SSO News

Elf Week

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! And we hope that your days are filled with music as we get closer to the holidays. 

We’re busy preparing for our performances of ELF and Handel’s Messiah. And in the office we’re putting the finishing touches on next season’s programming…we cannot wait to share the details of our 95th season with you!

As a charity, this time of year is very important to us. December gives us a chance to receive donations that you can claim with your 2024 taxes. One of the great things about giving to the charities you love is that you ensure that your investment stays right here in your community.

This December, the SSO is purposefully focusing your support in a few key areas. Our work on our strategic plan Opus 100 is the most important work we can do. While we know that you love coming to our concerts, we are called to our purpose on stage and beyond. To ensure we’re valued in our community, we’re: 

  1. Investing in our orchestra.
    We’ve been working with our musicians on a new contract that sees us focus organizational resources on pay and pension contributions for our musicians. This is, in my opinion, the most important work the SSO can do at this time. We are so lucky to have such an incredible group of musicians calling Saskatoon home, but we need to ensure that we commit to long-term financial investment in our musicians. They do incredible work, and they deserve to be properly compensated. This investment is also needed to attract and retain high-calibre musicians. 
  2. Enlivening programming
    The SSO has been working on a bigger vision for the future of what we can do for our community. Making music accessible and engaging to as many people as possible is critical to ensuring that the SSO has a future. Your gift can support tickets for young people, support the Symphony in Schools programming, and help us develop new outreach programs for adults and seniors. We want to make sure that everyone can have the benefit of the increased well-being that comes with making music.
  3. One-of-a-kind experiences
    The SSO has become known for its innovative programming that highlights music from Bach to new music, Beethoven to rap. Concerts like next spring’s Metamorphosis showcase what’s possible when we dream big – giving our audiences experiences that can only be experienced right here in Saskatoon. Bringing concerts like Harry Potter and Disney films to life ensures that so many people who have never been to the SSO now feel deeply connected to why it’s important to ensure Saskatoon has a vibrant orchestra. 
  4. Supporting production
    Without a musical home, the SSO finds itself continually spending more and more each year on production costs. Moving concerts and rehearsals from venue to venue and place to place comes with growing expenses and a great deal of our staff’s time. As we continue to grow what the SSO does for its community, we need to keep supporting this work to financially manage that growth.

 

It feels incredible to hear your passion in the cheers during concerts. It’s literally the best feeling in the world. We can’t tell how much you appreciate the work we do. If it were possible, we’d be coming round to all of our donors’ houses to give you a giant cheer for each and every one of of your gifts this year. That’s how much we appreciate what you do for us!

And donating ahead of December 31st allows us to automatically double your gift. Once again, we’re humbled to have your gifts matched by the Frank and Ellen Remai Foundation. 

We are so grateful for your help in reaching our fundraising goal for this year’s matching campaign to ensure that the SSO doesn’t just thrive, but flourishes!

Thanks for supporting the SSO,

Mark Turner

 

Contemplating Clouds on a Prairie Sky

When you look at the cover of Contemplating Clouds on a Prairie Sky by composer Wayne Toews there is a note that says

Dedicated to Ellen Remai, who has enriched Saskatoon through support of the Arts community.

Not only did Toews dedicate the piece to Ms Remai, but he also donated the work to the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra as a part of our Share in the Future fundraising campaign. His contribution was matched thanks to the generosity of Ms Remai through the Frank & Ellen Remai Foundation.

The donation of Toews’ piece helped us reach our goal of raising $500,000! It is incredibly special to have someone as gifted of a composer as Wayne Toews share his art with us. We are honoured to be giving the premiere of the piece at Controlled Burn. As a past member of the orchestra, it means a lot to us that he continues to support the SSO.

As a lifelong musician, educator, conductor, and part of the local music community, Toews understands the importance of live music in the heart of the prairies. He has also been a part of building local music organizations from the ground up.

There is something incredibly resilient about the prairie music community. It takes grassroots to heart with the number of organizations, large and small, creating incredible music on shoestring budgets and all is made possible through the hands of generous volunteers. There is a wealth of talent here in, and from, the prairies that is heard all over the world.

Wayne Toews is huge part of that legacy. 

On top of his work in the Saskatoon school system, Toews has been teaching students of all ages since his career began in 1969. He created the band program at City Park Collegiate and neighbourhood schools, expanded the music program at Aden Bowman Collegiate, founded the Saskatchewan Orchestral Association, founded the modern iteration of the Saskatoon Youth Orchestra and led it for 25 years alongside his colleague George Charpentier.

