Start the New Year inspired by attending The Chamber Orchestra of Edmonton’s first concert of 2023.
The concert, Legends, kicks off the orchestra’s Season of Unusual Encounters. “Unusual” as the series features instruments and music not commonly heard in concert halls, as well as the principal viola of The Chamber Orchestra of Edmonton, Clayton Leung, who will play Viola Concerto by Latvian composer Peteris Vasks.
Artistic Director and Conductor Lidia Khaner explains that this piece can provide listeners with introspection. “It’s just beautiful harmonies, beautiful colours. You can close [your] eyes and maybe look within,” she says.
Coming up with a name for the concert wasn’t difficult, after Emeritus Principal Trumpet of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Alvin Lowrey, approached Khaner about performing. “He [Lowrey] is kind of a legend in the community. So this was one of the elements. And it just happened that the piece he chose is (George Enescu’s) Légende (for Trumpet),” says Khaner.
The last song featured in the concert will be Arthur Honegger’s Symphony No.2. Composed partly during the Second World War, it has a primarily dark sound but “suddenly the mood changes and it’s all…bright future,” Khaner explains.
The Chamber Orchestra of Edmonton Season of Unusual Encounters will kick off January 15 at 3 p.m. at St. Andrew’s United Church.
