EDGE OF YOUR SEAT II
SEASON SPONSOR
ALEX PAUK
This season’s Edge of Your Seat International Festival II expands Esprit’s vital connections with orchestras and artists abroad through co-commissions and guest performances. Our strategy also includes the commissioning of Canadian composers Chris Goddard and Nicholas Ma with whom we’ve been building lasting relationships and whose new pieces are featured in Esprit’s international setting. Relationship-building includes working with great performers like Japanese violinist Akiko Suwanai, who performed with us last season and joins us again for the North American Premiere of Misato Mochizuki’s Violin Concerto co-commissioned by Esprit with the Yomiuri Nippon Orchestra of Tokyo. German violist Nils Mönkemeyer will be with us to premiere a viola concerto by Dieter Ammann of Switzerland who we’ve co-commissioned with the Basel Symphony, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Lucerne Festival and the Tongyeong Festival, Korea. Exceptional Canadian violinist Mark Fewer, also returning, will apply his renowned improvisational skills in our North American Premiere of Swedish composer Anders Hillborg’s sensational violin concerto Bach Materia. I’ve invited The Elmer Iseler Singers to combine with Toronto’s Concreamus Chamber Choir to form a 72-voice choir for our performance of British/Japanese Ben Nobuto’s Hallelujah Sim. for choir, orchestra and electronics as the spectacular finale of the festival. The Superstrings V concert, featuring our string section (with a sprinkle of percussion) links to a programming thread from Esprit’s early days and includes one of our greatest hits for string orchestra—Purple Haze by Jimi Hendrix. I’ve programmed repeat performances of significant works from past years with Esprit serving as a repertory orchestra for worthy pieces that easily blend with new creations and music by composers being played by Esprit for the first time such as Uzbekistani Aziza Sadikova. Our festival highlights new music “classics” by Arvo Pärt, Claude Vivier and Thomas Adès along with music by other composers we’ve performed on past occasions including Andrew Norman, Anna Thorvaldsdottir, Alexina Louie, Chris Paul Harman and Gabriella Smith. It gives me great delight to think about performing the pieces I’ve programmed and I look forward to what I anticipate will be your equal delight in hearing this music.
ALEX PAUK, C.M.
2025/26 FESTIVAL AT A GLANCE
ALEX PAUK, MUSIC DIRECTOR & CONDUCTOR
8:00PM CONCERTS
7:15PM PRE-CONCERT MUSICAL INSIGHTS WITH ALEXINA LOUIE
TOUR DE FORCE
NOVEMBER 30, 2025
KOERNER HALL
Christopher Goddard CANADA
Thomas Adès UNITED KINGDOM
Anna Thorvaldsdottir ICELAND
Gabriella Smith UNITED STATES
Ben Nobuto UNITED KINGDOM
HEAT EFFICIENCY
MARCH 26, 2026
KOERNER HALL
Aziza Sadikova UZBEKISTAN
Dieter Ammann SWITZERLAND
Claude Vivier CANADA
Nicholas Ma CANADA
FESTIVAL SPONSORS
THE MICHAEL & SONJA KOERNER CHARITABLE FOUNDATION
THE AZRIELI FOUNDATION
THE CLEARVIEW FOUNDATION
THE MARY-MARGARET WEBB FOUNDATION
POWER CORPORATION OF CANADA
SUPERSTRINGS V
JANUARY 29, 2026
KOERNER HALL
Alexina Louie CANADA
Arvo Pärt ESTONIA
Andrew Norman UNITED STATES
Anders Hillborg SWEDEN
HALLELUJAH SIM.
APRIL 23, 2026
KOERNER HALL
Ben Nobuto UNITED KINGDOM
Misato Mochizuki JAPAN
Chris Paul Harman CANADA
Poul Ruders DENMARK
MUSICAL INSIGHTS
AKA PRE-CONCERT CHATS WITH ALEXINA LOUIE & GUESTS
Looking for an opportunity to engage with the composers and soloists featured in our concerts? Curious about new music and want to learn more about what you’re hearing?
Esprit hosts FREE Musical Insights in Koerner Hall before every concert. Each discussion is hosted by Juno Award-winning composer Alexina Louie and features lively conversations with guest composers, soloists and Esprit musicians!
ALL MUSICAL INSIGHTS ARE FREE WITH YOUR TICKET PURCHASE AND START AT 7:15PM
As Esprit Orchestra embarks upon its 43rd season, we continue to present the most innovative and exciting contemporary music from around the world—but we need your help. When you donate to the Esprit Orchestra, you are directly and positively impacting the future of Canadian music.
Donate today and demonstrate your belief in the bold, inspiring nature that characterizes the Esprit Orchestra!
CONTRIBUTION CAN BE MADE THROUGH ONE OF THE FOLLOWING
TOUR DE FORCE
CONCERT #1
SUNDAY
NOVEMBER 30, 2025
KOERNER HALL
8:00PM CONCERT
7:15PM MUSICAL INSIGHTS WITH ALEXINA LOUIE & GUESTS
FEATURING
Alex Pauk Conductor
PROGRAMME
Christopher Goddard CANADA a brace, a round, a bracing sound*, 2025
Anna Thorvaldsdottir ICELAND ax “constellation from METAXIS”***, 2024
Thomas Adès UNITED KINGDOM Overture to The Tempest, 2004
Ben Nobuto UNITED KINGDOM Serenity 2.0, 2021
Gabriella Smith UNITED STATES Tumblebird Contrails**, 2014
Paired with the exuberance of Chris Goddard’s specially commissioned work showcasing “the fearless ethos of Esprit,” Adès’ powerful Overture to The Tempest heralds our Edge of Your Seat International Festival. Gabriella Smith’s piece evokes ravens rolling, swooping, diving, soaring—an imagined ecstasy of wind, surf, sand, and sea beneath endless jet trails. Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s transfixing music alternates between loud orbits of sound with intensity and urgency, and calm, ethereal stillness. Back by popular demand is Ben Nobuto’s Serenity 2.0 for string quartet, percussion and electronics—a guided meditation that continually derails. Our festival bookends with another Nobuto work, the large-scale, humorous Hallelujah Sim., a playful game-like take on the Hallelujah Chorus, performed in April with 72 voices, orchestra and electronics.
