This will be a season of sounds like no other
(At various venues from January 18 to 22) It’s impossible to pick favourites when it comes to this remarkably well curated survey of all things new, but it will be hard to go wrong when the VSO and the Pacific Baroque Orchestra play New Music for Old Instruments at Christ Church Cathedral on January 19. The Draw: Johann Sebastian Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, and Bramwell Tovey’s as-yet-untitled fantasia on the same. Target Audience: Historically informed modernists.
RIVERS OF LIGHT: CHORAL EXPLORATIONS
(At Dunbar Ryerson United Church on January 26) The Vancouver Chamber Choir offers a crash course in choral music old and new. The Draw: A program that spans everything from Renaissance master Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina to his 21st-century counterpart, Ēriks Ešenvalds. Target Audience: The chorally curious.
(At the Orpheum on February 17) Yes, there’s the annual Messiah at the Orpheum on December 9, but we’re more excited about getting to hear Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 9 in D Major early in the following year. The Draw: One of the greatest—if not the greatest—choral symphonies ever written. Target Audience: Emotional old souls.
VANCOUVER BACH CHOIR > ALEXANDER VARTY