The Kingston Symphony will conclude its 2024-2025 season with a program dedicated to the music of Maurice Ravel. The Ravel Festival concert is scheduled to take place on Sunday, April 27, 2025, at 2:30 p.m. at the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts.
The program will begin with Le Tombeau de Couperin, a suite composed by Ravel during World War I. Each of the suite’s six movements is dedicated to a friend who died in the war. The work incorporates elements of the French Baroque style, particularly in its use of traditional dance forms and ornamentation, while maintaining Ravel’s characteristic musical language.
The concert will continue with Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major. Pianist Avan Yu will perform as the featured soloist. Yu has previously appeared with the Kingston Symphony and has an extensive performance history across Europe, North America, Asia, and Australia. Maestro Evan Mitchell remarked, “We were thrilled to have Avan with us a couple of years ago to perform Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto. Avan is supremely talented and the winner of numerous awards and competitions. He has performed extensively throughout Europe, North America, Asia, and Australia. We look forward to sharing the Isabel stage with him once again!”
The final piece on the program will be Ma Mère l’Oye (Mother Goose Suite), an orchestral work based on five literary fairy tales, including Sleeping Beauty and Beauty and the Beast. Originally composed for piano duet and later orchestrated by the composer, the suite is structured to reflect the narrative qualities of each story through musical themes and orchestration.
The Ravel Festival will take place at the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts, located at 390 King Street West. Tickets and full concert information are available at kingstonsymphony.ca, by phone at 613-530-2050, or in person at the Grand Theatre Box Office, 218 Princess Street.
Top photo: Pixabay (cc)
Soloists photo: Previously submitted
