Noteworthy

There’s nothing like that special feeling of the holidays as we get closer to the month of December. It’s a feeling that arises from within, yet seems to animate the city around us, turning Toronto’s sprawling neighborhoods into one big communal village. In his welcome message for our holiday concerts, TSO Music Director Gustavo Gimeno begins with a profound question: what would the holidays be without music? We are likewise compelled to contemplate, and celebrate, the TSO’s contribution to the music in this city during this special time of the year. 

As a part of this celebration of the Toronto Symphony’s place in the musical life of our city, and the ebullient energy that courses through this city in every season, we want to share with you an advanced clip of our forthcoming short film, Symphony City: Fall & Winter Preview. This film presents an in-depth conversation with three members of our TSO family: Gimeno, and newly-appointed Associate Concertmasters Clare Semes and Yolanda Bruno. In this clip, Gimeno and Bruno look ahead to three of the concerts in the month of December — Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty, Home Alone in Concert, Messiah, and TSO Holiday Pops — and reflect on the magic behind the music. 

In this clip, Gimeno reflects on his experience conducting Handel’s monumental Messiah for the first time with the TSO in the 22/23 season. Casting a thoughtful eye to this year’s iteration, he sets the stage for conductor Dame Jane Glover’s highly anticipated return to the TSO, and the perennial magic that the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir brings to this long-standing tradition.