Noteworthy

TSO Gala

A Dazzling Evening with Lang Lang

An unforgettable night with Lang Lang, Gustavo Gimeno, and the TSO in support of education and community programs.

October 6, 2025

Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s gala struck all the right notes at Roy Thomson Hall on September 24, with Committee Chairs Tony Gagliano and Deborah Lau-Yu at the helm. The hall glittered in a jewel-toned palette of green, blush, and gold as the evening revealed one musical surprise after another: a woodwind trio at the reception, Mozart over canapés from a Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra quartet, and a burst of brass fanfare. Later, 29 TSO musicians wove through the dinner crowd in a fiery two-minute Carmen interlude — phones out, smiles wide, the room buzzing with joy.

The centerpiece was Lang Lang’s dazzling performance of Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto, under the baton of Music Director Gustavo Gimeno, capped by a surprise encore from his 15-year-old Toronto protégé and Lang Lang Young Scholar, Ryan Huang. The evening underscored the TSO’s century-long investment in the city’s young people, with proceeds supporting the TSO’s education and community programs that have reached more than 1.8 million students over the past 100 years — and marked a renewed partnership with the Lang Lang International Music Foundation.

Here are some of our favourite moments: