The Okanagan Symphony Orchestra Announces the 2023/24 Season and Rosemary Thomson’s Final Season as Music Director
The Okanagan Symphony Orchestra (OSO) team invites everyone to join them for their upcoming 2023/24 season. This season will be especially memorable as it will be the final season Rosemary Thomson will be featured as Music Director and Conductor. The OSO will honour Thomson with the title “Conductor Emeritus” in recognition of her seventeen-year tenure from 2007 to 2024.
“The OSO has accomplished a great deal during Thomson’s tenure as Music Director”, says Judy Burns, Board President. “We thank her for her commitment and passion for orchestral music and for all she has brought to the organization and community.”
“Making music with my colleagues in the OSO and sharing it with our patrons throughout this beautiful valley has been one of the great joys of my career to date, and I am so grateful”, says Thomson. “I am honoured to receive the title of Conductor Emeritus and I very much look forward to the wonderful concerts and other activities we have planned for our community throughout the coming year.”
The OSO lives up to its namesake by performing throughout the entire Okanagan Valley. Mainstage programs are presented in Kelowna, Penticton, and Vernon. The OSO also presents a robust program of community events throughout the valley and will present concerts for the first time in Coldstream, Oliver, and Summerland in their 2023/24 season.
Main stage performances will feature some of Canada’s most renowned guest artists, including violinist Timothy Chooi for the opening night weekend and pianist Ian Parker at the season finale. Additionally, the OSO will showcase their own with principal second violinist Martine denBok and principal violist Erin Macdonald as soloists in Mozart’s glorious Symphony Concertante.
Ukulele virtuoso James Hill joins the OSO to strum in the season for the OSO annual holiday concert, and singers from Nancy Hermiston’s renowned Opera Ensemble at UBC make their long-awaited return to ring in the New Year with the OSO.
In addition to the OSO mainstage performances, you can find eclectic programming in their new Celebration and Satellite Series. With programs presented in intimate settings and with unexpected guests, these two new series will show off the variety of music that the OSO can bring to the community. The OSO also offers multiple ways to engage with youth programs including Symphony Storytime for preschoolers, Symphony School Shows for Elementary Schools, the OSO Middle School Band Clinic, and the Okanagan Symphony Youth Orchestra (OSYO).
Don’t miss the OSO’s opening weekend on October 20, 21, & 22 where you will hear Dvořák’s “New World Symphony”, one of the most popular works in the symphonic repertoire. Come back often throughout the 2023/24 season to experience your Okanagan Symphony Orchestra, and to celebrate Music Director Rosemary Thomson in her final season.
