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OSO: Beethoven & Saint-Saens
November 17 @ 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm
$24 – $65
The OSO (Okanagan Symphony Orchestra) explores the concept of finding one’s place in the world in its next performance at the Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre on Nov. 17.
Cellist Rachel Mercer will create moments of pure magic in Saint-Saëns’ Cello Concerto No. 1, as Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2 moves between drama, serenity, humour, and exhilaration. Guest candidate conductor James Sommerville will lead the symphony in performances that include:
- MENDELSSOHN: Overture from The Hebrides, op.26 (Fingal’s Cave
- SAINT-SAËNS: Cello Concerto No. 1, op.33 in A Minor
- ARLEN: Over the Rainbow
- CONRAD: Northern Sunrise
- BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 2, op.36 in D Major
Rachel Mercer bio: Described as a “pure chamber musician” (Globe and Mail) creating “moments of pure magic” (Toronto Star), Canadian cellist Rachel Mercer has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician across five continents. Grand prize winner of the 2001 Vriendenkrans Competition in Amsterdam, Rachel is Principal Cello of the NAC Orchestra in Ottawa and Co-Artistic Director of the “5 at the First” Chamber Music Series in Hamilton and Orleans, Ontario. Rachel plays with the Mercer-Park Duo, St. John-Mercer-Park Trio and Ironwood Quartet, and was cellist of the JUNO award-winning piano quartet Ensemble Made In Canada (2008-2020), the AYR Trio (2010-2020), and the Aviv Quartet (2002-2010). Rachel has given masterclasses across North America, South Africa and Israel and has given talks on performance, careers and the music business. An advocate for new Canadian music,
Rachel has commissioned and premiered over 30 works including cello concerti by Stewart Goodyear and Kevin Lau, as well as solo and chamber work by Vivian Fung, Andrew Downing, Alice Ho, Abigail Richardson-Schulte, John Burge and Jocelyn Morlock. She can be heard in recording on Naxos, Analekta, Atma, Leaf Music, Centrediscs, EnT-T, Pipistrelle, and in 2012, recorded the complete Bach Suites (Pipistrelle) on the 1696 Bonjour Stradivarius Cello from the Canada Council for the Arts Musical Instrument Bank.
Rachel currently plays a 17th-century cello from Northern Italy.