He organized the Jack Johnson Memorial Music Fund through the Saskatoon Community Foundation to provide annual grants in support of young Saskatoon orchestral musicians. Toews has given workshops around the world, on the Saito Conducting Method and is the principal instructor of the International Saito Conducting Workshop in Saskatoon each summer. In the fall of 2004, he became founding director of the University of Saskatchewan Chamber Orchestra.

Toews has created a number of resources for his fellow educators including an elementary music theory booklet, a clarinet resource book, a bass guitar book and several curriculum guides. He has also created several computer programs including Subjective Tones and An Introduction to the Saito Conducting Method.

On top of all his incredible work in the music community, numerous awards, and dedication to continued music education, Toews has made time to compose several works. He’s written music for soloists, small ensembles, and full orchestra. It is clear to all who know him that Toews does things with his full heart, and composing is no different.

When we sit back and listen to Contemplating Clouds on a Prairie Sky we can all close our eyes and picture the beautiful views that come to life in the music. What colours and shapes will open up in our mind’s eyes? From the shimmering opening created by the percussion section, until the very last note fills the air, we hope you join us in our gratitude to the man behind the music – Wayne Toews.

 

SSO’s Live Streaming for 2024-2025

ConcertStream.tv continues to give incredible access to your SSO. Not only do you get to see fantastic content whenever you want, you get an up close and personal experience all from the comfort of wherever you are!

Streaming has changed the SSO forever. We love sharing our performances with viewers around the world. We are bringing our music-making to the hearts and homes of our patrons. Whether you’re live streaming the performance or watching it a second time on demand, we’ve curated an online season that highlights the best we have to offer this season.

ConcertStream.tv

Saturday, September 14, 2024
Enigma

Maestra Tania Miller returns to open our 94th season by leading the SSO in Elgar’s Enigma Variations. Pianist Sara Davis Buechner makes her long-awaited SSO debut with Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concert No. 1.

Saturday, October 26, 2024
Controlled Burn

Cellist/composer Cris Derksen joins the SSO to perform her fiery new work Controlled Burn. Maestra Janna Sailor returns home to lead the orchestra in a new work by Saskatoon’s own Artist/Activist/Educator Zoey Roy.

Friday, December 13, 2024
Handel’s Messiah

Conductor Karl Hirzer leads the SSO Chorus, spectacular soloists, and your orchestra in Handel’s timeless work The Messiah. A beloved holiday tradition in Saskatoon since it was first performed here in 1913.

Saturday, January 18, 2025
The Medium

What does the future hold for you? An intimate staging of Menotti’s haunting opera The Medium. It’s a spooky two-act dramatic opera where phony psychic Madame Flora uses her clients’ grief to deceive them with the help of her daughter and a mute servant. But one night, an uncanny encounter leads to murder and madness.

Saturday, February 15, 2025
Sleeping Beauty

Violinist Timothy Chooi returns for a concert filled with music that’s perfect for you and your valentine. Led by Maestra Judith Yan, Chooi and your orchestra will wow us with Bruch’s stunning Scottish Fantasy. The romantic evening is made complete with selections from Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Sleeping Beauty curated by ballet aficionado Yan herself.

Sunday, March 2, 2025
Dixit – Baroque Resonance

Maestra Cosette Justo Valdés returns to once again show us what magic she can create with your orchestra and the SSO chorus. Together they will highlight some of the greatest baroque works including Handel’s stunning Dixit Dominus.

Saturday, March 8, 2025
The Lost Birds

We’re celebrating 40 seasons with our very own concertmaster Michael Swan! He’ll take centre stage to perform Wieniawski’s Violin Concerto No.1. Conductor Evan Mitchell leads your SSO, and choir, in Christopher Tin’s moving choral work The Lost Birds. Sweeping and elegiac, it’s a haunting tribute to those soaring flocks that once filled our skies, but whose songs have since been silenced.

Saturday, March 29, 2025
Pictures at an Exhibition

Conductor Karl Hirzer returns to lead your SSO in Mussorgsky’s iconic Pictures at an Exhibition. Pianist Meagan Milatz makes her way back home to the prairies to help us celebrate composer David L. McIntyre’s 75th birthday with a performance of his Concerto for Piano and Orchestra.

Saturday, April 12, 2025
Symphonic Sci-Fi

Our favourite sci-fi shows and movies would be very different without their iconic soundtracks. We’re highlighting our favourite works from galaxies near and far! With a special guest host to lead the way, it’s going to be out of this world.

