Join us for an eclectic evening of contemporary and 20th century works for orchestra! First on the program is Chokfi’ (choke-fee), Sarcasm for String Orchestra and Percussion. Embodying the trickster spirit of the Chokfi’ (rabbit), Tate paints a melodic and musical character sketch using a popular tribal church hymn from the Muscogee Creek Nation. Next we travel through time and space from the Chickasaw Nation in Oklahoma all the way to France in the early 20th century. Maurice Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin was originally composed as a six movement suite for piano, but was orchestrated in four movements by the composer in 1919. Featuring the oboe as a melodic voice, the suite makes full use of dance-like forms and rhythmic figures. Impacted greatly by wartime, Ravel dedicated each movement to a different friend who had died in combat.

Music Director Paul Haas brings us into his compositional world with the next piece on the program. Turning In was commissioned by the City of Thunder Bay on the occasion of its 50th Anniversary.  Maestro Haas wrote this piece for the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra as a response to the loss of live music making during the pandemic. On the one hand, the musical language of Turning In is introspective, acknowledging the lack of personal interactions many of us found in our lives.  On the other hand, the piece is full of quiet warmth and resilience, as a signal that perhaps there was a silver lining to this pandemic-related cloud.  Thunder Bay is full of people with quiet resilience and great strength, and Turning In is dedicated to all of them, with admiration and in great thanks for some of the best years and experiences of the composer’s life.

Lastly, our programme features the great orchestral storytelling of Sergei Prokofiev in his “symphonic fairytale for children” Peter and the Wolf. In 1936, the composer was commissioned by the Central Children’s Theatre in Moscow to write a symphonic work for children to introduce them to the various instruments in the orchestra. Peter and the Wolf tells the story of a young boy named Peter, and his encounters with the animals around him in a forest clearing. Each animal is anthropomorphized, and represented by a corresponding instrument and musical theme. Enjoy the quirky, memorable musical characters, and dynamic narration of Robert Perrier in this timeless classic!

For your safety and the safety of our musicians, guests, staff, and volunteers, proof of vaccination and masks are required to attend the event.