The Venue
All concerts are at Matsqui Centennial Auditorium, 32315 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford.
Concerts start at 3:00pm: Doors open at 2:30pm.
Festival seating is in effect.
Parking is available off South Fraser Way and Trethewey Street.
Welcome to the 2021 - 2022 Concert Season
Celebrate!
Sunday, November 14, 2021
Berlioz Roman Carnival Overture
Von Suppé Light Cavalry Overture
Beethoven Symphony No.5
Welcome to the 38th season of the Fraser Valley Symphony! We joyfully look forward to the time when we can return to an in-person celebration of music, with repertoire that reflects some of the turbulence and emotional challenges we have experienced, but most importantly, the hope, beauty, peace and love in our hearts through this all. Please join us for a cathartic afternoon of live music!
Winter Wonders with David Gillham, Violin
Sunday, January 30, 2022
Wieniawski Fantasie brilliante sur Faust
Monti Czardas
Rossini Barber of Seville Overture
Mendelssohn Symphony No. 5
This afternoon has classics to please everyone, whether you are a fan of this favourite Rossini overture, love the beauty, transparency and effervescence of Mendelssohn's orchestrations, or are awaiting the showcase of violin pyrotechnics. Canadian violinst David Gillham presents two virtuosic showpieces, the "Faust Fantasy" and the Czardas, both of which exude rhapsody, drama and fireworks!
David Gillham has an extensive solo and chamber music career, having performed throughout Asia,
Europe, the Americas and South Africa. He has performed in major venues such as Tokyo’s Opera City
and Bunka Kaiken Recital Halls, Baxter Concert Hall in Cape Town SA and the Chicago Cultural Centre,
as part of the prestigious Dame Myra Hess memorial concerts. An internationally respected pedagogue, David is regularly invited to teach, give masterclasses and serve on competition juries in North America, Europe and Asia. In 2011, he joined the Faculty at the University of British Columbia, in Vancouver Canada.
As an enthusiastic interpreter of chamber music, Mr. Gillham is currently a member of the Archytas Ensemble and the Ridge Piano Trio. He has also performed and recorded for over two decades with his piano duo collaborator, Chiharu Iinuma, with performances taking them to China, Taiwan, Japan, and across both the United States and Canada.
Mr. Gillham is director of the violin-sessions at the Domaine Forget International Music Festival and
Academy in Charlevoix, Quebec. The intensive four week program for gifted and advanced students from
around the world, regularly features masterclasses by renowned violinists such as Vadim Gluzman,
Rachel Barton Pine, Vadim Repin, Christian Tetzlaff and Midori.
A graduate of Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, the Peabody Conservatory and the University
of Manitoba, in 2002, David was awarded the Queen Elizabeth Golden Jubilee Medal for his contribution
to the arts in Canada. He plays on a violin made by Carlo Tononi, Venice Italy, 1725.
inSPiRING
with Addison Trustham, Oboe
and Jackson Howard, Trombone
Sunday, April 3, 2022
Mozart Concerto for Oboe
David Concertino for Trombone
Dvorak Symphony No. 8
Inspiring music for spring...Of all of Dvorak's symphonies, his Eighth is the most pastorale, with lush, bohemian melodies, reminiscent of the idyllic countryside that surrounded the composer as he wrote. ...and inspiring talent to showcase...Two extraordinarily talented musicians, performing on instruments one rarely has the pleasure of hearing solo. A concert not to be missed.
Jackson Howard is an accomplished soloist, chamber and orchestral musician. He is principal trombone of Orchestra Toronto and also performs with the Royal Conservatory Orchestra. Jackson studies with Gordon Wolfe at the Glenn Gould School of Music in Toronto, where he is a proud recipient of the Ihnatowycz Emerging Artists Scholarship. He is an alumnus of the National Youth Orchestra of Canada and the Vancouver Youth Symphony Orchestra.
