Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra coming to Kenora
Erik Pindera
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Published on: June 27, 2019 | Last Updated: June 27, 2019 5:31 PM EDT
The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra is back for a performance on the lake, this time with a new conductor. FILE/Miner and News
The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra will return to Kenora for its annual performance under the Whitecap Pavilion Saturday with a new conductor at the helm.
Although conductor Daniel Raiskin, who took over as WSO music director this season, has yet to visit Kenora, he's no stranger to the kind of nature that abounds in Northwestern Ontario.
"I was born and grew up in Russia, in St. Petersburg, very close to the Finnish border. I hear many people tell me that when you cross into Ontario and you go to the Lake of the Woods, very soon you will see a lot of the nature you'd recognize in Finland," Raiskin said in a phone interview. "I love forests and lakes — I guess this is the right place to be."
The performance will include pieces from Gioacchino Rossini, Edvard Greig, Antonin Dvorak, Eduardo Di Capua, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Igor Stravinsky and other orchestral pieces, as well as more modern tunes like the theme from Jurassic Park and "If I Had a Million Dollars" by Canadian group the Barenaked Ladies.
Raiskin is looking forward to playing outdoors on the shore of Lake of the Woods.
"You blend into the landscape. It's a different experience than playing in a concert hall. It's less formal, but also you have the kind of sound of the outdoors, little factors coming in that become part of the performance's fabric," Raiskin said.
The orchestra will be accompanied by local tenors Edward Franko and Lenard Whiting.
The performance, organized by the Lake of the Woods Concert Group, begins 7:30 p.m. June 29. There is free seating and a cash bar.
epindera@postmedia.com
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