The Vancouver Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra (VAMSO) presents Beethoven Celebration, a blockbuster evening of the composer’s great works, on Sunday, November 18 at The Orpheum. Under the baton of VAMSO Music Director Leslie Dala, the program will include Beethoven’s spectacular 9th Symphony (Choral), Triple Concerto, and Fidelio Overture, featuring a special guest lineup.
“VAM’s guiding principle is community; our purpose is to be a gathering place where musicians and music lovers unite in study and in appreciation of the singular art form,” according to Joseph Elworthy, Executive Director of the Vancouver Academy of Music. “This concert represents an incredible realization of this principle. It brings together organizations from across the city, audiences from throughout the lower mainland, and musicians from around the globe to celebrate one of history’s greatest composers.”
VAMSO is the Academy’s flagship ensemble, consisting of more than 110 musicians from throughout the Lower Mainland who perform an annual concert season at The Orpheum. Past VAMSO alumni have gone on to populate symphony orchestras in Berlin, London, New York, LA, Toronto, Boston, Montreal, and Vancouver.
Three VAMSO alumni will perform Beethoven’s demanding Triple Concerto: pianist Naomi Woo (Yale University), violinist Jonathan Chan (Guildhall School), and cellist Jonathan Lo (Juilliard School). The young, collaborative artists performed together as a trio at VAM from the age of 12 through to their graduation and departure from the city.
Symphony No. 9 is the last complete symphony written by Beethoven and stands out as one of the famous works in Western classical music. It is instantly recognizable for its final movement, the ‘Ode to Joy,’ which marked the first time a major composer integrated soloists and chorus into a symphony.
The November 18 concert will also include soprano Rachel Fenlon, mezzo-soprano Sylvia Szadovszki, tenor Martin Sadd, and Baritone Aaron Durand. The four singers represent the first-ever participants in Vancouver Opera’s Yulanda M. Faris Young Artists Program, an invitation extended to them following a nationwide application process. The young musicians will be accompanied by the 150-member Vancouver Bach Choir.
VAM Presents Beethoven Celebration
Date: November 18, 7 pm
Venue: The Orpheum, 601 Smithe Street, Vancouver
Tickets: $10 adults; $6 students and seniors; available online
To help celebrate this concert, VAM will host a pre-Orpheum event on November 2, 9:30 to 11:30 am in Vanier Park. A Listener’s Guide to Great Music will include thought-provoking discussion on Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. Learn about the composer, the work, and why it remains one of the greats of the music world to this day. Tickets and info available here.
VAM is a non-profit institution founded in 1969 by the Community Arts Council of Vancouver. VAM is permanently housed in a modern facility at Vanier Park with large classroom space, a library, teaching studios, the Koerner Recital Hall, and rehearsal rooms for orchestra, choir, and ballet. The instructional programs at VAM offer a wide range of classical training for students of instrumental, vocal music, and ballet. VAM’s major focus is to improve the quality of music training in Western Canada. The concert is made possible through the generosity of Maria Logan.
