Buoyed by the momentum of their fall 2021 season, the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra is now announcing their five-concert winter/spring 2022 mainstage season.
Three of those five concerts will be led by music director Gemma New, who, due to the pandemic, has been unable to be in Hamilton since March 2020.
“The pandemic may have distanced us all, but we have a kindred care for music and each other and it will be so good for our well-being to experience the passion and spirit of music-making together once more,” the San Diego-based New told The Spectator. “I can’t wait to return to the HPO.”
New’s return to the podium in FirstOntario Concert Hall is slated for Jan. 29 for the HPO’s “Postcard from Buenos Aires” concert. That bill includes Leonid Desyatnikov’s arrangement of Piazzolla’s “The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires” with concertmaster Stephen Sitarski, Ginastera’s “Variaciones concertantes,” Gabriela Lena Frank’s “Elegía Andina,” and HPO composer fellow Arie Verheul van de Ven’s “Lithification.”
Susanne Hou returns to solo in New’s favourite concerto, Mendelssohn’s “Violin Concerto,” on March 19. The bill also includes Jordan Pal’s “Visions” and Bizet’s “Symphony in C.”
Vocalist Dee Daniels salutes the ladies of swing in a “Legends of Swing” concert on April 23 under guest conductor Karl Hirzer.
On May 14, HPO principal second violin Bethany Bergman solos in Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons” with guest conductor Patrick Dupré Quigley. Stravinsky’s “Danses concertantes” and Juliet Palmer’s “fire break” round out the program.
New is back on the podium on June 24 for Alexina Louie’s “Music for a Celebration,” HPO composer fellow Matthias McIntire’s “Yangon Connection,” Prokofiev’s “Classical Symphony,” and Mozart’s “Clarinet Concerto” with HPO principal clarinet Dominic Desautels.
Subscription packages of three and five concerts at five price points are on sale at hpo.org. A three-concert package for seniors ranges from $75 to $210, adults $90 to $225. A five-concert package for seniors is $125 to $350, adults $150 to $375. An online only subscription for the January, March, and May concerts is available for $60. Live ticket holders will receive online access to these three concerts. Fees and sales tax are not included. Single tickets will go on sale later.
“We’re not moving to 100 per cent capacity right away, but are maintaining distanced seating,” said HPO executive director Kim Varian.
All concerts will be around one hour in length with no intermission. Attendees must mask and show proof of full COVID-19 vaccination and a government issued ID. For tickets and info, log on to hpo.org or call 905-526-7756.
But before 2022 gets underway, the 2021 season is still very much in play. Next up is the HPO’s Saturday, Nov. 13 concert at 7:30 p.m. in FirstOntario Concert Hall, brought to you by the letter “B” and the numbers three and eight.
The evening will open with Anton Bruckner’s “Three Orchestral Pieces,” modest movements written in 1862 while the 38-year-old composer was studying in Linz, Austria. Published under various titles, as well as sometimes in tandem with a “March,” they faintly foreshadow Bruckner’s towering symphonies to come.
Winnipeg-based choral conductor-composer Andrew Balfour’s “Kiwetin-acahkos (North Star) Fanfare for the Peoples of the North” is a “Sesquie,” a two-minute piece composed for Canada’s sesquicentennial. In his program notes, Balfour, who is of Cree descent, wrote, “Kiwetin-Acohkos (pronounced Key-Way-tin-a-Sah-quos) is inspired by the sky over this great land. The sunrises and sunsets, the moon, stars, clouds, and northern lights speak to us through the seasons of our lives. I’ve always felt that there is something spiritual about our northern landscape and environment.”
Canadian tenor Lawrence Wiliford and HPO principal French horn Jessie Brooks then take the spotlight in Benjamin Britten’s masterful 1943 song cycle “Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings.” The one-hour concert ends with Beethoven’s good-humoured “Symphony no. 8.”
HPO concertmaster Stephen Sitarski guest conducts.
Limited in-person tickets are $20 to $80, which includes 14-day online access. Attendees must mask and show proof of full COVID-19 vaccination and a government-issued ID. Seating is available in quantities of one, two, three and four in every other row. Three seats will be left empty between each household. Online access only is $23.89, and viewable as a livestream and on demand for 14 days. Fees and sales tax not included.
For tickets and info, log on to hpo.org.
Opinion | Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra announce five-concert 2022 season - TheSpec.com
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