UM Symphony Orchestra

Our last concert was a sentimental introspective exploration of French music, and in this programme, the University of Manitoba Symphony Orchestra will delve into fiery, forceful and exciting German repertoire. Forward unto Dawn links together three pieces that strive for a brighter future. Our concert begin with DFoM student, Kelsen Hadder’s composition: The World Has Not Ended, exploring the nihilistic thoughts of today’s society with the beautiful hope that still prevails in the end. The DFoM concerto winner, Fan-En Chiang, will be performing Felix Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 1, a unified musical journey without pause, that creeps in with a stormy entrance but slows into a beautifully romantic song before erupting into the incredible virtuosity of the last movement. We conclude the programme with Robert Schumann’s Symphony No. 4 which, like the Mendelssohn, is one uninterrupted story. It opens with a darkness that continually evolves through the entirety of the symphony, blossoming into the intimate beauty of the second movement, shifts between the simultaneously imposing and mischievous personalities of the third movement until finally emerging into the bright lightness of the final movement.