MCO’s 2019 premiere of Wijeratne’s Gajaga Vannama was a true event

The audience leapt to their feet as  Dinuk Wijeratne  conducted and played piano and performed vocals when this piece premiered in 2019; a tapestry of rollicking Sri Lankan rhythms and Mozartian colour. 

Dinuk reprises this work, one of Canada’s most important in recent history, and presents several others with the MCO at this concert. One of these works, Dinuk’s KarmicBlue, features soloist Shawn Mativetsky  a leading Canadian ambassador of the tabla. Like Dinuk, he is a pioneer in bridging the worlds of Western and Indian classical music. 

And once again, at this concert Dinuk brandishes his triple-threat as composer, conductor, and performer, and will more than demonstrate why the “exuberantly creative” (New York Times) classical musician is one of Canada’s most sought-after today.


Don't miss our 'cinq à sept'
pre-concert fundraiser at Sous Sol!


To highlight another piece on this rich musical program, we’re pleased to present Elgar’s Serenade, Op. 20, E minor. Elgar wasn’t always easy on his greatest hits — he ultimately hated Pomp and Circumstance. But about the Serenade’s three movements, which are among his most popular, he wrote: “I like ‘em (the first thing I ever did).”

A note on our matinees: our matinee concerts are casual afternoon performances (one hour in duration, with no intermission); students will be in attendance, and the program may be shortened from the evening program. Some seating restrictions apply.

The concerts begin at 1.00pm and 7.30pm on Wednesday, October 25th, in Crescent Arts Centre, 525 Wardlaw Avenue. Casual tickets will be available 7 July 2023 here and on MCO’s Ticketline at 204-783-7377.

Manitoba Chamber Orchestra
Anne Manson, Music Director
Karl Stobbe, Concertmaster
Crescent Arts Centre, 525 Wardlaw Avenue
1.00pm & 7.30pm, Wednesday, 25 October 2023

Dinuk Wijeratne, piano / conductor
Shawn Mativetsky, tabla

Kareem Roustom 
Dabke, for string orchestra

Sir Edward Elgar
Serenade for Strings, in E Minor, Op. 20

Dinuk Wijeratne
Gajaga Vannama, fantasy variations on a traditional theme
—for piano and strings

Commissioned by the MCO and I Musici de Montréal with the assistance of the Canada Council for the Arts; premiered October 2019

Béla Bartók
Fifteen Hungarian Peasant Songs (Sz 71), Nos. 7-15, ‘Old Dance Tunes’
—arr. for strings by Jean Cousineau

Dinuk Wijeratne
A letter from the after-life

Traditional
Short Tabla Solo in Teentaal
—arr. Shawn Mativetsky, Dinuk Wijeratne

Dinuk Wijeratne
[out of the] Karmic Blue

Concert sponsor / Johnston Group

Concertmaster sponsor / Edmond Financial Group

Piano sponsors / Yamaha Canada Music & St. John’s Music

Season  media sponsors / Classic 107, Golden West Radio & Winnipeg Free Press