The 2023-24 season of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra blends treasured favourites of the classical repertoire with items the orchestra has by no means performed earlier than, together with Hollywood and Broadway hits, visiting superstars and family-friendly fare.
“In Yr 101, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra stands on the shoulders of a century of outstanding music making and appears eagerly to the long run,” says TSO Chief Government Officer Mark Williams in an announcement. “Along with paying tribute to the great legacy of the orchestral repertoire, this season may be very a lot about embracing new music, welcoming new voices to the live performance corridor, and, with them, new audiences. It truly is an open-arms, open-heart sort of 12 months — all music lovers can discover a residence on the Toronto Symphony Orchestra throughout this season.”
“I’m extremely enthusiastic about what we’ve deliberate for subsequent season,” provides TSO Music Director Gustavo Gimeno. “Greater than 30 items can be carried out by the Orchestra for the very first time — together with one on every Masterworks program — and whereas many are new commissions, some are classics that merely haven’t made it to our stage earlier than, and others are works by composers traditionally excluded from the canon. Programming like this is without doubt one of the many the explanation why I’m thrilled to be main this extraordinary Orchestra by at the least the tip of the last decade.”
Masterworks Highlights
The Masterworks collection is curated by Music Director Gustavo Gimeno. The collection opens on September 20 and 21 with Stravinsky’s The Ceremony of Spring and pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet’s interpretation of Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F.
Different highlights:
- Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos
- Brahms Symphony No. 1 and Piano Concerto No. 1
- Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7
- Fauré’s Requiem, led by TSO Conductor Laureate Sir Andrew Davis and that includes the Amadeus Choir
- Copland’s jazz-inspired Clarinet Concerto
2023/24 TSO Highlight Artists
Canadian violinist James Ehnes will carry out Bernstein’s Serenade after Plato’s Symposium, the Barber Violin Concerto, and picks from the Violin Concerto by Nineteenth-century Afro-Cuban composer José White Lafitte.
Toronto-born mezzo-soprano Emily D’Angelo will carry out her program enargeia, a collection that spotlights works by girls, and Berg’s Seven Early Songs. The Berg can be led by conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, who can be making a return to the TSO after 35 years. This system will even function Mahler’s Symphony No. 5, one in every of his signature works.
Friends
Returning for the 2023/24 Masterworks Collection
- Pianists Daniil Trifonov (Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 1) and Seong-Jin Cho (Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand);
- Violinists Ray Chen (Korngold’s Violin Concerto) and Frank Peter Zimmermann (Brahms’s Violin Concerto);
- Mezzo-soprano Krisztina Szabó (Handel’s Messiah);
- Conductors Dame Jane Glover (Handel’s Messiah), Stéphane Denève (Gershwin’s An American in Paris), and Osmo Vänskä (Sibelius’s Symphony No. 2).
Anticipated TSO débuts
- Pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason (Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3);
- Violinist Randall Goosby (Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto);
- Ukrainian conductor Oksana Lyniv (Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8);
- Mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard (Stravinsky’s Pulcinella);
- Classical saxophonist Steven Banks (John Adams’s Saxophone Concerto, led by TSO Conductor Emeritus Peter Oundjian).
Together with the Adams Saxophone Concerto, different Canadian Premières embody:
- Spanish composer Francisco Coll’s Ciudad sin sueño (North American Première/TSO Co-commission);
- Canadian composer Samy Moussa’s Trombone Concerto (North American Première/TSO Co-commission), carried out by Jörgen van Rijen in his TSO début;
- A composition by Métis composer Ian Cusson, created in partnership with the Centre for Dependancy and Psychological Well being (World Première/Artwork of Therapeutic Program Fee);
- New items by RBC Affiliate Composer Alison Yun-Fei Jiang and three Canadian, Toronto-based NextGen Composers — Katerina Gimon, Julia Mermelstein, and Christina Volpini (World Premières/TSO Commissions).
