's television series, propelled by PBS' unprecedented advance order for 80 segments. Daugherty executive produced, and wrote a large number of the animated tales.

Daugherty also received an Emmy nomination for Rhythm & Jam, his ABC television network of specials which taught the basics of music to a teenage audience. He has now received five Emmy nominations to date, and his productions have won three additional Emmys and been nominated for 11 others.

Daugherty also directed the 1991 Warner Bros. documentary The Magical World of Chuck Jones, celebrating the career of the legendary animation director on his 80th birthday, and featuring interviews from a stellar group of artists whose work had been influenced by Jones' legendary comedic creations, including Whoopi Goldberg, Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard, George Lucas, Matt Groening, Danny Elfman, Joe Dante, and many others.

In 1990, Daugherty created, directed, and conducted the hit Broadway musical "Bugs Bunny On Broadway", a live-orchestra-and-film stage production which sold-out its extended run at New York's Gershwin Theatre on Broadway, and has since played to critical acclaim and sold-out houses in thirteen different Los Angeles engagements, as well as at Washington D.C.'s Wolf Trap, Philadelphia Orchestra's Mann Music Center, Detroit's Meadowbrook, Cleveland Orchestra's Blossom Festival, The New York Philharmonic's Saratoga Center for The Performing Arts, Pittsburgh Symphony's Heinz Hall, and in Vancouver, Denver, Detroit, Chicago, San Diego, Orange County, and elsewhere. "Bugs Bunny On Broadway" embarked on a worldwide concert tour in 1996 with an international (and sold-out) one week engagement at the famed Sydney Opera House in Australia, and subsequent international performances in London, Wales, Central and South America, Russia, Japan, China, and Korea.

Daugherty recently received the biannual Indiana Governor's Arts Award from the state of his birth, in recognition for his artistic contributions not only in Indiana, but also throughout the rest of the country. In receiving the award, Daugherty joined an exclusive list of previous Hoosier honorees, including composers Cole Porter and Hoagy Carmichael, conductors Raymond Lepard and John Nelson, cellist Janos Starker, violinists Joshua Bell and Josef Gingold, architect Michael Graves, designer Bill Blass, and novelist Kurt Vonnegut Jr. In 2005, he was also named a Sagamore of The Wabash by the late Indiana Governor Frank O'Bannon, the highest award which can be bestowed upon a performing artist from the state governor.

In 2005, Daugherty was also named a Library Laureate of The San Francisco Public Library for his contributions to children's books, reading, and literature, joining a distinguished list of authors who have been awarded the title.

Laudate Singers: MYSTERIUM, A Winter Concert By Candlelight

Laudate Singers proudly present

MYSTERIUM

A Winter Concert By Candlelight

Saturday December 13, 2008 at 8 pm

St. Andrew's United Church, North Vancouver

and

Friday December 19, 2008 at 8 pm

St. David's United Church, West Vancouver

Tickets $25 (general)/$20 (students/seniors)/free (age 17 & under)

Call 604-222-3158 or buy online at www.laudatesingers.com

In their annual winter concert, Laudate Singers and artistic director Lars Kaario will explore the beauty and mystery of the season through different settings of O Magnum Mysterium, an ancient liturgical text traditionally sung during Matins on Christmas Day. By shimmering candlelight, the North Shore’s premier chamber choir will perform interpretations of this medieval chant by composers from all over the world, spanning several centuries. Audiences will hear O Magnum Mysterium as put to music by the Spaniard Tomas Luis de Victoria (c.1548-1611), the Venetian Giovanni Gabrieli (1557-1612), the Englishman William Byrd (1539-1623), the Frenchman Francis Poulenc (1899-1963) and the American Morten Lauridsen (b.1943), as well as the world premiere of a brand new setting by award-winning Vancouver composer Bruce Sled, offering a contemporary Canadian perspective on the text.

