About

Tchaikovsky’s Fate

Spend a morning with us at FirstOntario Concert Hall and watch the HPO in rehearsal. This is a fantastic opportunity to give your students a behind the scenes look at the inner workings of professional orchestral life.

Enter through our stage door, and get a glimpse of backstage before joining us in a conference room to learn about what you are about to hear. Music Education manager, Megan Benjafield, will provide a brief introduction to the HPO and the concert program so that students know what to expect from the day’s rehearsal.

After learning about the pieces, schools are escorted to the first balcony where they have the opportunity to watch a rehearsal in progress from the best vantage point in the house. We have a microphone set up so that students hear the feedback the conductor is giving to the orchestra, and get an opportunity to see first-hand how that feedback then sounds in the orchestra.

Our rehearsal experiences are available on a first-come, first-served basis. We can accommodate a maximum of 50 students. Please click here to request your rehearsal experience.

This morning’s rehearsal features a new work by one of the HPO’s Composer Fellows. Having a modern work on the program offers teachers curricular connections that include contemporary careers in music and the different pathways that exist for musicians. In addition, the listening skills your students can gain by being exposed to new compositions cannot be underestimated. Often times contemporary compositions include timbral experiments and modern compositional techniques that bring a whole new level of things to listen for to young musicians. If we’re lucky, your students will have the opportunity to meet our Composer Fellow in person! 
 
In addition, the orchestra will rehearse Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. This piece does a fantastic job of demonstrating the symphonic Theme and Variations form. This recognizable work, based off of Paganini’s famous Caprice No. 24 offers a broad range of variations. Having your class listen to the original Caprice before attending rehearsal and then asking for them to describe a few of the compositional techniques for the variations makes for a perfect descriptive listening assignment!  


Please note: Our bookings are based on the planned rehearsal schedule. Students may not see all repertoire being rehearsed, and the repertoire is subject to change without notice.