Saturday, May 3, 2025
Chopin and the New World

After his triumphant orchestral debut with us in 2021, pianist Jerry Hu returns home to perform Chopin’s Piano Concerto no.1. Led by Maestra Tania Miller, your SSO will finish our mainstage series with Dvořák’s New World Symphony and Goulet’s Citius, Altius, Fortius.

Saturday, May 31, 2025
Metamorphosis

We end our season with an incredible immersive experience created by visual artist Monique Martin. She will fill St. John’s with thousands of silkscreened paper butterflies, while Maestra Judith Yan and your orchestra fill the space with incredible music.

 

 

Watch our social media for future announcements! There are more great options to come on ConcertStream.tv.

 

Enigma Variations

English composer Edward William Elgar (1857-1934) had a habit to improvise on the piano in the evening. After a long day of teaching violin lessons, he began noodling away at the keyboard when he happened upon a particularly pleasing melody. “Whom does that remind you of?” he asked his wife, and Alice replied, “Billy Baker [a good friend of the couple] going out of a room.” And so were born Elgar’s Enigma Variations in 1898.

Elgar dedicated the work “to my friends pictured within”. The theme is followed by 14 variations, each variation being a musical sketch of one of his circle of close acquaintances. Some variations represent characteristics of the individuals:

Enigma no. 10, “Dorabella,” includes a staccato woodwind section intended to imitate his friend’s laugh.

Elgar wrote the program note below for a performance of the Enigma Variations in 1911: 

“This work, commenced in a spirit of humour & continued in deep seriousness, contains sketches of the composer’s friends. It may be understood that these personages comment or reflect on the original theme & each one attempts a solution of the Enigma, for so the theme is called. The sketches are not ‘portraits’ but each variation contains a distinct idea founded on some particular personality or perhaps on some incident known only to two people. This is the basis of the composition, but the work may be listened to as a ‘piece of music’ apart from any extraneous consideration.”

Here are all the variations and who they represent.

Enigma: Andante
Theme
Variation I. “C.A.E.”: L’istesso tempo
Caroline Alice Elgar, the composer’s wife. They were happy together, and he relied on her. when she died in 1920, he mostly stopped composing.
Variation II. “H.D.S-P”: Allegro
Hew David Steuart-Powell was a pianist Elgar often played chamber music with. His variation is perky and excited.
Variation III. “R.B.T.”: Allegretto
Richard Baxter Townshend was an Oxford classicist who also performed in amateur theater productions and rode a bicycle around town.
Variation IV. “W.M.B.”: Allegro di molto
William Meath Baker, a country squire, in a brief, bombastic variation.
Variation V. “R.P.A.”: Moderato
Richard Penrose Arnold was the son of the poet Matthew Arnold and also a pianist.
Variation VI. “Ysobel”: Andantino
A respelling instead of initials for Isabel Fitton, an amateur violist he played chamber music with.
Variation VII. “Troyte”: Presto
Arthur Troyte Griffith, a Malvern architect and one of Elgar’s firmest friends.
Variation VIII. “W.N.”: Allegretto
Winifred Norbury, one of the secretaries of the Worcester Philharmonic Society who was more connected to music than others in the family.
Variation IX. “Nimrod”: Moderato
Augustus J. Jaeger is a music editor and close friend with Elgar.
Variation X. “Dorabella”: Intermezzo: Allegretto
Dora Penny, a friend whose stutter is gently parodied by the woodwinds.
Variation XI. “G.R.S.”: Allegro di molto
George Robertson Sinclair is an energetic organist of Hereford Cathedral.
Variation XII. “B.G.N.”: Andante
Basil George Nevinson, an accomplished amateur cellist who played chamber music with Elgar.
Variation XIII. “***” Romanza: Moderato
The asterisks possibly represents Lady Mary Lygon, a sponsor of a local music festival and was on a sea voyage at the time.
Variation XIV. “E.D.U.” Finale: Allegro
Elgar himself. The themes from two variations are echoed: “Nimrod” and “C.A.E.”, referring to Jaeger and Elgar’s wife Alice, “two great influences on the life and art of the composer”, as Elgar wrote in 1927.

Celebrating Margaret Wilson

StarPhoenix article with Margaret Wilson (Née Bluhm)

Our beloved principal clarinet Margaret Wilson is retiring after 47 seasons with the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra.

