Sinfonia Toronto highlights the Romantic era at their “Schumann and Dvorak” concert on December 8 at the Jane Mallett Theatre. Virtuoso Cellist Stéphane Tétreault will draw listeners into the intimate and lyrical world of Schumann’s Cello Concerto in a Minor. Music Director Nurhan Arman will lead the orchestra through selections of Dvorak’s beloved Valses and Slavonic Dances.

Surrounding these Romantic masterpieces, listeners will travel farther back in time to celebrate the season with the Christmas Concerto by Corelli, considered by many the father of the concerto grosso. JUNO award winning composer Jocelyn Morlock’s piece Nostalgia, will recall to the past in feelings of sentimentality and wonder. The late Ms. Morlock explained, “Aside from the undoubted delights of glimpsing the past through a sentimental haze, nostalgia also has some darker facets; engaging in an obsessive love for the past makes it easy to lose sight of the present and nothing appears quite as wonderful as that which is forever lost” – an especially poignant comment in view of her recent death at just 53.

Continuing in celebration of 25 years of music, Sinfonia Toronto will perform the world premiere of Odessa Waltz and Dedication by Ukrainian composer Irina Grafova.

Stéphane Tétreault is the laureate of the 2022 Prix Opus for “Performer of the Year” awarded by the Conseil québécois de la musique and accompanied by a Canada Council grant. He has won many other prestigious awards including the Canada Council for the Arts’ Virginia Parker Prize in 2019, and the Maureen Forrester Next Generation Award in 2018. Stéphane is an active recording artist, having collaborated on three albums to date, all nominated for multiple awards. Stéphane plays the 1707 “Countess of Stainlein, Ex-Paganini” Stradivarius cello, on loan from Mrs. Sophie Desmarais.

Nurhan Arman has conducted in 24 countries in Europe, Asia, South America, Canada, and the US, returning regularly to many orchestras in Europe. He concluded a busy 2022-23 season with concerts in Montreal, Greece, the Republic of Georgia and Italian orchestras in Friuli and Tuscany and will open his 2023-24 season with a fourth return to the Arpeggione Chamber Orchestra in Austria.

Sinfonia Toronto has toured twice in Europe, in the US, South America and China, receiving glowing reviews. It has released six CD’s, including a JUNO Award winner. The orchestra plays annually in Barrie and performs in many other Ontario cities. Its extensive repertoire includes all the major string orchestra works of the 18th through 21st centuries, and it has premiered many new works.