Victoria Symphony

Sibelius Symphony No. 5
2019-11-10 14:30 - 16:30 (America/Vancouver) | Image Link
“Under the Northern Lights” launches with Sibelius’ monumental Symphony No. 5, depicting Nordic landscapes, from the most hidden inner parts of the human spirit to the broadest widths of nature. Accordion phenom Bjarke Mogensen joins Maestro Kluxen in the North American premiere of Danish composer Poul Ruders’ evocative and sultry score.
Tickets are $35 – $58. Click here for tickets.
For more background on this concert, click here for complete program notes.
There is NO pre-concert talk for this performance.
Watch Bass trombone talk about this concert below:

Old Blue Eyes: The Music of Frank Sinatra
2019-11-03 14:00 - 16:00, 2019-11-02 20:00 - 22:00 | BC
Described by the New York Times as “two parts young Sinatra to one part Billy Joel”, Tony DeSare joins the VS to sing hits from legendary Old Blue Eyes himself, Frank Sinatra. Luck Be A Lady, Come Fly With Me and My Way are just a few of Sinatra’s hits this sultry crooner and his grooving band will perform.
Tickets are $33 – $85. Click here to buy tickets!
Join concert sponsor Revera for a pre-concert tea on Sunday, starting @ 1:00 pm in the lobby!

Haydn & Beethoven
2019-10-20 14:30 - 16:30 | Image Link
Fresh from winning the top prize at Leeds International Piano Competition, Chinese-American Eric Lu debuts with the Victoria Symphony in Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4. Described as a veritable poet of the keyboard, the 20 year-old, Lu has become one of the most sought after pianists of his generation. Victoria’s Giuseppe Pietraroia leads the orchestra in one of Haydn’s most popular late symphonies – “The Clock”.
Tickets are $35 – 58. Click here for tickets.
For more background on this concert, click here for complete program notes.
There is NO pre-concert talk for this performance.

Bellincampi Conducts Mendelssohn & Schumann
2019-10-06 14:30 - 16:30, 2019-10-05 20:00 - 22:00 | Image Link
Hailed for playing that is “striking for its intelligence and sensitivity” (Boston Globe), American virtuoso Stefan Jackiw makes his VS debut performing Mendelssohn’s lyrical Concerto for Violin. Under the baton of internationally renowned conductor Giordano Bellincampi, the concert comes to a triumphant close with Schumann’s dramatic Symphony No. 2 in C major.
Tickets are $35 – $58.
Click here for tickets on Saturday night.
Click here for tickets on Sunday afternoon.
For more background on this concert, click here for complete program notes.
Please join Bass Trombone Bob Fraser for a pre-concert talk one hour before the performance. These talks will be held in the Senate Chambers, adjacent to the Auditorium.

A Fantasia of Dance
2019-09-29 14:00 - 16:00, 2019-09-28 20:00 - 22:00 | BC
Talented dancers of Ballet Victoria join Maestro Sean O’Loughlin and the VS to delight audiences with an eclectic fusion of music and dance including favourites from Fantasia, Rodeo, Romeo & Juliet, Appalachian Spring and more!
Tickets are $33 – $85. Click here for tickets!

Rachmaninoff & Brahms
2019-09-23 20:00 - 22:00 | BC
Honens Piano Competition winner Georgy Tchaidze makes his eagerly anticipated debut with the VS performing Rachmaninoff’s thrilling Piano Concerto No. 3; one of the most technically and musically challenging of the repertoire. Under the baton of Maestro Kluxen, the VS propels the 19/20 season into place with Brahms’ majestic Symphony No. 1.
Tickets are $35 – $88. Click here for tickets.
For more information on this concert, click here for complete program notes.
Please join Bass Trombone Bob Fraser for a pre-concert talk one hour before the performance. This talk will be held in the west lobby.

Symphony @ Centennial Square
2019-07-30 12:00 - 13:00 | Foundation for the Victoria Symphony
Looking for some lunchtime entertainment? Why not come listen to small ensembles of the VS and friends FREE lunchtime concerts at Centennial Square! Soak up some sun and enjoy the VS!
Tuesday, July 30: Odyssey String Quartet – Celebrating all genres of music including classical, popular, rock and swing!
Wednesday, July 31: Jamshed – Gypsy style jazz including ethnic music from the Balkans and Russia.
Thursday, August 1: VS Brass – Favourites from baroque to ragtime to jazz.

Beer & Beethoven
2019-07-27 14:30 - 16:30 | BC
Enjoy a cold beer (or wine or cider) at beautiful Ogden Point and enjoy the music of Beethoven in the sunshine. What a wonderful way to spend the afternoon or evening!

Wagner’s Lohengrin
2019-05-11 20:00 - 22:00 | BC
A tour-de-force of operatic singers join the Victoria Choral Society for this epic and triumphant third act of Wagner’s renowned opera Lohengrin filled with themes of love, betrayal, mysticism, transformation and royalty. The concert begins with the Prelude from Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde followed by the glorious and uplifting Sibelius Symphony No. 7.
Tickets are $33 – $86 and are available here.
For more background on this concert, and complete program notes, click here.
Please join Bass Trombone Bob Fraser for a pre-concert talk in the west lobby one hour before the concert.
Below, hear Maestro Kluxen invite you to the concert.

For your chance to win tickets to the performance, answer Christian’s riddle:
What is the name of the piece/movement by Sibelius that involves the swan?
And, what is the name of the hero in that piece?
Send your answers to marketing@victoriasymphony.ca

Bondarsphere
2019-05-04 20:00 - 22:00 | VS & Pacific Opera Victoria at the Cameron Bandshell
Canadian composer Nicole Lizée interprets Canada’s first female astronaut Roberta Bondar’s remarkable life as an astronaut, physician, scientific researcher, photographer, author, and environment interpreter through soundtrack, video and live orchestra. Hétu’s Légendes and Sokolvic’s Concerto for Orchestra, a work that alternates between action and introspection, are also on the program.
Bondarsphere commissioned by the NAC Orchestra.
Tickets are $20 – $25 and are available here.

Geniušas Plays Brahms
2019-04-28 14:30 - 16:30 | Image Link
International pianist Lukas Geniušas makes his debut with the VS performing Brahms’ beautiful, intimate, and powerful Piano Concerto No. 2 on this all Brahms program. The Serenade No. 2, one of his early works, completes the program.
Tickets are $33 – $56 and are available here.
For more background on this concert and complete program notes, click here.
Please join Bass Trombone Bob Fraser for a pre-concert talk at 1:30 pm in the Senate Chambers, adjacent to the auditorium.

Colafelice Plays Beethoven
2019-04-15 20:00 - 22:00 | BC
Award winning pianist Leonardo Colafelice joins the VS to perform Beethoven’s virtuosic and sophisticated Piano Concerto No. 1. Features Guest Conductor, (and Auckland Philharmonia Music Director) Giordano Bellincampi leads the orchestra in Mendelssohn’s energetic “Scottish” Symphony No. 3.
Tickets are $33 – $86 and are available here.
For more background on this concert and complete program notes, click here.
Please join Bass Trombone Bob Fraser for a pre-concert talk in the west lobby one hour before the concert.

The Best of Queen
2019-04-05 20:00 - 22:00 | BC
The VS “will rock you” with legendary music of Queen in this electric symphony-rock tribute. Experience the harmonies, hits and nostalgia of one of the world’s most prolific rock bands including hits like We Are the Champions and Bohemian Rhapsody. Don’t miss this chance to rock with hits from one of the greatest bands of the century!
Tickets are $31 – $83 and are available here.

New Music Festival - Singing the Earth
2019-03-30 20:00 - 22:00 | VS & Pacific Opera Victoria at the Cameron Bandshell
Another former VS Composer in Residence, Anna Höstman’s Singing the Earth highlights this second New Music Festival concert. Describing the beauty and spirit of British Columbia’s Bella Coola Valley in a multilingual and cross-disciplinary setting, the work features Bella Coola-born soloist Marion Newman.
Tickets are $20 – $25 and are available here.
For more information on soloist Marion Newman, please visit her website here.

