Into The Light is the title of the season opening concert for Orchestra Toronto, featuring a program that will take the audience on a musical journey from darkness to light. The October 18 concert includes music by Christine Donkin, Richard Strauss, Beethoven, and Profofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1, with soloist Corey Gemmell on violin.
“This performance will take our audience on a journey from struggle to transcendence,” said Michael Newnham, Music Director of Orchestra Toronto.
“We are thrilled to have Corey Gemmell, our concertmaster, perform Profokiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1, a truly lyrical and unexpectedly delicate piece of early 20th-century modernism, which contrasts the darker themes in the selections by Beethoven and R. Strauss. This will be a transformative concert!”
The Orchestra’s full program is:
- Donkin: Three Autumn Scenes
- Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 1
- Beethoven: Leonore Overture No 3
- R. Strauss: Tod und Verklärung
Corey Lyle Gemmell, violin
Corey Lyle Gemmell is a native of Hamilton, where he began his musical journey studying violin privately, and performing in the Hamilton Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (HPYO), where he played concertmaster. He later continued his studies at the University of Toronto.
Gemmell has built a career as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral musician. He’s performed throughout North America, Germany, and in China. He currently serves as concertmaster for the Burlington Symphony Orchestra, Mississauga Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Toronto, and the Scarborough Philharmonic.
Corey has also performed with the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, the Brott Music Festival/ National Academy Orchestra, Esprit Orchestra, the Elora Festival Orchestra, the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir Orchestra, the Ontario Philharmonic, and the Toronto Philharmonic Orchestra. He has also been concertmaster for musical theatre productions, including Miss Saigon, Beauty and the Beast, The Sound of Music, the Phantom of the Opera, Hamilton, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, among others.
A dedicated educator, Corey is currently a member of faculty at Western University, the National Music Camp of Canada and the Royal College of Examiners.
He is also a recording artist. In 2022, he recorded works by Canadian composers Ronald Royer, Daniel Mehdizadeh, Brandon Walker, and Elizabeth Raum both as a soloist and chamber musician, with the Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra titled Canadian Exhibition on the Akashic label.
Gemmell plays on a violin made in Milan in 1907 by Cipriano Briani, as well as a modern violin crafted for him in 2005 by Toronto luthier, Hratch Armenious.
Orchestra Toronto 2025-2026: A Season of Transformation
The full season features six concerts, with three evening and three afternoon performances; more information here. After October 18’s Into the Light, the lineup includes:
- Sunday, December 7, 2025 at 3:00 p.m. — Seasonal Celebration with the Sultans of String
- Saturday, January 24, 2025 at 7:30 p.m. — Darth Vader Meets the Godfather: Music from the Film Scores
- Sunday, March 1, 2026 at 3:00 p.m. — Exploration of the Soul: Tchaikovsky & Adler
- Sunday, April 19, 2026 at 3:00 p.m. — Pardon Our French: Ravel & Gershwin
- Saturday, June 6, 2026 at 7:30 p.m. — Resurrection: Mahler 2
Find more details about the Into the Light concert on Saturday, October, 18 (8:00 p.m.) in the George Weston Recital Hall at the Meridian Arts Centre, with a pre-concert chat with Music Director, Michael Newnham that begins at 6:45 p.m., [HERE].
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