A conversation with Mark Shapiro

Music lovers are in for a treat this Sunday during the P.E.I. Symphony Orchestra’s (PEISO) first concert of the season at Zion Presbyterian Church in Charlottetown, starting at 2:30 p.m.

Music director Mark Shapiro will lead the orchestra in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3, a large-scale symphony in four movements.

“‘Erioca’ is one of the greatest pieces there is. And that kind of music always goes well with roots groups like Ten Strings and a Goat Skin,” says Shapiro, during a telephone interview.

Composed mainly between 1803 and 1804, Beethoven’s work is grounded in the classical symphonic and has been considered an important landmark in the transition between the classical period and the romantic era.

Shapiro compares the journey taken by the orchestra as they play the four-set symphony to the orchestra member running in this weekend’s Prince Edward Island Marathon.

“Beethoven’s Symphony is really the life of a hero. So the idea of tying the concert experience with running a marathon seemed natural. And then, when we found Margaret Chapman, who is spending her day doing both these things. So we are linking these ideas together.”

A free pre-concert talk featuring Shapiro and members of Ten Strings And A Goat Skin will be held in Zion Presbyterian Church’s Youth Chapel just before the concert at 1:30 p.m. The guest artists and Shapiro will share their insights into the music to be performed.

Tickets are available from the website, peisymphony.com.