Concerts & Tickets

Peter Eötvös, the acclaimed Hungarian composer who is curating the TSO's 2012 New Creations Festival, has chosen a fascinating range of pieces for the opening concert. Among them are a true Canadian classic: Lonely Child, Claude Vivier's haunting cantata for soprano. Eötvös's own composition, Seven, is a touching memorial for the astronauts who died aboard the space shuttle Columbia in 2003.

Intermission Chat in the lobby on March 1 

PRE: At 7:15 enjoy The New Music Ensemble of The Glenn Gould Ensemble featuring the Saariaho violin concerto played by Andréa Tyniec, conducted by festival composer Brian Current.

POST: Multiple award winner Hilario Durán plays with his stellar Trio, featuring Roberto Occhipinti on bass and Mark Kelso on drums.

The world-famous Kronos Quartet brings the latest of its 650-plus commissioned works to the TSO: a concerto by Canadian composer Derek Charke. Teng Li, the TSO's gifted Principal Viola, performs Peter Eötvös's ingenious Replica for soloist and orchestra.

PRE: At 6:45 enjoy 20th Century Hungarian works for piano, violin, and clarinet performed by The Hungarian Connection

POST: Jane Bunnett (multiple Juno winner and recipient of the Order of Canada) plays with her award winning ensemble, The Spirits of Havana, which uniquely combines modern jazz with Afro Cuban roots music.

Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra commission is generously supported by the Canada Council for the Arts.

Casual Concerts are performed without an intermission and are followed by a party in the lobby. Mingle with musicians in a relaxed setting and enjoy live music by local bands. 

Two imaginative works by Festival curator Peter Eötvös highlight the final concert. The brand-new Cello Concerto Grosso puts the TSO's Principal Cello, Joseph Johnson, in the spotlight. Guest artist Jörg Widmann performs the solo part in his own composition: Elegy for Clarinet and Orchestra.

Intermission Chat in the lobby on March 7

PRE: At 7:15 enjoy The New Orford String Quartet featuring principal players of the Toronto and Montreal Symphonies playing Canadian works by Ana Sokolovic and Jacques Hétu.

POST: Internationally acclaimed jazz trumpeter Brownman Ali with the Brownman Akoustic Quintet will take the audience on a journey through Miles Davis' earliest musical lineage.

*Peter Eötvös’s Cello Concerto Grosso is a co-commission of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic, Tonhalle Zürich, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, and Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra.