The Strathcona Symphony Orchestra’s (SSO) guest soloist, Gregory Lewis, will perform one of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s most difficult violin pieces, Violin Concerto in D Major.
In the final performance for the season, the SSO’s concert From Dark to Light! will also feature Symphony No. 5 in E Minor. This “not to be missed” event will be on May 24 (7 p.m.) at the Florence Filberg Centre in Courtenay and May 25 (7 p.m.) at the Tidemark Theatre in Campbell River.
Award-winning Canada Council for the Arts recipient Lewis grew up in Thunder Bay and left at the age of 16 to pursue his musical education and a bachelor’s degree in Winnipeg before relocating to the U.S. to get a master’s degree at Yale University. He is now pursuing his Doctor of Musical Arts degree while simultaneously playing in Yale’s award-winning Quartet in Residence, the Callisto Quartet.
Lewis’ connection with SSO Music Director and solo cellist, Helena Jung, dates to 2017 when he first performed on Vancouver Island with Campbell River-born pianist, Carter Johnson. Johnson introduced Lewis to Jung and the three musicians toured Vancouver Island in 2018 and 2019. Jung contacted Lewis in early 2023 with the idea of performing Tchaikovsky’s violin concerto with the SSO and Gregory enthusiastically agreed to the request.
During his performance with the SSO, concertgoers will get to listen to the 1768 “Miller” Galiano violin, which Lewis was selected as a winner for the 2023 Canada Council for the Arts Musical Instrument Bank competition. He can play this special instrument until August 2026 before returning it to the Council. The violin creator, Januarius Gagliano, came from a family of violin makers established in Naples and his father worked with Antonio Stradivari.
“The opportunity to play on such a beautiful instrument is uncommon, and I am deeply grateful every day that I get to call this violin mine,” said Lewis.
“Compared to other instruments I have previously played, the Gagliano projects with little effort on my end, and rarely sounds strained or pressed. It feels like the violin wants to produce a rich sound, and it gladly goes along with me as I play it,” he said.
Lewis has played the iconic Violin Concerto in D Major several times and his interpretation of the music changes each time he comes back to the piece.
“One consistent aim I have when playing this concerto is my aim to sound like the marriage of opera and ballet,” said Lewis.
“Tchaikovsky wrote numerous works for both genres, and the influence of vocal lyricism and ballet gestures are both prevalent throughout his concerto. I hope to navigate all the concerto’s brilliant passagework with a graceful, melodic demeanor,” he said.
“Tchaikovsky wrote the concerto while in Switzerland where he was recovering from a bout of deep depression, and this too has shaped my understanding of the work.”
“To me, this concerto seems to be his exploration of light and beauty. No matter his inner struggles, music was a place where the composer could turn in search of hope and joy, and both emotions abound in this timeless classic,” he said.
Tickets for the SSO’s From Dark to Light! can be purchased at https://strathcona-symphony-orchestra.tickit.ca/ for the Courtenay concert at the Filberg Centre (May 24th), or https://tidemarktheatre.com/events/ for the Campbell River performance at the Tidemark Theatre (May 25th). Prices are $25 for adults and $15 for children 12 and under. Tickets might be available at the door, but the SSO has been selling out.
Visit www.strathconasymphony.ca for more information or the SSO’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/StrathconaSymphonyOrchestra.