Join Maestro Kristian Alexander as he leads the Kindred Spirits Orchestra in celebrating the first concert of the season, including an Opening Night Gala. Now a concert hall staple, Strauss Jr.’s enduring overture of captivating themes to Die Fledermaus (The Bat), is the embodiment of bubbly Viennese operetta. National Arts Centre Principal cellist Rachel Mercer returns to the KSO in a rousing performance of the aggressively passionate Concerto for celloand orchestra by French composer Édouard Lalo. Grieg handwrites “Must never be performed” on the score of his seldom heard, yet energetically youthful Symphony in C minor.