We are fairly certain that Margaret is the longest-serving principal clarinet of any organization in Canada. She’s also close to having been the longest-serving principal clarinet in North America beaten out only by Stanley Drucker of the New York Philharmonic whose 49 years made the Guinness Book of World Records. Needless to say, Margaret has given an incredible amount of her time and talents to the SSO and her retirement is well-earned.

In September 1977, Margaret Bluhm arrived from British Columbia and began her career as an artist in residence and the principal clarinet of the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra. Lucky for us, Margaret met her husband within the first month of moving to Saskatoon and her prairie roots only continued to grow.

She began playing the clarinet in grade 7 as a part of her school’s band program. (We love our band teachers!) In a 2020 chat with Music Director Emeritus Eric Paetkau Margaret mentioned that she didn’t know anything about the instrument when she picked it out but “it wasn’t too big” and that she “loved it from the very beginning”.

It’s incredibly special to have talent like Margaret be a part of an organization for so long. She has played well over a thousand concerts with the SSO, in Saskatoon and the surrounding area, including shows at TCU place, chamber shows at venues like the Bessborough and now Grosvenor Park United, elementary schools around the city, assisted living facilities, toddler shows, tours, and so much more.

We aren’t the only ones that have benefited from Margaret’s talents. She has collaborated with musicians and groups around the city as a performer, and she has taught many young clarinettists over the years. Between her private studio and her work at the University of Saskatchewan, Margaret has an incredible legacy of students who have benefited from her wisdom.

Margaret is always a joy to play with. Not only is she talented and incredibly well-prepared, but she has a calm and joyful presence. This presence seems to radiate out and elevate every ensemble she performs with. Ask any of our musicians and they can tell you how Margaret has influenced them over the years both as artists and in their everyday lives.

At our concert on May 4, 2024, CEO Mark Turner will gift Margaret with the title Clarinet Emeritus. While she will no longer be our principal clarinet as of next fall, she will always have a place with the SSO. We hope you join us in giving Margaret a very well-deserved standing ovation. We owe her that, and so much more.

While we are very selfishly sad to see her go, we look forward to seeing photos of Margaret’s incredible garden (with 18+ varieties of tomato plants) and hope that she has a well-earned rest before she tackles her next adventure. (Perhaps she’s learning other new instruments? At one time she was learning the bassoon!)

In 2020 we did a series of “Meet the Musician” interviews hosted by Eric Paetkau while everyone was isolating at home. So you can hear Margaret chat a little bit about herself, and answer questions that came up in the chat from friends, fans, and colleagues.

 

(We’ve learned a lot about live streams since the spring of 2020!)

We have so many fond memories of working and making music with Margaret, and we’re grateful to have captured the last few years of our time together on video. You can revisit many wonderful Margaret moments over on ConcertStream.tv

As a special treat, we will finish with some lovely photos and a link to Margaret’s holiday treat Pfeffernüsse!

Judith Yan, conductor

Equally adept at conducting symphony, opera, and ballet, Judith Yan’s career has taken her internationally, conducting for major companies in Europe, Asia, Australia, and North America. She has held Staff Conductor positions at San Francisco Opera, Canadian Opera Company, and National Ballet of Canada.

Her recent debuts were celebrated with critical acclaim: “In her Vancouver Opera debut, Canadian Conductor Judith Yan really shone in the pit, bringing extraordinarily lyrical and expressive playing from the Vancouver Opera Orchestra.” (Vancouver Opera, La Boheme, Opera Canada 2018). “Under the direction of Canadian conductor Judith Yan, the West Australian Symphony Orchestra is simply wonderful.” (West Australian Ballet, Don Quixote, Greg Ross, 2018). “Judith Yan, her Seattle Opera debut, conducted the orchestra with vigour and deep sympathy for the score.” (Seattle Opera, An American Dream, Classical Voice America, 2017). “Under the baton of Judith Yan, the music just came to life.” (Kentucky Opera, Orfeo​, Arts-Louisville Reviews). “The Edmonton Symphony played splendidly under Judith Yan…coaxed many vivid, dramatically transparent moments from the players.” (Edmonton Opera, La Traviata, Opera Canada 2019).
​
While with the San Francisco Opera, she served as Staff Conductor, assistant to Maestro Sir Donald Runnicles, where her performances of Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress for San Francisco Opera was included in the San Francisco Chronicle’s Top Ten Classical Performances of the Year. Prior to San Francisco Opera, she served as the first Conductor-in-Residence of the Canadian Opera Company, where she made her debut with Britten’s Rape of Lucretia. As the Principal Conductor of Opera on the Avalon since 2010, she has lead numerous productions including Ours, Shawnadithit, Tosca, La Boheme, Tosca, Suor Angelica, Gianni Schicchi, La Traviata, Albert Herring, and Dead Man Walking.

