The PGSO has revealed their plans for the 2023-24 season with a thrilling lineup of local and national talent.

The Mainstage concert series at Vanier Hall will feature Northern BC resident and Grammy winning singer-songwriter Alex Cuba.  Cuba is known world-wide for his unique sugarcane-sweet melodies, pop-soul hooks, and powerful guitar riffs.  The series opens with a family-friendly Hallowe’en concert featuring Lemony Snickett’s hilarious The Composer is Dead – a musical murder mystery.  It then continues with a unique fusion of Indian and orchestral classical music in a program contrasting Beethoven’s Symphony No.1 and Sri Lankan-Canadian composer Dinuk Wijeratne’s Tabla Concerto. 

PGSO Music Director Michael Hall will present another multimedia Discovery concert in February, featuring Dvořák’s popular “New World” symphony.  The symphony’s discovery concerts have become one of their most popular formats, providing a great experience for new concert-goers but also a deeper listening experience for the connoisseurs.  This concert will also feature members of the Prince George Symphony Youth Orchestra, the PGSO’s collaborative education project with the Prince George Conservatory of Music. 

“The PGSYO has provided youth in the city with an incredible range of performing and learning opportunities since we started it last spring,” said PGSO Executive Director Ken Hall. “It’s so important for the symphony to be actively contributing to the development of artists in our community.”

The symphony’s season will come to a close with the ethereal Fauré Requiem, featuring the Prince George Cantata Singers along with featured soloists Elaina Moreau and Andrew Greenwood.  Tadd Mao, winner of the symphony’s young artists competition will perform the first movement of Rachmaninoff’s great second piano concerto, and the concert also presents the JUNO-winning My Name is Amanda Todd by Jocelyn Morlock.

“I am extremely proud of our next season,” said Michael Hall. “I think it’s a perfect mix of great classics, exciting new pieces, and truly wonderful performers from several styles of music.  The musicians and I are really excited to collaborate with these amazing guests and really stretch ourselves artistically. And at the same time, we are presenting a lot of really fun things for the audience.”

In addition to the mainstage series, Pops in the Park, the PGSO’s popular free concert in the park will expand in scope this year.  The Symphony will collaborate with Studio 2880 to present an event complete with an arts sale, local vendors, food, and children’s activities in the park.  Other local performing artists will take turns on stage as well as the symphony’s own pops lineup.

The Nutcracker will return to Vanier Hall in another co-production with Judy Russell in December, a popular Prince George tradition that spans three decades. 

The symphony’s Chamber Socials, a series of three chamber music concerts, will move to the newly renovated Knox Performance Centre.  Chamber Socials are designed to be an intimate and casual experience with appetizers and table seating included in top ticket prices.  Two of the three concerts this year will be evening candlelight performances.

The group’s three Family Concerts will also be moving this year, now taking place at the Prince George Playhouse.  The new venue will accommodate better sightlines and more dramatic visual possibilities.  The Family concerts feature chamber orchestra, a friendly storyteller, and engaging visuals.  This year the series includes a show about space exploration, in honour of NASA’s plans to return to the moon, and a new production of Prokofiev’s classic Peter and the Wolf for Earth Day.

Tickets are on sale at tickets.pgso.com, and there are some changes from previous years:

“We have moved to a new box office system,” explains Ken Hall.  “The previous system was functional but was difficult to use for both us and the patrons.  While making that change, we decided to introduce tiered seating for both our mainstage concerts and chamber socials.  This allows us to offer a limited number of cheaper seats to hopefully engage a new audience that didn’t feel they had the opportunity before.  A five-concert subscription seat for a young adult under 30 years old is now available for close to $110 including all the taxes and fees.  And high school students can come to the entire mainstage season for almost $10 per concert!”

For more information on the PGSO 2023-24 season and for ticket sales, visit tickets.PGSO.com