NEWS RELEASES

Release date: JUNE 4, 2009
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Stratford Symphony Orchestra unveils
expanded fifth season programming

Special guest artists include violinist Lara St. John,
Broadway star Louise Pitre, and singers Darryl Edwards and James Westman

(Thursday, June 4, 2009) The Stratford Symphony Orchestra’s 2009-2010 season will expand into May, June and July of 2010 with three chamber concerts to be held at the Stratford City Hall Auditorium, Music Director Jerome David Summers announced yesterday, in addition to five concerts featuring the full orchestra.  

The opening night Gala on Friday, October 30 at Knox Church sets the tone for the Stratford Symphony Orchestra’s fifth season, Summers said, with international artist Lara St. John performing the Korngold Violin Concerto in D. Canadian-born St. John has been hailed by the New York Times as a “high-powered soloist” and her performance with the SSO “signals new heights for the ensemble’s growth as a ranking symphony orchestra in Canada,” Summers said. The opening night will also feature Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5.

The SSO’s Christmas concert, Baroque and Beyond, will be performed at St. James Anglican Church on Saturday, November 28, 2009. Period Christmas programming includes the Bach Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 with Matthew Jones, recorder; Yootha Neller, oboe and David Robertson, trumpet. Also on the program are Schubert’s Symphony No. 5, Vaughan William's Fantasia on a Theme of Tallis, and Mozart's Exultate Jubilate, featuring Stratford soprano Eliza Johnson.

Now a Stratford tradition, the Celtic Spectacular IV on Saturday January 23, 2010  “will showcase a trio of Canada's finest powerhouse Celtic performers ever to be assembled on one stage,” Summers said. Performing with the SSO at Knox Church that evening will be Anne Lederman, Celtic fiddle; Sharon Kahan, Irish flute, and Sharlene Wallace, Irish harp. The Celtic Spectactular will also bring back audience favourites from the Corrigan School of Irish Dance and the Stratford Pipe Band. The traditionally sold-out evening starts with dinner in the Knox Celtic Dining Hall  (lower level) at 6 p.m., and the concert begins at 8 pm. 

The SSO goes to the opera on Saturday February 20, 2010 for a Five Star Opera Gala, featuring five Canadian opera talents: Catherine Gardner, soprano; Eliza Johnson, soprano; Darryl Edwards, tenor; James Westman, baritone and Mark Gardner, baritone. The soloists will be supported at Knox Church by the orchestra and the Stratford Concert Choir. 

Stratford’s Louise Pitre took Broadway by storm with her Tony-nominated performance as Donna Sheridan in Mama, Mia! and will appear on Friday, April 16, 2010 with the SSO at Knox Church for an evening titled Principally Piaf. This concert will include selections of songs made famous by French singer Edith Piaf, as well as numbers from Mama Mia! and other Broadway classics.   

The 09/10 SSO season begins its expanded programming in May with a new series of chamber music concerts titled Watermusic by the Avon. “These concerts will feature players from the SSO and we are delighted to give them an opportunity to perform these more-intimate works in the venue of the Stratford City Hall Auditorium,” said David Murray, chair of the orchestra’s board of directors. 

• Mostly Mozart, Saturday, May 15, 2010: Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik and Symphony No. 29, as well as the Beethoven Triple Concerto with guest artists violinist Joyce Lai, cellist Andras Weber, and pianist Michael Esch.
  
  
• Summer Idyll Time, Saturday, June 12, 2010, with guest trumpeter Larry Larson performing the Haydn Trumpet Concerto. Concert also features Haydn’s “Clock” Symphony (No. 101 in D.) and Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll.
  
  
• Sunset Serenade on Saturday, July 10, 2010, draws the Stratford Symphony Orchestra’s fifth season to a close draws and features the Madawaska String Quartet and the orchestra’s music director, Jerome Summers, on clarinet.

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Full information on the 2009 season, subscriptions and ticket information are available at www.stratfordsymphonyorchestra.ca , or by calling 519-271-0990.

For further information, contact
John David Sterne
Executive Director
Stratford Symphony Orchestra
519-281-0953
executivedirector@stratfordsymphonyorchestra.ca