George Gershwin wrote primarily for the Broadway musical theatre, but important as well are his orchestral and piano compositions in which he blended the techniques and forms of classical music with the stylistic nuances and techniques of popular music and jazz.
The Medusa myth profoundly influenced the musical shape that Dark Angels would assume. Its pages bear the scars of Medusa's transformation, and the bitter metaphors associated with her suffering. The Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16, composed by Edvard Grieg in 1868, was the only concerto Grieg completed. It is one of his most popular works and is among the most popular of the genre. Grieg, being only 24 years old at the time of the composition, had taken inspiration from Robert Schumann’s only concerto, also being in A minor. Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony demonstrates how convincingly he could create a large–scale symphonic work of complete technical assurance and structural equilibrium, yet wholly his own in expression.
Niagara native Jocelyn Fralick, Turkish-Canadian Beste Kalender, the BPC, and the LSSSC join the NSO for a rousing finale to the NSO’s Diamond Anniversary Season. Voted the fifth-greatest symphony of all time in a survey of conductors carried out by the BBC Music Magazine, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 is known as the Resurrection Symphony. One of his most popular and successful works, it was also his first major composition that established his lifelong view of the beauty of the afterlife, and resurrection. In this large work, Mahler further developed the creative “sound of the distance,” his goal to compose a “world of its own,” aspects of which were already seen in Mahler’s First Symphony.
Rock out to the greatest classic rock songs of all time! The music of Queen, The Who, Foreigner, Led Zeppelin, and many more performed by an all-star band, backed by the full power of NSO!
Who doesn’t love Beethoven? Two young talents bring twice the energy to two piano concertos! Piano Concerto No. 4 is a favorite of concert audiences and considered by many to be one of the pinnacles of the piano concerto repertoire. Piano Concerto No. 5 is known as the Emperor Concerto although it has no association with any emperor. It’s military aspects and symbolism characterize its heroic style. The Coriolan Overture represents Coriolanus’ resolve and war-like tendencies as he is about to invade Rome. The Egmont Overture, one of the last works of Beethoven’s “middle period,” is powerful and expressive and has become as famous a composition as the Coriolan Overture.
CHELSEA AHN is the
DR. and MRS. W.N. TYTANECK Guest Artist
Come celebrate 50 years of R&B, Motown, Funk, Disco, and Pop by some of the finest African American recording artists and performers like Smokey Robinson, Outkast, Stevie Wonder, Pharrell Williams, Isaac Hayes, and Seal. Featuring three-time Juno Award nominee and long-time member of the iconic Canadian a cappella group, The Nylons, Gavin Hope is a natural born performer. With his lightning speed comedic timing, skills on the dance floor, and truly exceptional, velvety, emotional voice, Hope is always a fan favourite!
Let the NSO put you in the mood for Valentine's Day. Enjoy a glass of wine, hors d'oeuvres, and the musical stylings of jazz pianist, Doug Mundy prior to the Soulful concert. A long time Niagara resident, Mundy is one of the most in demand musicians in the Niagara Region. He has recently completed a tour of New Zealand working with a collection of the country's finest jazz musicians.
Come celebrate 50 years of R&B, Motown, Funk, Disco, and Pop by some of the finest African American recording artists and performers like Smokey Robinson, Outkast, Stevie Wonder, Pharrell Williams, Isaac Hayes, and Seal. Featuring three-time Juno Award nominee and long-time member of the iconic Canadian a cappella group, The Nylons, Gavin Hope is a natural born performer. With his lightning speed comedic timing, skills on the dance floor, and truly exceptional, velvety, emotional voice, Hope is always a fan favourite!
Let the NSO put you in the mood for Valentine's Day. Enjoy a glass of wine, hors d'oeuvres, and the musical stylings of jazz pianist, Doug Mundy prior to the Soulful concert. A long time Niagara resident, Mundy is one of the most in demand musicians in the Niagara Region. He has recently completed a tour of New Zealand working with a collection of the country's finest jazz musicians.
Erhuist Snow Bai brings her expressive and dynamic performance to the NSO stage with an instrument that is rarely seen. Ho’s Earthbeat is inspired by the traditions of Canada’s First Nations community, bringing one closer to the Earth’s “heartbeat.” Jiang’s River Memory is a work inspired by the Niagara Falls, contemplating on the transformation of human identity as part of the immigration and diaspora experience. Beloved composer Lau’s Between the Earth and Forever, is a poetic evocation of the space between our home and the universe, the familiar and the unknown, the earthly and the transcendent, the preciousness of nature and the abyss of environmental disaster. Brahms’ Symphony No. 4 is the last of his symphonies and possibly his finest and most moving.
