Wagner and Debussy: From Love to the Sea 2025-2026
This program highlights the viola’s deep, expressive voice in Canadian composer Cassandra Miller’s Concerto, a poignant reflection on separation premiered in 2023 by Lawrence Power, and an excerpt from Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde, both poignant reflections on separation. Meanwhile, Debussy paints a vivid portrait of the sea with impressionistic colours, immersing listeners in a nostalgic and dreamlike soundscape. Enjoy a musical journey that is both powerful and poetic.
Artists
Elim Chan, conductor
Lawrence Power, viola
Program
Hector Berlioz, Le Corsaire, Overture, Op. 21, H 101 (8 min)
Cassandra Miller, I cannot love without trembling, Concerto for Viola (25 min) 🍁
Intermission (20 min)
Richard Wagner, Tristan und Isolde, WWV90: Prelude and death of Isolde (17 min)*
Claude Debussy, La mer, trois esquisses symphoniques pour orchestre, L. 109, CD 111 (23 min)
Elim Chan
ConductorOne of the most sought-after artists of her generation, conductor Elim Chan embodies the spirit of contemporary orchestral leadership with her crystalline precision and expressive zeal. She served as Principal Conductor of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra between 2019-2024 and Principal Guest Conductor of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra between 2018-2023.
Having conducted the First Night of the Proms with the BBC Symphony Orchestra in 2024, Elim Chan returned to the series in 2025 to conduct the renowned Last Night of the Proms.
Highlights in the 2025/26 season include return engagements with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra and Orchestre de Paris, to mention a few; she also debuts with the Münchner Philharmoniker, Orchester der Oper Zürich, Bamberger Symphoniker, and Orchestre symphonique de Montréal.
In 2014, Elim Chan became the first female winner of the Donatella Flick Conducting Competition and went on to spend her 2015-16 season as Assistant Conductor at the London Symphony Orchestra, where she worked closely with Valery Gergiev. In the following season, she joined the Dudamel Fellowship program of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She also owes much to the support and encouragement of Bernard Haitink.
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