Hamilton Phil & Gemma announce 2019/20 season

Music Director Gemma New with the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra (Photo credit: Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra)

For Immediate Release

HPO Announces the 19-20 Mainstage Season

The Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra (HPO) is proud to announce the 19-20 Season! In Music Director Gemma New’s fifth season with the orchestra, the HPO celebrates our hometown and our region. Mainstage concerts feature pieces that reflect the natural beauty of our surroundings, guest artists that have been significant to the orchestra’s past and local young musicians in celebration of our future.

This season offers a range of orchestral repertoire while highlighting internationally recognized talent and our own HPO musicians as soloists. The 19-20 Season promises to delight and inspire with familiar treasures along with enticing new paths of listening.

Our opening night concert Radiant Ravel kicks off with music inspired by the natural world, including a world premiere from Composer-in-Residence Abigail Richardson-Schulte featuring Principal Trumpet Michael Fedyshyn and Soprano Stacie Dunlop as soloists. The season features three world premieres by Canadian composers, including Alice Ho and Juliet Palmer. In November,the Canadian Brass return to Hamilton for A Canadian Brass Salute in honour of our region’s military personnel.

Winner of the 2018 Joseph Joachim International Violin Competition Timothy Chooi joins the HPO as soloist on Mozart & Mendelssohn, and renowned Canadian pianist Jon Kimura Parker returns to Hamilton for the concluding concert of the 2020 Composer Festival, Triumphant Tchaikovsky. Principal Trombone David Pell takes centre stage as soloist on February’s Scheherazade.

December’s The Snowman features the Hamilton Philharmonic Youth Orchestra and the Hamilton Children’s Choir in celebration of our region’s youth. Classic film and television themes by John Williams, Danny Elfman and Hans Zimmer come to life on April’s Sci-Fi Spectacular. Music Director Gemma New closes the season with a show-stopping performance of Beethoven’s final symphony, Beethoven Nine.

In addition to these mainstage performances, the HPO returns to the McIntyre Performing Arts Centre at Mohawk College to host our engaging, all ages Family Concert, Lemony Snicket’s The Composer is Dead.

19-20 MAINSTAGE CONCERTS

Opening Night: September 21, 2019
RADIANT RAVEL
FirstOntario Concert Hall, 7:30pm

GEMMA NEW Conductor
LESLIE NEWMAN Flute
MICHAEL FEDYSHYN Trumpet
STACIE DUNLOP Soprano

Dvořák: Carnival Overture
Richardson-Schulte: The Mermaid and the Fisherman*
Debussy: Syrinx
Sibelius: Luonnotar
Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé, Suite No. 2

Music Director Gemma New kicks off the 19-20 Season with a vibrant program celebrating the natural beauty of our region. Dvořák’s Carnival Overture evokes a bright and bustling scene while Sibelius’ Luonnotar summons the mystical beauty of the sea. Composer-in-Residence Abigail RichardsonSchulte’s The Mermaid and the Fisherman features soprano Stacie Dunlop and Principal Trumpet Michael Fedyshyn. The evening concludes with Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé, a stunning work that evolves from the delicate colours of a sunrise to brilliant orchestral heights.
*World Premiere

October 19, 2019
MOZART & MENDELSSOHN
FirstOntario Concert Hall, 7:30pm

GEMMA NEW Conductor
TIMOTHY CHOOI Violin

Alice Ho: Silk Road Fantasy*
Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major, “Turkish”
John Williams: Theme from Schindler’s List
Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 4, “Italian”

Canadian violinist and rising star Timothy Chooi takes centrestage for Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5, a majestic work with a virtuosic finale inspired by Turkish music. Hear John William’s moving Theme from Schindler’s List and a world premiere by respected Canadian composer Alice Ho. Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4 draws the evening to a close with the energetic style of the composer’s Italian contemporaries.
*World Premiere

November 9, 2019
A CANADIAN BRASS SALUTE
FirstOntario Concert Hall, 7:30pm

JOEY PIETRAROIA Conductor
CANADIAN BRASS Guest Artist

The iconic Canadian Brass returns to the place where it all began – here in Hamilton! With a 50-year history and a strong international reputation, Canadian Brass is one of the foremost brass groups of today. In time for Remembrance Day, the brass quintet returns home to join the HPO in a noble salute to our community’s military personnel and their families. From familiar favourites to virtuosic works, this concert promises to be a moving tribute to those who honourably serve our country.

December 21, 2019
THE SNOWMAN
FirstOntario Concert Hall, 7:30pm

GEMMA NEW Conductor
HAMILTON PHILHARMONIC YOUTH ORCHESTRA Guest Artist
HAMILTON CHILDREN’S CHOIR Guest Artist

The HPO offers the warmth of classic holiday tales to brighten up the winter season. The animated film The Snowman comes to life on stage and on screen with a vivid orchestral score and beautifully illustrated video. This heartwarming story includes moving music like the beloved song Walking in the Air. With the Hamilton Philharmonic Youth Orchestra and the Hamilton Children’s Choir joining the HPO for holiday classics and carols, this concert celebrates the youthful wonder of imaginative winter fables.