Celebrate the holidays with the familiar sounds of the most enchanting season! The NSO’s festive concert tradition returns with holly and mistletoe, sweet sugar plums, vocalists Kaylee Harwood and Sayer Roberts, and the Laura Secord Secondary School Choir. New this year: ‘The Snowman” is coming to town. Created by Raymond Briggs, ‘The Snowman” is one of the world’s most popular and iconic picture books. Nominated for an Oscar and winner of a BAFTA TV award, the animated version of “The Snowman” includes the iconic song “Walking in the Air,” written by composer Howard Blake. Enjoy “The Snowman” and its heartwarming soundtrack played live by the NSO as part of the NSO's holiday concert. Regardless of where you’re from, come home for the holidays with the NSO!
Celebrate the holidays with the familiar sounds of the most enchanting season! The NSO’s festive concert tradition returns with holly and mistletoe, sweet sugar plums, vocalists Kaylee Harwood and Sayer Roberts, and the Laura Secord Secondary School Choir. New this year: ‘The Snowman” is coming to town. Created by Raymond Briggs, ‘The Snowman” is one of the world’s most popular and iconic picture books. Nominated for an Oscar and winner of a BAFTA TV award, the animated version of “The Snowman” includes the iconic song “Walking in the Air,” written by composer Howard Blake. Enjoy “The Snowman” and its heartwarming soundtrack played live by the NSO as part of the NSO's holiday concert. Regardless of where you’re from, come home for the holidays with the NSO!
In Ishii’s Mono-Prism, the NSO is joined by the mesmerizing and heart-pounding taiko drum ensemble Nagata Shachu, their function being to disturb heaven and earth with their powerful sound and dynamism, and to awaken the sprits. Don Juan is an orchestral favourite due to the numerous technical and musical demands on each instrument. When Richard Strauss needed some local color for his opera Der Rosenkavalier (The Cavalier of the Rose), he turned to the waltz it as shorthand for the elegance and grace of a bygone era. Ravel’s Bolero, known for its orchestral crescendo and featured soloists throughout the entire orchestra, could be his most famous composition, made even more famous by the ice dancing pair Torvill and Dean at the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympics.
Guest Artist Sponsor:
DR. AND MRS. W.N. TYTANECK
Partridge Hall will be alive with the sound of music as the NSO welcomes Charlotte Knight, Jay Dref, and Nathan Keoughan to sing the classics of Rodgers and Hammerstein. After highly distinguished careers with other collaborators, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II teamed up in July 1942 for their first collaboration: a musical adaptation of Green Grow the Lilacs. That musical would eventually become Rodgers & Hammerstein’s iconic Oklahoma!. A milestone in the development of the American musical, it also marked the beginning of the most successful partnership in Broadway musical history, and was followed by Carousel, South Pacific, The King And I, Cinderella, and The Sound of Music, all contributing songs to the Great American Songbook.
Sultans of String, Alyssa Delbaere-Sawchuk, Marc Meriläinen (Nadjiwan), Shannon Thunderbird, Don Ross, Leela Gilday, The North Sound, and a multimedia extravaganza featuring Northern Cree Powwow Group, Dr. Duke Redbird, Inuit singers, and more!
Award-winning First Nations, Métis, and Inuit artists perform with JUNO Award nominees Sultans of String, in a musical multimedia event unlike any other! From Métis fiddling to an East Coast Kitchen Party, to the drumming of the Pacific Northwest, experience the beauty and diversity of music from Turtle Island/Canada.
Sultans of String, Alyssa Delbaere-Sawchuk, Marc Meriläinen (Nadjiwan), Shannon Thunderbird, Don Ross, Leela Gilday, The North Sound, and a multimedia extravaganza featuring Northern Cree Powwow Group, Dr. Duke Redbird, Inuit singers, and more!
Award-winning First Nations, Métis, and Inuit artists perform with JUNO Award nominees Sultans of String, in a musical multimedia event unlike any other! From Métis fiddling to an East Coast Kitchen Party, to the drumming of the Pacific Northwest, experience the beauty and diversity of music from Turtle Island/Canada.
Commissioned to celebrate Canada’s 150th Anniversary by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Symphony Nova Scotia, Dinuk Wijeratne’s fanfare, Yatra, is a fitting way to open the NSO’s Diamond Anniversary Season. Sheng Cai, a Canadian pianist with a growing international reputation, brings his dynamic force to Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2, popular with audiences and pianists alike; numerous films including David Lean’s romantic drama Brief Encounter utilize the music in its soundtrack. Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, “From the New World,” has become a universal favourite! Known for its famous English Horn solo in the second movement, astronaut Neil Armstrong even took a tape recording along during Apollo 11’s mission in 1969.
The NSO concludes the 2022-23 season with Stravinsky’s (in)famous Rite of Spring, which cemented his position as one of the most influential musical figures of the 20th century. Niagara Falls native, Jarred Dunn returns home as featured soloist on Mozart’s intimate and reflective Piano Concerto No. 24. Chickasaw composer Jerod Tate’s Chokfi’ portrays the titular trickster-rabbit from legend through tribal hymns and orchestral colours.
From “In the Air Tonight” to “Against All Odds”, and “Turn It On Again” to “Invisible Touch”, Phil Collins has been responsible for some of the most cherished musical moments of the 70’s to the present day. His songs from the legendary band, Genesis and his solo work have been a consistent soundtrack to our lives and will be presented in a way they’ve never been heard before - reimagined for full orchestra with an all-star band.
From “In the Air Tonight” to “Against All Odds”, and “Turn It On Again” to “Invisible Touch”, Phil Collins has been responsible for some of the most cherished musical moments of the 70’s to the present day. His songs from the legendary band, Genesis and his solo work have been a consistent soundtrack to our lives and will be presented in a way they’ve never been heard before - reimagined for full orchestra with an all-star band.
Everyone deserves a second chance! Rachmaninoff made the most of his, following the disastrous premiere of his first symphony with his beloved Symphony No. 2, which has been quoted in pop ballads and jazz tunes. TorQ Percussion Quartet bring the other-worldly imaginings of Dinuk Wijeratne’s Invisible Cities to life through bold and invigorating percussive colours.
A swingin’ time with the NSO! Join NSO Principal clarinettist Zoltan Kalman and Maestro Jeffrey Pollock for a Big Band bash, featuring classic hits from greats like Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Glenn Miller, and more.
A swingin’ time with the NSO! Join NSO Principal clarinettist Zoltan Kalman and Maestro Jeffrey Pollock for a Big Band bash, featuring classic hits from greats like Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Glenn Miller, and more.
Rising star Québécoise conductor Dina Gilbert presents two contrasting visions of Eastern Europe. Dvorak’s optimistic Eighth Symphony pays loving tribute to the landscapes and folk tunes of Bohemia. Peteris Vasks’ mournful Concerto for Viola, performed by Canadian violist, and Radio-Canada classical ‘Revelation’, Marina Thibeault, meditates and monologues on the times we are living in.
A trip around the world in one December night? Must be Santa – or the NSO and special guests Sultans of String! Enjoy this festive holiday concert featuring seasonal favourites, global music-inspired classics, and original music by 3-time JUNO Award nominated Sultans of String with special guests, the Laura Secord Secondary School Choir.
A trip around the world in one December night? Must be Santa – or the NSO and special guests Sultans of String! Enjoy this festive holiday concert featuring seasonal favourites, global music-inspired classics, and original music by 3-time JUNO Award nominated Sultans of String with special guests, the Laura Secord Secondary School Choir.
The lineage of German Romanticism can be traced from Weber to one of its undisputed masters, Brahms. The Brahms symphonic cycle continues in Niagara with the cheerful and moving Second Symphony. Visionary pianist Sara Davis Buechner brings her thoughtful artistry to Jared Miller’s Shattered Night – the Canadian composer’s personal emotional response to the eightieth anniversary of Kristallnacht.
Canadian soprano Claire de Sévigné returns to Niagara to muse on the hazy melancholy of childhood in Samuel Barber’s Knoxville: Summer 1915. Mahler’s enchanting Fourth Symphony closes the programme with a child’s serene vision of heaven.
A young farmhand longs for his destiny as twin suns set on the horizon. A shark stalks its prey. A young wizard gazes upon Hogwarts for the first time. These classic cinematic moments are brought to life by the incomparable music of John Williams. The NSO performs these selections and many more in this celebration of music at the movies!
A young farmhand longs for his destiny as twin suns set on the horizon. A shark stalks its prey. A young wizard gazes upon Hogwarts for the first time. These classic cinematic moments are brought to life by the incomparable music of John Williams. The NSO performs these selections and many more in this celebration of music at the movies!
