Gustavo Gimeno and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (Photo by Allan Cabral)

The Toronto Symphony Orchestra is inviting audiences to a 2024/25 season that is one of “unified plurality”. Highlights include a concert by international star Yuja Wang and a new Young People’s Concert with Red Sky Performance, among a broad range of concerts and programming that spotlights the talents of the TSO musicians.

Offerings include concerts for all ages and diverse tastes, including fresh new works along with favourites, and a star studded line-up of guest artists. Along with the music, there’s film, dance music, and programs for young audience members.

“As we unveil the full expanse of our 2024/25 season, we are proud to highlight the array of programs designed to mirror the diversity of the broader Toronto community,” says Mark Williams, Beck Family CEO, Toronto Symphony Orchestra in a statement.

“From the Classical magnificence of Mozart and Mahler, to the contemporary beats of Tina Turner and the enchanting melodies of Encanto, our season is a vibrant tapestry of contrasting cultural colours. At the heart of this mission is the season-long spotlight we’re casting the exceptional talents within our orchestra. This spotlight will shine brightest on the various concerti for orchestra that we’ve peppered throughout the season, savouring the individual virtuosity and collective brilliance of our musicians. This season is more than a series of concerts; it’s a celebration of inclusivity, excellence, and the transformative power of music that resonates with every member of the world’s most diverse city.”

Gustavo Gimeno and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (Photo by Stelth Ng)

Masterworks Series

The series brings together time honoured classics of the repertoire with vibrant new works, curated by Music Director Gustavo Gimeno. In 2024/25, it often involves concerti for orchestra by both contemporary and canonical composers.

To kick off the season, the TSO will peform Pictures at an Exhibition, by Mussorgsky piece (orchestrated by Alexander Gorchakov) and Beethoven’s captivating Triple Concerto, with Concertmaster Jonathan Crow, Principal Cello Joseph Johnson, and Canadian pianist and 2024/25 Spotlight Artist Jan Lisiecki as soloists.

Highlights of the series:

Mahler’s Symphony No. 4; Dvořák’s “New World” Symphony;
Selections from Bizet’s Carmen;
Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 “Eroica”;
Holst’s The Planets;
The score to Bartók’s ballet The Miraculous Mandarin (which will be recorded live for release on the Harmonia Mundi label);
Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto (featuring Principal Clarinet Eric Abramovitz), “Jupiter” Symphony, and Requiem, among other works by the composer.

Guest Artists

Two former TSO Music Directors return:

Former Music Director Jukka-Pekka Saraste conducts Mozart’s Requiem;
Conductor Laureate Sir Andrew Davis leads Richard Strauss’s Also sprach Zarathustra.
Sir Andrew will also conduct Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 25, performed by Emanual Ax.

The list of guest artists is long and varied.

On piano:

Angela Hewitt (Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21);
Vìkingur Òlafsson (Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 2);
Beatrice Rana (Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major);
Stewart Goodyear (his own Callaloo — A Caribbean Suite for Piano and Orchestra).

On violin:

Timothy Chooi (Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1);
Karen Gomyo (Piazzolla’s The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires);
Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider (who leads Beethoven’s Violin Concerto and conducts R. Schumann’s Symphony No. 2).

Other visiting conductors include Gianandrea Noseda for Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2, and Tarmo Peltokoski, who’ll lead Vaughan Williams’s Symphony No. 4.

Artists making their TSO debut in 2024/25:

Conductor Anja Bihlmaier (Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 “From the New World”);
Conductor Marta Gardolińska (Mendelssohn Symphony No. 3 “Scottish”);
Conductor Kristiina Poska (Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 “Eroica”);
Pianist Behzod Abduraimov (Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini);
Cellist Kian Soltani (Saint-Saëns’s Cello Concerto No. 1);
Soprano Siobhan Stagg (Mozart’s Requiem);
Bass-baritone Dashon Burton (Mozart’s Requiem).

Composers & Premières

Two contemporary composers will be on stage with the TSO to conduct the Canadian premières of their own works.

John Adams will lead his “short symphony” Frenzy (a TSO Co-commission);
Thomas Adès makes his TSO début conducting his Piano Concerto (performed by Kirill Gerstein, for whom it was written).

Other premières include:

Daníel Bjarnason’s I Want to Be Alive — Trilogy for Orchestra (World Première/TSO Co-commission);
Carlos Simon’s Wake Up! Concerto for Orchestra (Canadian Première);
Former TSO RBC Affiliate Composer Kevin Lau’s Kimiko’s Pearl Symphonic Poem (World Première/TSO Co-commission);
A composition by Cree composer Andrew Balfour, created in partnership with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (World Première/Art of Healing Program Commission);
New works by the TSO’s 2024/25 NextGen Composers — Amy Brandon, Andrew James Clark, and Sonny-Ray Day Rider.

2024/25 TSO Spotlight Artists

Gustavo Gimeno has selected two artists to be 2024/25 TSO Spotlight Artists.

“In the symphonic world, things move very quickly: guest artists come, rehearse, perform a few concerts in a single week, and go,” says Gustavo Gimeno. “But through the TSO Spotlight Artists initiative, the orchestra and I are able to collaborate more extensively with a pair of incredible musicians each season, providing us — and our audiences — the welcome opportunity to grow closer to them, personally, humanly, and artistically. In turn, these artists develop a deeper relationship with us. In 2024/25, I am thrilled to be able to introduce my TSO family to Anna Prohaska, a performer of great versatility, and am eager to showcase our long-time friend Jan Lisiecki in three programs that demonstrate his extraordinary musical dexterity.”

Lisiecki will perform Beethoven’s Triple Concerto, Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 and, over two programs, he will lead all five of Beethoven’s piano concerti from the keyboard. Prohaska will be making her TSO débute in Mahler’s Symphony No. 4, Haydn’s Scena di Berenice, and operatic selections from Mozart’s Così fan tutte and John Adams’s Nixon in China.

Pops & More

Along with the classical music offerings, the TSO’s season incorporates a Pops Series designed by Principal Pops Conductor Steven Reineke as a “salute to the soundtrack of our daily lives”.

“With all of the wonderful Broadway, rock, disco, Latin, and Hollywood hits we have in store for next season’s incredible Pops Series, there truly is something for everyone to enjoy,” says Steven Reineke. “But what excites me more than anything is that so many of the astonishing guest artists who will bring these songs and scores to life are appearing with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra for the first time ever. I can’t wait to introduce them to our musicians, and I know our amazing audiences are going to love them.”

Special performances include blockbuster films such as Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back with live orchestra, and a Lunar New Year celebration in February 2025. The holiday season brings weeks of programming from November 27 to December 22 that includes, of course, the tradition of Handel’s Messiah with the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, featuring the TSO débuts of four soloists: soprano Sherezade Panthaki, countertenor Nicholas Burns, tenor Josh Lovell, and bass-baritone Enrico Lagasca.

Young People’s Concerts offer family-friendly entertainment programmed by Barrett Principal Education Conductor & Community Ambassador Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser. Concerts include beloved classics like Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, and new productions like the World première of Sandra Laronde and Red Sky Performance’s She Holds Up the Stars. The work, with newly commissioned orchestral music by Eliot Britton, is based on Laronde’s award-winning novel about an adolescent Indigenous girl, a boy, and a wild horse, and features life-sized puppets, dance, and visual art.

Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser (Photo: Allan Cabral)

“Next season’s slate of Young People’s Concerts is an exciting blend of cherished classics and brand-new creations,” says Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser. “This is a thrilling prospect for me and the musicians; we get to revisit old favourites and experience new, fantastic programs with the audience. Each one is going to be a real treat, in particular, She Holds Up the Stars, crafted in partnership with the incredible talents at Red Sky Performance, with whom we previously collaborated in 2017 to create Adizokan.”

Relaxed Performances are inclusive concert experiences for members of the neurodiverse and disabled communities

More information about the season and subscriptions available [HERE].

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Anya Wassenberg

Anya Wassenberg is a Toronto City Editor at Ludwig Van. She is an experienced freelance writer, blogger and writing instructor.