London Symphonia’s 2025-26 Season kicks off on October 4 with a program titled Opening Night: Mozart, Ravel and Beyond — and virtuoso pianist David Jalbert. The Canadian pianist will perform Ravel’s jazz-infused Piano Concerto in G Major.
Maestra Cosette Justo Valdés makes her debut conducting London Symphonia for the concert, which also includes Mozart’s Symphony No. 39, along with works by Augusta Holmès and Rodrigo Prats.
“Our Opening Night concert is jam packed with great music, brilliant artistry and new discoveries,” said Andrew Chung, Artistic Producer of London Symphonia in a statement.
“We are thrilled to welcome back the phenomenal pianist David Jalbert and are looking forward to his interpretation of Ravel’s stunning Piano Concerto in G Major. We are pairing this masterpiece with one of Mozart’s greatest symphonies, his No. 39 in E-flat Major, which gives London Symphonia great opportunities to shine. Adding to the excitement is the debut of Cosette Justo Valdés, a highly accomplished artist who has conducted many of Canada’s finest orchestras and is in demand across Europe and North America.”
Pianist David Jalbert
David Jalbert studied and earned degrees from the Juilliard School, the Glenn Gould School, Université de Montréal and Conservatoire de Musique du Québec.
David is a five-time JUNO Award nominee, and six-time Prix Opus winner. He performs regularly across Canada as a soloist and recitalist, and internationally. He is also a recording artist whose releases have garnered acclaim at home and in Europe. He’s appeared as a soloist with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Les Violons du Roy, the National Symphony of Ireland, and other ensembles, and has performed many times with Orchestre Métropolitain and maestro Yannick Nézet-Séguin. As a chamber musician, he has collaborated with artists such as Nicola Benedetti, Charles Richard-Hamelin, Joel Quarrington, James Campbell and Rachel Barton Pine.
Jalbert is also dedicated to education, and is a Professor of Piano at the University of Ottawa and a member of the faculty at the Orford Music Academy.
David recently released his Vol. III of the Complete Prokofiev Sonatas on the Atma Classique label. It’s his third volume of Prokofiev’s sonatas, and includes Sonatas No. 8 and No. 9, along with the Sarcasms, Op. 17.
Maestra Cosette Justo Valdés
A native of Cuba, where she began studying music at the age of eight, Valdés currently serves as the Artistic and Music Director of the Vancouver Island Symphony in British Columbia.
She studied conducting at the National Institute of the Arts of Cuba, in Havana. After earning a bachelor’s degree in Orchestral Conducting with Maestro Jorge López Marín, she was appointed Music & Artistic Director of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Oriente (OSO) in Santiago, Cuba.
After leading the orchestra for three years, Cosette continued her studies at the Mannheim Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst. There, she earned her Masters Degree.
From 2019 until 2022, she held the position of Assistant Conductor and Community Ambassador of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, and was subsequently appointed the ESO’s Resident Conductor, a position she held for six years.
She has since guest conducted at orchestras across Canada and beyond, including Edmonton Opera, iMusici de Montréal, the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, the Guanajuato Symphony Orchestra in Mexico, Saskatooon Symphony Orchestra, and many others. In Europe, she has guest conducted with the Stuttgart Philharmonic, the Orchestra of the Theater Heidelberg, the National Theater Mannheim and the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra in Germany, and the Plovdiv Philharmonic of Bulgaria.
London Symphonia 2025/26
Opening Night: Mozart, Ravel and Beyond is the first of an eight concert season, featuring a wide range of repertoire from the classical canon as well as contemporary works, tango and pop, and acclaimed guest artists.
Season highlights include Avner Dorman’s Violin Concerto No. 2 by Lara St. John, and the world premiere of a flute concerto written specifically for London Symphonia’s Principal Flute Laura Chambers.
London Symphonia will also present its first Family Concert featuring Peter and the Wolf, the beloved work by Prokofiev that has introduced generations of children to orchestral music. The program also includes the world premiere of a work by Spy Dénommé-Welch, an Algonquin-Anishinaabe storyteller and composer that also evokes the natural world via music.
“There is so much on offer in each of the eight beautiful concerts we are presenting this season that it is easy to lose track of the London roots that underpin many of the performers joining us on stage,” said Chung.
“London is a wonderful space to live and create in. This year, we are delighted to put the spotlight on artists who credit London with helping to forge their creative identities. Jazz vocalist Denise Pelley is a local legend and a national treasure, and London-based composer Spy Dénommé-Welch is a groundbreaking creator and researcher. London Symphonia’s own Principal Bass Joe Phillips is one of Canada’s most versatile bassists. We are so pleased to be collaborating with him and the members of the internationally acclaimed tango band, Payadora. Lara St. John is a superstar violinist with a unique musical voice who grew up in London and will be making a long-awaited debut with London Symphonia.”
You can select either in-person tickets for each concert, held at Metropolitan United Church in London, or enjoy the concerts virtually through the orchestra’s ew Watch and Listen video on demand platform featuring high quality 4K HDR videos of 2025-26 concerts along a trove of past seasons.
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