A fiery autumn Titan, the 100th anniversary of the armistice and the tsar of the guitar highlight a red-hot classical music fall lineup By: Holly Harris Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Tuesday, Sep. 25, 2018 Last Modified: 9:32 AM CDT Wednesday, Sep. 26, 2018 Updates

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This article was published 24/09/2018 (2187 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As leaves fall and nights grow cooler, Winnipeg’s arts scene is already heating up for another year, with several groups’ season already in full swing. As usual, there’s a rich bounty of concerts from which to pick and choose. Here are a few that have caught my eye from now until New Year’s, listed in (roughly) chronological order:

One can’t-miss concert is the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra’s inaugural classics offering, featuring Mahler’s Titan symphony led by its new music director, Russian-born maestro Daniel Raiskin, as well as Chopin’s luminous Piano Concerto No. 1 performed by Charles Richard-Hamelin in his WSO debut, Sept. 28-29. Also don’t miss an opportunity to hear world-renowned Winnipeg coloratura soprano Tracy Dahl perform an evening of Mozart arias Nov. 2-3. All shows begin at 8 p.m. at the Centennial Concert Hall. For more details, visit wso.ca.

The Winnipeg Classical Guitar Society presents Russian virtuoso Artyom Dervoed, dubbed the “Tsar of the guitar,” on Oct. 13, at 8 p.m. at First Unitarian Universalist Church, as part of its ongoing International Artist Series. Read more here: winnipegclassicalguitarsociety.com.

Contemporary enthusiasts will enjoy GroundSwell’s Voice//Percussion, an aptly titled show featuring Winnipeg soprano Sarah Jo Kirsch with Toronto’s Aiyun Huang, hailed as an “expert in percussion theatre” on Oct. 16, at 8 p.m. at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. See more at gswell.ca.

There’s a famous quote by Goethe: “Music is liquid architecture; architecture is frozen music.” Polycoro Chamber Choir digs deeper into that tenet with a unique combined lecture/concert at the University of Winnipeg’s Convocation Hall on Oct. 20, 7 p.m. Winnipeg architect Alden Neufeld with choir conductor John Wiens will guide listeners through the various musical and architectural influences in a program of works spanning the early Renaissance to the 21st century. See polycoro.ca for more details.

The Winnipeg Singers kick off their 46th season locally with Indigenous Mosaics on Oct. 28, at 3 p.m. at the Centre culturel franco-manitobain. The program, helmed by longtime maestro Yuri Klaz, features the 2006 oratorio Wa Wa Tey Wak (Northern Lights) by Winnipeg Cree composer Andrew Balfour, with special guests including the Norman Chief Memorial Dancers, among others. For more information, see winnipegsingers.com.

The “King of Instruments,” a.k.a. the mighty pipe organ, is celebrated as the Westminster Concert Organ Series presents American organist Adam Brakel in an eclectic program spanning Bach to Willan, as well as the Canadian premiere of Henry Martin’s “Praeludium and Fugue in C minor.” The concert will be held Oct. 28, 2:30 p.m. at Westminster United Church. See: westminsterchurch.org/wcos_2017-18.

Balfour’s choral group, Camerata Nova, presents Fallen, a musical drama based on a libretto by Tracey Nepinak chronicling Indigenous hunter/trapper Isaac, who experiences the First World War first-hand after joining the 107th “Timber Wolf” Battalion. Two shows led by Mel Braun will be held on Nov. 3, 7:30 p.m. and Nov. 4, 3 p.m. at Crescent Fort Rouge United Church — the second instalment in an ongoing series dedicated to truth and reconciliation spearheaded by Balfour. Check out cameratanova.com/16.

Manitoba Chamber Orchestra has already bolted out of the gate with a memorable season-opener featuring English cellist Colin Carr. Another concert of note is the return of celebrated Canadian lyric soprano Karina Gauvin, performing Mozart’s sublime music on Nov. 6, at 7:30 p.m at Westminster United Church. Visit: themco.ca.

A second concert commemorating the centenary of the end of the First World War is the Winnipeg Philharmonic Choir’s Lest We Forget: 100 Years of Remembrance 1918-2018, with the tireless Klaz leading guest artists including soprano Monica Huisman, mezzo-soprano Laurelle Jade Froese, tenor John Tessier and bass Victor Engbrecht, joined by the WSO through Mozart’s Requiem in D minor and Taneyev’s St. John of Damascus. The show at the historic St. Boniface Cathedral takes place on Armistice Day — Nov. 11, at 3 p.m. For more information, see thephil.ca.

For opera buffs, Manitoba Opera opens its new season with a thundering new production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni, featuring renowned Canadian baritone Daniel Okulitch in the title role. The three-performance run kicks off on Nov. 24, at 7:30 p.m. at the Centennial Concert Hall and also shows runs Nov. 27 and Nov. 30. Visit mbopera.ca for more info.

Two’s company, three’s a love triangle as the world-renowned chamber-music ensemble Gryphon Trio lights up the Virtuosi Concerts stage in a program featuring works by Haydn and Brahms, as well as Sri Lankan-Canadian composer Dinuk Wijeratne’s Love Triangle. The show — performed by violinist Annalee Patipatanakoon, cellist Roman Borys and pianist James Parker — is slated for Nov. 24, at 7:30 p.m. at the U of W’s Eckhardt-Gramatté Hall. For more details, see www.virtuosi.mb.ca.

Canzona gets the festive season humming with J.S. Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, with a concert led by Vancouver-based Kathleen Allan in collaboration with the Pacific Baroque Orchestra. The baroque choir’s four-performance tour of southern Manitoba, which also features guest soprano Tracy Dahl, contralto Vicki St. Pierre, tenor Dann Coakwell and baritone Tyler Duncan, stops here on Dec. 7, 7:30 p.m. at Westminster United Church. See canzona.ca for more information.

This is but a small fraction of what’s coming up, so get out there and support live music — it matters!

holly.harris@shaw.ca