January 18, 2020
TRIUMPHANT TCHAIKOVSKY
FirstOntario Concert Hall, 7:30pm

DINA GILBERT Conductor
JON KIMURA PARKER Piano

Tchaikovsky: Polonaise from Eugene Onegin
Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5

The fifth edition of our Composer Festival looks at the rich inner world of Tchaikovsky’s music. Guest conductor Dina Gilbert conducts the bright and bounding Polonaise from Eugene Onegin, presenting the composer’s whimsical side. Internationally-renowned Canadian pianist Jon Kimura Parker tackles Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1, a bold and dramatic work. The deeply personal and expressive journey of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 completes the program, exemplifying the emotional depths of the composer’s work.

February 15, 2020
SCHEHERAZADE
FirstOntario Concert Hall, 7:30pm

GEMMA NEW Conductor
DAVID PELL Trombone

Rossini: Semiramide Overture
Tomasi: Trombone Concerto
Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade

This concert showcases the energy, excitement and talent of our own orchestra. Rimsky-Korsakov’sorchestral gem Scheherazade invokes dazzling instrumental colours to illustrate the tale One Thousand and One Nights. Our own Principal Trombone David Pell displays the range and virtuosity of his instrument in Tomasi’s dynamic Trombone Concerto. We round out this moving and inspiring performance with the drama of Rossini’s Semiramide Overture.

March 14, 2020
HAYDN’S LONDON
FirstOntario Concert Hall, 7:30pm

GEMMA NEW Conductor
SARAH JEFFREY Oboe

Juliet Palmer: New Work*
Vaughan Williams: Oboe Concerto
Elgar: Serenade
Haydn: Symphony No. 104, “London”

Music Director Gemma New leads a leisurely musical stroll through the English countryside. Toronto Symphony Orchestra Principal Oboe Sarah Jeffrey joins the HPO to perform Vaughan Williams’ pastoral Oboe Concerto. The warmth and beauty of the HPO strings are on full display in Elgar’s Serenade, and the orchestra premieres a new work by New Zealand-born Canadian composer Juliet Palmer. Bright and brilliant in character, Haydn’s Symphony No. 104 brings this program to a triumphant close.
*World Premiere

April 18, 2020
SCI-FI SPECTACULAR
FirstOntario Concert Hall, 7:30pm

DANIEL BARTHOLOMEW-POYSER Conductor

Selections include iconic themes from Star Wars, E.T., Star Trek, Superman, Batman, The Avengers and more! Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra. Its continuing mission: to explore the strange, new and iconic themes of your favourite sci-fi films, including E.T., Star Wars and Star Trek. To seek out your favourite music by composers John Williams, Hans Zimmer and Danny Elfman. To boldly go where no HPO has gone before.

May 9, 2020
BEETHOVEN NINE
FirstOntario Concert Hall, 7:30pm

GEMMA NEW Conductor
SASHA DJIHANIAN Soprano
LAUREN SEGAL Mezzo Soprano
LAWRENCE WILIFORD Tenor
ALEXANDER DOBSON Baritone
BACH ELGAR CHOIR Alexander Cann, Artistic Director

Bruckner: Te Deum
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9

The HPO brings down the house with showstopper symphonic works. The voices of our city come together for Hamilton’s musical event of the year: a performance of Beethoven’s monumental Symphony No. 9. Our vocal soloists and the Bach Elgar Choir first join the orchestra for Bruckner’s
powerful Te Deum. The orchestra then embarks on Beethoven’s ever-popular ninth symphony, which concludes in the choral finale featuring the iconic Ode to Joy. Be a part of this momentous evening capping our historic 19-20 Season.

19-20 MARZ HOMES FAMILY CONCERT
October 27, 2019
LEMONY SNICKET’S THE COMPOSER IS DEAD
McIntyre Performing Arts Centre at Mohawk College, 2pm

EVAN MITCHELL Conductor

This concert brings together children with family and friends in a fun and enriching musical experience. Enjoy a one-hour full orchestra concert designed with families in mind.

There’s dreadful news from the symphony hall—the composer is dead! Where were the violins on the night in question? Is the trumpet protesting a bit too boisterously? In this perplexing murder mystery, everyone seems to have a motive, everyone has an alibi, and nearly everyone is a musical instrument. Hear for yourself exactly what took place on that fateful, well-orchestrated afternoon in this one-hour full orchestra concert.

Ticket Information
Subscriptions to the 19-20 Mainstage Season can be purchased in 9-, 7-, 5- or 3-concert packages. Subscribers can also add Family Concert tickets to their subscription packages ahead of the general public. Subscribers can save up to 18% off single ticket prices, and packages start at as little as $69 (plus HST) for a 3-concert package. Subscriptions can be purchased by calling 905.526.7756.

Single tickets for the 19-20 Season go on sale August 1 and will be available online at hpo.org, by calling 905.526.7756 or in-person at the HPO Box Office in First Ontario Concert Hall at 10 MacNab Street South, Hamilton.

About the HPO: The Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra was founded in 1884 as The Hamilton Orchestral Society and grew to become one of Canada’s major professional orchestras. Today, the HPO is a leader in Hamilton’s robust arts community where it provides professional orchestral services and music education programs to address the needs of the community. The HPO continues to commission and premiere works and is one of the artistic jewels of the Hamilton area. The combined musical talents of its artists continue to enrich the community and enhance the quality of life for its residents.