“WE WERE ALL SO THRILLED TO REUNITE ON STAGE”

GUSTAVO GIMENO was hired in 2019 to lead the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. After more than two years, he’s finally making his official onstage debut

“THE FIRST TIME I CONDUCTED the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, it was love at first sight. It was 2018, and we did the first movement of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4. I thought to myself, My God, they’re playing beautifully.

The following year, I was hired to be the TSO’s new music director, beginning with the 2020–21 season. Almost immediately, we began booking soloists, selecting concertos, pencilling in dates. Of course, when the pandemic hit, we had to cancel all our plans.

“As a music director, I spend a lot of time thinking about an orchestra’s collective spirit. I worried, after a year without playing together, that spirit would be at risk. I needn’t have. We reunited on the stage of Roy Thomson Hall in March. We were all so happy—we would have embraced if we could. But everyone sat at a distance, wearing masks. The brass and wind sections were enclosed in barriers to contain their breath. For a virtual audience of donors and students, we played Beethoven’s symphonies No. 6 and No. 7.

“Little by little, our 2021–22 season took shape. I was thrilled by the musically adventurous ideas that members of the orchestra proposed. The season will ramp up gradually, like a crescendo. We begin in November with a smaller orchestra playing Schubert and Haydn. Throughout the season, we’ll add more musicians and spectators until we reach our grand finale in June: a concert featuring Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, the ‘Ode to Joy.’ It’s one of the best-known symphonies ever composed, a celebration of humanity and resilience. After the pandemic, I think it’s exactly what we need.”