Pops Collection
“Pure enjoyment is on the core of all six applications in subsequent 12 months’s Pops Collection,” says TSO Principal Pops Conductor Steven Reineke, who programmed the collection, “and I do know I’m going to have simply as a lot enjoyable conducting because the viewers could have listening. So lots of Broadway’s greatest, together with some good mates of mine, can be lending their sensational vocal abilities to those unforgettable concert events.”
- The Doo Wop Mission, a program from the solid members of Broadway’s Jersey Boys and Motown: the Musical that features nostalgic hits by Frankie Valli, The Drifters, and The Temptations, together with trendy classics by Michael Jackson, Maroon 5, and Jason Mraz;
- A Spoonful of Sugar with Ashley Brown and Broadway Blockbusters with Ramin Karimloo & Mikaela Bennett;
- RESPECT: A Tribute to Aretha Franklin celebrates the legendary Queen of Soul;
- The Music of Star Wars options John Williams’s iconic music from all 9 movies within the Skywalker saga, and extra.
Particular Performances
A dwell orchestra with particular visitors and occasions, together with family-friendly choices.
- A night with Emmy-, GRAMMY®-, and Tony Award–profitable actress and singer Audra McDonald, whose credit embody (Ragtime, Carousel, Porgy and Bess, and the staged Billie Vacation biography, Woman Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill);
- Films for the household: Superman and Disney’s Coco with dwell orchestral accompaniment;
- A kamikaze cabaret with chanteuse Meow Meow, carried out by Steven Reineke, (simply in time for Delight).
Vacation Live shows
The TSO’s vacation favourites return.
- Handel’s Messiah, with its “Hallelujah Refrain” that includes the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir;
- TSO Vacation Pops, which spotlighting Canadian jazz vocalist Molly Johnson in an all-ages program of timeless seasonal songs;
- Dwelling Alone with the Orchestra performing John Williams’s rating dwell to image.
Younger Folks’s Live shows
Barrett Principal Training Conductor & Group Ambassador Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser designed this set of one-hour choices for the youthful set. “Subsequent season’s slate of Younger Folks’s Live shows is solely new to the TSO,” says Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser. “It is a thrilling prospect for me and the musicians as a result of all of us get to expertise these implausible applications together with the viewers for the very first time. Every one goes to be an actual deal with.”
- The Canadian Première of Classical Children LIVE!’s Saint-Georges’ Sword & Bow, which particulars the life and work of Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, 18th-century composer, conductor, and fencer of mixed-race heritage;
- SingSong, a sing-along with songs from around the globe, that includes flutist Yelin Youn, 2022/23 TSYO Concerto Competitors winner;
- Bhangra & Past, a fusion of sounds from Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Indian subcontinent;
- Dan Brown’s Wild Symphony, a musical about animal mates, carried out by RBC Resident Conductor Trevor Wilson, with story and music created by the writer of The Da Vinci Code.
Relaxed Performances
“If, for any cause, you or your loved ones are hesitant to attend a live performance,” says Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser, “that is the place for you. That is the time for you. And our complete collection of Relaxed Performances is for you.”
These live performance experiences are designed to be extra welcoming to viewers members with sensory and communication problems, ADHD, studying or developmental disabilities, or dementia — or anybody who prefers the relaxed format that enables folks to maneuver round as they need. Vocal expression is allowed, however there’s additionally a Quiet Room if wanted.
- Three applications are provided: SingSong, Bhangra & Past, and Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto;
- Venue Guides, noise-dampening headphones, and different sources can be found.
Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra Performances
The Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra (TSYO) will have fun its fiftieth anniversary in 2023-24 with Conductor Simon Rivard on the podium.
- The autumn live performance revolves across the theme of destiny by Stravinsky’s The Firebird and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4.
- The winter live performance focuses on works from Britain by Elgar, Holst, and extra.
- The season finale revolves round Mahler’s Symphony No. 1, with bassoonist Cian Bryson, 2022/23 TSYO Concerto Competitors winner.
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Anya Wassenberg is a Senior Author and Digital Content material Editor at Ludwig Van. She is an skilled freelance author, blogger and writing teacher with OntarioLearn.
