Symphonic segue

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This article was published 06/05/2025 (456 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra has announced a passing of the bow for its 2025-26 season.

After decades in the WSO’s second chair, Karl Stobbe is stepping up as concertmaster next season. He takes over from Gwen Hoebig, who retires after 37 distinguished years in the role.

“(Karl’s) quiet yet strong sense of leadership is only matched by his infectious sense of humour, and I am sure the WSO could not be luckier,” says WSO music director and conductor Daniel Raiskin, who’s worked with Stobbe since joining the orchestra a decade ago.

Stobbe joined the orchestra as assistant concertmaster in 1996 at the age of 23. He was the youngest person in the ensemble at the time.

While his venerable career with the WSO since then makes him a shoo-in for the first violin chair, he was selected through a blind audition process. Performing behind a screen, candidates undergo the suspenseful experience with only their artistry to wow the adjudicators — a format that’s supposed to ensure biases about an artist’s reputation, age or appearance are left at the door.

The WSO says the fact the violinist — who was born to a family of musicians in Prince George, B.C. — was selected by the unanimous decision speaks to his “remarkable virtuosity.”

This reputation certainly precedes Stobbe.

He has recorded four albums and performed in many of North America’s most famous concert venues, from Toronto’s Roy Thomson Hall to New York City’s Carnegie Hall. His album Ysaÿe: Sonatas for Solo Violin was nominated for a 2015 Juno Award for Best Classical Album and received worldwide attention — including nods from Gramophone magazine, classical music’s most prestigious publication.

“It’s a great honour,” says Stobbe about his new WSO role. “But I definitely, definitely am going to miss Gwen terribly. I’m going to miss her great playing, of course, but really, mostly the friendship and the comfort level that we have with each other.”

Audiences immediately recognize the pair from their spot up front at the Centennial Concert Hall, playing under previous maestros that include Alexander Mickelthwate and Bramwell Tovey. Winnipeggers have seen their faces on billboards and posters as ambassadors for one of Canada’s top orchestras.

But their roles go beyond smiles and playing chops, though they demand plenty of the latter.

“The conductor really provides the vision for what’s going on, but the practical component of it, a lot of that falls to the concertmaster,” says Stobbe.

With help from the second chair (associate concertmaster), they’re the primary liaison between the conductor and the orchestra, keeping the orchestra tight.

They often carry the main motifs of a piece, playing the most memorable melodies in an upper range that cuts through the rest of the orchestra.

Another key part of the job is shaping the orchestra’s sound by deciding how the bows move — up, down, smooth or sharp — and meticulously marking every stroke into the music for the relevant players.

Meanwhile, musicians from across the stage look to the concertmaster for what Stobbe jokingly calls a “second opinion” for where the beat lies.

“You follow the conductor, but there’s still an interpretative element to seeing how that beat works,” Stobbe says — especially, he adds, for players stationed at the back of the orchestra.

“One of the things that I think is really easy for the orchestra to see is exactly where the bow changes and where the bow starts moving.”

Keeping an orchestra locked in — with their dozens of musicians playing Mahler and Beethoven symphonies that are as temperamental about tempo and mood as their composers were as people — turns out to be a highly complex matter. Like a flock of birds, orchestras are a self-correcting system, attuned to the shifts of the group but with leaders who set the pace and direction in different ways.

“Gwen’s job has always been to listen the conductor and to deal with whatever’s coming from the podium. And my job has always been to deal with and listen to whatever’s coming from behind us,” says Stobbe.

“We have worked together, never a fight, never any mild disagreements.”

Collaborations this effective depend on a lot of mutual trust, forged in this case over nearly 30 years.

As a veteran WSO member, and one of Canada’s most esteemed violinists, Stobbe’s certainly earned his new job, and says, “If I wasn’t looking forward to doing it, I shouldn’t be doing it!”

But, for now, he’s feeling a little bittersweet.

“The fact that something can happen and we can look over at each other and know exactly how we both feel about it and what we need to do about it — that’s going to be missing,” he says.

“She’s just one of my closest friends.”

The WSO will toast Hoebig’s career this weekend with two shows — Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. — featuring a program of Mozart, Debussy and Strauss. Tickets are available at wso.ca.

conrad.sweatman@winnipegfreepress.com