Our 2024-25 season was a milestone for the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra as we celebrated HPO140 surrounded by our long time donors, supporters, musicians, friends and community members. Each concert and event was special as we got to share it with YOU.
Thank you for your generous support, we could not do this without you. Here are just a few of our favourite memories from the 24-25 Season!
Spotlight on Canadian soloists
This season, we were so lucky to be joined by a number of notable Canadian soloists and conductors. We started off the year strong with Kahane Conducts Grieg & Sibelius which featured the incredible Philip Chiu at the piano playing Grieg’s Piano Concerto as part of our celebratory season opening. Canadian icons James Sommerville and Aisslinn Nosky showed off their talents as both soloist and conductor for Beethoven’s Seventh and Nosky Performs Handel, Haydn & Bach respectively. We also featured celebrated Canadian conductors Evan Mitchell, Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser and Earl Lee on the podium throughout the season, leading the orchestra with humour, grace and vitality. James Ehnes Plays Tchaikovsky featuring the one and only James Ehnes on violin brought a level of artistry and nostalgia to our stage that cannot be replicated.
Some of our favourite mainstage moments include James Kahane’s first concert as HPO Music Director with Kahane Conducts Grieg & Sibelius, and iconic film scores at Music of the Movies: Tribute to John Williams and HPO Performs the Music of James Bond. Reintroducing James to our community after his official appointment with a special reception and post-concert meet was so special to our team and patrons. Music of the Movies: Tribute to John Williams brought characters like Darth Vader, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter and Ellie Sattler to the concert hall. Our musicians certainly brought magic to the stage through their playing AND their incredible costumes. HPO Performs the Music of James Bond brought incredible local talents to our stage like Heather Bambrick, Suzie McNeil, John Neudorf, and of course, conductor and arranger Darcy Hepner. Filled with glitz, glamour and specialty cocktails, our “secret mission” went off without a hitch.
Championing new music
As part of our Composer Fellowship program the HPO commissioned and premiered brilliant new works by Tsz Long Fish Yu and Massimo Guida.
Our Intimate & Immersive series conducted by Music Director James Kahane featured an art installation by Hamilton-based collective OPTICKS as well as Fish’s new piece, The Breath of Spring. The audience favourite Vire Vole had musicians up out of their seats, creating a surround sound immersive experience for concert-goers. Massimo’s piece Hope is the last Goddess helped close our season at James Ehnes Plays Tchaikovsky.
The next generation of concert-goers
With the generous support of CH Financial, the HPO was proud to launch SONO, a program that helps students ages 18-25 to attend the orchestra for only $10+HST and provides them with special access to musicians and friends of the HPO.
The next generation of musicians
The HPYO also celebrated a milestone of 60 years of youth making music in Hamilton. The HPYO 60th Anniversary Alumni Concert featured almost 50 alumni players who returned to celebrate with us. The program featured composer, HPYO alumni and first HPO Composer Fellow Liam Ritz’s piece Legacy. A special moment for all involved.
The HPYO also presented a double-header of their first concert of the season as the support for these young musicians continues to sky-rocket. Pianist Chloe Wu stepped in and wowed audiences with her performance of the first movement from Grieg’s Piano Concerto. These students continue to thrive under the leadership of conductor David Willms and our HPO musicians.
Music education
This season, we were able to provide students within the city with an inside look into the world of instrumental and orchestral music. From our rehearsal experiences and school tours to our AIFEC visits and adopt-a-school programs, the HPO is proud to be investing in the future of 6900+ young musicians across our city. Our adopt-a-school winners Templemead Elementary and Bernie Custis Secondary School were visited by us and visited the concert hall for several workshops, rehearsals, and learning opportunities including ‘A Day at the HPO’ organized by Music Education Manager Megan Benjafield.
We also hosted a SOLD OUT education concert providing almost 2,000 students from across the city the opportunity to see Pictures at an Exhibition featuring Léa Moisan-Perrier from the Women in Musical Leadership program led by Tapestry Opera of which we are proud partners, and a special selection of curated art from the Art Gallery of Hamilton and local student artists.
HPO in the community
We kicked off the season and helped the Hamilton Tiger-Cats kick off their labour day classic by playing the Canadian National Anthem on the field with a small ensemble. Spreading HPO140 to over 18,000 people!
This year we continued our community engagements with free performances with our partners at Hamilton and Burlington Public Libraries, Hamilton festivals like Supercrawl and Festival of Friends supported by the Turkstra Summer Music Series, and the children’s literary festival Telling Tales. Our Downtown Summer Concert Series supported by the City of Hamilton brought movie and other popular music to King William Street and our partnership with the Eclectic Local Series brought our musicians to Gasworks for a number of very successful outdoor performances. Music and sunshine, what could be better?
We also launched our music appreciation talk series led by HPO Composer-in-Residence Abigail Richardson-Schulte in partnership with The Westdale Cinema, Musically Speaking. This Wednesday afternoon event was the perfect way to dive deep into composers you know and love and see professionally recorded videos of your HPO on the big screen!
The HPO’s annual Composer Festival From Bach to Haydn ran from March 29-April 12 and culminated with our mainstage performance led by Aisslinn Nosky and our Pro-Am Jam, the first since 2019! 20+ musicians from our community had the opportunity to join the HPO on stage and be led through Haydn’s “Surprise Symphony” by conductor and soloist Aisslinn Nosky herself! It was the perfect way to celebrate HPO’s birthday.
Music Director James Kahane visited a number of schools and community orchestras while he was here with us including the Dundas Valley Orchestra and the Garden City Orchestra. His commitment to the local music community as a whole continues to inspire and excite us!
Thank you for a year to remember! We look forward to seeing you again this summer for our continued community programming, and in September for our 25-26 season.