The Strathcona Symphony Orchestra’s 2017-18 season finale is set for the Native Son’s Hall in Courtenay on Saturday June 2 at 7 p.m. and Sunday June 3 at 2 p.m.
“This special performance will showcase musical selections that have become common fixtures on orchestral concerts all over the world,” said Dr. James Montgomery, conductor and artistic director of the Strathcona Symphony Orchestra (SSO).
“As timeless classics, these pieces of symphonic music are those favourites that audiences seem to never grow tired of hearing many times.
Listening to this familiar music may feel like you are visiting an old friend whose company you have enjoyed for many years and can’t wait to have a chance to visit again.”
Selections to be performed include the Radetzky March by Johann Strauss Sr. and the Marche Militaire by Franz Schubert. Both pieces of music were instant hits with audiences when they were first performed over one 150 years ago, and remain so today.
Audience members will be invited to join the SSO in their celebration of Strauss’s classic march by clapping along with the orchestra just as audiences have done every year with this music at the Vienna Philharmonic’s annual New Year’s Day concert.
Audiences will also have the opportunity to hear the stirring music from Bizet’s opera Carmen, always an audience favourite with the hot, colourful Spanish dances of the Habanera and El Toreadors.
The Overture to William Tell by Rossini will be featured at the close of the concert as a vibrant ending to a wonderful afternoon or evening listening to ‘timeless classics’.
This piece is one of the most performed works in the world of classical music (think, The Lone Ranger theme), and you will be sure to feel the thrill of the chase as you imagine riding on a galloping horse over a sandy beach in the Comox Valley.
Tickets for the Timeless Classics concerts are available for purchase in advance at Blue Heron Books in Comox and Benjamin Moore House of Color in Courtenay.
Any tickets remaining will also be available for purchase at the door of the Native Sons Hall before each concert.