On Saturday, March 23, the Mississauga Symphony Orchestra will welcome the arrival of spring with a celebration of the great composers of the classical period! Classical Greats will include Beethoven’s “Prometheus Overture”, Haydn’s Symphony No. 104 “London”, and will feature Yu Kai Sun, winner of the 5th Annual MSO Youth Concerto Competition in Mozart’s elegant Violin Concerto No. 5. Regular ticket prices start at $40. Special pricing is available for seniors, families, and patrons under 26.
For tickets, call: 905-306-6000, or visit: livingartscentre.ca.
Complimentary underground parking is included with every ticket purchase.

The Creatures of Prometheus is Beethoven’s only full-length ballet score. Inspired by the ancient legend of Prometheus, a titan who stole fire from Mount Parnassus to enlighten mankind, the work casts Prometheus as both the creator of humanity, and its guide in becoming truly human through the power of the performing arts. The score consists of an overture, an introduction, and sixteen additional numbers. The overture opens with majestic chords followed by a lyrical introduction. The Allegro section enters without a pause, and the first theme is a brilliant display of scale passages in the first violins. After the delicate second theme in the flutes, there is a brief development section before the opening allegro returns. A stirring coda closes the overture.

Violin Concerto No. 5 in A Major was the last of five violin concertos Mozart wrote from 1773-1775, a time he spent employed as a musician in the Salzburg court. In many ways, the five violin concerti resemble those from the Baroque period with the “fast-slow-fast” three-movement structure, and recurring sections for entire orchestra (ritornello) composed between solo sections; however, Mozart began to break with tradition with the fifth concerto, experimenting with compositional techniques acquired during his third trip to Italy and his stay of several months in Vienna from July to September 1773.

Symphony No. 104 is Haydn’s final symphony and the last of the twelve London Symphonies. It was composed in 1795 during his second journey to London. The work follows the four-movement plan that by this time had become Haydn’sstandard symphonic format. The theme of the exuberant Finale is based on a simple folk melody often claimed to have originated as a Croatian folk song. This theme is also known to be similar to the one used by London street peddlers (“hot cross buns!”, “live cod!”) at the time of Haydn’s visits.

Winner of the Fifth Annual MSO Youth Concerto Competition, twenty-year-old violinist Yu Kai Sun is currently developing her career in the Greater Toronto Area. A native of China, Yu Kai discovered the violin at the age of 8. From 2013 to 2017, she studied at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal with Helmut Lipsky. Yu Kai is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Music (Honours) at the prestigious Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto under the tutelage of Professor Victor Danchenko. Yu Kai has been concertmaster of the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra, the Royal Conservatory Orchestra at the Glenn Gould School, the String Orchestra at the Conservatoire of Montreal and the FACE Symphony Orchestra.