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GSO Announces 2010-11 SeasonGuelph's Own Orchestra announces its Tenth Anniversary seasonThe Guelph Symphony Orchestra is excited to announce that for this, the Tenth Anniversary season, we will offer five concerts, and five guest conductors. One of these will be selected as the new resident conductor of the GSO, starting in the 2011-12 season. Audience members are invited to contribute to the selection process, through a survey available after each concert!
All concerts are at River Run Centre, and tickets are available at the box office at 763-3000.
The five concerts and conductors are:- |
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October: "Marriage of Figaro" |
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Kristian Alexander |
7:30 pm Saturday Oct 23 2010 pm Mozart's MARRIAGE OF FIGARO A concert performance of Mozart's comic masterpiece, featuring a strong cast including such Guelph favourites as Andrew Tees as Figaro, Michael York as the Count and Marion Samuel-Stevens as the Countess. Brian Otto will narrate this trimmed-down performance which will include all your favourite music, sung in English. Book early to avoid disappointment! Kristian Alexander has conducted numerous orchestras, including the Internationale Bach-Collegium and Gächinger Kantorei (both in Stuttgart, Germany), the Mozarteum Symphony Orchestra (Sofia, Bulgaria), and, in Canada, L’Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal, Windsor Symphony Orchestra, Royal Conservatory of Music Symphony Orchestra, Etobicoke Philharmonic Orchestra, Oakville Chamber Orchestra, and Vaughan Symphony Orchestra. He is currently the Music Director and Principal Conductor of Toronto’s Kindred Spirits Orchestra and Music Director of the International Music Academy in Toronto. His truly wide-ranging university education includes master degrees in conducting and music history as well as degrees in anthropology, psychology, theology, computer science, and arts management from academies and universities in Toronto, Montreal, Stuttgart, Sofia, and Plovdiv. Alexander has served on numerous boards of directors, including of the Conductors Guild (2002- 2008), London Arts Council, and Southern Ontario Music Chamber Institute, and he was Chair of the first international conference for conductors and music directors, held in Toronto in 2007. Alexander has recorded several live concerts for the Internationale Bachakademie (Stuttgart), the National Radio Broadcasting Company, and the National Television of Bulgaria. He has received numerous grants and awards including from the Canada Arts Council, Internationale Bachakademie in Stuttgart, the Mozarteum Internationale Stiftung in Salzburg, Open Society Foundation in New York, Pro Helvetia Foundation in Bern, National Piano Competition in Sofia, and National Music Academy in Sofia. To visit Kristian Alexander's website, click here. To read a preview of the Program Notes for this concert, click here. |
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December: "Christmas Choral Fantasy" |
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 David Bourque |
"Christmas Choral Fantasy" with the Grand River Chorus, Sunday December 12th 2010 at 3pm
- River Run Centre Our Christmas offering is a blend of classics and festive seasonal music. Beethoven's Choral Fantasy, with the Grand River Chorus and Amy Wark (piano) is the major work, together with the dazzling opening chorus from Bach's "Christmas Oratorio", and Brahms' "Christmas Day". There will be lots of carols and opportunities for audience singalong. Delightful music for the season, with something for everyone! David Bourque, a native Torontonian, studied music at the universities of Toronto and Western Ontario. He studied conducting with Sir Andrew Davis and has conducted ensembles at the Eastman School of Music and the universities of Mount Allison and Prince Edward Island, as well as the National Youth Orchestra of Canada, Scarborough Concert Band, Scarborough Wind Ensemble, The Symphony Winds, and Wellington Winds. His performances on the Bass Clarinet have evoked great praise, including from Gianandrea Noseda, Principal Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic: “David Bourque is the best clarinetto basso I have ever met.” Prior to his appointment to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 1983, he played with, among others, the Canadian Opera Company, National Ballet of Canada, and Stratford Festival. He has guested with L’Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal and National Arts Centre Orchestra, soloed with many orchestras, plays chamber music (e.g., Festival of the Sound and Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival), and works in film and television recording. Bourque currently teaches clarinet and bass clarinet at the University of Toronto, coaches the winds in that university’s orchestra, is a member of the teaching faculty of the National Youth Orchestra of Canada, and is an Adjunct Lecturer at the Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University. His many publications include Working the Single Reed, Northdale Music International’s first editions of the Harmoniemusik of K. Anh. C., and The Bass Clarinettist’s Workbook. To visit David Bourque's website, click here. |
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New Year's Day: "Dreams of Vienna" | ||
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"Dreams of Vienna" on New Year's Day 2011 at 3pm is back!
