For this exciting performance we celebrate International Women’s Day and shine a spotlight on a superb group of Canadian artists, welcoming Montreal-born conductor Jordan de Souza and violinist Karen Gomyo back to Southam Hall. Karen Gomyo’s masterful touch with the music of our time has taken her to the great concert halls of the world alongside world-renowned musicians and conductors. She’ll perform the 2021 JUNO Award-winning “Adrano” Violin Concerto by brilliant Canadian composer Samy Moussa.

Our concert also features the world premiere of Flowing Waters* by NAC Orchestra Carrefour composer Alison Yun-Fei Jiang. The Carrefour Composer’s Residency is an exciting two-year program with the NAC Orchestra for emerging culturally diverse or Indigenous composers.

Few other works have provoked as much speculation on meaning and message as Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6, given that the great composer, who desperately wanted to leave behind his wildly popular The Nutcracker, died only 9 days after the symphony’s premiere. What is certain beyond doubt is that Tchaikovsky’s masterful Symphony No. 6 was the favourite composition of his life, his crowning achievement, and a work he loved above all others.

Given the breadth and beauty of the music she composed in her short life, it’s hard not to lament Lili Boulanger’s mere 24 years on earth. Her tender Nocturne for Piano and Violin unfurls like silk in this arrangement for violin and orchestra by the incomparable Sarah Slean.

*World Premiere; NAC Orchestra commission as part of the Carrefour Composer Program, made possible by the Canada Council for the Arts