A holiday classic, Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker suite extracts popular tunes from the eponymous ballet, including the “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy,” and the Russian “Trepak”, before concluding with the well-known “Waltz of the Flowers.” Vanessa Yu, Grand Prize Winner of the 2023 International Music Festival and Competition performs Camille Saint-Saëns’ Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 5 subtitled “The Egyptian,” Saint-Saens composed this piece while vacationing in Egypt and included Middle-Eastern pitch and rhythmic influences, particularly in the second movement, while noting that the piece was meant to depict “a voyage at sea.” Rounding off the program is another sea voyage in Debussy’s impressionist work La mer. Debussy refers to La mer as a symphonic sketch and divided the work into three parts: “From Dawn to Noon on the Sea,” “Play of the Waves,” and “Dialogue of the Wind and Waves.” 

Kristian Alexander | conductor
Vanessa Yu | pianist
Daniel Vnukowski | host

7:00 p.m.    Silent auction in support of music education and the arts (closes after the intermission).
7:10 p.m.    Pre-concert talk. Michaela Cudalbu, musicologist
7:20 p.m.    Prélude: pre-concert recital. Jacques Ibert, Five pieces for a trio
                    Jae Won Lee, oboe | Carmen Gassi, clarinet | Rostislav Tikhov, bassoon
Intermission discussion and Q&A with Vanessa Yu and Daniel Vnukowski.
Post-concert reception.

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This concert is supported by Destination Markham.