reviewvancouver: Vancouver Symphony Orchestrat, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff

The accomplished Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1919, presented a classical performance of works by famed composers Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff that featured renowned pianist Joyce Yang.

Led by Conductor Nicolas Ellis, the VSO performed Rachmaninoff’s beloved Variations on a Theme of Paganini, interpreted by pianist Joyce Yang. Tchaikovsky’s retelling of Francesca da Rimini, motivated by the poet Danté’s Divine Comedy, is fused with poignant feeling.

Nicolas Ellis is the Music Director of the Orchestre National de Bretagne, Principal Guest Conductor of Les Violons du Roy and Artistic Director and Conductor of the Orchestre de l’Agora, which he founded in 2013 in Montreal. Ellis is a rising star in the Canadian and international classical music arena..

Ellis won a JUNO award in the Classical Album of the Year, Large Ensemble category for the album Viola Borealis that featured violist Marina Thibeault. He has been invited to conduct the Vancouver Symphony, the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the I Musici de Montréal Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Nova Scotia, and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens.

A compassionate social advocate, Ellis is lauded for helping the Agora outreach mission, by establishing musical projects with teenagers trying to overcome mental illness. In addition, Ellis arranges monthly concerts for the inmates at Bordeaux Prison in Montreal.

Yang burst onto the music world in 2005 winning a silver medal at the 12th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. In 2006, Yang made her debut with the New York Philharmonic. She also appeared with tremendous reviews at the 2008 Leonard Bernstein Festival.
Yang has performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Orchestra and Orchestras in many cities including Chicago, San Francisco and Sydney. Yang was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2018.

The talented VSO orchestra was superb playing with precision and sonorous sounds.