Feats of speed, skill and stamina will be on full display this weekend at the Centennial Concert Hall as the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra presents The Orchestra Games. Over the course of the hour-long performance, musicians will represent different nations to showcase their strengths on the musical world stage.
“I find that most people don’t know that musicians themselves are also incredible athletes,” says the WSO’s RBC Assistant Conductor Monica Chen, “because music itself requires such incredible precision, skill and muscle training, too.”
Different skillsets from different nations
Similar to how countries competing in the actual Olympic Games may have strengths in certain events, so too does the music of a country have a distinct, shining characteristic that gives it renown on the world stage. Those characteristics will be on display largely through folk song arrangements that Chen and the WSO have curated for The Orchestra Games.
“I think this concert really blends both the incredible skill of the musicians as well as the cultures of the various countries that we’re visiting,” says Chen, adding that previous iterations of this concert have been a highlight because of the reception that it gets from young people. “They’re really excited to hear countries like the Philippines, South Korea, Nigeria, countries that they don’t often hear on the big stage.”
“They don’t expect to want to hear those big things, and they just want to hear what is relevant to them right now, and a lot of what is relevant to them right now is everyone around them and learning [that] Canada is a mosaic country.”
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Audience participation a key feature
Alongside showcasing the orchestra’s musical athleticism, Chen also has plans to get the audience involved in The Orchestra Games.
“I’ve built in some rhythmic activities for them, some choral activities for them that they can try just to really feel a part of the symphony,” she says, adding that it’s a good way to keep younger audience members engaged in the onstage proceedings.
The audience’s involvement also solidifies that The Orchestra Games are more about the deeper ethic that also underlines the Olympic Games: global unity. “It’s less so a competition between all the different countries, but rather celebrating all of them together,” smiles Chen.
The Orchestra Games take the Centennial Concert Hall stage at 2 p.m. on April 11. Tickets and more information can be found at the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra’s website.