Spring Pops - The Once

Message from the Mayor On behalf of the City of St. John’s, I am pleased to extend warm greetings to the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra as you launch your 2025/2026 season, Obsessed, Onstage, Onfire.

This year’s theme reflects the passion, dedication, and energy the NSO brings to our community year after year.

Through inspiring performances, meaningful education prog rammes, and steadfast community engagement, the NSO cont inues to ignite a love of music that enriches the cultural fabric of our city.

My sincere thanks go to the musicians, staff, volun teers, patrons, and sponsors who make each season possible. Your commitment ensures that the symphony not only thrives, but also continues to inspire audiences of all ages.

On behalf of Council, I congratulate the NSO on another exciting season and wish you every success as you share your extraordin ary talent with our community.

Warm regards,

Danny Breen Mayor of St. John’s

Message fro

m the Lieute

nant Govern or

As Honorary Patron of the Newfo undland Symphony Orchestra, it is my great pleasure to extend greetings and very best wishes for the 2025-2026 season.

The NSO is a wonderful orc hestra, which has served to cultivate and profile many of the exceptional artists we have in our province. The gift of the NS O’s rich orchestral music has become an integral part of the cul tural fabric of Newfoundland and Labrador. Again this year, a variety of performances are planned, sure to delight audiences and inspire us all.

This season is the first under the artistic leadership of Music Director Simon Rivard. Congratu lations on your new role, and welcome!

I hope you will enjoy the perfor mances the NSO has in store this year.

To everyone involved: the musici ans, staff, crew, and all who hav e a hand in producing this season, I thank you and wish you the best.

Joan Marie J. Aylward, O.N.L

dor

Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland and Labra

SPRING POPS: THE ONCE

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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.

SPRING POPS

THE ONCE April 16-17, 2026 • St. John’s Arts & Culture Centre

Martin MacDonald, conductor The Once - Geraldine Hollett, Phil Churchill, Andrew Dale

PROGRAMME English Folk Song Suite Ralph Vaughan Williams

All The Hours arr. Jim Duff I Can’t Live Without You

arr. Jim Duff

Before the Fall arr. Jim Duff Open Road arr. Bill Brennan Gonna Get Good arr. Bill Brennan Before You Land arr. Bill Brennan

The Town Where You Lived

arr. Bill Brennan

Lost Are Found arr. Bill Brennan INTERMISSION

Molly on the Shore

Percy Grainger

Goodnight arr. Bill Brennan

Song for Memory arr. Jim Duff Lead Me Lover arr. Jim Duff Oh You arr. Bill Brennan A Round Again arr. Jim Duff The Bend arr. Bill Brennan

We Are All Running

arr. Jim Duff

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CONDUCTOR

MARTIN MACDONAL

D

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. 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, Kitchener-Waterloo, 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.

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. Martin resides in Toronto, Ontario with his wife, Kristen and their daughter, Frances.

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VIOLIN 1 Heather Kao (concertmaster) Dominic Greene (asst. concertmaster) Andy Kao Anastasia Kiseleva Whit Fitzgerald Claire Boudreau BASS Rachael Hammond Frank Fusari (principal) Denise Lear VIOLIN 2 Nancy Case-Oates (principal) Nick Howlett Mario Miranda Elena Vigna Ilyas Duissen FLUTE Jacquelyn Redmond Sarah Comerford (principal) Sofiia Terzioglu Gillian Morrissey Valerie Hewson Stewart Gillies OBOE/ Cathy Beehan

TROMBONE

VIOLA

PERCUSSION

MUSICIANS

ENGLISH HORN

Kate Read (principal) Ema Shiroma-Chao Chantelle Jubenville Rosaura Aguilar Mahina Graham-Laidlaw

CELLO Nathan Cook (principal) Amy Collyer-Holmes Laura Ivany Patrick Juenemann Sydney Chislett Katherine Shipley

Annie Corrigan (principal)

Darren McDonald (principal) Erin Sullivan

BASS TROMBONE Andrew Cooper (principal)

TUBA Catherine Tansley (principal)

Glenn Rice (principal) Harry Zheng

Rob Power (principal) Etienne Gendron Jenna Grant J Benson

BASSOON

KEYBOARD

CLARINET

Grant Etchegary (principal) Nicole Hand Chris Williams

HORN Emily Dunsmore (principal) Doug Vaughan Hannah Gaultois David Natsheh

TRUMPET

Bill Brennan

DRUMS Scott Mansfield

GUITAR Brad Jefford

BASS Frank Fusari

Katie Sullivan (principal) Jill Dawe Christian Berglander

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GUEST ARTISTS The Once - A modern indie folk trio from Newfoundland, The Once have collected a trio of Canadian Folk Music Awards, numerous ECMA awards, and was named Artist of the Year by the Newfoundland & Labrador Arts Council. They have earned not one, but two JUNO nominations for Roots Album of the Year and continue to take their music around the world.With the release of 2024’s Out Here, The Once have delivered a thoughtful and playful assembly of songs mingling their musical roots from Newfoundland along with folk, bluegrass, country, Americana, and modern indie rock. Members Geraldine Hollett, Andrew Dale, and Phil Churchill have created a sound representative of their home province of Newfoundland while pushing the boundaries on the great Canadian songbook with their soothing vocal harmony and acoustically rich core.

Lyrically, The Once’s newest collection of songs encompass an arresting sense of loss with the belief that the good can be found in all people, and a desire to bring it out here for everyone to enjoy. A ray of hope in a confusing time. A port in a storm. A provocation with a grin.

This material is soaked with the poetic charm and sunny sadness of the trio’s collective disposition. Written across Newfoundland and recorded in the band’s GingerBeard House studio the band took their time creating this record. “Sometimes music takes a while to flow”, Geraldine Hollett explains. “If you don’t panic and instead surround yourself with people who love you that you can trust, magic can happen.”

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FOR OUR SUPPORTERS

NSO Staff Simon Rivard, Music Director Martin MacDonald, Principal Pops Conductor Hugh Donnan, CEO Lynn Ann Pye, Patron Relations Jennifer Brennan, Education & Outreach Coordinator Susan Kelsey, Marketing & Event Manager Dominic Greene, Personnel Manager Steve Power, Production Manager/Video Production/Editing Jenny Griffioen, Librarian Kyle McDavid, Graphic Designer

NSO Board Jessica Chapman (Chair) Michelle Davis (Vice-Chair) Tom Hickey (Past Chair) Douglas Wright (Treasurer) Robert Thompson (Corporate Secretary) Philip Harrington Eleanor Swanson Heather McKinnon Andrea Rose Duncan Fitzpatrick Glenn Colton

Alana Walsh-Giovannini Aimee Letto Robert Decker Jennifer Massey Jing Xia Karen Bulmer Chris Williams Amanda Hann Charlie Byrne Andrii Shyshkin Beth Porter

P.O. Box 23125 St. John’s, NL A1B 4J9 709-722-4441 nso@nsomusic.ca

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