MESSAGE FROM THE PREMIER On behalf of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, I am delighted to extend warm congratulations and best wishes to the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra as it embarks on its 2026-2027 season. This year’s program promises an inspiring journey through beloved masterworks, celebrated guest artists, cherished seasonal traditions, and exciting new musical experiences for audiences across our province. The NSO continues to enrich Newfoundland and Labrador’s cultural landscape by bringing people together through the transformative power of music. Your commitment to artistic excellence, community engagement, and accessibility ensures that audiences of all ages and backgrounds can experience the joy and wonder of live orchestral performance. As musicians, Hon. Tony Wakeham staff, volunteers, supporters, and patrons gather for another remarkable season, Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador we wish you continued success both on and off the stage. May this year be filled with memorable performances, standing ovations, and meaningful connections forged through music. Congratulations on an exciting season ahead, and thank you for the invaluable contribution you make to the cultural life of our province.
NANT GOVERNOR MESSAGE FROM THE LIEUTE
As Honorary Patron of the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra, I am so pleased to extend greetings and very best wishes for the 2026-2027 season. A wonderful variety of performances are planned, and the NSO will once again delight audiences and profile many of the exceptional artists we have in our province. The NSO’s orchestral music is an integral part of the fabric of the arts in our province and is truly a gift to us all. I hope you enjoy each show that the NSO has in store this year. To everyone involved: the musicians, staff, crew, and all who contribute to producing each performance, thank you. I look forward to this season!
Joan Marie J. Aylward, O.N.L Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland and Labrador
OR MESSAGE FROM THE MAY On behalf of St. John’s City Council, it is my pleasure to welcome audiences to another exciting season of the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra. The NSO has long been an important part of the cultural fabric of our city, bringing people together through the power of music and creating memorable experiences for residents and visitors alike. We are proud to support the NSO and its ongoing efforts to make music accessible, engaging, and meaningful. Best wishes for a successful and inspiring season.
Danny Breen Mayor of St. John’s
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We acknowledge the province of Newfoundland and Labrador as the traditional territory of diverse Indigenous groups, and we acknowledge with respect the distinct histories and cultures of the Beothuk, Mi’kmaq, Innu, and Inuit of this province. We strive for respectful relationships with all the peoples of this province as we search for collective healing and true reconciliation and honour this beautiful land together.
HALLOWE’EN SPOOKTACULAR Henry Hiccup & The Forbidden Orchestra Saturday, October 24, 2026 • John C. Perlin Arts and Culture Centre
Martin MacDonald, conductor Original script written by Kyle McDavid Starring: Parker Butler | Sofia Cherwick | Claire Gardner Arthur Hender | Arwyn Lasby | Olivia Neary Sophia Neary | Harriet Roche | Emma Ryall
PROGRAMME Modest Mussorgsky
Night on Bald Mountain
10 min.
John Williams
Devil’s Dance (The Witches of Eastwick)
4.5 min.
Edvard Grieg
In the Hall of the Mountain King
2.5 min.
Paul Dukas
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (Fantasia)
5 min.
Hector Berlioz
Witches’ Sabbath (from Symphonie Fantastique)
5 min.
John Williams
Witches, Wands, and Wizards
4.5 min.
.
(Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban)
John Williams
Harry’s Wondrous World 5 min.
(Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone)
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CONDUCTOR
MARTIN
MACDONALD
Martin MacDonald is one of Canada’s most dynamic and outstanding conductors and has been awarded both the Heinz Unger Award and the Jean-Marie Beaudet Award for orchestral conducting. In January 2022, Martin was named Music Director of the Cathedral Bluffs Symphony Orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario. Most recently, Martin was named Artistic Partner of the Brott Music Festival based in Hamilton, Ontario where he conducted several programs throughout the 2024 summer and fall season and will continue for the 2025 season. Martin has guest conducted extensively across Canada having worked with the orchestras of Toronto, National Arts Centre, Vancouver, Victoria, Kamloops, Edmonton, Calgary, Regina, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Hamilton, Kingston, KitchenerWaterloo, London, Niagara, Sudbury, Thunder Bay, Windsor, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland. He has served as a Cover and Guest Conductor for the National Ballet of Canada for several productions, and has worked with the Minnesota Ballet, Atlantic Ballet, and Halifax Dance. Martin has recorded extensively for the CBC and for several commercial recordings. Most notably, Martin has served as Resident Conductor, Associate Conductor, and a regular guest conductor of Symphony Nova Scotia since 2008 with over 200 performances in a diverse range of programs and artists. Previously, Martin served as Associate Conductor of the National Academy Orchestra of Canada, and has participated in several international conducting workshops and competitions. Recently, Martin has led several live orchestra to film productions and has produced orchestral and opera livestreams and recordings for the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Against the Grain Theatre. Martin has a Master’s degree in Orchestral Conducting from McGill University. At McGill, he studied conducting with Alexis Hauser, served as assistant conductor to the McGill Symphony Orchestra, and worked with both Opera McGill and the McGill Contemporary Music Ensemble as well as several other orchestral and chamber music activities. Martin has a Bachelor’s degree in Cello from Memorial University. Martin further studied conducting with Bernhard Gueller, Boris Brott, and Michael Jinbo; and in workshops with Kenneth Kiesler, Gustav Meier, Jorma Panula, and Johannes Schlaefli. Martin’s conducting activities have been generously supported by the Canada Council for the Arts. As a cellist, Martin has performed extensively with many orchestras and chamber music ensembles throughout Canada.
