SATURDAY, APRIL 7   8:00 PM

Vaughan Williams: Five Mystical Songs
Brahms: A German Requiem

Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor
Brett Polegato, baritone
Betty Waynne Allison, soprano
Mennonite Festival Chorus; Rudy Schellenberg & William Baerg, co-directors

“In Vaughan Williams’s ecstatic Five Mystical Songs, it was Polegato’s turn to show his expressive stuff. The score abounds in lyrical and dramatic statements, many influenced by British folk traditions, and Polegato applied his suave baritone vibrantly to the songs’ emotional needs.” – The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)

It was A German Requiem that first won international success for Brahms. Composed in tribute to his late mother, it is a work primarily intended to reconcile the living to their loss, grandly set through incandescent writing that never wavers from its universal purpose of affirming the beauty of life through music.

Composed at the time of his famous Sea Symphony, Vaughan Williams’s Five Mystical Songs begin with an evocation of Easter and continue with heartfelt and masterly written tribute to faith throughout the remaining four songs. The work is beautifully set for baritone, chorus and orchestra, and an ideal pairing on this inspiring program.

MASTERWORKS C: Pre-Concert Chat hosted by music director Alexander Mickelthwate and William Baerg on the Piano Nobile Level at 7:15 pm.

Single tickets are on sale now at the WSO Box Office, 949-3999 or below:

FRIDAY, MARCH 2   8:00 PM
SATURDAY, MARCH 3   8:00 PM

Schumann: Symphony No. 1 (Spring)
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2

Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor
Jon Kimura Parker, piano

“The Canadian pianist (Jon Kimura Parker) has the technical chops… and he also has the strength and suppleness of line, variety of touch and generosity of feeling to make its many tunes take wing.” – Chicago Tribune

Legendary pianist Vladimir Horowitz, who played and recorded Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with his father-in-law conductor Arturo Toscanini, called it `the greatest music ever written for piano.’ Epic in scope, a symphony with solo, supremely dramatic yet hauntingly beautiful…this concerto ranks among the titans of its realm, and we are honoured to have the exciting Canadian pianist Jon Kimura Parker to perform it.

Composer Robert Schumann is a natural pairing with Brahms for it was Schumann who became one of the most influential people in Brahms’s life. Schumann’s ‘Spring’ Symphony is an exuberant work the composer started just after marrying his famous soul-mate Clara Wieck, composing it in a “state of bliss” as he said. Youthful joie de vivre pervades this supremely happy creation.

Pre-Concert Chat hosted by music director Alexander Mickelthwate and Jon Kimura Parker on the Piano Nobile Level at 7:15 pm.

Single tickets on sale via WSO Box Office only: 949-3999 & online.

Schumann: Symphony No. 1 (Spring)

Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2

Messiah

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 15 • 8:00 PM

Messiah

No work in the history of music transmits the urge to sing more than Handel’s Messiah. Our WSO tradition continues, as the special glow of the season comes alive with Handel’s matchless sense of timing and drama, where the music’s memorable path from darkness to light never fails to inspire.

Jane Glover, conductor
Allison Angelo, soprano
Marcia Whitehead, mezzo-soprano
Antonio Figueroa, tenor
Stephen Hegedus, bass-baritone
Mennonite Festival Chorus; Rudy Schellenberg & William Baerg, co-directors

PURCHASE MASTERWORKS C SUBSCRIPTION:

MASTERWORKS C SERIES (Saturday)

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Glennie & Reich: Part 2

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2 • 8:00 PM

Vincent Ho: Symphonic Ritual (World Premiere)
Steve Reich: The Desert Music

Dame Evelyn Glennie returns to perform a new work by WSO composer-in-residence Vincent Ho, which promises to be at the same fever pitch as their 2011 performance of The Shaman. Also featured is Steve Reich’s propulsive and seductive The Desert Music for large orchestra and amplified chorus.

Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor
Dame Evelyn Glennie, percussion
Winnipeg Singers; Yuri Klaz, artistic director

PURCHASE SUBSCRIPTION:

MASTERWORKS C SERIES (Saturday)

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Prieto Conducts Brahms

FRIDAY, MARCH 1 • 8:00 PM
SATURDAY, MARCH 2 • 8:00 PM

Brahms: Symphony No. 3 in F major
Bartók: Rhapsodies Nos. 1 & 2 for Violin and Orchestra
Kodály: Dances of Galanta

Conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto returns for Brahms’ Symphony No. 3, described as a work that united the titanic nature of the first symphony with the charm of the second. In works by Bartók and Kodály, we experience how they used folk melodies and rhythms to create unique works, featuring Canadian violinist Erika Raum.

Carlos Miguel Prieto, conductor
Erika Raum, violin

PURCHASE SUBSCRIPTION:

MASTERWORKS B SERIES (Friday, except Mozart Requiem on Sat, Mar 30)

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MASTERWORKS C SERIES (Saturday)

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Prokofiev 3 & Dvořák 7

FRIDAY, JANUARY 18 • 8:00 PM
SATURDAY, JANUARY 18 • 8:00 PM

Ligeti: Concert Românesc (Romanian Concerto)
Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major
Dvořák: Symphony No. 7 in D minor

We’re proud to introduce pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii, who has been blind since birth, in Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3, the composer’s most popular. Additionally, we perform Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7 contains some of the composer’s most remarkable inspiration, ripe with an unending flow of melody and rhythmic vitality.

Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor
Nobuyuki Tsujii, piano

PURCHASE SUBSCRIPTION:

MASTERWORKS B SERIES (Friday, except Mozart Requiem on Sat, Mar 30)

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MASTERWORKS C SERIES (Saturday)

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Scottish Symphony: A Selkirk Settlers Celebration

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 9 • 8:00 PM
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10 • 8:00 PM

Sid Robinovitch: Red River (World Premiere)
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major
Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 3 in A minor (Scottish)

Mendelssohn’s radiant Scottish Symphony was born from travels in Scotland during his triumphant successes in the British Isles, inspiration for one of the composer’s most affecting creations. Pianist Beatrice Rana – the first Italian and youngest winner of the Montreal International Music Competition – is featured in Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1.

Joshua Weilerstein, conductor
Beatrice Rana, piano

PURCHASE SUBSCRIPTION:

MASTERWORKS B SERIES (Friday, except Mozart Requiem on Sat, Mar 30)

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MASTERWORKS C SERIES (Saturday)

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Rite of Spring

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12 • 8:00 PM
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13 • 8:00 PM

Barbara Croall: Mijidwewinan (Messages)
Piazzolla: Bandoneon Concerto
Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring

We offer Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, a 20^th century masterwork with unique choreography and dance, following Argentina’s internationally renowned master of the bandoneon, Daniel Binelli. He is the torchbearer of the music of Astor Piazzolla, the composer that brought the tango into concert halls around the world.

Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor
Daniel Binelli, bandoneon
Barbara Croall, Ojibwe/Odawa vocalist/instrumentalist
Odette Heyn-Projects; Odette Heyn, choreographer and director
Aboriginal School of Dance Ensemble; Buffy Handel, choreographer and dancer

PURCHASE SUBSCRIPTION:

MASTERWORKS B SERIES (Friday, except Mozart Requiem on Sat, Mar 30)

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MASTERWORKS C SERIES (Saturday)

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SATURDAY, JANUARY 28 8:00 PM

Kaija Saariaho: Graal Théâtre for violin and orchestra
Giya Kancheli: Styx, for viola, choir and orchestra

Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor
Jennifer Koh, violinist
Daniel Scholz, viola

Graal Théâtre (1997), an explosive violin concerto, with Jennifer Koh as the soloist, closed the concert. This 30-minute concerto combines visceral power and sheer beauty. Ms. Koh gave a stunning, high-energy account of the almost continuous solo line. – New York Times

The music (Styx) first transfixes, then scalds, and when consolation intervenes it feels multi-faceted and somehow palpably wise. – Gramophone

Winner of the Grammy Award and Musician of the Year Award (2008, Musical Americas), Kaija Saariaho has become one of “the few contemporary composers to achieve public acclaim as well as universal critical respect.” We are excited to present to you her monumental work Graal Théâtre for violin and orchestra, a raptly beautiful work that showcases the violin’s shimmering sound world of both transience and dramatic force. Also featured is Giya Kancheli’s most celebrated work Styx (scored for choir, viola and orchestra), a work of great spirituality filled with haunting aural images, varied colors and textures, sharp contrasts and shattering climaxes.

MASTERWORKS C: Pre-Concert Chat hosted by music director Alexander Mickelthwate and guests on the Piano Nobile Level at 7:15 pm.

Single tickets are on sale now at the WSO Box Office, 949-3999 or online.

Sponsored by:

FRIDAY, JANUARY 13   8:00 PM
SATURDAY, JANUARY 14   8:00 PM

Mozart: Sinfonia concertante in E-flat major, K. 297b
Schubert: Symphony No.9 in C major (The Great)

Andrew Grams, conductor
Patricia Evans, horn
Micah Heilbrunn, clarinet
Bede Hanley, oboe
Alexandra Eastley, bassoon

“Every detail of Ravel’s virtuoso orchestration (Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition) was brilliantly articulated, Grams wisely liberating the orchestra to play to its many strengths.” – Birmingham Post

A delightful Mozart concerto-times-four that gives you an opportunity to hear four of the WSO’s fabulous principal wind players in one of his most entertaining compositions! Mozart not only had an intimate knowledge of the unique sounds of each solo wind instrument, but also their special personalities. All will be revealed in this rarely-heard piece that is guaranteed to charm and please.

In this evening of great symphonic music, we continue with Schubert’s mighty Symphony No. 9 – a true orchestral masterpiece! Composed in the year of Schubert’s death and entitled The Great, the music is overwhelmingly energetic and eloquent by turn, with advanced orchestration and striking brass that anticipated the Romantic symphonic style that was to come. We welcome one of America’s most talented young conductors, Andrew Grams, for his WSO debut.

Pre-Concert Chat hosted by music director James Manishen, Patricia Evans, Micah Heilbrunn, Bede Hanley and Alexandra Eastley  on the Piano Nobile Level at 7:15 pm.

DINNER & A SYMPHONY: Enjoy the return of Dinner & A Symphony with Bergmann’s on Lombard for our January 14 concert with German Cuisine, 3-course meal on the Piano Nobile at 5:30 pm. Dinner and concert start at $85!

Single tickets are on sale now at the WSO Box Office, 949-3999 or online.