We're getting into that quieter time of the winter season when all the holiday concerts are done and you have a little less choice for live performances. There's always things going on in the area, of course, but it is much easier to avoid getting overwhelmed as is often the case in November/December.
The highlight this weekend is the next Masterworks concert with the Niagara Symphony, taking place Sunday afternoon at the customary 2:30pm at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre in downtown St. Catharines.
The concert, entitled Gilbert Conducts Dvorak, will not in fact be conducted by guest conductor Dina Gilbert. Due to what are termed "unforeseen circumstances", Dina Gilbert will not be in town this weekend, but her place on the podium will be taken instead by Martin MacDonald.
MacDonald is turning out to be one of Canada's more dynamic young conductors and was recently named Music Director of the Cathedral Bluffs Symphony Orchestra in East Toronto. He has travelled across the country conducting orchestras in Victoria all the way across the country to Newfoundland. That is one of the perks of guest conducting, of course, you get to see a lot of the country and meet a lot of great musicians along the way.
The downside of course is you don't necessarily have a home base to which you return to conduct, although that is now remedied with MacDonald's more recent posting in East Toronto. Many conductors still travel and guest conduct while away from their home base, of course, and some even prefer to just travel and guest conduct and simply not have to deal with all the administrative duties that come with being a Music Director or Artistic Director.
Different strokes for different folks, as they say...
Anyway, Martin MacDonald, who hails from Cape Breton now makes his home in Toronto so he is certainly within commuting distance to Niagara to take up the baton this weekend.
On the programme this Sunday will be Dvorak's Symphony No. 8, along with Fung's Pizzicato and Vasks' Viola Concerto. The soloist will be Canadian violist Marina Thibeault, and that means both conductor and soloist will both be making their debuts with the NSO this weekend.
While this can be nerve-wracking for some, coming in to conduct at the last minute, it does happen quite often. The NSO's own Music Director Bradley Thachuk was recently in Buffalo to pinch hit as conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic. And history is full of last-minute fill-ins: one of the most famous in the last century was when Leonard Bernstein took the podium in the 50s to fill in for an ailing Bruno Walter. That guest stint ultimately led to Bernstein assuming the position of the New York Philharmonic on a permanent basis in 1958 and he held the position until 1969.
So you never know where a guest spot can take you. It's rarely a good idea to say "No thanks" in a case like that...
Tickets are still available for the Gilbert Conducts Dvorak without Gilbert concert this Sunday afternoon. Just call or visit the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre box office or pick them up at the door prior to the performance at 2:30 tomorrow afternoon. As always, this will be in the home of the NSO, the lovely Partridge Hall.
Have a good weekend!
January 21st, 2023.
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