‘All the music feels brand new again,’ says Sault Symphony Orchestra’s director

The Sault Symphony Orchestra will be holding its first full scale in-person orchestral concert since the start of the pandemic at the Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre at 7 p.m. on May 15. 

300 tickets have been printed for the concert.  

The concert - Mozart at the Movies - will include music from films and television, such as Game of Thrones, Schindler’s List and Amadeus.

The concert will include Stephen Mallinger, the Sault Symphony Orchestra’s new artistic director, as conductor. 

Mallinger has played piano, keyboards and organs as required for the orchestra over the past 30 years before becoming its artistic director earlier this month.

Though the orchestra played to a small audience at the Sault Ste. Marie Museum with 10 string section musicians in October 2021, followed by a string section video concert in February, the upcoming concert at the Bushplane Museum will include 35 SSO musicians playing for up to 300 people.

“It’s so much more dynamic when you triple the size of the orchestra, with the power in the sound. It’s so much more exciting. It’s been great because every week we’ve been adding more players and it’s filling out the whole sound,” said Mallinger, speaking to SooToday.

The orchestra has been holding rehearsals at St. Mary’s College.

“I love the venue,” said Mallinger of the Bushplane Museum.

“The acoustics are fantastic. I conduct the Algoma Festival Choir and we’ve been performing events there since 1999. The acoustics are great.”

Mallinger said the orchestra has booked its performances for the next two seasons at The Machine Shop.

The Bushplane Museum concert on May 15 will include work by Mozart and music from Game of Thrones, Downton Abbey, La La Land, The Godfather, Eyes Wide Shut, Schindler’s List, The Mission and West Side Story.

Though Mozart’s music is not featured in those productions, Mallinger said the orchestra liked the title of Mozart at the Movies for the upcoming concert.

“We just liked the alliteration. It’s a catchy title.”

The orchestra will perform at a BYOBaby Kids Concert event for children from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday May 14 at Precious Blood Cathedral.

Admission to that event is by donation.

“We’re going to play a concert for children and parents. It’s going to have the same music as the Bushplane Museum program. We just thought we’d do something for children that wouldn’t be able to go to the concert in the evening. It’s for families, lots of kids, it’s free so they can afford to come,” Mallinger said.

The artistic director said it’s ironic that the Bushplane Museum concert is the last for the orchestra’s 2021-22 season while at the same time being its first full live concert since 2020.

The 2022-23 season will be the Sault Symphony Orchestra’s 50th Anniversary Golden Jubilee Season.

The season will include:

• Autumn Reflections - October 30, 2022
• Christmas Concerto - December 11, 2022
• Double Trouble - March 5, 2023
• Naturally Gifted - May 14, 2023

With most COVID restrictions lifted and a return to live performances, morale is high for Mallinger and his fellow Sault Symphony Orchestra musicians.

“We’re really grateful to be able to play again. We never saw this coming where we weren’t allowed to congregate and play music. Something so simple as playing music together was taken away because it was considered dangerous. I think we’re through that now. I hope we are. It feels so good to play together again,” Mallinger said.

“All the music feels brand new again. Things we played in the past just feel really rejuvenated.”

The May 15 concert at the Bushplane Museum will also include Moment de Désespoir by Ukrainian composer Mykola Lysenko.  

“It’s a piano piece that a friend of mine sent to me and I arranged it for the orchestra because we just really wanted to do something for the Ukrainian people. The thing we can do is play music. That’s all we can do for them so that’s what we’re doing,” Mallinger said.

Refreshments will be available for purchase at the May 15 concert at the Bushplane Museum, including popcorn from Cornucopia Gourmet Popcorn.

Tickets for Mozart at the Movies are available for purchase through the Sault Symphony Orchestra website.