Dear friends,

The entire arts world has been turned upside down in the last year, and for us here at Symphony Nova Scotia, while it has undoubtedly been challenging, it has also been a golden opportunity to press “reset”, and devise new ways of working outside the traditional concert hall setting.

Last fall, we were delighted to record a number of digital programs and projects, including Fusion Sessions with some of our favourite guest artists and discussions between our conductors and industry insiders. We also managed to get safely out and about in Nova Scotian communities for small, pop-up chamber concerts – keeping you topped up with bite-size music until we can meet again in bigger forces. It kept us going – spiritually and artistically – and I hope it did the same for you!

I’m delighted that this spring we’ll be taking all of those threads and spinning them again in ever-greater colour and variety, and for an even wider audience. Our list of guests for the Fusion Sessions is a who’s-who of the heart of the province’s music world, and two much-loved artists in the Symphony Nova Scotia family will be joining us to make these concerts and recordings possible: Dinuk Wijeratne and Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser. Their energy, expertise, and deep roots in our musical community are so valuable to us, and I’m delighted that they will be with us throughout the season. Take a moment to scroll through the world-class artists we have joining us, and settle in for a few months of really wonderful music-making that beautifully reflects our province!

I’m so grateful to all of you for tuning in and keeping in touch, and to everyone who has donated to the orchestra for keeping the music playing and trusting us to make work that reflects and respects everything we’ve all been through in 2020. I’m also tremendously grateful to our staff and players: to see everyone rolling their sleeves up and asking “What can we do, safely and meaningfully?” is absolutely the best that any of us can ask of our colleagues. It shows us that the arts are a necessary presence in our lives, in our audience’s lives, in our neighbour’s lives, in strangers’ lives – and that the music we share will be a powerful tool in Nova Scotia’s rebuild.

Yours in music,

Holly Mathieson, Music Director
Symphony Nova Scotia