April Highlights from the VSO, including the 2017 PwC VSO SPRING FESTIVAL – A BRITISH FANTASY Featuring great British composers and their most popular works.
The cherry blossoms are trying their best to burst forth as we turn the calendar to a new month. As we do, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra looks forward to presenting a bountiful bouquet of concerts to welcome the spring. From the sonic splendour of Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7, to the eloquence of Elgar’s Piano Quintet; from the thrilling big screen adventures of Harry Potter to the frivolity of the Last Night of the Proms, there is much to enjoy.
Mozart was in the spring of his life – still a teen, in 1775 – when he composed his sublime Violin Concerto No. 4 .The VSO presents Music of Mozart and Bruckner in the Air Canada Masterworks Diamond series, (April 1 & 3), and the Rogers Group Financial Symphony Sundays (April 2). The featured performers are the Norwegian violin soloist Henning Kraggerud and the American conductor James Gaffigan.
Attend a free educational event on April 5th, (from 10am to 1pm at the Orpheum), as the VSO and Maestro William Rowson present the Jean Coulthard Readings for the 2016/17 Symphony Season. Created and named in honour of one of BC’s most beloved composers, the Jean Coulthard Readings give emerging BC composers an invaluable opportunity to have their work read by a professional orchestra. Last fall, more than two dozen aspiring composers submitted their scores for perusal and composers received a part preparation seminar with VSO Music Librarians. Six orchestral works have been chosen for performance, and a follow-up masterclass will be held for the composers with the Vancouver Symphony’s current
Composer-in-Residence Jocelyn Morlock.
Homelands is the final program of the VSO Chamber Players series (April 5, 6, 9), and will feature a duo by Ginastera which is evocative of his Argentine homeland. From the pen of Rimsky-Korsakov comes a bright and breezy Russian romp for piano and winds. In stark contrast, Shostakovich’s wartime Piano Trio was written as a lament for the Jewish population. The three performances take place in the intimacy of Pyatt Hall at the VSO School of Music.
Last summer the global Harry PotterTM Film Concert Series debuted with the breakout success of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s StoneTM. The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra will perform the next film in the series, Harry Potter and the Chamber of SecretsTM, on April 7, 8 and 9. The continuation of this breathtaking, much-anticipated film concert will see the movie screened in high definition and in full on a 40-foot screen, as John Williams’ incredible score is played live on stage by a world-class orchestra.
In Harry Potter and the Chamber of SecretsTM, cars fly, trees fight back and a mysterious house-elf comes to warn Harry Potter at the start of the second year of his amazing journey into the world of wizardry. This year at Hogwarts, spiders talk, letters scold and Harry’s own unsettling ability to speak to snakes turns his friends against him. From dueling clubs to rogue Bludgers, it’s a year of adventure and danger when bloody writing on a wall announces: The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. To save Hogwarts will require all of Harry, Ron and Hermione’s magical abilities and courage in this spellbinding adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s second book. Get ready to be amused and petrified as Harry Potter shows he’s more than a wizard, he’s a hero! It’s a special VSO at the Movies event, on Friday and Sunday, April 7 & 9 at 7:00pm, and in a Saturday matinee, April 8 at 2pm, at the Orpheum Theatre.
Single tickets and festival passes are available for the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra’s 2017 PwC Spring Festival – A British Fantasy. Over the course of five concerts, (April 22 & 24, April 29 & 30, and May 1) the orchestra will explore the musical landscape of Great Britain, from the pastoral sounds of the English countryside to the dramatic Scottish Highlands.
The PwC VSO Spring Festival begins on April 22 with Canadian classical music superstar James Ehnes, pulling triple duty (conductor, violinist, violist) with three of the best-known English composers: Elgar, Britten, and Vaughan Williams. Next up, (April 24) Ehnes performs Walton’s Viola Concerto, and Maestro Bramwell Tovey takes up the baton in a concert that features Holst’s incredible journey through the solar system in The Planets – complete with NASA footage from Voyager, Pioneer, and Discovery missions. Originally produced by The Houston Symphony, THE PLANETS–AN HD ODYSSEY is a spectacular presentation of Gustav Holst’s cosmic masterpiece, The Planets. The video was created by celebrated director/producer Duncan Copp in cooperation with NASA and Jet Propulsion Laboratories.
The next concert (April 29) features Vancouver’s own Ian Parker performing Addinsell’s Warsaw Concerto for piano and orchestra, written for the 1941 British film, Dangerous Moonlight, as well as William Walton’s epic score for Henry V. The Artistic Director of Bard on the Beach, Christopher Gaze will add his voice to this “Shakepeare Scenario,” alongside choristers from Langley Fine Arts School. The next night (April 30), Maestro Tovey joins VSO Principal musicians to perform Elgar’s Piano Quintet, and then explores the mysteries and humour of Elgar’s Enigma Variations.