Cape Breton born, Martin is the youngest of twelve children and has a diverse musical background with a strong Celtic music tradition including extensive touring and performing with members of his family throughout Europe and North America. Martin resides in Toronto, Ontario with his wife, Kristen and their daughter, Frances.
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GUEST S ARTIST Best Kind Productions We are a theatre company based in St. John’s, Newfoundland. We produce high quality musicals and plays with an outside-thebox sensibility. We are an incubator for the development of new Canadian musical theatre, contributing to the artistic landscape of our province. We are committed to nurturing imagination, commitment, and kindness in our province’s youth, through performance and educational experiences. We are community builders, bringing great people together to collaborate and dream. We are Best Kind.
Kyle McDavid (writer/director, Henry Hiccup and the Forbidden Orchestra) is a producer, director, writer/composer, educator, and graphic designer. Previous scripts for the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra’s family pops concerts include Mighty Mabel Saves the Symphony, Snap Snap!, The Paranormal Popcorn Patrol, Something Wicked, and Harmony in Ulliasuk for the 2022 Labrador Tour. As Founder and Co-Artistic Director of Best Kind Productions, he has produced 40+ events over the past 16 years, wearing many hats both on and off stage in mainstage musicals and plays, the annual outdoor children’s musical at the Bowring Park Amphitheatre, cabarets, readings, and workshops. He has performed with many local theatre companies and directed productions in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Ontario. As a musical theatre writer and composer, he has written original musicals including Impresario, based on the life of St. John’s-born Broadway legend, John Murray Anderson, which was produced through the Resource Centre for the Arts in 2017, children’s musicals How Do You Get to Jellybean Row?, Sidewalk Dandelion (commissioned by Shallaway Youth Choir’s neurodiverse ensemble, Lauda), and Shallaway Youth Choir’s Remembrance Day choralmusical, Lightkeepers. Kyle is a composer/pianist for Ladies Who Lunch Productions’ Three Tales of Terror series and Untellable Movement Theatre (Eli & The Death Curse, Piper & the Storm). He has led ArtsSmarts musical theatre/songwriting projects with Beachy Cove Elementary and Ecole St. Matthew’s School students, and is a multi-time nominee for MusicNL Educator and Graphic Designer awards, as well as ArtsNL’s Educator of the Year award in 2023. Love to Annika, Lachlan, and Rosalie.
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Andrew Preston as Evan Hansen Maggie Furey Masen Hunt Melanie Jardine Erin Johnston Kiersten Noel Conor Whittle John Williams Leah Downey Erin Lee Jacques St-Pierre Max Stringer
Director - Timothy Matson
Music Director - Kyle McDavid
Producer - Krysta Rudofsky
NOV. 13, 14, 15, 19, 20, 21
VIOLIN 1
MUSICIANS
Heather Kao (concertmaster) Dominic Greene (asst. concertmaster) Andy Kao Anastasia Kiseleva Rachael Hammond BASS Claire Boudreau Frank Fusari (principal) Sean Perry Denise Lear Nick Howlett VIOLIN 2 Nancy Case-Oates (principal) Mario Miranda Carole Bestvater FLUTE Elena Vigna Sarah Comerford (principal) Amanda Yee Donna Spurvey Jacquelyn Redmond Grace Dunsmore Cathy Anstey Stewart Gillies
VIOLA
OBOE/ ENGLISH HORN
TRUMPET Katie Sullivan (principal) Jill Dawe Christian Berglander
TROMBONE Darren McDonald (principal) Jo Dashney
Kate Read (principal) Ema Shiroma-Chao Chantelle Jubenville Rosaura Aguilar Mahina Graham-Laidlaw Jonathan Stevenson
Annie Corrigan (principal) Lily Broderick Glenn Rice (principal) Brenda Gatherall
TUBA
CELLO
BASSOON
Nathan Cook (principal) Amy Collyer-Holmes Leah Mezo-Willingham Sandra Pope Nancy Bannister Katherine Shipley Laura Ivany Pierre Kusters
PERCUSSION
Grant Etchegary (principal) Nicole Hand Chris Williams
Rob Power (principal) Etienne Gendron (principal) David Kerr Amy Parsons Emily Pynn
BASS TROMBONE Andrew Cooper
CLARINET
Catherine Tansley
HORN Emily Dunsmore (principal) Libby Brennan Hannah Gaultois David Natsheh
PIANO/CELESTE Jenny Griffioen (principal)
HARP Sarah Veber (principal)
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UPCOMING CONCERTS
A STANDING
OVATION
FOR OUR SUPPORTERS