The Bavarian Connection
For most, the music performed at A Night at Oktoberfest brings to mind a big party, tons of tourists, and a great pretzel recipe. For me, family comes to mind. Like many Canadians, my family …
Oktoberfest Beer Tasting
We asked our musicians what their favourite drinks were for our virtual Oktoberfest tasting. Here’s what some of them had to say!
Pretzels for Oktoberfest!
Well it isn’t Oktoberfest without a Bavarian pretzel – the tasty golden brown salty treat is iconic. If you’re like us, you’re too intimidated to make them from scratch…but thanks to a friend of the …
What’s with all the clapping for Radetzky
The year was 1848. Revolution shook Europe with wave after wave of civil unrest. Territories then occupied by the Austrian Empire (and today a part of Italy) decided to make a push for independence. The …
Watch Party Ideas for Oktoberfest!
It’s one of the biggest parties in the world…and its a whole lot of fun! Oktoberfest is a celebration that happens every fall in Munich. Oktoberfest is the world’s largest Volksfest (beer festival and travelling …
Roll out the Barrell – the Beer Barrel Polka
Of the sixty compositions the Czech composer Jaromir Vejvoda left us, none have garnered a more enduring international popularity than his “Beer Barrel Polka”. Known the world over as one of the most popular drinking …
The Clarinet Polka has a wild history!
Some fans of folk music may tell you that the Beer Barrel polka is the most famous polka in the world. To that, we say…there is another! The Clarinet Polka (often catalogued as “Klarinett-Polka” or …
Learning and making music with Cris Derksen
by SSO Principal Oboe Erin Brophey “When you meet Cris Derksen for the first time, you are so aware of her infectious energy. She is a force.” Erin Brophey Principal Oboe- SSO Through a Canada Council …
Watch Party Ideas for the Prairies
We loved seeing all of the folks watching Postcards from Paris at home, with family, even from their campsite! We wanted to help with ideas for how you can turn your live streaming experience into …
Meeting Murray Adaskin
Growing up in a Jewish and Latvian household, Murray Adaskin was taught from a very early age to strive for excellence and persevere towards his passions. As a young man, Adaskin showed promise on the …
The Music of Jocelyn Morlock
Over the last few years, Jocelyn Morlock’s music has become an audience favourite at the SSO. We’ve been so fortunate to play a number of her works, most recently the March 7th performance of Oisieux …
A Picasso Suite for the SSO
Harry Somers’ “Picasso Suite” was commissioned by the SSO in 1964 and received its premiere performance in Saskatoon. Since that first performance, it has gone on to be one of Canada’s most loved orchestral suites, …
Live Stream Tips & Tricks
So, you’ve bought your concertstream.tv subscription or your one-time Digital Ticket for the SSO live-streamed concert. You are settled in your favourite chair, with snacks and drinks in hand and you are ready to enjoy …
Ravel’s Mother Goose
Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite is not unlike a thoughtfully assembled box of one’s favorite assorted chocolates: each has something unique to offer our tastebuds, and all should be savored. If one has the time, sampling …
An Afternoon for a Faune
It can be said of beauty in the arts that the simpler something appears to a beholder, the greater were the creator’s efforts in cloaking the underlying complexity of their creation. Subtlety, after all, requires …
Piaf and La Vie en Rose
Imagine falling in love in Paris: a delicate series of scenes painted in soft pastels, where romance shines through every innocent moment of discovery in that bright and historic city. Do you hear the music? …
Chevalier and the Balloons
Audiences today don’t know enough Joseph Bolonge, the Chevalier de Saint-Georges, and we need to change that because he was an important figure in music history who’s music is making a major comeback. Chevalier de …
Musical Herstory
For centuries, the writers of musical textbooks (and the programmers of musical institutions) excluded women who composed. Women have been writing and performing music for as long as men have; so how come we don’t …
SSO in the Classroom
The SSO has a long history of engaging in music education, both through our programs and through the reach of the incredible musicians who play in the orchestra. With school music programs facing a time …
Silence Isn’t An Option
Running an arts organization these days is not for the faint of heart. Being an artist isn’t either…particularly exhausting and scary for musicians. We’ve gone silent. And it feels worse than I’m able to explain …
Beethoven’s Cello Sonatas
With 2020 being the Beethoven Year, celebrating the 250th anniversary of his birth, the SSO is exploring his musical genius – and while we instantly think of Beethoven when it comes to symphonies and piano …
The SSO’s Principal Horn Carol Marie Cottin
We’ve been keeping in touch with the musicians of the SSO during the pandemic – and we got this awesome note from the SSO’s Principal Horn: Hi my name is Carol-Marie Cottin and I play …
SSO For You
It’s strange to not be able to make music with your friends – and even stranger that we weren’t getting to make music FOR our friends! While we all stay home to flatten the curve, …
The Show Will Go On, Someday
Last Monday, if you’d told me that we’d be postponing concerts by the end of the week, I wouldn’t have believed you. It felt like the pandemic was something happening elsewhere, not here. It didn’t …
