FROM THE CONDUCTOR’S PODIUM

It is my honour and privilege to welcome you to our third subscription concert!

The 55th Season of the Oakville Symphony was built to create opportunities for all of us to find our community, and share the unique experience of music with the people we love: our family, friends, neighbours, or the person you just met sitting next to you today. I am proud that the OS is offering free tickets for kids and youth for Sunday’s performance, showing our commitment to the future of music and our community!

Today’s performance brings three quite different works, each one just as thrilling as the other. We begin with one of the best examples of the charm and wittiness typical of the Viennese orchestral style of the late 19th century. In the Overture to Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss Jr. we recognize many tunes that went on to have timeless success.

We continue with one of the most performed works featuring a percussion instrument as the soloist. Ney Rosauro’s first Marimba Concerto is intended as a serenade, where the marimba will lead us through very energetic passages to the most introspective moods. I am thrilled to welcome the fantastic Bryan Allen as our guest artist for this concert; you will enjoy his virtuosity (and witness the many steps required to play this huge instrument!).

Lastly, we come to the monumental Second Symphony by Jean Sibelius, one of the most beloved examples of romantic nationalistic music. Sibelius takes us on a journey from despair to absolute joy in a model reminiscent of Beethoven’s Fifth. I like to think of the jaggedness of the music in cinematic terms. Sibelius points the camera to a pastoral scene, and the next second the camera shows a protest for liberation. I hope this orchestral tour-de-force will leave a lasting impression on all of you.

It is my sincerest wish that you enjoy the concert, and that you will be here again in May when we will present our last performance of this season and share with you the details of our 2023-24 Season, the most exciting one yet!

Lorenzo Guggenheim Music Director & Conductor, Oakville Symphony

Board Of Directors

Rhonda Wild, President

Samantha Cheung, Vice President

Mira Backo-Shannon, Secretary

Kumar Balan

Natalie Cabri

Geoffrey Creighton

OTHER OFFICERS

Bianca Chambers, Executive Director

Lorenzo Guggenheim, Music Director

Cathy Easton

Anna Hewitt

Andy Kenins, Treasurer

Jeany Kyung-Ah Jang

Sandra Litt

Jose Shapero

SUPPORT

Susan Barber-Kahro, Librarian

Michele Frensch, Rehearsal Coordinator