{"id":121904,"date":"2026-02-20T11:57:38","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T16:57:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=121904"},"modified":"2026-02-20T13:00:02","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T18:00:02","slug":"preview-toronto-symphony-orchestra-welcomes-year-horse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2026\/02\/20\/preview-toronto-symphony-orchestra-welcomes-year-horse\/","title":{"rendered":"PREVIEW | The Toronto Symphony Orchestra Welcomes The Year Of The Horse"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s Lunar New Year celebration from 2025 (Photo courtesy of the TSO)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) celebrates the Lunar New Year and the coming of the Year of the Horse with a concert that blends musical traditions and community joy. The TSO presents Year of the Horse: A Lunar New Year Celebration on February 28 at Roy Thomson Hall.<\/p>\n

The orchestra will be led by conductor Carolyn Kuan<\/strong>, with comedian Dashan<\/strong> (Mark Rowswell) returning as host and narrator. Acclaimed soloists will add to the performance, including renowned pipa virtuoso Wu Man<\/strong>, and 15-year-old piano prodigy Ryan Huang<\/strong>, who is a Lang Lang International Music Foundation Young Scholar. Yang Yang Dance Studio will also take the stage.<\/p>\n

Before the concert begins, from 6:30 p.m., the Roy Thomson Hall lobby lights up with a lively lion dance performance, along with a curated Asian artisan market, and family-friendly activities.<\/p>\n

Conductor Carolyn Kuan<\/h3>\n

Carolyn Kuan was born in Taipei, and began playing piano as a child. She also sang in choirs, and developed the ambition to become an opera singer. At the age of 14, she immigrated to the US alone to study, and eventually graduated cum laude from Smith College with a degree in economics and music. She continued music studies at the University of Illinois, earning a Master of Music degree, followed by an artist diploma at the Peabody Conservatory.<\/p>\n

Along the way, her interest in conducting grew, and in 2003, she was the first woman to be awarded the Herbert von Karajan Conducting Fellowship, which resulted in a residency at the 2004 Salzburg Festival. She also worked as a conducting assistant to Marin Alsop in 2003. She became the assistant conductor of the Seattle Symphony in 2006, and subsequently took on the role of associate conductor.<\/p>\n

She was named music director of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra in 2011, and still holds that position. Carolyn has also led orchestras across the globe, including the Baltimore Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Seattle Symphony, and Toronto Symphony, along with the New York City Ballet, the Florida Orchestra, Louisville Orchestra, the Bournemouth Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan, Singapore Symphony, Residentie Orkest, and the Orquestra Sinf\u00f4nica do Estado de S\u00e3o Paulo, among others.<\/p>\n

She is a recognized specialist in Asian contemporary music, and led the San Francisco Symphony\u2019s annual Chinese New Year concert for several years.<\/p>\n

\"TSO
TSO Lunary New Year graphic (Courtesy of the TSO)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Music<\/h3>\n

The program includes a selection of works from Western and Chinese classical traditions, including celebratory favourites of the season, music by Canadian composer Vivian Fung<\/strong>, and the world premi\u00e8re of \u8700\u9053\u96e3 Shu Dao Nan (The Way to Shu is Treacherous) by composer Alison Yun Fei Jiang<\/strong> \u2014 a former TSO RBC Affiliate Composer.<\/p>\n

The full program:<\/p>\n