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2007-2017

60th Season card with treble clef

60th Season Brochure

Music Director Daniel Swift finished his time with the NSO in 2008. A two year “Quest for the Podium” conductor search began, auditioning guest conductors for the position. Timothy Hankewich, Bradley Thachuk, John Morris Russell, and Diane Wittry each conducted one Masterworks and one POPS! concert, and feedback was solicited from both the audience and musicians.  In 2010, Bradley Thachuk was announced as the next (and current) conductor.

collage of musicians during concerts

Musicians Collage

The spring of 2015 marked the orchestra’s final season of performances at the Sean O’Sullivan Theatre at the Brock University Centre for the Arts and the end of NSO’s 16-year residency there. In the fall of 2015 the City of St. Catharines opened the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre in the heart of the downtown core, and the NSO moved all its concerts to the new facility. This exciting venue offered two beautiful purpose-built, acoustically engineered concert halls that supported and enhanced the orchestra’s sound as never before.  Now in his sixth season, Bradley Thachuk has worked to expand the orchestra’s programming and take full advantage of these new venues, to include five grand Masterworks, 2 intimate Masterworks, four POPS! Programmes, and three Classical Family programmes. For the first time in several decades, the Niagara Symphony Orchestra once again had a tangible presence in the newly-vibrant heart of the city.

The 2015/2016 concert season, the orchestra’s inaugural year in the new performing arts centre, also marked the first time the NSO had an artist-in-residence. Canadian Pianist and composer Stewart Goodyear was featured in 4 performances, and composed a specially commissioned piece for the NSO to perform. Mr. Goodyear opened his season with the NSO (and our first in the new performing arts centre) with a marathon of 5 Beethoven Piano Concerti performing this tour-de-force concert twice in 23 hours!  Music Director Bradley Thachuk also made a firm commitment to Canadian artists, programming compositions by John Estacio, Kevin Lau, Roydon Tse, Oskar Morawetz and Abigail Richardson. The NSO has also welcomed nationally and internationally renowned guests such as James Ehnes and Chantal Kreviazuk.

Stewart Goodyear plays piano with orchestra

Stewart Goodyear, Artist-in-Residence

During this decade the Niagara Symphony Orchestra further developed its corporate partnerships and individual philanthropy, and deepened its engagement in the community with more outreach initiatives and education programming.  The NSO marks its 70th anniversary season in the 2017/2018 season, celebrations that coincide perfectly with Canada’s sesquicentennial.

Headshot of Bradley Thachuk

Bradley Thachuk, Conductor

Conductors:

  • Daniel Swift – 1999-2008
  • BradleyThachuk – 2010 – present
    • From Toronto
    • Studied guitar, french horn, and piano at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto
    • Joined us after a nine-year tenure as Associate Conductor with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic Orchestra
orchestra on stage during concert

NSO 2016

Ticket Prices:

2007 Subscriptions $150-$222 ($80-$126 4-concert)
Single Tickets $25-$37
Student $10 ($5 eyeGO for high school)
2016 Subscriptions $82-503 (subscriptions range from 3 concerts – 10 concerts)
Single Tickets $34-$69
Student $5 (high school eyeGO) $12 (under 15)
Pricing now varies by subscription type, as well as age (child, student, university student, Under 30, adult, and senior)