The Intense Leningrad Symphony by Shostakovich 2025-2026
This program contrasts Beethoven’s vibrant Symphony No. 8 with Shostakovich’s powerful Leningrad Symphony, a poignant work that captures the spirit of resistance to oppression. The striking juxtaposition of Beethoven’s joy and Shostakovich’s depiction of a dramatic historical moment promises an intense and captivating concert experience.
Artists
Rafael Payare, conductor
In Shostakovich’s work, the OSM will be joined by young musicians from higher education institutions as part of the Orchestral Immersion project. This program is made possible thanks to the generous support of Ann Birks as well as Tom Wilder, founder of Wilder & Davis luthiers.
The students
Henry Baker, trumpet**
Adrien Faucher-Thibault, percussion*
Juliette Fortier, horn*
Maya Hilke-Stolle, violin**
Grantham Kane, cello**
Flavie Lacoste, oboe *
Luc-André Larose, violin ***
Haolin Liu, bassoon*
Elizabeth Martinez Ramirez, viola ***
Alicia Miguelez, harp*
Erin Sercel, clarinet**
Layla Sieun Park, violin**
Yosra Zaazaa, tenor trombone *
Jin Dong Zhao, flute*
* Conservatoire de musique de Montréal
** Schulich School of Music, McGill University
*** Faculté de musique de l’Université de Montréal
Program
Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony no. 8, op. 93 (26 min)
Intermission (20 min)
Dmitri Shostakovich, Symphony no. 7, op. 60 (“Leningrad”) (69 min) *
Rafael Payare
conductorDistinguished by innate musicianship, a gift for communication, and an irresistibly joyous spirit, conductor Rafael Payare began playing horn in Venezuela’s El Sistema program at age 14 and started his formal conducting studies in 2004 with José Antonio Abreu. Since winning Denmark’s prestigious Malko Competition for Young Conductors in 2012, his career has advanced rapidly. He was Chief Conductor and Music Director of the Ulster Orchestra from 2014 to 2019; has served as Principal Conductor of the Castleton Festival, founded by his mentor the late Lorin Maazel, since 2015; became Music Director of the San Diego Symphony in 2019, and three years later became Music Director of Canada’s Orchestre symphonique de Montréal. In recent years, Payare has conducted many of the world’s most prestigious orchestras, including those of New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Zurich, Berlin, Vienna, London, Munich, Hamburg, and Paris, besides making important opera debuts at London’s Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; the Glyndebourne Festival; Stockholm’s Royal Swedish Opera; and the Royal Danish Opera.
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