New Music Festival - Just a Stranger Here Myself
2019-03-28 20:00 - 22:00 | VS & Pacific Opera Victoria at the Cameron Bandshell
This concert in the New Music Festival features pieces from six previous VS-Composers-in-Residence who have shared their passion with the Symphony. Victoria-born Schmidt’s Just a Stranger Here Myself, reflecting on his new life in Germany concludes the program.
Tickets are $20 – $25 and are available here.

New Music Festival: One More Way To See
2019-03-27 20:00 - 22:00 | VS & Pacific Opera Victoria at the Cameron Bandshell
As a part of this year’s New Music Festival – Celebrating the Legacy of VS Composers-in-Residence, the Victoria Symphony in collaboration with the Emily Carr String Quartet Society will be presenting an evening with the Emily Carr String Quartet featuring mezzo soprano Marion Newman. This concert will feature the world premiere of Jennifer Butler’s One More Way to See. Past VS Composers-in- Residence, Jared Miller and Tobin Stokes will also be featured showcasing their pieces for string quartet inspired by Emily Carr.
Emily Carr String Quartet Society wishes to acknowledge the British Columbia Arts Council for their generous support in the commissioning of Jennifer Butler’s Songs for Klee Wyck: One More Way to See with words by poet Stephanie McKenzie.
Tickets are $25 or buy a New Music Festival pass for $40 and receive tickets to all three shows including this one, Just a Stranger Here Myself (March 28) and Singing the Earth (March 30).

Naked Classics: Symphonie Fantastique
2019-03-24 14:30 - 16:30 | BC
Naked Classics animateur Paul Rissmann joins the VS in undressing this Berlioz masterpiece and explores the history and genius of the work, uncovering secrets in the score and deconstructing the composition using visuals, live excerpts and more! The VS then plays the entire score; the amazingly fresh tale of irrational love that is Symphonie fantastique.
Tickets are $33 – $86 and are available here.
Please join us on Sunday, March 24 prior to the concert for our vsNEW concert featuring new works created by young composers (under the mentorship of our VS Composer in Residence, Marcus Goddard) and performed by VS musicians. The concert will take place in the west lobby at 1:15 and is included in the ticket price.
For more background on this concert and complete program notes, click here.
There are no pre-concert talk for these concerts.
Below, watch Paul Rissmann talk about the upcoming concert!

Kluxen Conducts Haydn
2019-03-17 14:30 - 16:30 | Image Link
Assistant Concertmaster Christi Meyers and Principal Second Violinist Tori Gould play Pärt’s Tabula Rasa, pairing two violins with each other in what has been described as angel music. Maestro Kluxen concludes the concert with Haydn’s witty and exuberant Symphony No. 96 “Miracle”.
Tickets are $35 – $56 and are available here.
For more background on this concert and complete program notes, click here.
Please join Bass Trombone Bob Fraser for a pre-concert talk at 1:30 pm in the Senate Chambers, adjacent to the auditorium.

Symphonic Shenanigans
2019-03-10 14:30 - 15:30 | BC
Can you make music with tin cans, soda straws, garden hoses and turkey basters? Juno Award-winner Al Simmons can! Discover the wacky science behind these zany instruments as he pits them against the sting, woodwind and brass instruments of the symphony in this action-packed, sing-a-long concert.
Tickets are $15 – $25 and are available here.
Don’t forget to come early for the VS Instrument Petting Zoo and other activities beginning at 1:30 pm in the lobby!

Wizard of Oz
2019-03-08 20:00 - 22:00 | BC
Dorothy is here! Bring your friends and family to see our first ever presentation of this classic film accompanied by live orchestra! Travel over the rainbow and follow the yellow brick road to Emerald City. Click those ruby red slippers, ‘cause there’s no place like home…at the Royal Theatre!
Tickets are $31 – $83 and are available here.