- River Run Centre | ||
 Michael Newnham |
 Donna Ellen Trifunovich |
 Julie Nesrallah |
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This annual GSO Viennese-style musical feast is now a popular Guelph New Year’s Day tradition. Two terrific soloists give double the pleasure! - Guelph's own soprano Donna Ellen Trifunovich, now resident in Vienna with the State Opera, and mezzo Julie Nesrallah, of CBC fame. These duelling divas will be a lot of fun! And the orchestra plays waltzes, marches and polkas, complete with elegant dancers gliding over the stage. Michael Newnham has conducted symphonic, opera, ballet, and pops concerts in Europe, Asia, and Canada. A native of Hamilton, Newnham pursued his musical education at the Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw, the Indiana University School of Music, and the University of Toronto. While still a student, he became a member of the Conducting Staff of the Warsaw Chamber Opera, leading performances to great critical acclaim. Newnham is currently the Music Director of Symphony New Brunswick, the Peterborough Symphony Orchestra, and the Northumberland Orchestra and Choir. His passion for music education and making music with young people is reflected in his work as Founding Music Director of the Kawartha Youth Orchestra, and as a faculty member of Music at Port Milford. He has also been Guest Professor of Conducting at the Taegu Hyosung University in South Korea. Newnham was recently honoured to have been Music Director for highly acclaimed performances of R. Murray Shafer’s Patria: The Enchanted Forest and he has conducted a special gala memorial concert for Pope John Paul II at Toronto’s Roy Thomson Hall. The recipient of numerous awards, including ‘Best Operatic Conductor’ from the East Slovakian State Opera and the Order of Merit from the Republic of Poland, Newnham was recently presented the Turzanski Foundation Award for his services in promoting Polish music and culture in Canada. To find more about Michael Newnham, click here. To visit Julie Nesrallah's website, click here. |
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February: "Brilliant Beethoven" |
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 Evan Mitchell |
"Brilliant Beethoven" with the Guelph Youth Music Centre Symphony, Sunday February 20th 2011 at 3pm
Beethoven's 7th Symphony is the major work, and the concert opens with Rossini's overture "The Italian Girl in Algiers", performed side-by-side with the Guelph Youth Music Centre Symphony Orchestra. As a special bonus, we present the joint winners of our Annual Concerto Competition: Hugo Lee plays Bellini's Oboe Concerto, and Afendi Yusuf plays Mozart's Clarinet Concerto.Evan Mitchell is one of Canada’s most promising young conductors. Having recently finished his residency as Assistant Conductor of the Vancouver Symphony, Mitchell conducted the orchestra in an unprecedented 112 concerts over the course of his three year term, to great acclaim. While with the VSO, he was an ambassador to China and Korea during an historic tour, acted as an official Olympic musical consultant, assisted on the recordings of the national anthems for the 2010 Olympic Games, and introduced 75,000 children to the wonder of symphonic music. Equally comfortable with the operatic repertoire, Mitchell has enjoyed critical success for recent operatic performances, including Britten’s Albert Herring, Ward’s The Crucible, Hindemith’s Hin und Zurück, and the world première of Glenn James’ opera To Daniel. Mitchell recently received the Canada Council’s Jean-Marie Beaudet award for conducting. He has 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. A Waterloo native, Mitchell completed a Bachelor of Music degree in percussion performance at Wilfrid Laurier University. 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 Master’s degree in conducting. He has collaborated with such artists as Colin James, Judy Collins and Pink Martini. To visit Evan Mitchell's website, click here. | |
April: "Masterworks - Liszt and Brahms" |
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 Judith Yan |
 Alexei Gulenco |
"Masterworks - Liszt and Brahms" Sunday April 3rd 2011 at 3pm In honour of the Liszt bicentennial, Russian-Canadian pianist Alexei Gulenco will perform the spectacular Liszt Piano Concerto No. 1. Brahms' magnificent Symphony No. 4 is the major work, and the opening piece is an engaging performance of the Bach Double Violin Concerto, featuring 30 young Guelph soloists. Judith Yan, equally adept at conducting opera, ballet, and symphonies, has conducted in Germany, Italy, United States, and Canada. She was appointed the Staff Conductor for the San Francisco Opera, where she received critical acclaim for conducting Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress (which was included in the list of the San Francisco Chronicle’s Top Ten Classical Performances of 2005). Prior to San Francisco Opera, she was the Conductor-in-Residence with the Canadian Opera Company. As a conductor for ballet, she has conducted over 90 performances with the National Ballet of Canada, including Giselle, The Seagull, The Taming of the Shrew, Romeo and Juliet, Don Quixote, Cinderella, The Nutcracker, The Merry Widow, West Side Story, Soldier’s Mass, and more, including the world premiere of Peter Quanz’s Symphony in Colour. Yan guest conducts widely, including Seattle’s Pacific Northwest Ballet (The Nutcracker, and an all-Balanchine program); Hong Kong Ballet (The Sleeping Beauty); Germany’s Ulmer Oper (La Cenerentola and Idomeneo); San Francisco Conservatory (Le Nozze di Figaro); Guelph Symphony Orchestra (Romeo and Juliet); Members of the Toronto Symphony in the Romeo and Juliet Modd Project; Windsor Symphony; COSI Festival in Sulmona, Italy (Le Nozze di Figaro, La Boheme, and an opera gala concert); and the summer festival in St. John’s, Newfoundland, titled ‘Opera on the Avalon’ (Britten’s Albert Herring). She was recently appointed Music Director and Principal Conductor of this festival. To visit Judith Yan's website, click here. |
Come and experience the joys of live music-making with Guelph's Own Orchestra, and be part of an exciting season of change and growth! |
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The following special concerts are not part of our season ticket package, but we encourage your attendance! | ||
September: "Rockin' with the GSO" 8 pm Saturday Sept 25th 2010"Rockin with the GSO" Once again, Guelph's own rock / pop group, 'Euphoric Flight' , shares the main stage alongside Guelph Symphony Orchestra players, rocking to a variety of classic hits; from The Beatles to Billy Joel to Daughtry. Tickets will be available through the River Run Centre Box Office. Details are at rockinwiththegso.com. | ||
June: "Music in the Park"- 3 pm Sunday June 12th 2011"Music in the Park"- our annual Treat! On Sunday June 12th at 3 pm, we perform our eighth annual Music in the Park concert, at Riverside Park. A new venture for the GSO is to join with the Multi-Cultural Festival of Guelph, to present our music to an even wider audience. This is a fun afternoon of popular classics. Admission is FREE! Make this a special day - go to dinner after, or lunch before, and enjoy the sunshine and delightful music from Guelph's Own Orchestra. BRING YOUR OWN LAWN CHAIR OR RUG !! |
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