The last night of the 2017 Spring Festival features the pomp and circumstance (and fun!) of The Last Night of the Proms, the customary ending to the Promenades series at the Royal Albert Hall in London, a tradition proudly upheld by Bramwell Tovey, the Vancouver Bach Choir, the VSO School of Music Sinfonietta and the VSO. In addition to music of Elgar and Holst, there’s a musical tribute to the witty and urbane British playwright and composer Sir Noël Coward.
Join the VSO and Maestro Bramwell Tovey for the 2017 PwC Spring Festival: A British Fantasy. Tickets are available online at www.vancouversymphony.ca or by calling VSO Customer Service at 604.876.3434. The five-concert festival runs from Saturday, April 22nd to Monday, May 1st, 2017; all concerts at 8 pm (except Sunday April 30th at 7pm) at the historic Orpheum Theatre.
Read on for further details of artists and repertoire, as well as pricing and ticketing information.
“My idea is that there is music in the air, music all around us, the world is full of it and you simply take as much as you require.” – Edward Elgar
VSO CONCERT LISTINGS
^ VSO Debut * soloist
APRIL 2017
AIR CANADA MASTERWORKS DIAMOND
Saturday and Monday, April 1 and 3, 8pm, Orpheum Series Sponsor: Air Canada
ROGERS GROUP FINANCIAL SYMPHONY SUNDAYS Sunday, April 2, 2pm, Orpheum
Series Sponsor: Rogers Group Financial Concert Sponsor April 2: Stantec
The Music of Mozart and Bruckner
James Gaffigan, conductor Henning Kraggerud, violin*
Mozart Mozart Bruckner
Adagio & Fugue in G minor
Violin Concerto No. 4 in D Major* Symphony No. 7 in E Major
Mozart’s sublime Violin Concerto No. 4 is performed by Henning Kraggerud, whose lyrical and seductive playing is praised by audiences and critics worldwide. On the other end of the scale, Bruckner’s majestic Symphony No. 7, powered by Wagner tubas and mighty, soaring themes, was that composer’s greatest triumph at the time he wrote this magnificent symphony.
Masterworks Diamond Tickets: $25-$95 (senior, student, and subscriber discounts available) Symphony Sundays Tickets: $22-$65 (senior, student, and subscriber discounts available)
Tickets for all concerts available at www.vancouversymphony.ca or through VSO Customer Service at 604.876.3434.
JEAN COULTHARD READINGS
Wednesday, April 5, 10:00am – 1pm, Orpheum Theatre Concert Sponsor: Silver Wheaton
Premiere Education Partner: TELUS
Named in honour of one of BC’s most beloved composers, the Jean Coulthard readings give emerging BC composers an invaluable opportunity to have their work read by a professional orchestra
Admission is free. Doors open from 9:30 am
VSO CHAMBER PLAYERS
Wednesday, April 5, 7:30pm, Pyatt Hall, VSO School of Music Thursday, April 6, 7:30pm, Pyatt Hall, VSO School of Music Sunday, April 9, 2pm, Pyatt Hall, VSO School of Music
With support from: iA Financial Group
Homelands
Roger Cole, oboe *
Lara Deutsch, flute *~
Sophie Dansereau, bassoon ~ Alexander Morris, clarinet ~ Andrew Mee, horn ~ Amanda Chan, piano ~+ Jennie Press, violin +
Zoltan Rozsnyai, cello +
Ginastera Duo for Oboe and Flute * Rimsky-Korsakov QuintetforPianoandWinds~ Shostakovich Piano Trio No. 2 +
The VSO Chamber Players series wraps up with an evocation of the broad pampas of Argentina and a breezy and majestic Russian romp for piano and winds. In stark contrast stands a haunting, wartime trio written as a lament for the Jewish population.
Tickets: $42 All seats
Tickets for all concerts available at www.vancouversymphony.ca or through VSO Customer Service at 604.876.3434.
SPECIALS
Friday, April 7, 2017, 7pm, Orpheum Saturday, April 8, 2017, 2pm, Orpheum Sunday, April 9, 8pm, Orpheum
VSO at the Movies: Harry Potter and the Chamber of SecretsTM, part of the Harry PotterTM Film Concert Series
Justin Freer, conductor
Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
The Harry PotterTM film series is one of those once-in-a-lifetime cultural phenomena that continues to delight millions of fans around the world. This concert will feature the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra performing every note from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,TM as the film is projected on the giant screen. Cars fly, trees fight back and a mysterious house-elf comes to warn Harry Potter at the start of his second year at Hogwarts. Adventure and danger await when bloody writing on a wall announces: The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. To save Hogwarts will require all of Harry, Ron and Hermione’s magical abilities and courage.