The Saturday matinee performance will have a Tea hosted by concert sponsor Revera beginning at 1:00 pm.

Tam Plays Shostakovich
2019-03-02 20:00 - 22:00 | BC
Renowned conductor David Danzmayr teams with virtuosic Concertmaster Terence Tam in this all-Russian concert performing the Shostakovich Violin Concerto No. 1. Written in the German-style, the concerto embodies Shostakovich’s sarcastic humour and emotional intensity. The program concludes with Prokofiev’s lyrical, reflective, yet melancholic Seventh Symphony.
Tickets are $33 – $86 and are available here.
For more background on this concert and complete program notes, click here.
Please join Bass Trombone Bob Fraser for a pre-concert talk in the west lobby one hour before the concert.

Albright Plays Bach
2019-02-17 14:30 - 16:30 | Image Link
Maestra Tania Miller returns to conduct rising star pianist Charlie Albright performing Bach’s crisp, bold and dramatic Concerto in D. Haydn’s elegant, quirky and exuberant Symphony No. 92 follows on the program.
Tickets are $33 – $56 and are available here.
Single tickets on sale July 16 at 10:00am
Please join Bass Trombone Bob Fraser for a pre-concert talk at 1:30 pm in the Senate Chambers, adjacent to the auditorium.

Goodyear & Nielsen
2019-02-04 20:00 - 22:00 | BC
Popular pianist Stewart Goodyear returns to perform his own jazz infused, upbeat concerto for piano and orchestra, Callaloo. The concert concludes with Danish composer Carl Nielsen’s dramatic Symphony No. 4, a work that embodies the powerful and inextinguishable forces of life over challenge and destruction.
Tickets are $33 – $86 and are available here.
Please join Bass Trombone Bob Fraser for a pre-concert talk in the west lobby one hour before the concert.

Mozart & Martinis
2019-01-30 17:30 - 19:30 | Parking Web Icon (1080 × 1080 px)
New to symphonic music and looking for a different type of concert? The VS is introducing a new concert experience where you can have a drink, a bite to eat, and listen to one of history’s greatest composers: Mozart.
Starting right after work, you’ll enjoy martini as well as appetizers while listening to the VS perform in a unique venue in downtown Victoria. It’s a chance to mix and mingle with your friends and the orchestra, and enjoy good food and drink while listening to our talented orchestra play beautiful music.
We’d like to thank our sponsors for making this event happen!
Island Savings / Merridale Cidery / Lighthouse Brewery / Pedersen’s Event Rentals / Toque Catering / Thrifty Foods / White Lotus Events/ Kool Fm / Used.ca

Hass Plays Tchaikovsky
2019-01-26 20:00 - 22:00 | BC
Rising star cellist Daniel Hass performs Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme; an elegant, engaging and classical collection of diverse variations. Beethoven’s witty and carefree Symphony No. 8 completes the concert.
Tickets are $33 – $86 and are available here.
For more background on this concert and complete program notes, click here.
Please join Bass Trombone Bob Fraser for a pre-concert talk in the west lobby one hour before the concert.

Big Bongo
2019-01-20 14:30 - 16:30 | BC
Take a fun-filled (and loud) journey through the percussion section as your percussion team bring out their big instruments to demonstrate all weird and wacky noises that can be re-created in music. Dig that crazy beat as you tap your toes to the music of the Can-Can, ride along with the William Tell Overture and feel the power of thunder and lightning!
Tickets are $15 – $25 and are available here.
Don’t forget to come early for the VS Instrument Petting Zoo and other activities beginning at 1:30 pm in the lobby!

The Music of Star Wars
2019-01-19 14:00 - 16:00 | BC
“A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…”
Feel the force around you and be transported to a galaxy far, far away with music from Star Wars and other iconic sci-fi moves including Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica and more. Re-live Darth Vader’s Imperial March, the main title sequence and other quintessential Star Wars moments live with the VS under the exciting baton of our Principal Pops Conductor Sean O’Loughlin.
Tickets are $31 – $86 and are available here.
