The Calgary Civic Symphony: Sharing the Love of Music

Nov 22

Nov 22 The Calgary Civic Symphony: Sharing the Love of Music

The Calgary Civic Symphony has entertained Calgarians for almost 50 years and every year we present a Holidays concert of orchestral music with seasonal favourites. We continue the tradition this year on Sunday, December 10 at 2:30 pm with Holidays with the Heebee-jeebees.

Our musicians set the Calgary Civic Symphony apart from other orchestras. Some of us are retired professional musicians – keen to keep playing – but most are highly-skilled and passionate non-professional musicians.

Immediately following our highly successful Concert for Humanity in late October, the orchestra began rehearsals for Holidays with the Heebee-jeebees. Every Monday evening 60+ musicians gather in the Jack Singer Rehearsal Hall and spend three hours polishing the music under the baton of Maestro Rolf Bertsch. The Civic is fortunate to have this talented conductor and pianist serve as our Artistic Director and Maestro since 2008. The orchestra has improved significantly under his leadership, to the point where the Civic is arguably Canada’s leading community orchestra.

The Calgary Civic Symphony rehearses in the Jack Singer Rehearsal Hall.

In putting together the program for our December 10 concert, Rolf has combined music from the baroque era through to the contemporary.

Starting us off is Johan Sebastian Bach’s uplifting and joyous Brandenburg Concerto #3. This is arguably the best of the Brandenburgs, if not the best concerto of its type ever written. Brandenburg 3 features our virtuosic strings players. This music is a pleasure to play and to enjoy in the concert hall as an audience member.

After the strings have had their time to shine, our flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, contrabassoon and horns move us into the classical era of the performance: Richard Strauss’s short and sweet Serenade for 13 Winds in E-flat, Op. 7. Unbelievably, this was penned by Strauss as a teenager.

Bringing the first half of the concert to a close, we are honoured to have Jaydon Zhuang, Canadian Music Competition winner, join the orchestra in a performance of Franz Liszt Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major. It took Franz 26 years to complete his first piano concerto, and the resulting composition tests the technical and musical skills of the soloist like no other.

After the intermission we move into full ‘holiday mode’ with our special guests, Calgary’s Heebee-jeebees. Thirty years ago Jonathan Love, Chris Herard, Cédric Blary and Ken Lima-Coelho formed an a cappella group that has become internationally acclaimed. They have incorporated comedic elements into their performances and delighted audiences around the world. This group’s moniker is “The Best Music You Have Ever Seen.” We agree, and are sure you will too.

The Heebee-jeesbees ready for the holiday season.

Next, we move into the modern era with a perennial favourite of orchestras and audiences – perhaps even qualifying as a musical chestnut – Leroy Anderson’s Sleigh Ride. This is so much fun to perform. It wasn’t written as a Christmastime piece, but the associations with winter have made it a holiday classic.

Finally, taking the notion of celebratory music to a higher level, we perform Johann Strauss’s Radetzky March, Op. 228. This piece was penned as a tribute to Field Marshall Radetzky’s success in battle and first performed in 1848. It has become synonymous with New Year’s celebrations, and we know you will enjoy it.

So there you have it… that’s what the musicians of the Calgary Civic Symphony are working on in the Jack Singer Rehearsal Hall and in their own studios.

Tickets are available here and there is a special promotion for a festive four-pack, a discounted package of tickets for the remaining four concerts in our 2023/24 season.

Join us – be entertained, be moved!