HARRY POTTER characters, names and related indicia are © & TM Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. Harry Potter Publishing Rights © JKR. (s16)
Tickets: $29-$69 (senior, student, and subscriber discounts available)
Tickets for all concerts available at www.vancouversymphony.ca or through VSO Customer Service at 604.876.3434.
PwC SPRING FESTIVAL – A BRITISH FANTASY
The VSO Spring Festival includes Pre-Concert Talks which begin one hour before each concert, and Post- Concert Question & Answer sessions each night, with Maestro Bramwell Tovey VSO musicians. FREE TO TICKETHOLDERS
PwC SpringFest 1
Songs and Serenades
Saturday, April 22, 8pm, Orpheum James Ehnes, leader/violin/viola*
Elgar Britten
Vaughan Williams
Serenade for Strings in E minor Lachrymae*
Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis Prelude and Fugue for 18 Strings
The Lark Ascending* Introduction and Allegro*
Multi-talented Canadian artist audience favourite James Ehnes conducts and performs on the violin and viola, in a beautiful, lyrical program that kicks off the 2017 PwC Spring Festival.
PwC SpringFest 2
The Planets: an HD Odyssey
Monday, April 24, 8pm, Orpheum
Bramwell Tovey, conductor
James Ehnes, viola*
Elektra Women’s Choir+
Morna Edmundson, chorus director
Gavin Higgins Walton
Holst
Velocity
Viola Concerto* The Planets+
James Ehnes performs Walton’s wonderful Viola Concerto. In the second half, take a voyage through the solar system through Holst’s fantastic The Planets, enhanced by spectacular updated video footage and imagery from NASA missions shown on the big screen as the orchestra performs this epic work.
Video presentation of THE PLANETS – AN HD ODYSSEY was created by filmmaker Duncan Copp and produced by the Houston Symphony.
PwC SpringFest 3
Henry V
Saturday, April 29, 8pm, Orpheum Bramwell Tovey, conductor
Ian Parker, piano*
Christopher Gaze, narrator+
Langley Fine Arts School Youth Choir+ Jim Sparks, chorus director+
Elizabeth Maconchy Sir Ernest MacMillan Godfrey Ridout Addinsell Walton
Proud Thames
Fantasia on Scottish Airs
Fall Fair
Warsaw Concerto*
Henry V: A Shakespeare Scenario+
Music from the era of Britain’s “Finest Hour”is featured in this stirring program. William Walton’s rich, powerful and emotional score Henry V has become as beloved on the concert stage as it was in Sir Lawrence Olivier’s wartime film. Hear it in all its glory with the VSO, alongside the Warsaw Concerto from the movie Dangerous Moonlight.
For program notes click here.
PwC SpringFest 4
Enigma
Sunday, April 30, 7pm, Orpheum
Bramwell Tovey, conductor/piano* Nicholas Wright & Jason Ho, violins* Andrew Brown, viola* Ariel Barnes, cello*
Piano Quintet*
Enigma Variations: An Exploration Enigma Variations
In the first half, Maestro Tovey joins Principals from the orchestra to perform Elgar’s Piano Quintet. Then join Bramwell Tovey and the VSO for a very special presentation of Elgar’s Enigma Variations: Maestro Tovey will deconstruct and explain this fascinating work with his trademark insight and wit, and then the orchestra will play the full piece, with all its secrets freshly revealed!
MAY 2017
PwC SpringFest 5
Last Night of the Proms
Monday, May 1, 2017, 8pm
Bramwell Tovey, conductor Vancouver Bach Choir*
VSO School of Music Sinfonietta~
Morlock Elgar
Brian Dix arr. Tovey Elgar ~Holst
Arr. Wood Parry/Elgar
Hullabaloo
Caractacus: Triumphal March*
Corpsman Up
Thank You, Mr. Coward*
Pomp and Circumstance No. 1 (Land of Hope and Glory)*~
St. Paul’s Suite~
Fantasia on British Sea Songs (incl. Rule, Britannia with choir)*~ Jerusalem*~
The proud tradition of the last night of the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts at the Royal Albert Hall is continued here as the last night of the Spring Festival, with beloved favourites such as Pomp and Circumstance, Rule Britannia, and much more.
For program notes click here.
TICKET INFORMATION: Individual Tickets: $25 (senior, student, and subscriber discounts available). Festival Passes: $94 – $284 for the full 5-concert Festival (senior, student, and subscriber discounts available) Tickets available online at www.vancouversymphony.ca or by calling VSO Customer Service at 604.876.3434
BONUS SAVINGS! Order the FESTIVAL PASS and SAVE 30% over single concert prices!
The presenting Sponsor of the VSO’s Spring Festival is PwC
To view the VSO Season brochure and calendar online, follow the links below:
