This weekend's PGSO concert is being billed as Love Awaits You.
I'm not sure if I will be holding my breath as I wait in the line to get into Vanier Hall Saturday night, but I know for sure that awaiting us will be a gorgeous, lyrical program, led by another in a series of guest conductors this season.
Maestro Michael Hall is taking the helm and I had the pleasure of speaking with him by phone the other day.
Michael is a Canadian who currently resides outside of Philadelphia where he is in his third season as music director of the Kennett Symphony Orchestra. Prior to this engagement he was the conductor of the Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra in Fort Myers and the Associate Conductor of the Pacific Symphony in Orange County, California. His educational pedigree is international, having completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Toronto, his Master's at the University of Michigan, and his post-grad at the Royal Academy of Music in London.
With my background in piano and theoretical studies, I was curious to know how these fields may have influenced his work as a conductor and it was pleasing to hear that Michael approaches the scores he is conducting with a solid reliance on theoretical knowledge. "Understanding the language of the composer is key, rather than just relying on the story of the piece. One of the most important ways to really understand the music, is to understand the musical theories of the composer's day."
Intelligent performances are the new sexy in today's concert world.
I sensed from Michael a tremendous amount of enthusiasm, both for his upcoming guest performance, and in the prospect of potentially becoming the PGSO's new music director. I asked him how he felt about being repatriated for this concert. "After being in the U.S., I appreciate now that Canada does a great job of encouraging and protecting its own culture - its own voice. It is easy to be drowned out by the U.S., but there is a lot of pride in presenting new Canadian works."
This definitely applies to the concert this weekend, as we are going to be treated to a Canadian premiere. Dark Forest is a short work (a fanfare of sorts) by resident Prince George woodwind specialist Simon Cole. I understand that the piece will also be later performed by the Toronto Symphony, so what a treat that we get to hear it first here.
Also on the program will be both of the Carmen Suites, which are two suites of orchestral music drawn from the music of Georges Bizet's 1875 opera Carmen and compiled posthumously by Ernest Guiraud.
The opera is most known for its themes of seduction, jealousy, heartbreak and despair, which kind of sounds a bit like love - at least to me.
We generally don't get a chance to hear both of the suites played on the same program and it will certainly be an interesting challenge for Maestro Hall to connect these abstract instrumental versions with the passion and drama that one gets in a staged version of the opera. Michael said that it requires some dialogue, without turning a concert into a lecture, to "explain how these hits relate to the opera. The audience will certainly recognize many of the selections, and of course the sound world that the PGSO will create during the performance."
Saturday's performance seems to also be about pairs, which certainly is another clue to Love Awaits You. We will be treated to the two Beethoven Romances for Violin and Orchestra, with guest violinist Carla Trynchuk, a graduate of the illustrious Julliard School, and currently a professor of music at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan.
Maestro Hall is excited to get to the Beethoven, a composer who is as a staple of a conductor's repertoire. But to him, the lesser-known Romances are almost like discovering new works - miniature concertos, with sonic, harmonic languages, accessible orchestrations and beautiful violin solos.
As is generally the case with me, I am always interested in learning about how new artists to our community predict they will engage with our audiences. While Michael certainly has spent some time in the U.S. and abroad, he has worked throughout Canada, including B.C. He has great respect and acknowledgment of the tremendous responsibility that lies with the music director of a local orchestra, and appreciates the chance to "get away from a crowded market." Michael indicated that he is encouraged by the thought of working with PGSO staff and musicians "who are excited about the future of the organization, as that sort of mentality is contagious."
Michael shared with me an event he is involved with this season in his current hometown called Mendelssohn, Mimosas and More, in which the orchestra will be positioned in the centre of the performance space, with audience members sitting in a circle around the musicians. People will have the opportunity to enjoy food and the aforementioned beverages.
I love to see efforts to bring classical music out of our current museum-relic, conformist mode and give potential new audiences a chance to personally interact with an orchestra and music, in a setting that is far more true to 18th and 19th century performances than those of the past century.
So get your tickets for the PGSO for Saturday at 7:30 p.m., at Central Interior Tickets or by phone at 250-596-0020. This beautiful program, performed by our talented local musicians and visiting guest artists, will surely inspire love within you.
Because if the world needs more of anything right now, it's definitely love.