As a conductor of symphony, she served as the Artistic Director of Guelph Symphony Orchestra for 8 seasons, where she expanded the orchestra’s symphonic and operatic repertoire with works by composers Richard Strauss, Igor Stravinsky, Philip Glass, Francis Poulenc, Leonard Bernstein. Along with new works and premieres, she added operatic repertoire by Puccini, Verdi, Strauss, Humperdinck, and created the unique Triple-Feature “Symphony, Opera, and Ballet” Gala. As a guest conductor, she has collaborated with orchestras such as Auckland Philharmonia in New Zealand, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Manitoba Chamber Orchestra and Saskatoon Symphony.

As a conductor of ballet, she has conducted over 90 performances at the Four Season’s Centre for the National Ballet of Canada, working with the world’s foremost choreographers including John Neumeier, Ronald Hynd, and James Kuldelka. With National Ballet of Canada and as a guest internationally, she has conducted the ballets of Balanchine, Cranko, Aldous, Bart, Harvey, Kiliàn, Lander, Stowell, Wright, and Grigorovich. Since 2010, she has had a close association with several ballet companies, including Hong Kong Ballet, conducting the company’s production of Swan Lake as well as premiering four of the company’s productions: Cynthia Harvey’s Sleeping Beauty, Terence Kohler’s The Nutcracker, Nina Ananiashvili’s Don Quixote, and the Asian world-premiere of Anna-Marie Holme’s Le Corsaire. She conducted the Polish premiere of Cranko’s ​The Taming of the Shrew in 2015 for Polish National Ballet, at Teatr Wielki in Warsaw.
​
In 2014, she made her Seoul conducting debut with Korean National Ballet, conducting the Korean Symphony in Yury Grigorovich’s La Bayadère, returning in 2015, 2016, 2018, and 2019 to conduct Patrice Bart’s Giselle, Grigorovich’s Swan Lake, and a revival of La Bayadère. She made her Australian conducting debut in 2017 with West Australian Ballet, conducting the West Australian Symphony Orchestra in Lucette Aldous’s Don Quixote, returning in 2018 for the world-premiere of Krzysztof Pastor’s Dracula and 2019 for Greg Horsman’s La Bayadère.

Recent performances include 3 critically acclaimed world-premieres: Jack Perla’s An American Dream for Seattle Opera and John Estacio’s Ours for Opera on the Avalon, Krzysztof Pastor’s Dracula for West Australian Ballet, company debuts with National Arts Centre Orchestra for Cynthia Harvey’s Sleeping Beauty, Teatr Wielki in Warsaw for the Polish premiere of Cranko’s The Taming of the Shrew, West Australian Ballet and West Australian Symphony for Lucette Aldous’s Don Quixote, and Yury Grigorovich’s La Bayadère for Korean National Ballet and Korean Symphony.

2018/19 season included Vancouver Opera for La Boheme and Edmonton Opera for La Traviata, the season-opening gala concert for the Elora Festival, a revival of the opera Ours at Opera on the Avalon, Dvorak’s Symphony No. 8 and Beethoven’s Mass in C with Guelph Symphony Orchestra, productions of Greg Horsman’s La Bayadère and the world-première of Krzysztof Pastor’s Dracula for West Australian Ballet.

​For 2019/20, she opened both Korean National Ballet’s season with Yury Grigorovich’s Swan Lake, and Edmonton Opera’s with Verdi’s Rigoletto, ​Sleeping Beauty ​with West Australian Ballet, and concerts with Guelph Symphony Orchestra.

During the pandemic seasons of 2020/21 and 2021/22, she travelled to Hong Kong Ballet for a production of Don Quixote, made her debut with Saskatoon Symphony in programme of Sibelius, Copland, and Bernstein, and conducted a concert with Opera on the Avalon and Newfoundland Symphony. In 2021/22, she made her debut with Kentucky Opera with Orfeo, and returned to Saskatoon Symphony with a programme of Franklin and Tchaikovsky.

This 2022/23 season includes productions with Opera Omaha for Suor Angelica, New Orleans Opera for a new production of Madama Butterfly, Opera on the Avalon for Jake Heggie’s Three Decembers, San Francisco Opera (Merola) for The Rape of Lucretia, continues her collaboration with Saskatoon Symphony, opening its 92nd season with a Canadian premiere of Gipps’s Symphony No. 2, Forsyth’s Viola Concerto, and a world-premiere SSO commission of Canadian composer, Christos Hatzis. She returns to Saskatoon in November for a programme of De Falla and Ravel, and again in 2023 for a concert of Copland and Wagner.