The evening will also include Today the Virgin and a setting of William Blake’s The Lamb by John Tavener (b. 1944), Hodie Christus natus est by Miklós Csemiczky (b.1954), motets by Josef Gabriel Rheinberger (1839-1901), and such beloved seasonal classics such as Anton Bruckner’s Ave Maria, the classic Es ist ein Ros entsprungen by Praetorius, Joseph lieber, Joseph mein by Johann Walther and Puer natus in Bethlehem by Samuel Scheidt. With Mysterium, Laudate Singers once again create a warm, luminous oasis amid the grey days of winter, spiriting audiences away on a transcendent musical journey.

Also, don’t miss Laudate Singers’ annual Free Family Christmas Concert at St. Andrew’s United Church on December 14^th at 3 pm – a rollicking community event that has also become a North Shore holiday tradition.

VSO December Concert Listings

The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra presents a month to remember in December!

Vancouver BC – The month of December brings great classics and holiday music to Vancouver audiences. Kicking off the month of December is violin virtuoso and Vancouver native, Corey Cerovsek, who will perform Sibelius’s Violin Concerto in D minor with great young conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto.

Next up is the Classical Mystery Tour, which combines the music of the legendary Beatles with the unrivaled sounds of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. In the lead-up to the Holidays is The Magical, Musical World of Vienna featuring guest conductor Jean-Marie Zeitouni, soprano Marianne Fiset and the delightful works of Strauss, Lehar and Brahms. A concert featuring works from the Musical City itself – the perfect way to kick off the Holidays!

How could the holiday season be complete without the VSO’s Traditional Christmas concerts? This year, they feature VSO Assistant Conductor Evan Mitchell and narrator Christopher Gaze. The VSO brings these fourteen performances filled with carols and heart-warming music to venues in Vancouver, Surrey, North Vancouver, West Vancouver and Burnaby. And just before the Traditional Christmas, the VSO sneaks in Tiny Tots: Holiday Hooray! For the little ones, toddlers to age four or five, this is the perfect holiday event, featuring Let Your Music Shine with Lisa and Linda, at the Playhouse Theatre in downtown Vancouver, and Terry Fox Theatre in Port Coquitlam.

Another great music tradition returns to the Chan Centre at UBC, and debuts in Massey Theatre in New Westminster: Concertmaster of the Bournemouth Symphony and chamber music specialist Duncan Riddell leads the orchestra in Vivaldi’s timeless classic Four Seasons.

Rounding out the holiday season is the spectacularly entertaining Bugs Bunny on Broadway! That Wascally Wabbit is back in a concert that features classic Warner Bros. cartoons on a large screen while the orchestra plays the soundtracks on stage. A family favourite sure to sell out!

With Christmas just around the corner, the VSO Flex-Pass is a great gift for your loved ones. It’s the ultimate mix of savings and ticket buying flexibility – the 4-pack is just $139 and the 8-pack is $228 – and the perfect gift for any music lover! There is also the Symphony Sampler – test drive the VSO with four tickets from fifteen specially selected concerts in the spring. Another great Holiday gift idea from the VSO! Please visit the VSO website for more information www.vancouversymphony.ca

CONCERT INFO

Masterworks Diamond Series:

The Genius of Corey Cerovsek

Saturday & Monday, November 29 & December 1, 8pm, Orpheum Theatre

Carlos Miguel Prieto, conductor

Corey Cerovsek, violin

Verdi I vespri siciliani: Overture

Sibelius Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47

Bartok Concerto for Orchestra

Violin wunderkind Corey Cerovsek returns home to perform the sublime Sibelius. Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra is a rarely performed gem, and will rock the Orpheum.

Tickets $25 to $78.50 (Student, Senior and Subscriber discounts available)

Tickets available by phone at 604.876.3434 or online at www.vancouversymphony.ca

Generously Supported By:

Radio Sponsor: CKNW AM980

Beltone Symphony Sundays Series:

The Genius of Corey Cerovsek

Sunday, November 30, 2pm, Orpheum Theatre

Carlos Miguel Prieto, conductor

Corey Cerovsek, violin

Verdi I vespri siciliani: Overture

Sibelius Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47

Bartok Concerto for Orchestra

Violin wunderkind Corey Cerovsek returns home to perform the sublime Sibelius. Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra is a rarely performed gem, and will rock the Orpheum.

