“Foundation”: A New Work for Cello and Orchestra

Photo Credit: Bo Huang

The idea for “Foundation” struck Kevin Lau during an ordinary ride on the subway. As a doctoral candidate at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music, his thesis composition had been preoccupying his subconscious. Suddenly, a novel idea struck him: his doctoral thesis would be a cello concerto, and Rachel Mercer was going to perform it.

It wasn’t a totally random thought, truth be told. In 2010, Rachel was looking for new music to perform and came upon a composition by Lau for cello and piano entitled “Starsail”, which was commissioned by Sarah Steeves in 2008. She emailed Lau for the score, and made first contact. When Lau was putting together a recital later that year, Rachel was one of the performers that he invited to perform his work. He recalls their first musical meeting:

“When I heard her rehearse ‘Starsail‘, I knew immediately that I wanted to collaborate with her on a major project.”

CONCERT POSTPONEMENT

Mar28 by Margaret Lam

Due to unforeseen circumstances and scheduling conflicts, the SPO has had to postpone their final concert of the year. The majority of performers are from major music schools in the area, and this has turned out to be an extremely busy end-of-semester for everyone.

But are we going to rest? No sirree! In the mean time we will be working on a number of projects, including fundraising, taking on the social networks, and seeking out new performances around town. Most importantly, we are getting this amazing new website up and running!

Please stay tuned for future excitement!

Tim Crouch, Executive Director

Welcome to our new site!

Mar2 by Margaret Lam

As we wrap up SPO’s first season of concerts, we are launching a fresh new website into the world. It marks a new milestone as we further develop our marketing and outreach efforts with the help of our season sponsor, and opens up a new way in which we can engage our audiences. We wouldn’t have made it this far without our community of supporters, performers, composers and soloists. This space will be used to acknowledge and showcase all the hard work that goes on behind the scene, as well as leave a legacy of our past performances and featured compositions for you to enjoy.

Subscribe to our RSS feed to get updates about our on-going initiatives!

Dreamscape: SPO concert on April 9th

Feb10 by Margaret Lam

Update 2: Concert has been postponed!

Update: Concert date has been changed from March 18th to April 9th.

To round off our successful season, the Sneak Peek Orchestra will be taking you on a journey of flight and fancy in Dreamscapes, our final concert in the series.

We take off in Scandinavia with Jean Sibelius’ Finlandia, and then let violinist Alexa Wilks transport us to the fields of England with Ralph Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending. Toronto composer and orchestra member Rob Teehan’s Juno-nominated Dreams of Flying brings us home with a fresh and brilliant sound followed by Voyage to the East, composed by Kevin Lau, SPO’s composer-in-residence.

SPO’s energetic performance and engaging narrative has become a trademark of our concerts. Don’t miss this opportunity to experience what is sure to be an electric and memorable evening as we look forward to our next season.

The concert will take place Saturday March 19th, at 8 pm, at Calvin Presbyterian Church (26 Delisle Avenue, near Yonge and St. Clair). Tickets are $15 for students, $20 regular. You can also pay for tickets online in advance at a special discount price!