Vancouver Symphony Orchestra unveils 2011/2012 season

The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra has announced its 2011/2012 season, which will see Chinese superstar pianist Lang Lang return to Vancouver once again, following his sold-out Vancouver Recital Society appearance earlier this season.

The flashy Lang will appear November 4 to perform Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Emperor” Piano Concerto No. 5, but he’s far from the only marquee name on the VSO’s roster next year. Also sure to pull in the crowds is reigning soprano diva Renee Fleming, who’ll perform March 21 with a program of classical and operatic arias.

Making his VSO debut next season will be young Stradivarius-wielding violinist Yossif Ivanov (November 12 and 14) with Felix Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E Minor. Other highlights include violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg (March 24 and 26) with Dmitri Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1; cellist Jan Vogler (May 5 and 7) with Antonin Dvorak’s Cello Concerto; pianist Jon Kimura Parker (September 24 and 26) with Sergei Rachhmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3; and soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian (December 3 and 5) in the Johannes Brahms Requiem.

On the lighter side, teen jazz and pop sensation Nikki Yanofsky will perform a program of jazz and pop classics October 5: the orchestra will play alongside projections of Warner Bros Looney Tunes in Bugs Bunny at the Symphony (November 19 and 20); and Wicket Divas, Stephanie J. Block and Julia Murney, will perform a VSO Pops concert of hits from Broadway new and old (March 2 and 3).

Long-time VSO supporters also won’t want to miss the concert version of music director Bramwell Tovey’s new opera The Inventor, featuring mezzo-soprano Judith Forst (June 9 and 11).

For full season details, visit www.vancouversymphony.ca.

Comments

4 Comments

Goldorak

Mar 4, 2011 at 10:20pm

Welcome to the ToVSO!

Michael McAlister

Mar 5, 2011 at 5:52pm

Barber's Symphony No 1, Debussy's La Mer, and Strauss' Ein Heldenleben stand out as blatantly obvious season highlights, but I guess that since they don't have flashy soloists, and since they aren't tacky pops concerts, they weren't considered worthy of inclusion in this article.

Chris Vohradsky

Mar 10, 2011 at 9:38am

Will somebody please wake me up when the VSO decides to program something exciting? They're playing the same music with the same soloists season after season; it's no surprise that their ticket base is shrinking.

Goldorak

Mar 13, 2011 at 11:30pm

Yet the reviews are as stellar as the peddling from the usual suspects...