York Symphony gets back to nature for season opener

January 29, 2014 · 0 Comments

For its first series of concerts in 2014, the York Symphony Orchestra’s Maestro Denis Mastromonaco has chosen music inspired by nature.
The concerts will feature a YSO favourite, York region native Andrew Ascenzo, to play Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto.

Andrew holds both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s Degree in Cello Performance from the University of Toronto, where he studied with Shauna Rolston, as well as Matt Brubeck, with whom he explored jazz and world improvisation.

Currently principal cellist of the Koffler Chamber Orchestra, Andrew has performed in venues across Canada as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player.

Also an active songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Andrew is a diverse performer who can regularly be seen playing with artists and groups such as the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Michelle Wright, and the Toronto-based folk band, Arosa Star.

As the Elgar work reflects the pastoral quiet of the English country cottage in which it was written, the other works on the program, Dvorak’s Czech Suite and Schumann’s Symphony #3 “The Rhenish,” evoke their own particular sense of a place dominated by the pervasive presence of nature.

The concerts are Saturday, February 15 at 8 p.m. at the Trinity Anglican Church in Aurora, and Sunday February 16 at 7.30 p.m. at the Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts.

Tickets for the Aurora concert may be purchased by calling 416 410-0860; for Sunday, February 16, call 905 787-8811 or go online at www.rhcentre.ca.
Tickets will also be available at the door of both venues.