Stravinsky’s early work with the Ballets Russe in Paris launched the composer to international stardom. The first of these works, The Firebird, is paired with Stravinsky’s own childhood hero Tchaikovsky, whose thrilling Fourth Symphony depicts his struggle with Fate. Niagara’s own Juliet Dunn joins the NSO in the Canadian premiere of Timothy Adams’ Harriet: A Journey to Freedom, a co-commission honouring the life of Harriet Tubman and the local history of the Underground Railroad.
Bradley Thachuk, conductor
Marie-Josée Lord, soprano
Stephanie Tritchew, mezzo-soprano
Matthew Dalen, tenor
Christopher Dunham, baritone
Chorus Niagara, Robert Cooper, artistic director
Roydon Tse | Vicious Cycle
Wagner | Tristan und Isolde: Prelude and “Liebestod”
Beethoven | Symphony No.9, “Choral”
The NSO concludes the 2021/2022 season with Beethoven’s 9th Symphony: a triumphant response to the challenging times at hand.
Bradley Thachuk, conductor
Michelle Colton, percussion
Glinka | Overture to Ruslan and Lyudmila
Kevin Lau | The Stars Are Not Aligned
World Premiere
Rimsky-Korsakov | Scheherazade
Tales of fortune and fate are brought to life through steel, skins, and strings in this reimagining of Masterworks 2!
Bradley Thachuk, conductor
Mark Fewer, leader & violin
Vivaldi | The Four Seasons
Kevin Lau | Le Petit Prince: Concert Suite No. 2 (WORLD PREMIERE)
Respighi | The Pines of Rome
Canadian violinist Mark Fewer leads the NSO strings in Vivaldi’s beloved depiction of pastoral Italy through the calm and fury of the passing seasons.
Bradley Thachuk, conductor
Brass Transit
Chicago’s signature blend of horns and classic 70‘s rock launched them up the charts and into the hearts of music lovers everywhere.
Bradley Thachuk, conductor
Brass Transit
Chicago’s signature blend of horns and classic 70‘s rock launched them up the charts and into the hearts of music lovers everywhere.
Bradley Thachuk, conductor
Joseph Johnson, cello
Kelly-Marie Murphy | Murmuration
Shostakovich | Cello Concerto No. 1
Elgar | Enigma Variations
AUDIENCE CHOICE
As voted by you! The NSO presents the winner of our “Name Your Tune!” contest – Elgar’s immortal tribute to his friends, the Enigma Variations.
A symphonic tribute to the legacy of Deep Purple
Bradley Thachuk, conductor
Joe Retta, vocalist
From Hush and Smoke on the Water to Whitesnake’s Here I Go Again, Deep Purple and the bands formed from its former members have delivered music fans some of their most beloved hits and anthems.
Bradley Thachuk, conductor
Sarah Slean, vocalist
Joni Mitchell’s iconic blend of blues, rock, and jazz has made her of one of Canada’s most beloved folk musicians.
Bradley Thachuk, conductor
Sarah Slean, vocalist
Joni Mitchell’s iconic blend of blues, rock, and jazz has made her of one of Canada’s most beloved folk musicians.
In accordance with provincial regulations Invisible Cities featuring TorQ Percussion Quartet is postponed. All ticket holders will be contacted by the PAC box office directly with options shortly.
We remain committed to rescheduling this fantastic concert for later in the 2021-22 season with a new date to be announced as soon as possible.
Bradley Thachuk, conductor
Kaylee Harwood, vocalist
Sayer Roberts, vocalist
Laura Secord S.S Choir, Katryna Sacco, director
Celebrate the holidays with the familiar sounds of the most enchanting season!
Bradley Thachuk, conductor
Kaylee Harwood, vocalist
Sayer Roberts, vocalist
Laura Secord S.S Choir, Katryna Sacco, director
Celebrate the holidays with the familiar sounds of the most enchanting season!
Bradley Thachuk, conductor
David Fung, piano
Tchaikovsky | Piano Concerto No. 1
Tchaikovsky | Romeo & Juliet
Tchaikovsky | 1812 Overture
The boom of war cannons and the tragedy of forbidden love – Tchaikovsky captures the passion and pain of history in his beloved scores.
Bradley Thachuk, conductor
Steven Page Trio
Canadian Icon Steven Page, formerly of Barenaked Ladies, brings his powerful tenor, quick wit, and an arsenal of songs from his 30-year catalogue
