The 2009 – 2010 Season is an exciting one that includes some very interesting features not common to our usual programming.

In October 2009, the orchestra will be presenting a world premiere live performance of a recently published piano concerto by the famous-in-his-time, nineteenth century opera composer, Friedrich von Flotow. This project was brought to WCSO by Carl Petersson, the young Swedish pianist, who obtained the rights to this previously unheard concerto and subsequently recorded it in studio with the Pilsen Philharmonic Orchestra. Mr. Petersson contacted WCSO through our website in 2008 and, after 18 months of planning will come to Vancouver to perform this first-ever live performance of this very substantive and beautiful Romantic Concerto.

The Winter Olympics will be held in Vancouver in February, 2010. To honor that very special occurrence, WCSO will present a youth-oriented program that will take place one week before Opening ceremonies and will feature “Music of the World.” The orchestra will be joined by a 150-voice children’s choir, singing songs from Italy, China, Africa, France and Canada and Jonathan Hao, a 7 year-old violinist, will play a dance from Albania. In addition, the young and budding violinist, Michelle Gao, will play the haunting and highly exciting Tzigane of Maurice Ravel. The orchestra will close with the ever youthful Midsummer Night’s Dream of Felix Mendelssohn.

A very special treat for the orchestra will take place in June, 2010 with another world premier performance; this time of a brand new concerto for French horn and orchestra by the young Canadian composer, Elizabeth Knudsen. Elizabeth is a cellist in WCSO and a gifted composer, and the orchestra is very pleased and proud to premiere this work written for this occasion. The soloist will be Oliver de Clercq, principal horn of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.