There is plenty of ambition in HPO’s next season

Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra’s nine-concert mainstage program will feature acclaimed Canadian soloists, the debut of several new works, movie classics, the beloved Carmen, and a holiday Murdoch Mystery show. 

The next season of the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra will feature a beloved opera, acclaimed Canadian soloists, sci-fi movie classics, and a holiday whodunnit from CBC’s Murdoch Mysteries. 

Music director James Kahane has been working on building this season since last fall, though landing performers from the Bayerische Staatsoper Opera Studio, one of Europe’s most prestigious opera training programs for Bizet’s Carmen, has been in the works since the summer of 2024.

Another standout is the appearance of Cape Breton fiddler Natalie MacMaster. 

“This season we invite incredible Canadian talent to share the stage with our dedicated musicians and continue to build on the over 140-year history of the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra,” says executive director Kim Varian. “We invite everyone to be here with us in 26-27, to share the joy of live orchestral music and spark curiosity in new experiences.” 

The overriding principle of designing a season is artistic excellence, building programs around collaborations with prestigious and talented guests, says Kahane. As the repertoire begins to take shape, an overarching theme begins to take shape that informs additional choices, he says. 

The coming season is built around the idea of earth’s elements, including pastures, forests, cities, space, time, fire, and wind.  

The coming season will also see the continued expansion of the HPO’s Centre for Musical Leadership. It is a branch that is dedicated to educating professional musicians, including conductors, composers, and, in the near future, instrumentalists. The hope is to create a critical mass of next-generation classical musicians in Hamilton.

Similar to the HPO’s two-tier composing fellowship, a new conducting fellowship includes programs for both those with experience with the baton and those early in their education who would be in an apprenticeship position.  

“We would immerse them in this professional environment,” he says. “I think that's something that is going to be really unique to our orchestra.”

Along with a new work from HPO composer fellow Leo Purich, the first concert of the season will feature Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 6.”

“We really wanted to do a Beethoven symphony, because our audience loves Beethoven symphonies so much, and I love conducting them, so it's a great match. And Beethoven ‘Symphony No. 6’ is an amazing symphony.” 

Canadian violinist Jessica Linnebach will perform Ernest Chausson’s Poème.

“We are very lucky in Canada, because there are quite a lot of great soloists. So, it's not difficult for us to program great Canadian soloists. There is no artistic compromise whatsoever.”

The second concert will feature music from Star Trek, Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, E.T., Alien, Interstellar, Tron, Dune, and Back to the Future, all conducted by Evan Mitchell. 

“He’s really great at these big movie concerts, so we are really happy to entrust him with this project.”

The third concert, based around the idea of time, will include Schubert’s “Unfinished Symphony.”

“It's such a masterpiece, and so famous and beautiful, and everybody should hear it at least once in their life. And not only in a movie, also in real life.”

That is paired with one of Kahane’s favourite pieces of music, Tchaikovsky’s “Souvenir de Florence.” Kahane’s check of an electronic archive shows the 1890 composition hasn’t been played by the orchestra, at least not since 2002.

“It's an amazing piece, originally a string sextet that was turned into a string orchestra piece. It's really difficult for the players, really challenging,” he says. “I'm in love with that piece. I think it's maybe one of my favourite pieces in the entire repertoire.”

The December show will pull back the curtain on the music of Murdoch Mysteries, featuring behind-the-scenes insights from composer Robert Carli, festive sing-alongs, and a live orchestral performance of “Sugar Plum Murdoch” on the big screen. The night will be hosted by an as yet-unnamed star of the hit CBC series and conducted by Lucas Waldin. 

It’s the first time the show has come to Hamilton, but it has been a hit across Canada, says Kahane. 

In January, Kahane promises a “very spirited concert full of happiness and fast music and virtuosity.” It begins with Mendelssohn’s dreamy “Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream,” continues with a premiere of a new work by HPO composer-in-residence Abigail Richardson-Schulte, features Canadian virtuoso Marc-André Hamelin as soloist on Beethoven’s sparkling “Piano Concerto No. 2,” and culminates with Robert Schumann’s energetic and optimistic “Symphony No. 1 (Spring).”

Kahane is thrilled to bring Bizet’s Carmen to the HPO stage, something he’s been working on since he took over as music director in 2024.

“Carmen is my favourite opera and the collaboration with the world famous Bavarian State Opera is such a privilege and a source of pride for us as an institution, and for me personally,” he says. 

Though it won’t be a full, operatic staging of Carmen, audiences can expect “some of the best young singers we could dream of for this program.”

After Celtic music icon MacMaster’s show in March, comes a concert in April that features “Wood Nymph” by Sibelius, Mozart’s “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik,” and “Carnival of the Animals” by Saint-Saëns. This will be a unique concert, says Kahane, because it will feature two pieces featuring a story told by a narrator. 

This concert, conducted by rising French conductor Simon Proust, will also feature a piece by 29-year-old British-Japanese composer Ben Nobuto. 

“I think he's the most interesting young composer in the world right now,” says Kahane. “He writes music that mixes orchestra instruments with electronics in a very, very, very unique way.”

Off mainstage concerts for the season will also include the ever-popular Handel’s Messiah with the Bach Elgar Choir and an Intimate & Immersive show at The Cotton Factory.

The season’s final concert will include Dvořák’s audience favourite “New World Symphony” and Prokofiev’s “Piano Concerto No. 3,” which Kahane calls one of the Russian composer’s “most  extraordinary pieces.” That will highlight renowned Canadian pianist Jean-Philippe Sylvestre.

Kahane says he’s excited to present this season and knows it offers interesting, exciting and innovative music. 

“What sets the HPO apart from, I think, most other regional orchestras is that there is such a strong element of pride and ambition in the Hamilton community” that makes inviting the most prestigious opera program to collaborate possible, says Kahane.

“In other cities, you might get a much more skeptical response. But I think in Hamilton, you will really get, ‘Yes, we are Hamilton, of course, we're going to bring the very best artists … This orchestra is by far the most ambitious orchestra I've ever seen. I mean, especially considering that we don't play together every week. That's the part that is extraordinary. For an orchestra that doesn't play together every week, to have guests and artists of this calibre is absolutely unheard of, frankly.”

It’s a long-term ambition to grow the HPO’s audience such that the orchestra can get back to rehearsing every week and presenting more concerts, says Kahane. 

“Because then, really, at that point, the sky will be the limit. We would have then what it takes to become one of the best orchestras in the country, for sure.”