Tickets $20 to $56 (Student, Senior and Subscriber discounts available)

Tickets available by phone at 604.876.3434 or online at www.vancouversymphony.ca

Generously Supported By:

Series Sponsor: Beltone

Specials:

Classical Mystery Tour with the VSO

Wednesday, December 3, 8pm, Orpheum Theatre

Martin Herman, conductor

Classical Mystery Tour, entertainers

Chris Camilleri

Tony Kishman

Jim Owen

Thomas Teeley

The music of the Beatles like you’ve never heard it before! Classical Mystery Tour brings together the music of one of the greatest bands of all time with the unmatchable sounds of a live symphony orchestra. Classical Mystery Tour’s own Fab Four will transport you to the exciting heyday of rock ‘n’ roll with thirty classic Beatles tunes played just like Paul, John, George and Ringo. Roll up for the Mystery Tour, it’s coming to take you away!

Tickets $25 to $45 (Student, Senior and Subscriber discounts available)

Tickets available by phone at 604.876.3434 or online at www.vancouversymphony.ca

Musically Speaking Series:

The Magical, Musical World of Vienna!

Saturday, December 6, 8pm, Orpheum Theatre

Jean-Marie Zeitouni, conductor

Marianne Fiset, soprano*

J. Strauss Der Ziegeunerbaron: Overture

Lehar Zigeunerliebe (Gypsy Love): Hor’Ich Cymbalklange*

Brahms Hungarian Dance No. 7

Lehar The Merry Widow: Vilja’s Lied*

J. Strauss Eljen a Magyar!, Hail to Hungary

Lehar Giuditta: Meine Lippen, Sie Kussen So Heiss *

J. Strauss Kaiser Waltz

Maxime Goulet Olympic Commission

J. Strauss Die Fledermaus: Klange Der Heimat*

J. Strauss Tritsch-Tratsch Polka

R. Strauss Morgan, Op. 27, No.4*

R. Strauss Zueignung, Op. 10, No.1

Strauss Der Rosenkavalier: Suite, Op. 347

An evening of popular, beloved Viennese music with the magnificent voice of Marianne Fiset. A perfect concert to usher in the Holiday season!

Tickets $20 to $56 (Student, Senior and Subscriber discounts available)

Tickets available by phone at 604.876.3434 or online at www.vancouversymphony.ca

Generously Supported By:

Video Screen Sponsor: TELUS

Video screen presentations created and produced by students and staff of digital video productions at Columbia Academy.

North Shore Classics:

The Magical, Musical World of Vienna!

Monday, December 8, 8pm, Centennial Theatre

Jean-Marie Zeitouni, conductor

Marianne Fiset, soprano*

J. Strauss Der Ziegeunerbaron: Overture

Lehar Zigeunerliebe (Gypsy Love): Hor’Ich Cymbalklange*

Brahms Hungarian Dance No. 7

Lehar The Merry Widow: Vilja’s Lied*

J. Strauss Eljen a Magyar!, Hail to Hungary

Lehar Giuditta: Meine Lippen, Sie Kussen So Heiss *

J. Strauss Kaiser Waltz

Maxime Goulet Olympic Commission

J. Strauss Die Fledermaus: Klange Der Heimat*

J. Strauss Tritsch-Tratsch Polka

R. Strauss Morgan, Op. 27, No.4*

R. Strauss Zueignung, Op. 10, No.1

Strauss Der Rosenkavalier: Suite, Op. 347

The wonderful world of Vienna! Hear the beautiful and ever-popular music of Johann Strauss Jr., Franz Lehar, Richard Strauss, and Johannes Brahms in a truly classic concert.

Tickets $20 to $56 (Student, Senior and Subscriber discounts available)

Tickets available by phone at 604.876.3434 or online at www.vancouversymphony.ca

Specials:

The VSO’s Traditional Christmas

Evan Mitchell, conductor