(Red Deer Symphony Orchestra)

By Alessia Proietti and Sheldon Spackman

First concert: Oct. 29

Red Deer Symphony Orchestra attracts new subscribers for six concerts this year

Sep 14, 2022 | 10:08 AM

The Red Deer Symphony Orchestra (RDSO) says their subscription campaign this year has attracted over 50 new members.

The professional regional orchestra performs live music with mainly freelance musicians and 28 contracted, all coming from across the province, including Lacombe, Lethbridge, Innisfail, Banff, Calgary, and Edmonton.

Music Director Claude Lapalme says this orchestra season contains a great variety in concerts.

“Some of them [are] more serious than others, some of them much lighter, especially around Christmas,” he said. “A really good mix of music that will sound familiar, even if you don’t recognize the titles, with music that is brand new in that you will think ‘how come I never heard of this before?’”

The first concert “Mighty Maestros” is scheduled for October 29, focusing on “meaty classics”, Lapalme says, from composers like Ludwig van Beethoven and Robert Schumann rather than hybrid tunes of mixed genres and eras of music.

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With each concert ranging in number of performers, at times with fewer than 50 musicians and others up to 70 with guest artists and soloists, Lapalme says this year will entail mainly medium-sized concerts.

While the pandemic has been difficult on the performing arts, he says, he believes it was their increasing social media presence and video productions that have kept the RDSO afloat. Although not fully reaching 2019 subscription levels, he says it’s time to jump in with both feet.

“We’re so happy to be in a position where we can play music for them [the audience] and share how we feel about it,” said Lapalme, reminiscing on their first live performance back in person this past May. “The geometry of the orchestra varies a lot from concert to concert but you can always expect a beautiful evening.”

Made available a few weeks ago were flexible subscription packages, allowing attendees to pick their concerts of interest rather than a large package for all. Individual concert tickets are also available for purchase.

Normally hosting seven shows until June, this year’s schedule will include six, all held at the Red Deer Polytechnic Arts Centre (100 College Blvd.):

• December 3 – Strings for the Season: Christmas favorites performed by the Rosedale Valley Strings Youth Orchestra alongside RDSO’s string section of violin, cello, double bass and more
• January 14 – Suite Française: Twentieth-century French music with jazz-inspired sections featuring saxophonist Chee Meng Low
• March 4 – Break the Bias: In celebration of International Women’s Day, all music will be by past and present female composers
• April 29 – Baroque Delights: Mainly using wind instruments like flutes and saxophones and brass instruments like horns and trumpets to perform the grandiose and energetic style of music from the 17^th century
• May 27 – Wandering with Wonder: Performed against a backdrop of Alberta’s landscapes, the final concert is aimed to be a storytelling experience

“What we like to do is to keep it very informal. I talk a lot to the audience; I will explain things as well as performing them. There is a low-key and very friendly atmosphere to the concerts. That would be quite our signature, I would say, is the more sort of Canadian aspect of what we do,” he said.

“You can expect really good music performed really well.”

Tickets can be bought on the RDSO website.