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Being Robert Schumann: Symphony No
VICTORIA SYMPHONY 2022/23
We’re back!Back to presenting a full orchestra on stage, sharing stands, and communicating our heartfelt enthusiasm to halls filled with music lovers. The applause can again explode after the last chord, or follow a tear-induced moment of silence, and build to a thunderous roar. This is what we’ve been waiting for. This is the light that comes after a time of darkness.
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Message from the Music Director
Light and darkness are indivisible and inevitable forces that will forever continue to agitate our minds, propel our lives, and shape our world. This is a story that influences our 2022/23 season. In the words of Leonard Cohen, “Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack, a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.”
Our opening concert includes Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite, celebrating the drive and courage that ultimately helps us overcome strife and guides us through the darkness. Similarly, the season will end with the ultimate tale of light and darkness as equal, inseparable, and inescapable forces, faced in both life and death, and depicted most masterfully in Mozart’s Requiem.
We are proud to present a wide range of the immense talent that lies within our own orchestra and our community – forces that have made it possible for us to overcome the dark times and continue to present performances of the highest quality. This season, we welcome back beloved guests as well as exciting new acquaintances and international star soloists. We’ll also give the Canadian premiere of Gary Kulesha’s Oboe Concerto alongside Bede Hanley, the Canadian oboist who commissioned and debuted it in Auckland under the baton of our friend Giordano Bellincampi.
We are excited to continue our “Being Robert Schumann” series – a multi-year exploration of the troubled mind of Robert Schumann, mirrored alongside premieres from four contemporary Canadian composers. In 2022/23, Ian Cusson draws on moving poetry by Joy Harjo for Songs From the House of Death, and Cassandra Miller will deliver a newly commissioned piece in response to Schumann’s Symphony No. 3.
I am incredibly pleased that the new season structure provides you with the freedom to explore repertoire, unrestricted by style or time. This is a season to emerge from the shadows with new formats and fresh ways of sharing our common interests. We are not here to simply present to you great symphonic music. We want to tell stories. Music is music, and different pieces cast new light and add greater depth to our understanding of other works. We want you to leave the concert with a feeling of having experienced a journey – to enjoy each piece of music as it stands alone, but more importantly appreciate both the sunlight and shadow within the performance.
Although the pandemic has had a devastating impact on arts organizations around the world, we must be grateful for the fact that the Victoria Symphony can proclaim, not only, “We’re back,” but also, “We’ve changed,” and even, “We’re better than ever!” I am so proud of our musicians and our staff who managed to stay dedicated, focused, and motivated during this time. To me, the secret behind our resilience seems obvious: the support from our community and our patrons with whom we share the common belief that music can enhance our ability to listen, and is able to broaden our minds by mirroring the world in all its light and darkness.
