The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra has announced its 2025-2026 season with a promise of drama, romance and triumph.
Arguably the biggest name in the upcoming season is not one that audiences would typically associate with classical music. Stewart Copeland is perhaps best known for his work as the drummer for The Police, arguably one of the biggest bands of the last forty years. In recent years, Copeland has turned his attentions towards the orchestral sphere, and his works will be featured on two concert programs spanning his musical output.
The WSO’s 2025 season begins on September 27 with the return of celebrated pianist Alexei Volodin, who will share the first and second piano concertos of Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky in performances on Saturday and Sunday night, respectively. The orchestra has paired these masterworks with Johannes Brahms’ Symphony no. 4 for both evenings, and the Saturday night also features Elysium by frequent collaborator and Winnipeg New Music Festival conductor Samy Moussa.
Another guest artist coming in to perform multiple programs is Alexandra Conunova. The Moldovan violinist will perform Aram Khachaturian’s violin concerto to open the symphony’s Thursday Classics series, as well as performing in the second of the Sunday Classics series. The violin concerto will be paired on both concerts with Leonard Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, with Sunday’s audience also being treated to the "Fantasy Overture" from Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet and Antonin Dvorak’s Carnival Overture. Conunova will fill out her time in Winnipeg with the opening matinee concert of the orchestra’s season, performing a program that includes a birthday celebration for the Waltz King, Johann Strauss, Jr.
In addition to longstanding partnerships, the symphony is embarking on new partnerships as well. Four cello soloists – Colin Carr, Bryan Cheng, Denise Djokic, and Alban Gerhardt – all join the symphony for Richard Strauss’s Don Quixote and Romanze, Heitor Villa-Lobos’ Preludio from Bachianas Brasileiras no. 1, and Erich Korngold’s cello concerto.
Audiences looking for a more French flair will want to circle November 13 on their calendars. Guest conductor Nodoka Okisawa leads the orchestra through the third symphony of Louise Farrenc and the suite from Francis Poulenc’s ballet Les Biches. Canadian pianist Stewart Goodyear will add his artistry to the program in the form of Maurice Ravel’s unique Piano Concerto for the Left Hand.
Not to be outdone, the musical impact of Italy will be examined in a concert branded Echoes of Italy on February 27. RBC Assistant Conductor Monica Chen will take the podium to lead Felix Mendelssohn’s “Italian” Symphony no. 4 and Vítězslava Kaprálová’s Suite en Miniature. The featured work of the evening will be a cantata by the Italian Baroque master Alessandro Scarlatti called Su le sponde del Tebro (“On the Banks of the Tiber”). The string section of the orchestra will be joined by WSO trumpeter Chris Fensom and Winnipeg soprano Christina Thanisch-Smith.
Similar to its previous concert, the Saturday Classics series will continue its feature of strings in February, with violinist Kevin Zhu making his Winnipeg debut. A student of Itzhak Perlman and the winner of the 2018 Paganini Competition, he’ll join guest conductor Robert Moody to perform Leonard Bernstein’s Serenade (after Plato’s Symposium), as well as the second symphony of Sergei Rachmaninoff, and the overture to Ludwig van Beethoven’s opera Fidelio.
Alongside soloist debuts, the WSO will also share the world premiere of the latest composition by current composer-in-residence Haralobos Stafylakis. His Symphony no. 3 will be shared at the end of January, typically around the time of year of the Winnipeg New Music Festival, which Stafylakis curates. The program – titled Cosmoi, or “World” in Greek – will be rounded out by a yet-to-be-announced piece by Christopher Theofandis.
Another former composer-in-residence of the WSO, Vincent Ho, will also find their way into the upcoming season. Ho’s piece Earthbeat will be featured on a program called Nordic Horizons, led by Norwegian conductor Rune Bergmann, who also conducts the Calgary Philharmonic. The Norwegian Dances of Edvard Grieg and “The Inextinguishable” Symphony no. 4 of Carl Nielsen are both on the program, alongside the famous “Finlandia” of Jean Sibelius.
The final guest artist to be featured in the Saturday Classics series is clarinettist Boris Allakhverdyan. The principal clarinettist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, he’ll join the symphony to perform W.A. Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto. The symphony will pair Gustav Mahler’s Blumine movement to help celebrate spring, in addition to the fifth symphony of Dmitri Shostakovich.
A beloved part of the WSO’s offerings for the community are their Night at the Movies performances. This year, those films include Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (Oct. 3 & 4), The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Oct. 23-24 at the Burton Cunmings Theatre), How to Train Your Dragon (Dec. 6 & 7), Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (Feb. 20 & 21), and the first in the Daniel Craig iterations of the James Bond franchise, Casino Royale (Mar. 20 & 21).
Other guest artists to be featured alongside the WSO this season are the Juno Award-nominated singer-songwriter Jill Barber who will share a tribute to the city of Paris, and a guest ensemble sharing the music of Phil Collins and Genesis.
It’s not often that classical music and wrestling are paired, but that’s exactly what audience will see on stage on February 4. The orchestra will enter the ring with Winnipeg Prop Wrestling to provide the soundtrack for a night of unique entertainment. Other special offerings in the upcoming season will be a live performance of music from the television show Murdoch Mysteries brought to life by composer Rob Carli and the beloved Handel’s Messiah, which will return to the Centennial Concert Hall for one night only on December 13.
Tickets and more information about the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra's upcoming season are available at the orchestra's website.