Jackson has performed as an orchestra member with the Fraser Valley Symphony, the Chilliwack Metropolitan Orchestra, and the Chilliwack Symphony Orchestra. He has also performed with ensembles such as the Cascadia Wind Ensemble, the Rugcutter Dance Orchestra, the Moonlighters Big Band and the Vancouver Community College Jazz Orchestra. In the summer of 2019, he performed with Theatre Under the Stars’ in their production of Disney’s ‘Newsies.’
Jackson has been awarded Top Senior Brass at the Performing Arts BC Festival, and has been a winner of the Vancouver Youth Symphony Orchestra’s Concerto competition. He was a featured soloist with Chilliwack Metropolitan Orchestra in their Rising Stars Solo Competition in 2019. He is a finalist in the 2022 International Trombone Association Quartet Competition with his quartet, "Sauce Rocket and the Splatter Tones."
Addison Trustham is a local musician who started his musical studies at the age of 6, focussing on the oboe and classical music by the age of 12. He studies oboe and English Horn at the Abbotsford Community Music School with Alex Maier. Addison currently plays with the Fraser Valley Symphony, as well as the Senior Orchestra of the Vancouver Youth Symphony Orchestra. He was honoured to be selected as part of the National Youth Band of Canada in the 2021 Season.
Addison will be graduating from Abbotsford Senior Secondary School this year and plans to attend university to obtain a degree in music.
Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky with Jane Hayes, Piano
Sunday, June 5, 2022
Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2
Borodin In the Steppes of Central Asia
Tchaikovsky Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture
Rich, romantic, exotic and dramatic are adjectives that spring to mind for the Russian gems! The Borodin will transport you to exotic places as you travel the caravans' dusty, bumpy routes. The Tchaikovsky will touch your soul with the tumult and tragic love of Romeo and Juliet, and the Rachmaninoff will take your breath away with the sheer grandeur and power of the music, performed by our long-time friend and collaborator, pianist Jane Hayes.
Since her debut with the Toronto Symphony, Jane Hayes' concerts have taken her across Canada, the United States, Europe, Asia and Mexico. An active recording artist, she has over 30 CDs available on many prestigious labels. Jane moved to BC in 1993 to become a faculty member in the newly opened Music Department of Kwantlen Polytechnic University. Her passion for teaching was recognized when she received the 2015 Distinguished Teaching Award in the Faculty of Arts. She established a strong link with Chinese music schools, giving a series of recitals and master classes in 2017 at universities and private music schools. Regrettably, world events have temporarily suspended this relationship for the foreseeable future.
In recent years she has appeared on concert stages in every combination from duo through large ensemble, as soloist with orchestra to chamber collaborator. She has been a partner of such esteemed artists as cellist Harvey Shapiro, violinist Robert Davidovici, and flutists Julius Baker and Bonita Boyd. Two CDs – Sassicaia with clarinetist François Houle and “Four Jays” with Vetta Chamber Players – were recognized with nominations for the Western Canada Music Awards.
As a founding member of Vancouver’s Turning Point Ensemble and Yarilo Ensemble, Jane’s passion for contemporary solo and chamber music has been nourished. Bringing to life new works and music that are rarely heard publicly has been and will continue to be an important part of her creative life. She has been featured in Canadian Music Centre concerts featuring the music of Alexina Louie, Barbara Pentland Stephen Chatman and Ross Alden. Recent recording projects have included commemorative CDs for the late Canadian composers John Burke and Nikolai Korndorf, both scheduled for release in 2022.
Since leaving her position as music department head at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in 2020, Jane has been able to focus on recording, performing, and inspiring young performers and audiences to understand the language of music.
Today’s performance marks Jane’s fifth appearance with the FVSO, adding Rachmaninoff to the list of Mozart K. 491, Grieg, Schumann, and Liszt concerti previously performed with your amazing conductor and artistic director Lindsay Mellor.
“I believe that we should teach music as a language using the piano as our voice. Know the grammar, know the pronunciation, know and communicate the message; train your ears, train your fingers and arms, train your feet. Give your listener the gift of experiencing a personal connection with sound.”