MCO’s new season will have piano fans keyed up

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This article was published 21/02/2020 (2079 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Manitoba Chamber Orchestra will kick off its 2020-21 season with some high notes.

And those notes will be sung by two of Winnipeg’s greatest sopranos — Tracy Dahl and Andriana Chuchman. The two internationally renowned opera singers will be backed by the MCO for classic duos and arias on Oct. 7 at the MCO’s home, Westminster United Church.

Another crescendo in the season will be the appearance of British pianist, author and painter Stephen Hough, who has been described as one of the top 25 pianists of all time, according to London-based digital music station Classic FM, and one of the top 20 living polymaths, according to The Economist magazine. On Feb. 23, 2021, Hough will play pieces by Chopin and Schumann, among others.

Other shows on the MCO agenda for 2020-21:

• On Nov. 18, cellist Jeffrey Zeigler, a Grammy Award winner and a recipient of the Polar Prize, will perform with the MCO. The orchestra will be led by guest conductor Scott Yoo, the chief conductor of the Mexico City Philharmonic and host of the PBS series Now Hear This.

• Flutist Claire Chase teams up with violinist Aislinn Nosky and the MCO for a show Jan. 21, 2021.

• On Feb. 9, 2021, the MCO showcases some of its own performers — Desiree Abbey, Caitlin Broms-Jacobs, Pamela Fay and Connie Gitlin — in a program that includes works by Austrian composer Joseph Haydn and Canadian composer Kevin Lau.

• The MCO will get a return visit from 21-year-old Dutch recorder player Lucie Horsch on March 21, 2021.

• On April 14, 2021, the orchestra will tackle a new oratorio, based on the biblical story of Jonah, by Winnipeg composer Sid Robinovitch. The performance will be joined by the Pembina Trails Singers.

• French hornist James Sommerville, a principal with the Boston Symphony Orchestra will perform and conduct the MCO on May 11, 2021.

• And to round out the season, Canadian violin-playing brothers Timothy and Nikki Chooi, who performed with the MCO in September 2019, will be back for more tag-team solos on June 9, 2021.

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alan.small@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter:@AlanDSmall