Niagara Symphony set to kick off their new season in their new home this weekend

I wrote last week about attending the first production presented by the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, the Fixt Point/Suitcase in Point co-production of The Tale of a Town - St. Catharines.  It closed last Friday evening at the Odd Fellows Hall on James Street in downtown St. Catharines and was a terrific show.

It was supposed to be the first production at Robertson Hall at the new PAC, but things have been running a little behind schedule, it seems, so an alternate location had to be found for the show.  The Odd Fellows Hall, while not ideal was cozy and fun, but certainly reinforced our need for a purpose-built performance space in the city.

Construction continues apace for the mid-November official opening of the new FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, with the signage going up in the last few days.  That indicates they are getting down to the finishing touches and the dirty work appears to be all but done.

The Niagara Symphony is the prime tenant in the largest space in the PAC, the Partridge Hall.  The space will seat considerably more than the old Sean O'Sullivan Theatre at the Centre for the Arts up at Brock University, so the orchestra has had their work cut out for them making sure enough subscribers come on board for the inaugural season in their new home.

This weekend, they sort of arrive at their final destination.

Although they launch the new season in the new PAC, it won't be in Partridge Hall but rather the smaller Cairns Hall.  The reason appears to be fine tuning of the acoustics and final detailing in the larger hall still has to be completed, so the NSO won't get to play the bigger hall until their first Pops! concerts of the new season the third week of November.

No matter.   People just want to get inside this new jewel in the heart of downtown and see what the excitement is all about.  That they will with the performances this weekend and the Open House planned for November 15th.

The Niagara Symphony has justifiably pulled out all the stops this season, and that includes a blockbuster opening weekend of Masterworks concerts.  Usually just one concert, this weekend the concert will be performed twice due to the smaller space.  Saturday evening the concert gets under way at 6 pm; Sunday afternoon is the customary 2:30 pm.

The all-Beethoven concert is billed as the Beethoven Piano Concerto Marathon, as the NSO under Music Director Bradley Thachuk will perform all five of Beethoven's Piano Concertos with Artist-in-Residence Stewart Goodyear.  Yes, all five in one concert!  The concert will kick off each day with an appropriate and traditional piece for the new hall, Beethoven's Consecration of the House Overture.

To say the Niagara Symphony has waited a long time for a purpose-built hall to showcase their considerable talents is certainly an understatement.  But as was the case in so many other cities with great symphony orchestras such as Montreal, Toronto, Hamilton and Kitchener-Waterloo, they all had to wait for their new homes, too.

If nothing else, it indicates the orchestra has finally arrived; they are exactly where they need and want to be at this point in their long history in Niagara.  It will be exciting and heartwarming to see and hear them at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre this season.

No doubt Maestro Thachuk has rallied his troops to perform at their very best this weekend, as the entire community will be paying attention like never before.  This is a big new stage for them, and I have no doubt they will collectively rise to the occasion.

If you want tickets to either concert on the weekend, you are out of luck on Sunday afternoon which is completely sold out, but the Saturday evening concert still has some seats available.  It is Halloween, of course, so many will be staying home to deal with the trick or treaters.  But if you are free, why not be one of the first to hear the NSO at the PAC this weekend?

For more information and tickets, call the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre box office directly at 905-688-0722.  You can go to www.thenso.ca for detailed descriptions of the season's offerings, and on the Calendar page of my website at www.finemusic.ca, the complete season for both the NSO and the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre are listed there.

Incidentally, Stewart Goodyear returns to Cairns Hall December 4th for a piano recital entitled Suite Dreams, featuring a solo piano version of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker.  Not coincidentally, the complete ballet score for solo piano with Mr. Goodyear is being released this fall on the Steinway & Sons label, and yes, I can certainly get that for you.  Just go to the website or email me directly at music@vaxxine.com.

Enjoy the great music in a great new music space this weekend in downtown St. Catharines!