Rafael Payare and Bruckner’s Fourth Symphony
Each of Barbara Hannigan’s performances is a moment of staggering intensity, heightened by this soprano’s charisma and deep sensitivity. A specialist of the contemporary repertoire, she will introduce us to In the half-light by Canadian composer Zosha Di Castri, a work she premiered in 2022. Rafael Payare will also conduct Bruckner’s luminous “Romantic” Symphony, whose impassioned surges reach their apex in a sublime coda.
Each of Barbara Hannigan’s performances is a moment of staggering intensity, heightened by this soprano’s charisma and deep sensitivity. A specialist of the contemporary repertoire, she will introduce us to In the half-light by Canadian composer Zosha Di Castri, a work she premiered in 2022. Rafael Payare will also conduct Bruckner’s luminous “Romantic” Symphony, whose impassioned surges reach their apex in a sublime coda.
Artists
Orchestre symphonique de Montréal
Rafael Payare, conductor
Barbara Hannigan, soprano
Works
Zosha Di Castri, In the half-light (text by Tash Aw, 28 min.)
Intermission
Bruckner, Symphony no. 4 in E-flat major, WAB 104, “Romantic” (70 min.)
Rafael Payare
Music and Artistic Director of the OSMWith his innate musicianship, gift for communication, and irresistibly joyous spirit, conductor Rafael Payare is Music and Artistic Director of both Canada’s Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (OSM) and California’s San Diego Symphony (SDSO), as well as Principal Conductor of Virginia’s Castleton Festival and Conductor Laureate of Northern Ireland’s Ulster Orchestra. Payare is celebrated for his expertise in late Romantic repertoire while also cultivating the next generation of composers with regular commissions and performances of new works. A veteran of Venezuela’s El Sistema program – in which he began playing horn at the age of 14 – and 2012 first prize winner at Denmark’s Malko Competition for Young Conductors, Payare remains dedicated to inspiring younger musicians, regularly working with youth orchestras and establishing mentorship programs like El Sistema OSM and the SDSO Conducting Fellowship. Payare resides in San Diego and Montreal with his wife, acclaimed cellist Alisa Weilerstein, and their two young children.
Barbara Hannigan
Soprano and conductorEmbodying music with an unparalleled dramatic sensibility, soprano and conductor Barbara Hannigan is an artist at the forefront of creation. Over more than three decades, she has forged extraordinary artistic partnerships with the world’s foremost musicians, directors and choreographers, such as Bertrand Chamayou, John Zorn, Romeo Castellucci, Simon Rattle and Kent Nagano. The late conductor and pianist Reinbert de Leeuw has been an extraordinary influence and inspiration on her development as a musician.
The Grammy and Juno Award winning Canadian musician has shown a profound commitment to the music of our time and has given the world premiere performances of nearly 100 new creations. Recent world premieres include Golfam Khayam’s I am Not a Tale to be Told with Iceland and London Symphony Orchestras, John Zorn’s Split the Lark and Star Catcher, and Zosha di Castri’s In the Half Light with the Toronto and Montreal Symphony Orchestras.
Her awards and honours include being the 2025 Polar Music Prize Laureate, 2025 Musical America Artist of the Year, the Order of Canada (2016), Officier des Arts et des Lettres in France (2022), and Gramophone Magazine’s 2022 Artist of the Year, among many others.
