Apr 3 • 8:00 pm

Missa Solemnis

(Missa Solemnis) concludes with a fraught, fragile and unanswered plea for peace amid the drumbeats of war … The path to peace, [Beethoven] suggests, is bestowed not from above, but from within us and among us, in universal brotherhood.
—Jan Swafford NPR Musi

Beethoven’s greatest choral work is an unforgettable experience and an expression of the composer’s personal spiritual struggle. A magnificent Canadian cast performs this incomparable work. *No Exchanges into this concert.

Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor
Leslie Ann Bradley, soprano
Allyson McHardy, mezzo-soprano
Lawrence Wiliford, tenor
Victor Engbrecht, bass
Mennonite Festival Chorus, William Baerg & Rudy Schellenberg, co-conductors

Beethoven: Missa Solemnis

Oct 17 • 8:00 pm

Beethoven’s Emperor

Laplante’s playing…was both technically awesome and time-stoppingly beautiful.—Vancouver Sun

Two masterpieces by two master composers, written late in their lives. One of Canada’s greatest pianists performs one of Beethoven’s most popular works. Brahms last symphony is considered by some to be a magnum opus – his greatest triumph.

Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor
André Laplante, piano

Brahms: Symphony No. 4
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 (Emperor)

Nov 14 • 8:00 pm

Scottish Snap

Of the later symphonies of Mozart, No.39 has always been a special favourite of mine. For this symphony, Mozart returned to the intriguing key of E flat major, a tonality (that) he strongly associated with the mystical.
—Tom Watrous, WSO cellist

Jean-Marie Zeitouni led vivid, detailed, dynamically elastic and technically flawless performances.
—Halifax Herald

Jean-Marie Zeitouni has emerged as one of Canada’s brightest young conductors. Here, he leads the Orchestra in two romantic works that pay tribute to the Scottish landscape, as we also celebrate Mendelssohn’s 200th birthday.

Jean-Marie Zeitouni, conductor
Karl Stobbe, violin
Mendelssohn: Hebrides Overture
Bruch: Scottish Fantasy
Mozart: Symphony No. 39

Jan 23 • 8:00 pm

Rhythm & Heat

From the first chord on, it was clear that (Arghamanyan) was an artist to be reckoned with… You can tell she lived and breathed the moment, not just playing it with her fingers.
—La Scena Musicale

This program is full of exotic flavours and rhythms from Mexico, Spain and Egypt. Saint-Saëns’ Egyptian Concerto features pianist Nareh Arghamanyan, winner of the First Prize at the 2008 Montreal International Music Competition.

Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor
Nareh Arghamanyan, piano
José Pablo Moncayo: Huapango
Arturo Márquez: Danzón No. 2
Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 5 (Egyptian)
Falla: Three-Cornered Hat

Feb 6 •  7:30 pm

New Music Festival Opening Night

Following his once-in-a-lifetime trip to the Canada’s arctic, aboard a scientific research vessel in 2008, WSO Composer-in-Residence Vincent Ho created a piece of music that expresses his new-found spiritual connection to the land he describes as “wondrous and full of angelic beauty untouched by utilitarian society.” We are proud to welcome Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Steven Stucky as our distinguished guest composer.

Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor
Steven Stucky: Concerto for Orchestra

John Tavener: world premier
Vincent Ho: world premiere

Mar 6 • 8:00 pm

One Thousand and One Arabian Nights

(Andreas Boyde)…magnificent and unforgettable.
—Chichester Observer

Glitter and colour from Hungary and Russia. Scheherazade’s exotic colours and sensual washes of sound bring to life images of a woman who told stories so captivating that they saved her life and captured the love of a king. Bartók’s lyrical Piano Concerto No. 3 is one of his most appealing works.

Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor
Andreas Boyde, piano

Kodály: Háry János Suite
Bartók: Piano Concerto No. 3
Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade