Canadian-Romanian conductor Andrei Feher will lead the Hamilton Philharmonic, with guest soloist mezzo-soprano Rebecca Cuddy on November 9. On the bill is a trifecta of pieces that will take the audience on a journey.
As with other MainStage concerts this season, the day before on November 8, a Talk & Tea with HPO Composer-in-Residence Abigail Richardson-Schulte will offer insights into Brahms and other details behind the concert and program.
The Music
The program includes:
- Rachmaninoff, Vocalise
- Ian Cusson, Songs From the House of Death
- Brahms, Symphony No. 2
Incredibly, Rachmaninoff’s Vocalise, or Song Without Words, was written during his student days, when the composer was about 14 years of age. He wrote a series of ten exercises after being admitted to the Moscow Conservatory, and his Song without Words: Lento in D Minor, is the only one to survive.
Canadian composer Ian Cusson’s Songs From the House of Death comes next, which incorporates texts from former U.S. Poet Laureate and Muscogee Nation member Joy Harjo.
Guest conductor Andrei Feher says in a statement, “I recently discovered Cusson’s song cycle and I fell in love with the orchestra colours and textures. He was inspired by Janacek’s House of Death opera which is based on the Dostoyevsky’s novel. These links through history are amazing and I just love them. Brahms is also one who linked many things together. Very fond of baroque and classical period he kept one foot in the past and another in the romantic period, so the mixture is quite incredible.”
The concert closes with Brahms Symphony No. 2, a piece composed on a summer retreat in Austria, and perhaps because of the environment, it’s a cheerful, almost pastoral work.
Guest Artists
Conductor Andrei Feher
A native of Romania, Andrei began his musical journey studying the violin in his home town of Satu-Mare. At 13, his family immigrated to Canada, and he continued his studies at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal. Today he teaches conducting at the Conservatoire.
He’s worked with orchestras across Canada and abroad. In 2018, at the age of 26, he became one of the youngest people to lead a major Canadian orchestra when he was appointed Music Director of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony. His 2019 debut with the BBC Symphony Orchestra was recorded and aired on BBC Radio 3.
Along with his appearance with the HPO, this season, he’ll be debuting with the Orchestre classique de Montréal, Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre symphonique de Drummondville, Filarmonica Brașov, and Filarmonica Banatul Timișoara. He’ll also be making repeat engagements with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Orchestre symphonique de Québec, Orchestre symphonique de Laval, Nova Scotia Symphony and Filarmonica Transilvania. Feher also continues to work with the Musicians of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, and other ensembles.
Mezzo-Soprano Rebecca Cuddy
Born in Toronto, Rebecca earned a Bachelors in Music with Honours in Voice Performance from Western University, followed by a Masters in Voice and Opera from The Royal Academy of Music, London U.K. She completed an artist residency at the National Theatre School of Canada in 2022.
She has a special affinity for French opera and baroque music, and is a champion of contemporary music. Rebecca has sung several world premieres, and worked with many contemporary composers. She is experienced in musical theatre and jazz, along with early and contemporary music, and traditional opera repertoire.
Rebecca won a Dora Award for Outstanding Ensemble Work as part of the group involved in Soundstreams’ Two Odysseys; Pimootewin and Gállábártnit. She is also the inaugural winner of the Rose-Ellen Nichols Award in the Performing Arts.
- Find out more details about the concert, and get tickets, [HERE].
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