SUPERSTRINGS V
CONCERT #2
THURSDAY
JANUARY 29, 2026
KOERNER HALL
8:00PM CONCERT
7:15PM MUSICAL INSIGHTS WITH ALEXINA LOUIE & GUESTS
FEATURING
Alex Pauk Conductor Mark Fewer Violin
PROGRAMME
Alexina Louie CANADA
O Magnum Mysterium: In Memoriam Glenn Gould, 1982, version for 34 divisi strings by John Rea, 1999
Anders Hillborg SWEDEN Bach Materia*, 2016/17
Arvo Pärt ESTONIA Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten, 1977
Arvo Pärt ESTONIA Silhouette, 2009/15
Andrew Norman UNITED STATES Gran Turismo, 2004
Jimi Hendrix UNITED STATES Purple Haze, 1967 arr. 1987 by Steve Rifkin
This program of works for string orchestra (with touches of percussion) celebrates artistic figures. To mark Arvo Pärt’s 90th year, we present two works: one, like a slow-motion sonorous waterfall in memory of Benjamin Britten; the other, short and light, inspired by the Eiffel Tower and Gustave Eiffel’s elegant designs. Louie’s fantasy reverie, with cosmic motifs and traces of classical repertoire, honours Glenn Gould. Eight solo violinists speed through Norman’s dazzling convergence of Italian Futurism, Baroque, and a racecar video game. Adding zest are Mark Fewer’s virtuosic improvisations in Hillborg’s tribute to Bach, and a full-throttle string version of Purple Haze evoking Jimi Hendrix.
HEAT EFFICIENCY
CONCERT #3
THURSDAY MARCH 26, 2026
KOERNER HALL
8:00PM CONCERT
7:15PM MUSICAL INSIGHTS WITH ALEXINA LOUIE & GUESTS
FEATURING
Alex Pauk Conductor Nils Mönkemeyer Viola
PROGRAMME
Nicholas Ma CANADA Memory of a Breath*, 2026
Aziza Sadikova UZBEKISTAN Heat Efficiency**, 2023
Aziza Sadikova UZBEKISTAN Angelo di Fuoco**, 2022
Dieter Ammann SWITZERLAND No templates*** (Viola Concerto), 2024
Claude Vivier CANADA Orion, 1979
Dieter Ammann’s No templates, as its title suggests, embraces freedom and adapts wide-ranging idioms. Esprit brings Toronto its first performance of Uzbekistani composer Aziza Sadikova’s music with Angelo di fuoco (Angel of Fire), reflecting her hope that the Angel will fight for justice amid global unrest. Aziza’s Heat Efficiency, commissioned for a climate project, evokes mechanical sounds, pipes, and waves of heat. Ma’s work reveals fresh explorations of technique, orchestration, and emotional impact. Vivier’s iconic Orion, reflecting his “eternal homecoming”, conjures enigmatic experiences like “sitting still on an airplane… remaining in the same place yet going from Cairo to Kuala Lumpur.” His advice for understanding: “Go and find out for yourself!”
HALLELUJAH SIM.
CONCERT #4
THURSDAY
APRIL 23, 2026
KOERNER HALL
8:00PM CONCERT
7:15PM MUSICAL INSIGHTS WITH ALEXINA LOUIE & GUESTS
FEATURING
Alex Pauk Conductor
Akiko Suwanai Violin
Elmer Iseler Singers Concreamus Chamber Choir
PROGRAMME
Chris Paul Harman CANADA Coyote Soul, 2011
Misato Mochizuki JAPAN Violin Concerto*, 2026
Poul Ruders DENMARK Tundra, 1990
Ben Nobuto UNITED KINGDOM Hallelujah Sim.**, 2021
Structured like a game, Nobuto’s Hallelujah Sim. sets a choir of 72 singers with simple rules for progressing through levels of play. It creates “a dreamlike scenario where old traditions and symbols—hallelujahs, choirs, the Royal Albert Hall—gain strange new intensity,” looping, shifting, starting and stopping as if the music were writing itself in real time. Esprit also presents the North American premiere of Misato Mochizuki’s new violin concerto, a joint commission with a major Japanese orchestra, featuring Akiko Suwanai’s return as guest soloist. Harman’s Coyote Soul blends lightness, colour, humour, and a pop tune known beyond the classical world. Ruders’ Tundra evokes the far North’s essence with a depiction of nature’s full sonic power.
GUEST ARTISTS
MARK FEWER, VIOLIN
AKIKO SUWANAI, VIOLIN
NILS MÖNKEMEYER, VIOLA
CONCREAMUS CHAMBER CHOIR
ELMER ISELER SINGERS
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TELUS Centre for Performance and Learning 273 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON M5S 1W2 (416) 408 0208 espritorchestra.com
BOX OFFICE
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SPONSOR SINGLE TICKETS AND SUBSCRIPTIONS FOR STUDENTS
SEASON SPONSOR
INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL SPONSORS
The Michael & Sonja Koerner Charitable Foundation The Clearview Foundation
The Mary-Margaret Webb Foundation
511-174 Spadina Ave Toronto, ON M5T 2C2 (416) 815 7887
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