Details

Edmonton Symphony Orchestra Gala

Ticket Information

$200 Dress Circle Loges (A)
$175 Dress Circle (A) & Terrace (B)
$125 Orchestra (C & F)
$75 Upper Circle (D)
$50 Gallery (E)
Ticket price includes service charges.

Add this concert to my calendar Thank you to our sponsor: Air Canada

We thank you for supporting your Edmonton Symphony Orchestra by purchasing tickets for this gala, but CRA regulations do not allow us to issue tax receipts for a portion of the ticket price.

Program Info

Program

LAVALLÉE (Arr Gilliland)
O Canada

DVOŘÁK
Carnival Overture, Opus 92 (10’)*

DEBUSSY
Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune (10’)*

RAVEL
Shéhérazade (19’)*
  Measha Brueggergosman, soprano

INTERMISSION

GILLILAND
Always Be True (6’)* – 2002 ESO commission

SONDHEIM (Arranged by Don Sebesky)
Send in the Clowns (from A Little Night Music) (3’)*
  
BOLCOM
Three Selections from Cabaret Songs (10’)*
  Measha Brueggergosman, soprano

DVOŘÁK
Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Opus 95 "From the New World": II. Largo (11’)*

MASSENET
La Vierge:  “Rêve infini! Divine extase!” (L’Extase de la Vierge) (8’)*
  Measha Brueggergosman, soprano

*Indicates approximate performance duration.
Program subject to change.

Artist Info

Measha Brueggergosman, soprano

Noted by the San Francisco Chronicle as “a singer of rare gifts and artistic intensity” and by the Miami Herald for possessing “a superb voice capable of just about everything,” Canadian soprano Measha Brueggergosman has emerged as one of the most magnificent performers and vibrant personalities of the day. She is critically acclaimed by the international press as much for her innate musicianship and voluptuous voice as for a sovereign stage presence far beyond her years.

3.2 billion television viewers from across the globe came together to witness the Opening Ceremonies of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, and all heard the lauded soprano’s epic performance of the Olympic Hymn.  The presentation of the Olympic Flag was accompanied with flair and artistry, brought by the native Canadian's one-of-a-kind masterful instrument, personality, and passion to  share classical music with a mainstream audience.  The honor of being selected by Canada for this performance cements Measha’s international standing as a fresh and youthful ambassador for classical music that breaks the stereotype of an opera diva in every way imaginable.

Ms. Brueggergosman’s appearances last season included her Chicago Symphony Orchestra debut in a program of songs from Mahler’s Des knaben Wunderhorn conducted by Jaap van Zweden and a solo recital tour with appearances in New York, San Francisco, Toronto, and Vienna. Notable performances of the recent past include Cage’s Aria with Renga under Michael Tilson Thomas at the debut concert of the YouTube Symphony at Carnegie Hall, Messiaen’s Poèmes pour Mi with Daniel Harding and the London Symphony Orchestra, Mendelssohn’s Elijah with L’Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal and Yannick Nézet-Séguin, a program of opera arias with Sir Andrew Davis and the New York Philharmonic in Central Park, and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Franz Welser-Möst and the Cleveland Orchestra, Daniel Barenboim and the Orchestra and Chorus of Teatro alla Scala, and under Gustavo Dudamel for his inaugural concert as Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Ms. Brueggergosman has been honoured to participate in a number of very special events including the gala re-opening of Roy Thomson Hall, Canada Day celebrations from Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and the opening ceremonies of the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto, sharing the stage with Bill Gates and President Bill Clinton. She has given a Royal Command Performance for Queen Elizabeth II and sung for the Prince of Wales, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, Queen Sonja of Norway, President Tarja Halonen of Finland, Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, and numerous other leaders of Canada, as well as for Nelson Mandela and Kofi Annan.

Her extraordinary versatility, intuitive musicality, and radiant star quality are reflected in the array of recordings she has made in artistic relationships with Deutsche Grammophon and CBC Records. Her first recording for DG, Surprise, was released in 2007 and garnered a Juno Award for Classical Album of the Year. Night and Dreams, Ms. Brueggergosman’s second solo recording for the label, was released in 2009.  2010’s release of Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder as well as a recording of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, both with Franz Welser-Möst and the Cleveland Orchestra, also are commercially available on Deutsche Grammophon. So Much to Tell, Ms. Brueggergosman’s first solo commercial recording on the CBC Records label, with the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra and conductor Roy Goodman, features music by Barber, Copland and Gershwin.

Measha Brueggergosman has received honorary doctorates from St. Thomas University of New Brunswick and Acadia University in Nova Scotia and was awarded the Grand Prize at the 2002 Jeunesses Musicales Montreal International Competition. She also has been a prizewinner at the George London Foundation in New York, The Queen Sonja International Music Competition in Oslo, and the ARD Music Competition in Munich. Ms. Brueggergosman studied at the University of Toronto with Mary Morrison and pursued postgraduate studies in Germany with Edith Wiens. She also has worked with such distinguished musicians as Christoph Eschenbach, Ruth Falcon, Brigitte Fassbaender, Margo Garrett, Håkan Hagegård, Jessye Norman, Rudolf Piernay, and Thomas Quasthoff.

This is Ms. Brueggergosman's ESO debut.

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William Eddins, conductor

William Eddins is in his eighth season as Music Director of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. During his tenure, he has made it a priority that he conduct performances in nearly every subscription series the orchestra has presented, as well as a wide variety of special concerts and galas.

Bill Eddins began playing the piano at age five, but was bitten by the conducting bug while in his sophomore year at the Eastman School of Music. In 1989, he decided to begin conducting studies with Daniel Lewis at the University of Southern California. Assistant Conductorships with both the Minnesota Orchestra and the Chicago Symphony (the latter under the leadership of Daniel Barenboim) honed his skills even further.

Mr. Eddins has many interests outside music. He is fond of biking, tennis, reading, pinball, and cooking. He recently completed building his own recording studio at his home in Minneapolis, where he lives with his wife Jen (a clarinetist), and their sons Raef and Riley. While conducting has been his principal pursuit, he continues to perform on piano in Edmonton and elsewhere. He accepts a limited number of guest appearances each year. In 2008, he conducted a rare full staging of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess for Opéra de Lyon, which won him great acclaim, leading to a repeat engagement in Lyon in July and September 2010, as well as Edinburgh in August 2010, and in London in September 2010. During August 2009, Bill toured South Africa, conducting three gala concerts with soprano Renée Fleming and the kwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra. Bill made his Carnegie Hall debut in May 2012 conducting the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra at the Spring for Music festival.

Multimedia

Measha Brueggergosman: Night and Dreams