Lots of Ludwig!

I can’t believe that May 1 marks the final concert of my 20th anniversary season with the Kingston Symphony. This year has gone by so quickly – filled with great concerts and unforgettable music – and I’m truly looking forward to this final concert.

Not only will this concert feature three beautiful Beethoven pieces, but also three local musicians of outstanding calibre.

Our concertmaster, Gisèle Dalbec, along with our principal cellist Wolf Tormann and local composer and pianist Michel Szczesniak will play the famous Triple Concerto. The program also includes the Egmont Overture and Symphony No. 5.

There are very few tickets left to this concert, so if you don’t want to miss this homegrown musical treat, make sure to purchase yours today!

Our annual Beat Beethoven Run takes place on Sunday, June 5. The orchestra will then play another Beethoven piece, his third symphony, Eroica, as runners embark on and 8-kilometre or 4-kilometre route. This is annually one of the biggest fundraisers for the Kingston Symphony Association, a non-profit organization, and the members of the orchestra sincerely enjoy taking part. We’re hoping this year will be a little drier than last year, but we’ll have a good time no matter what.

So in honour of all this Beethoven, I thought I’d share some fun facts about the sometimes misunderstood master musician.

Did you know that the Eroica was originally titled Bonaparte, and dedicated to Napoleon? Beethoven thought that Napoleon would bring democracy and the enlightenment to all of Europe. Beethoven was so disgusted with the leader when he proclaimed himself emperor, he scratched Bonaparte’s name from the title and left a gaping hole in the paper.

Beethoven started going deaf in his twenties, but kept composing music. In order to hear the notes, he sawed the legs off the piano so he could hear the vibrations as he played. By the time he was 40, he was completely deaf.

Beethoven first performed for an audience when he was seven years old, but didn’t make an impression on his audience. It was when he was 13 that he began improvising his own work on the piano, and was encouraged to publish these sonatas.

Beethoven’s final masterpiece is an ironic one. He suffered at the hands of his violently alcoholic father while growing up, and then his progressive and eventually complete deafness cut his spirits in his adult life. And yet, he was able to compose the Ninth Symphony and its “Ode to Joy,” arguably one of the most beautiful compositions in history.

Many musicians and music critics – including Beethoven’s one-time teacher, Joseph Haydn—actually feared Beethoven’s work because it relied so much on passion rather than the mathematically precise nature consistent with the Classical style of the age.

And this, my friends, is what music is all about. I hope you find Beethoven’s works as powerful as I do. If you can’t make it to the concert on May 1, then stop by Confederation Park on June 5 as we play for the Beat Beethoven Run.

Thank you for supporting the Kingston Symphony in its 57th year, my 20th as music director. It’s been a phenomenal season, and dare I say it, next season will be even better. Stay tuned for more information about our season launch and artists who will perform with us next year.

Movie music mania!

What makes a horror movie scary? The music.
What makes us swoon during a romantic movie? The music.
What makes a car chase so exciting? The music.

Without carefully thought-out soundtracks, movies would not make our hearts race or even keep us interested! Before actors even spoke in films there was music to set the mood.

I can’t wait for this Friday, April 8, when we play some of the most iconic pieces from movies spanning several decades. We go back to 1961 and play some Henry Mancini from his unforgettable work on Breakfast at Tiffany’s; we’ll play parts from the score to Out of Africa; then we’ll honour one of the largest-grossing movies of all time with music from Titanic.

The Academy of Motion Pictures obviously thought these pieces were worthy of its highest honour when they each won the Oscar for best score in their respective years.

What do you think? What are the qualities of a perfect movie score?

As with any music, it’s up to the listener to decide what’s great. And if the romance of the Oscar-winners noted above doesn’t do it for you, how about Raider’s March from Indiana Jones? Or the spine-tingling bass riff from the soundtrack to Jaws? We’ve got an entire collection of John Williams tunes lined up to satisfy those who crave action and adventure.

Then there’s Gabriel’s Oboe from The Mission; Barber’s Adagio from Platoon; and some of Hans Zimmer’s work from Pirates of the Caribbean.

We’ll play a few other epic works throughout the evening, all paired with a montage of clips to highlight those movie memories.

I’m very much looking forward to this concert. These are some of the greatest pieces used in movies spanning the last 50 years.

If you haven’t been to a live orchestral performance, this is the perfect introduction to the world of classical music and I look forward to seeing you on Friday night. And if you’re a frequent attendee of our concerts, I guarantee you won’t be disappointed!