On December 6, the Kindred Spirits Orchestra will present Sounds of the Season, a holiday concert with a twist. Kristian Alexander conducts, with soloists Harrison Yang Meng, viola, and Daniel Vnukowski, piano.
Alexander, KSO’s Music Director, is known for his imaginative programming, and the orchestra’s holiday concert is no different.
The Program
The program opens with Tchaikovsky’s classic Nutcracker Suite in a kind of mash up with some of The Beatles’ popular songs. It’s a marriage of beloved works by musicians of different eras.
Violist Harrison Yang Meng will perform William Walton’s Viola Concerto, a work that was written in 1929, and at the suggestion of conductor Sir Thomas Beecham, it was intended for violist Lionel Tertis. Walton was considered an avant garde composer in his time, and Tertis rejected the work at first sight. It premiered in 1929 with Paul Hindemith as the soloist at the Queen’s Hall, London.
Tertis would later write,
“With shame and contrition I admit that when the composer offered me the first performance, I declined it. … I had not learnt to appreciate Walton’s style. The innovations in his musical language which now seem so logical and so truly in the mainstream of music then struck me as far-fetched. It took me time to realize what a tower of strength in the literature of the viola is this concerto.”
The work went on to great success, and established the British composer’s reputation. It has become part of a violist’s standard repertoire.
The program closes with Symphony in C by French composer Paul Dukas, who dedicated the work to fellow musician Paul Vidal. Dukas wrote the work between 1894 and 1896, and it premiered in 1897 at the Concerts de l’Opéra in Paris, conducted by Vidal.
While it garnered mixed reviews initially, the piece has come to be considered as one of the key works of the French fin de siècle period. Dukas was part of César Franck’s inner circle, and he saw the older composer as a model. Like César Franck’s one and only symphony, Dukas’ Symphony in C is written in three movements rather than the customary four. They are:
- Allegro non troppo vivace, ma con fuoco, C major, 6/8
- Andante espressivo e sostenuto, 4/8, E minor, C major, B major, E minor
- Finale. Allegro spiritoso, C major, 3/4 = 9/8
It’s an early work of Dukas’, and in many respects, it foreshadows his now uber-popular tone poem The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, which he’d compose five years later.
Harrison Yang Meng, viola
Harrison Yang Meng is studying the viola as a full scholarship student at The Phil and Eli Taylor Performance Academy for Young Artists at the Royal Conservatory.
He began his studies with the violin at age seven with his mother, Linda Yang, and joined the Academy at age 13. Harrison made the switch to viola the following year. In addition to his studies with Theresa Rudolph, he attended the Heifetz International Music Institute in 2024, and the 2025 Caledon Music Festival as a young artist.
Meng has collaborated with artists such as David Ying, Barry Shiffman, Nicholas Kitchen, Joel Quarrington, the Isidore Quartet and Min-Jeong Koh, and has played in masterclasses with
acclaimed artists that include Juan-Miguel Hernandez, Eckart Runge, Ayane Kozasa, Steven Tenenbom, Michael Van der Sloot, Annemarie Moorcroft, Jonathan Crow, and Violaine Melançon.
Harrison was the winner of the 2024 International Music Festival and Competition, and the 2024 Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition, along with several other competitions in the region.
He has performed with the North York Concert Orchestra and the Canada Youth Chamber Orchestra as a soloist, among others, and upcoming appearances include a performance with the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra in April 2026. As a chamber musician, he performs with a string quartet that was invited to the 2025 Banff International String Quartet Competition (BISQC) Youth Chamber Music Program.
Harrison joined the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra as Principal Violist from 2023-2025, and also performs as the Principal Violist of the RCM Taylor Academy Chamber Orchestra.
The Concert
There’s more than music on offer at the December 6 concert at the Markham Flato Theatre.
It begins with a silent auction, with items that include tickets to the Royal Ontario Museum, Ripley’s Aquarium, Shaw Festival, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Toronto Raptors, along with trips, vintage wine, paintings, spa packages, musical instruments, jewelry and more. Opening bids begin at 30% of the item’s value.
Online bidding opens on December 3 at 10 a.m., and in-person bidding begins on December 6 at 7 p.m. Bidding closes at 9:30 p.m. on December 6, at the concert intermission.
Antonia De Wolfe, KSO Principal Pianist holds a pre-concert talk at 7:10 p.m., and early concert goers can also experience Prélude, a pre-concert recital with Alexa Ball, flute, and Rostislav Tikhov, bassoon, at 7:20.
During intermission, there will be a discussion and Q&A with Harrison Yang Meng and Daniel Vnukowski.
After the music comes a post-concert reception.
Find more details and tickets [HERE].
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