Calgary Classical

There’s something magical about watching a young artist step into the spotlight - especially when the music they perform demands the skill and maturity of a seasoned professional. Calgary Civic Symphony’s 49th season finale, Rising Stars, does exactly that, celebrating four of Calgary’s finest young classical musicians.

Since 1987, the Rotary Calgary Concerto Competition has served as a springboard for many of Canada’s leading classical musicians. Alumni include internationally acclaimed pianist Jan Lisiecki, cellists Luka Coetzee and Isabella Perron, and Arnold Choi, Principal Cellist of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra.

Each year, four winners are selected to perform as soloists with the Calgary Civic Symphony in this signature concert - a rare and inspiring opportunity for young artists to take the stage with a full symphony orchestra.

Read full story: https://www.calgaryclassical.ca/feature/143-Bright-Futures

Rotary Calgary Concerto Competition 45th Annual Rotary Calgary Concerto Competition

There are moments in music where boundaries feel less like lines and more like meeting places. Cyan Tones, presented by the G*i Lan Ensemble this Asian Heritage Month, is built entirely in that space — where East and West, tradition and experimentation, and film and contemporary composition meet.

Taking place on Friday, May 15, this special concert brings together Alberta’s leading Chinese instrumentalists alongside Calgary’s original string orchestra Kensington Sinfonia for a one-night program that blends new Canadian composition, traditional repertoire, and iconic film music.

At the heart of the evening is a world premiere by oboist and erhuist Jace Eagle Bear, alongside selections from the score of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon — music that has long resonated across cultures for its sweeping emotional language and evocative musical storytelling.

The title Cyan Tones draws from the Chinese word qing (青), a colour that exists between blue and green — neither fully one nor the other, but something living in-between. In the same way, qing yin (青音), or “cyan sound or tone,” becomes a metaphor for the concert itself: a sonic world that resists categorization.

The program features works by living Canadian and Chinese composers including Jace Eagle Bear, Tse Taishun, Li Bochan, and Andrew Staniland, alongside traditional pieces reimagined for an ensemble that bridges Chinese instruments such as erhu and p**a with Western strings.

It is not simply fusion — it is conversation.

Read full story: https://www.calgaryclassical.ca/feature/140-Cyan-Tones