The Fraser Valley Symphony opens its 2024-2025 season on Sunday, Nov. 17 with the concert Somewhere in Time.
The concert features guest conductor Nicholas Urquhart and piano soloist Henri-Paul Sicsic, who will play Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.
The orchestra will perform Rossini’s Thieving Magpie Overture and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7.
Raised in France, Sicsic has appeared with orchestras in Europe, Canada and the U.S.
He taught at Rice University from 1986 to 1992 and was a member of the piano faculty at the UBC School of Music in Vancouver for 13 years (1994-2007).
Sicsic was then appointed to the faculty of music at the University of Toronto, where he taught until 2014. He now makes his home in Vancouver.
Urquhart is a vibrant conductor who holds multiple positions as music director, conductor and associate conductor across the Lower Mainland.
He is principal conductor of the Harmonia Ensemble as well as associate conductor of the West Coast Symphony, Ambleside Orchestra and New Westminster Symphony.
Urquhart directs the youth orchestra in West Vancouver and leads a thriving orchestra program at Killarney Secondary.
He also sits on the board of Instruments Beyond Borders, a foundation dedicated to putting instruments in the hands of under-serviced youth in Vancouver and worldwide.
Founded in 1984, the FVS is composed of musicians from Abbotsford and surrounding communities and is the premier community orchestra of the region. Lindsay Mellor is the music director.
Doors for the Abbotsford concert open at 2:30 p.m., and the program begins at 3 p.m.
Tickets are $25 general, $18 for students and seniors, and $6 for children. They are available at King's Music, online at fraservalleysymphony.org or at the door if available.
