Pianist Anya Alexeyev (L) (Photo courtesy of the artist) & Conductor Michael Newnham with Orchestra Toronto (Photo courtesy of Orchestra Toronto)
Orchestra Toronto will launch their 2026/27 season with a concert that celebrates music from the turn of the last century, spanning the late Romantic era to the rise of musical modernism. The concert takes place on November 1 and features pianist Anya Alexeyev in a performance of Amy Beach’s Piano Concerto.
“We are excited to be bringing these significant compositions to our audience,” said Michael Newnham, Music Director of Orchestra Toronto in a statement.
“Each piece marks a breakthrough for the composer with themes of nationalism and strengthening personal voice that brought them into the modern era. We are also thrilled to have Anya Alexeyev’s extraordinary talent help us bring Beach’s Piano Concerto to life.”
The Music
Elgar: Enigma Variations, Op. 36 (composed between 1898 and 1899)
Elgar’s Enigma Variations is a series of 14 character sketches. It premiered in London in 1899, and quickly became popular, a status is still enjoys today. Elgar dedicated the work “to my friends pictured within”. Each of the variations is based on a musical sketch of the people in his circle, including his wife Alice, friend and publisher August Jaeger — even Elgar himself appears as the final variation. He was deliberately vague about what inspired the main theme, Enigma, keeping it a mystery that endures to this day.
Amy Beach: Piano Concerto in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 35 (composed between 1898 and 1899)
Amy Beach’s piano concerto premiered in Boston in 1900, with Beach herself as the soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. It’s the first piano concerto written by an American woman composer. Critics panned it at the time, and even pianist Teresa Carreño, to whom the work was dedicated, did not perform it because her manager objected. Beach had to become the work’s advocate, and she went on to perform it, achieving success in Germany. In the modern day, it’s been lauded as an overlooked masterpiece, praised for its vitality and colourful nature.
Sibelius: Finlandia, Op. 26 (composed in 1899)
Sibelius’ tone poem was composed for the Press Celebrations of 1899 as a form of musical protest against the increasingly heavy handed censorship of the Russian Empire. At the time, Finland was a Grand Duchy under Czar Nicholas’ Russia. It was the finale of seven pieces that were performed at the event, each marking various points in Finnish history. On its own, Finlandia premiered in 1900 in Helsinki with some revisions with the Helsinki Philharmonic society. To avoid Russian scrutiny, the piece was performed over the years under various euphemistic names, including Happy Feelings at the awakening of Finnish Spring.
Sibelius described the work, “We fought 600 years for our freedom and I am part of the generation which achieved it. Freedom! My Finlandia is the story of this fight. It is the song of our battle, our hymn of victory.”
Anya Alexeyev
Anya Alexeyev was born into a musical family in Moscow, and began her formal music education at the age of five at the Gnessin Music School in that city. She subsequently entered the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, and a year later won a scholarship to study at the Royal College of Music In London. As a student, she won multiple awards including the John Hopkinson Gold Medal (Royal College of Music), Elizabeth, The Queen Mother’s Award for “the most outstanding contribution to the Royal College of Music”, the First prize at the Newport International Piano Competition, Young Concert Artists Trust, and The Capital Radio/Anna Instone Memorial Prize.
Alexeyev went on to a career as a performer, and played on stages across Europe, North America, Argentina, Malaysia, and South Africa. She’s performed as a soloist at Wigmore Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elisabeth Hall, Barbican Hall, Berlin Philharmonie, Vienna Konzerthaus, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, Philharmonia Hall in St. Petersburg, Birmingham Symphony Hall, Usher Hall in Edinburgh, Johannesburg Symphony Hall, Palais Montcalm in Quebec City, Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto, and Bargemusic in New York, among others.
Alongside her performing career, she is an acclaimed recording artist, and has released albums on the EMI, Dutton Epoch, Toccata Classics, and Marquis Classics labels.
Anya is also a passionate educator, and serves on the faculty of Wilfrid Laurier University, the Glenn Gould School, and the Phil and Eli Taylor Performance Academy for Young Artists.
Orchestra Toronto 2026-2027 Season: Across Time & Place – Music That Tells A Story
The theme of Orchestra Toronto’s 2026-2027 season is Across Time and Space: Music That Tells A Story. Each concert has been carefully programmed to showcase a variety of instruments and musical approaches. Orchestra Toronto was founded in 1954 and is made up of nearly 100 musicians, an ensemble created by dedicated musicians within the community, for the community.
Find concert details and tickets for the November 1 presentation of Turn Of The Century at the newly refurbished George Weston Recital hall, and its entire 2026/27 season [HERE].
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