Sinfonia Toronto w/ Lara St. John October 23, 2009

Canada’s violin sensation kicks-off a new season for Sinfonia Toronto’s Masterpiece Series of concerts October 23rd at 8:00pm. Their 11th year marks their return to Glenn Gould Studio (250 Front St. W), and begins with a concert featuring none other than the amazing Lara St. John.

Violinist Lara St. John is “wild, idiosyncratic, and gripping” according to The Los Angeles Times. Her rise as a soloist has been well documented by the Canadian and international media since her European debut with the Gulbenkian Orchestra at the age of 10. She has been described as "something of a phenomenon" by The Strad magazine, and as a “high-powered soloist” by The New York Times. Her debut recording has sold over 50,000 copies, and led The Chicago Tribune to rave about her “superb technique and an irresistible vitality.”

Sinfonia Toronto is comprised of thirteen virtuoso string players. “A world-class ensemble,” according to Germany’s Russelsheimer Echo, they perform standing, in the tradition of great chamber orchestras, under the direction of Music Director and conductor Nurhan Arman. A roster of Toronto’s finest woodwinds, brass and percussion joins the strings for select programs, drawn from the full range of chamber orchestra repertoire. The Toronto Star writes of "a remarkable range of colour," "ample eloquence" and "gripping authority," while La Scena Musicale declared: "Nurhan Arman and his orchestra literally conquered us." Their most recent CD, Flanders Fields Reflections features the 2009 Juno Award winner for Classical Composition of the Year, a Sinfonia Toronto commission composed by John Burge.

The programme for the evening consists of Haydn’s Quartet op 42, Vaughan-Williams’ The Lark Ascending, Piazzolla’s The Four Seasons and Tchaikovsky’s Serenade.

Tickets for this premium concert are $19 - $49 and are available through the Roy Thomson Hall box office at www.roythomson.com, 416-872-4255. Subscriptions offer great savings, and are available at www.sinfoniatoronto.com, or by calling 416-499-0403.

Official Website: http://www.sinfoniatoronto.com