Also in the 22/23 season is the much anticipated world-premiere of Laura Kaminsky and Lisa Moore’s February for Opera on the Avalon.

Judith is fluent in English and Cantonese. She is a Canadian citizen and American Resident, eligible to work in USA, Canada, and Hong Kong.

https://judithyan.com/

2-for-1 Subscriptions

Trying to find date night ideas? Looking for a new way to get away from it all? Just love the music?

If you’ve never subscribed to the SSO but think it’s time we have special offers for you.

2-for-1 Subscription Packages

New subscribers can purchase a full-priced Masters or Pops series package and get the second one free!

 

Masters

Enigma
September 21, 2024

Controlled Burn
October 26, 2024

Sleeping Beauty
February 15, 2025

The Lost Birds
March 8, 2025

Pictures at an Exhibition
March 29, 2025

Chopin and the New World
May 3, 2025

Pops

An Evening of Pink Floyd
November 16, 2024

Elf in Concert
December 7, 2024

Disney In Concert Once Upon A Time
January 25, 2025

Symphonic Sci-Fi
April 12, 2025

See the full season lineup.

Prices for 2-for-1 packages can be found on our pricing sheet. Click here to download your copy.

Give us a call (306-665-6414), fill out the online form, or stop by our office to subscribe today (602B 51st Street E, Saskatoon).

 

The Genius of William Grant Still

Called “the Dean of African-American composers”, William Grant Still (1895–1978) worked in all genres of music – from jazz to Broadway musicals to modern classical music (he studied in New York with Edgard Varèse, who encouraged Still to find his own voice as a composer, explore his black heritage and exploit his talent for melody). Still achieved many firsts for an African-American – the first to have a symphony performed by a major symphony orchestra; first to conduct a major orchestra; first to conduct an orchestra in the Deep South; first to have an opera (‘Troubled Island’) produced by a major company; and first to have an opera (‘A Bayou Legend’) broadcast on television (posthumously in 1981).

Like his contemporary George Gershwin, Still successfully mixed the idioms of jazz with classical music. In his Suite for Violin and Piano, the third movement contains a syncopated violin line and a jazz piano style called stride. His African-American Symphony is infused with the blues of the Deep South. More subtle than Gershwin’s ‘Broadway jazz’, Still used the African American elements not simply for orchestral colour but places them at the heart of the work. The symphony boasts rich harmonies, brilliant orchestration, jazz-inflected rhythms in a work which can easily stand up against the best of the genre. There is sweetness and sadness, depression and joy, and a beautiful, heart-rending finale. His piano music, notably Three Visions, demonstrates his remarkable talent for blending and contrasting colours to support a melody with wonderful subtlety, and the spiritual qualities of this music, most evident in ‘Summerland’, are on a par with the late piano music of Beethoven or Schubert.

Still’s musical language was not bound to one genre, nor did he set out to write distinctly “African-American” music, and he firmly believed that one should be a master of all styles. Some of his music displays distinctly modernist idioms, especially that written in the latter part of his life, while his experiences as an orchestrator and pit musician informed his later compositions and led to his success in both popular and art music.

The SSO is thrilled to perform Still’s Symphony No 1 on February 10th as part of our concert Roaring Twenties – see it live or stream it from home!

David Blamires, Vocalist

David Blamires was born in Yorkshire, England but grew up in London, Ontario, Canada.

David got his start in music as a very busy session vocalist in Toronto, singing on thousands of jingles, album recordings, and soundtracks. As a member of the (U.S.-based) Pat Metheny Group from 1986-1997, he appeared on three Grammy Award-winning albums and performed for multitudes of fans all over the world. During this time he also recorded and released his own self-titled contemporary jazz album, “The David Blamires Group”, throughout the U.S. and Canada.

In 1997, David and his family moved from Toronto to Chicago, where he began working as a staff composer for a very successful music and audio production company. David writes and records music for TV and radio commercials, for clients such as American Airlines, Coors, Proctor & Gamble, McDonald’s, Kraft, and many more.

David performs regularly around the Chicago area, both as a solo artist and as a guest vocalist with “Tributosaurus”, a phenomenally successful tribute/cover band. David is the father of an AAA hockey-playing daughter, and is consequently never home and always broke.

www.jeansnclassics.com/artists/david-blamires