SPLASH BASH
Thousands of music lovers in kayaks, canoes and fold-up chairs will be heading to Victoria’s Inner Harbour on Sunday for the 29th Symphony Splash, the Victoria Symphony Orchestra’s annual seaside celebration of the classics and more.
What: Victoria Symphony Splash with Christian Kluxen (conductor) and Danielle Tsao (soloist) Where: Inner Harbour When: Sunday, 1 p.m. Admission: By donation ($5 suggested)
A barge in the Inner Harbour has been home to the Victoria Symphony around this time during each of the past 28 years, and the floating stage will once again house the orchestra for a two-hour period on Sunday.
The lead-up to Symphony Splash, however, begins many hours earlier for some. Jill Smillie, director of marketing for the Victoria Symphony, expects to see supporters setting up for the 29th edition about 7 a.m. on Sunday, more than 12 hours in advance of the concert.
“They will already be out there, sitting on their lawn chairs,” Smillie said. “Twelve hours away there are chairs lined up. For some people, it’s a tradition. They enjoy the whole day.”
A crowd of approximately 40,000 takes in the event each year, making it one of the largest outdoor classical music events in North America — if not the most picturesque. Music by the Albert Head Cadets gets underway at noon on the steps of the legislature, with added activities located in the nearby family area. For Smillie, the sight of families enjoying a free, public event gets to the heart of what Symphony Splash is all about.
“For a lot of people, this is the only classical music they’ll hear all year. It is quite touching to see all generations experience it,” Smillie said.
Last year, a beverage garden was introduced on Belleville Street between Government and Douglas streets. The area topped out at 500 people during its inaugural run, though one key component was missing — music. An audio feed of the music being played on the barge will be sent to speakers set up in the beverage garden, fixing the oversight, Smillie said.
Organizers are also bringing back a livestream of the event, which was offered for the first time last year (with help from CHEK TV) through Facebook. More than 50,000 watched the performance in 2017, Smillie said. Livestreaming is a relatively inexpensive way to reach new audiences, and the Victoria Symphony is always looking for new ways to engage.
“Things are going very well, but how do we take it to the next level within our budget?” she said. “It’s a nice option for people who can’t come out and see it, or can’t make the trip down to the Inner Harbour.”
Though some longtime supporters of Symphony Splash scoffed at the idea, the response was largely positive. The more eyes and ears attuned to the Victoria Symphony the better, given that the bydonation Symphony Splash is designed to raise funds for the orchestra, Smillie said. “We want to add to Splash. We’re trying to make it more accessible to as many people as possible, and keep up with trends in technology. We’re not changing it — we’re making it better.”
Seven-piece Victoria swing band Dock Side Drive will kick off the barge programming at 4 p.m. Music by the 56-piece symphony, led by music director Christian Kluxen, begins at 7:30 p.m. Danielle Tsao, a 17-year-old Victoria violist, will be appearing as a guest soloist, the second member of her family to do so at Splash (her sister, Carolyn, appeared in 2007). The concert wraps with a fireworks-capping grand finale highlighted by Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, a signature piece of music that has appeared in many films and television shows.
Kluxen expanded on that thread this year. Former symphony music director Tania Miller dabbled in movie music during past Splashes, Smillie said, but never to the extent Kluxen has done heading into Sunday’s performance.
During last year’s event, Kluxen’s first at the helm, music from the conductor’s native Northern Europe was showcased, including works by Norwegian Edvard Grieg, Danish composer Carl Nielsen, and Finland’s Jean Sibelius. Selections from Robin Hood and His Merry Men, Gone with the Wind, Cinema Paradiso, E.T., and Star Wars, among others, will be performed this weekend to what is expected to be a rapturous response, Smillie said.
“[Christian] thought it would be an interesting change from what he did last year. We want to make sure we have a mix of classical and popular music, so that we appeal to the community as a whole. There’s a lot of classical music that people don’t even know is also movie music, so I think it will be an exciting program.”