This Sunday, October 5th, the 61st season begins with the Niagara Symphony at Brock Centre for the Arts. It will be a celebration of music and optimism for the new season underway; it will also be the beginning of a new era for the Symphony - without longtime music director Daniel Swift. Swift made, well, a swift exit from the Symphony last month to take a job elsewhere, and it is now reported he is returning to the Canada Council as an officer responsible for orchestras and opera companies in the Music Office at the Canada Council for the Arts. Daniel left the Canada Council to take the post as music director with the Niagara Symphony in 1999. He will be missed, obviously, and now the long process of choosing his successor begins.
That will mean guest conductors this season, auditioning new candidates next season, and hopefully a new music director chosen to begin the 2010 season, which will by my calculations be the 63rd season for the Niagara Symphony. It is never easy choosing the successor to any conductor; choosing one to replace one as accomplished and popular as Swift will be especially difficult. Add to that the fact the Symphony is already without a permanent executive director, and you have what appears to be a cultural entity floating in limbo for an entire season.
That, fortunately, is not the case. The Symphony is fortunate to have secured on a part-time basis Candice Turner-Smith as acting Executive Director, and she has provided a sure hand to guide the orchestra through troubled waters since last season's hasty exit of Denise Stone, who had the post for less than a year. The orchestra is doubly fortunate to have Associate Conductor Laura Thomas to jump into the musical fray to conduct the season opener this Sunday. Laura is a most accomplished musician on many fronts, with conducting being but one of them. I am confident Laura will conduct Sunday's concert with a great deal of care and attention to detail.
So here we are, three paragraphs in and I still have not talked about the music or even the soloist for the concert, and that is unfortunate as the concert promises to be a great start to the season, even without Daniel Swift at the helm. The very large Symphony No. 5 in D Major by Ralph Vaughan Williams is the major work on the program, and that promises to be a significant workout for the musicians. Add to that the beautifully melancholic Cello Concerto in E Minor, Op. 85 by Sir Edward Elgar with young Canadian cellist Denise Djokic as featured soloist, and the concert looks doubly interesting. The final work on the program is the rarely-heard but still well-known (courtesy the late, lamented CBC Radio 2 of yore) Overture to an Unwritten Comedy by Healey Willan, and you have a full afternoon of romantic, large-scale orchestral music to challenge both the musicians and audience. It promises to be an adventure for all concerned.
If you don't have your tickets yet, there is still time. And if you have thought of subscribing for the entire season, all the better. Why not see what develops this season with the variety of guest conductors soon to be lined up? And if I may shamelessly promote my business, A Web of Fine Music, I will be in the lobby again this season with my music for sale before, at intermission, and after each concert this season.
It may be the end of summer and the start of October; it is also the start of a new musical adventure. Let's share the musical journey together!
October 3rd, 2008.
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