Symphony Nova Scotia performs blockbuster concert with Canadian virtuoso violinist Yi-Jia Susanne Hou

Concert to feature encore performance of Paganini’s Violin Concerto no. 1

Halifax, NS – Canadian virtuoso violinist Yi-Jia Susanne Hou returns to Symphony Nova Scotia for a fiery performance of Paganini’s Violin Concerto no. 1 on Thursday, April 14 at 7:30 pm at Halifax’s Rebecca Cohn Auditorium.

Paganini’s Violin Concerto no. 1 is an explosive, technically demanding showpiece, and one that hasn’t been performed by Symphony Nova Scotia since 2006. That particular concert also featured Hou as the solo violinist, in “an astonishing performance” that “caused jaws to sag” (The Chronicle Herald).

Hou’s career began at a very young age, and today she is in demand all over the world, playing with major orchestras in over 50 countries and working with Oscar-winning composers and directors.

She recently partnered with the London Symphony Orchestra to record a brand-new album, performing on a multi-million-dollar 1735 Guarneri violin that once belonged to the great violinist Fritz Kreisler. The recording marked Hou’s last performance with the violin, which she had on loan for over four years.

“The thrilling Paganini Violin Concerto no. 1 is one of the most challenging pieces ever written for violin,” says Hou.

“It is terrifically virtuosic… so let’s hope I remember what I practiced when I was eight and nine years old!”

Media acclaim for Yi-Jia Susanne Hou includes:

  • “Few can play the minefield of flash and dazzle concocted by Niccolo Paganini for his Violin Concerto No. 1 so convincingly as Yi-Jia Susanne Hou. Her astonishing performance caused jaws to sag. Hou’s technical mastery is astonishing.” –Stephen Pedersen, The Chronicle Herald
  • “Violinist Yi-Jia Susanne Hou played with a combination of soaring tone and the fervent musicality of which stars are made.” –Miami Herald
  • “Even beyond these miracles, Hou created a sense of refined artistry through her meticulous connection of passages, shading each with instinctive colour and seamlessly moving from one musical image to the next.” –Stephen Pedersen, The Chronicle Herald
  • “Her sound is strangely strong yet delicate; her technique near flawless.” –The Strad

The concert will be led by Bulgarian guest conductor Martin Panteleev, who will also lead Symphony Nova Scotia in a performance of Schubert’s majestic Symphony in C, “The Great”.

The full concert program includes:

  • Robert Rival: Spring
  • Niccolò Paganini: Violin Concerto no. 1
  • Schubert: Symphony in C “The Great”

The concert will feature a pre-concert chat at 6:45 pm in the Sculpture Court (just outside the auditorium) with local music lecturer and former CBC host Adrian Hoffman. After the concert, the audience is invited to stay in the auditorium and meet Hou and Panteleev in a free post-concert Q&A.

Tickets are available now! Prices start at $30 (HST included), or you can pick up a ticket package and save up to 30%. Plus, under-30s pay only $16 per ticket with the TD Under-30 Access Pass (available free of charge at the box office). Call 902.494.3820 or visit our website at symphonynovascotia.ca.

Susanne Hou Grey 2About Yi-Jia Susanne Hou
Violinist Yi-Jia Susanne Hou rose to fame on the International concert scene when she unanimously won three prestigious International Violin Competitions in France, Italy, and Spain (Long-Thibaud, Lipizer, and Sarasate International Violin Competitions).

Since then, she has toured the world as a soloist with major orchestras in over 50 countries, collaborating with world-renowned directors and artists such as Mstislav Rostropovich, Pinchas Zukerman, Alan Gilbert, Vladimir Spivakov, Marcello Viotti, Andreas Delfs, Marek Janowski, and Alain Trudel, together with the London Philharmonic, Radio-France, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, SWR Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, WDR Cologne, Czech National Orchestra, Toronto Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Ottawa National Arts Centre Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic, Buffalo Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Singapore Symphony, and Tokyo Philharmonic, to name a few.

November 2013 saw her realizing a life-long dream, when she recorded the Beethoven Violin Concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra as a tribute to a unique 300-year history of an outstanding 1735 ex-Fritz Kreisler Mary Portman Guarneri Del Gesu Violin. Executive produced by Know Rules Media in association with Hi-BROW in the UK, this live performance recording will be released as a CD/DVD package as well as a 60-minute feature for worldwide broadcast and distribution.

Born into a musical family, Yi-Jia Susanne had music surrounding her all her life. She gave her first public performance at age five, and at age nine, the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto invited her as a scholarship student. She went on to receive a scholarship to the Juilliard School where she was a student of Dorothy DeLay, Naoko Tanaka, and Cho-Liang Lin.

About Symphony Nova Scotia
Symphony Nova Scotia is Nova Scotia’s orchestra. Each year more than 50,000 audience members (including 15,000 young music lovers) join us in communities across Nova Scotia for performances of the music they love – from baroque and classical to pop and rock and folk. Under the inspirational leadership of Music Director Bernhard Gueller, Symphony Nova Scotia is one of the most broadcast orchestras in the country, with over 20 commercial releases and multiple East Coast Music Awards. Visit symphonynovascotia.ca to learn more, listen online, or get tickets today!

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For more information, please contact:
Heidi MacPhee
Director of Communications and Marketing, Symphony Nova Scotia
902.421.5264
[email protected]
symphonynovascotia.ca