For our closing performance of the 2014-2015 season we have decided to ask our wonderful patrons to select the symphony they would like to hear. We have narrowed the field to four: Mendelssohn’s Mediterranean-inspired “Italian” Symphony, Mozart’s tragic and emotional Symphony No. 40, the 14 year travail that was Brahms’s First Symphony and Beethoven’s revolutionary Symphony No. 3.
Below you can vote on which great symphonic work you would most like to hear.
We had a chance to sit down with Thomas Yu and Mark Turner to discuss our Haydn Symphony Masters Series concert, this Saturday at TCU place. Tickets are going fast!
tcutickets.ca
SSO Executive Director Mark Turner
On the rare and beautiful Fazioli that will make it’s debut at TCU place for this concert “Everyone loves particular pianos more than others but every pianist loves a Fazioli” 0:00
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOK5_0UWjJg?rel=0&showinfo=0]
On Brahm’s tribute “In years since we’ve discovered that likely Haydn didn’t write that piece, but his name sticks with it to this day” 1:21
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOK5_0UWjJg?rel=0&showinfo=0&w=420&h=236&t=1m21s]
On Haydn and Mozart “..both thought the other was a genius, and both were right” 1:42
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOK5_0UWjJg?rel=0&showinfo=0&w=420&h=236&t=1m42s]
The Farewell Symphony “Haydn wrote the Farewell Symphony when he was wanting to stick it to his boss a little bit…” 2:17
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOK5_0UWjJg?rel=0&showinfo=0&w=420&h=236&t=2m17s]
We are happy to welcome Adam Johnson as the guest conductor for this concert “He is a pianist himself, so getting to work as a conductor in a piano concerto is going to be an excellent opportunity” 2:55
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOK5_0UWjJg?rel=0&showinfo=0&w=420&h=236&t=2m55s]
On our guest artist Thomas Yu “One of the first calls I made once I joined the SSO was to Thomas” 3:16
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOK5_0UWjJg?rel=0&showinfo=0&w=420&h=236&t=3m16s]
We are very happy to welcome pianist Thomas Yu, returning to his home town for this concert
On the concert experience and what it’s like to perform “We are all human beings and we have that innate ability to feel bigger forces” 0:00
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SQ0S3cq-k8?rel=0&showinfo=0&w=640&h=390]
Thomas has a great career as a periodontist in Calgary but continues to perform all over the world “There are different motivations throughout my life for performing” 1:42
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SQ0S3cq-k8?rel=0&showinfo=0&w=520&h=236&t=1m42s]
Why perform “He had painted all these paintings and he had never showed them in his entire life to anybody..” 2:54
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SQ0S3cq-k8?rel=0&showinfo=0&w=420&h=236&t=2m54s]
After years studying with Bonnie Nicholson in Saskatoon Thomas moved to Toronto and learned from Marc Durand, one of the first things Marc said to Thomas after hearing him play “You play like a scientist…you play all the black dots really well, I’m going to teach you how to play all the white parts on the page” 4:07
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SQ0S3cq-k8?rel=0&showinfo=0&w=420&h=236&t=4m07s]
Thomas will be performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto 21 “Mozart’s not a common composer for me, so I’m also really excited to discover him now.” 5:50
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SQ0S3cq-k8?rel=0&showinfo=0&w=420&h=236&t=5m50s]
There is often only two chances for rehearsal with the orchestra before a concert so preparation is very important “You try to get into the headspace of why the composer wrote it and then you listen to the other people who have interpreted it” 6:33
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SQ0S3cq-k8?rel=0&showinfo=0&w=420&h=236&t=6m33s]
Orchestra’s have an important place in a cities identity and culture “There are a few things that every city needs to be defined as a city” 8:18
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SQ0S3cq-k8?rel=0&showinfo=0&w=420&h=236&t=8m18s]
On Saturday, November 22nd, award winning Canadian celebrity pianist Thomas Yu will perform on a Fazioli piano made by hand in Italy and valued at $260,000. This will be the first time a Fazioli appears at TCU place. The rare piano is being loaned from Lipnicki Fine Pianos in Calgary and transported to Saskatoon for Yu’s guest appearance with the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra. World renowned piano technician Michael Lipnicki will travel with the Fazioli to ensure it is in perfect form for Yu’s performance.
Thomas Yu was born and raised in Saskatoon. While studying piano Yu earned his DMD with Great Distinction from the University of Saskatchewan and his Masters Degree in Periodontics at the University of Toronto. He now owns a private practice in Calgary and teaches at the Foothills Medical Hospital. Yu has performed in competitions and recitals all over the world, and now joins the list of great Canadian pianists like Angela Hewitt and Louis Lortie to perform on a Fazioli piano.
The Fazioli piano factory was founded in northeastern Italy in 1979 by pianist and engineer Paolo Fazioli who set out to make the world’s finest pianos in a corner of his parents furniture factory. Fazioli pianos take nearly three years of person-hours to build, and have many parts plated in 18k gold to prevent corrosion. The soundboard wood, which is at the heart of the piano, is carved from the same trees in northern Italy that Antonio Stradivari harvested for his famous violins. Today pianists, around the world, are requesting Fazioli pianos for their performances because of the incredible expression and colour in their tone.
Thomas Yu will perform Mozart’s beloved Piano Concerto 21. The concert will be lead by guest conductor Adam Johnson, a longtime friend of Yu. Johnson will also conduct the orchestra in Brahms’s tribute to Haydn and close the evening with Haydn’s delightful “Farewell” Symphony.
General Info: 306-665-6414