Message from the Mayor
On behalf of the City of St. John’s, I am pleased to extend warm greetings to the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra as you launch your 2025/2026 season, Obsessed, Onstage, Onfire.
This year’s theme reflects the passion, dedication, and energy the NSO brings to our community year after year. Through inspiring performances, meaningful education programmes, and steadfast community engagement, the NSO continues to ignite a love of music that enriches the cultural fabric of our city.
My sincere thanks go to the musicians, staff, volunteers, patrons, and sponsors who make each season possible. Your commitment ensures that the symphony not only thrives, but also continues to inspire audiences of all ages.
On behalf of Council, I congratulate the NSO on another exciting season and wish you every success as you share your extraordinary talent with our community.
Warm regards, Danny Breen Mayor of St. John’s
Message from the Lieutenant Governor
As Honorary Patron of the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra, it is my great pleasure to extend greetings and very best wishes for the 2025-2026 season.
The NSO is a wonderful orchestra, which has served to cultivate and profile many of the exceptional artists we have in our province. The gift of the NSO’s rich orchestral music has become an integral part of the cultural fabric of Newfoundland and Labrador. Again this year, a variety of performances are planned, sure to delight audiences and inspire us all.
This season is the first under the artistic leadership of Music Director Simon Rivard. Congratulations on your new role, and welcome!
I hope you will enjoy the performances the NSO has in store this year. To everyone involved: the musicians, staff, crew, and all who have a hand in producing this season, I thank you and wish you the best.
Joan Marie J. Aylward, O.N.L Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland and Labrador
We acknowledge the province of Newfoundland and Labrador as the traditional territory of diverse Indigenous groups, and we acknowledge with respect the distinct histories and cultures of the Beothuk, Mi’kmaq, Innu, and Inuit of this province. We strive for respectful relationships with all the peoples of this province as we search for collective healing and true reconciliation and honour this beautiful land together.
SPRING POPS
THE
ONCE
April 16-17, 2026 • St. John’s Arts & Culture Centre
Martin MacDonald, conductor
The Once - Geraldine Hollett, Phil Churchill, Andrew Dale
PROGRAMME
English Folk Song Suite
All The Hours
I Can’t Live Without You
Before the Fall
Open Road
Gonna Get Good
Before You Land
The Town Where You Lived
Lost Are Found
Molly on the Shore
Goodnight
Song for Memory
Lead Me Lover
Oh You
A Round Again
The Bend
We Are All Running
Ralph Vaughan Williams
arr. Jim Duff
arr. Jim Duff
arr. Jim Duff
arr. Bill Brennan
arr. Bill Brennan
arr. Bill Brennan
arr. Bill Brennan
arr. Bill Brennan
INTERMISSION
Percy Grainger
arr. Bill Brennan
arr. Jim Duff
arr. Jim Duff
arr. Bill Brennan
arr. Jim Duff
arr. Bill Brennan
arr. Jim Duff
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CONDUCTOR MARTIN MACDONALD
Martin MacDonald is one of Canada’s most dynamic and outstanding conductors and has been awarded both the Heinz Unger Award and the Jean-Marie Beaudet Award for orchestral conducting. Martin has guest conducted extensively across Canada having worked with the orchestras of Toronto, National Arts Centre, Vancouver, Victoria, Kamloops, Edmonton, Calgary, Regina, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Hamilton, Kingston, Kitchener-Waterloo, London, Niagara, Sudbury, Thunder Bay, Windsor, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland. He has served as a Cover and Guest Conductor for the National Ballet of Canada for several productions, and has worked with the Minnesota Ballet, Atlantic Ballet, and Halifax Dance. Martin has recorded extensively for the CBC and for several commercial recordings.
Martin has a Master’s degree in Orchestral Conducting from McGill University. At McGill, he studied conducting with Alexis Hauser, served as assistant conductor to the McGill Symphony Orchestra, and worked with both Opera McGill and the McGill Contemporary Music Ensemble as well as several other orchestral and chamber music activities. Martin has a Bachelor’s degree in Cello from Memorial University. Martin further studied conducting with Bernhard Gueller, Boris Brott, and Michael Jinbo; and in workshops with Kenneth Kiesler, Gustav Meier, Jorma Panula, and Johannes Schlaefli. Martin’s conducting activities have been generously supported by the Canada Council for the Arts. As a cellist, Martin has performed extensively with many orchestras and chamber music ensembles throughout Canada. Martin resides in Toronto, Ontario with his wife, Kristen and their daughter, Frances.
VIOLIN 1
Heather Kao (concertmaster)
Dominic Greene (asst. concertmaster)
Andy Kao
Anastasia Kiseleva
Whit Fitzgerald
Claire Boudreau
Rachael Hammond
VIOLIN 2
Nancy Case-Oates (principal)
Elena Vigna
Ilyas Duissen
Jacquelyn Redmond
Sofiia Terzioglu
Valerie Hewson
Stewart Gillies
Cathy Beehan
VIOLA
Kate Read (principal)
Ema Shiroma-Chao
Chantelle Jubenville
Rosaura Aguilar
Mahina Graham-Laidlaw
CELLO
Nathan Cook (principal)
Amy Collyer-Holmes
Laura Ivany
Patrick Juenemann
Sydney Chislett
Katherine Shipley
MUSICIANS
BASS
Frank Fusari (principal)
Denise Lear
Nick Howlett
Mario Miranda
FLUTE
Sarah Comerford (principal)
Gillian Morrissey
OBOE/ ENGLISH HORN
Annie Corrigan (principal)
CLARINET
Glenn Rice (principal)
Harry Zheng
BASSOON
Grant Etchegary (principal)
Nicole Hand
Chris Williams
HORN
Emily Dunsmore (principal)
Doug Vaughan
Hannah Gaultois
David Natsheh
TRUMPET
Katie Sullivan (principal)
Jill Dawe
Christian Berglander
TROMBONE
Darren McDonald (principal)
Erin Sullivan
BASS TROMBONE
Andrew Cooper (principal)
TUBA
Catherine Tansley (principal)
PERCUSSION
Rob Power (principal)
Etienne Gendron
Jenna Grant
J Benson
KEYBOARD
Bill Brennan
DRUMS
Scott Mansfield
GUITAR
Brad Jefford
BASS
Frank Fusari
GUEST ARTISTS
The Once - A modern indie folk trio from Newfoundland, The Once have collected a trio of Canadian Folk Music Awards, numerous ECMA awards, and was named Artist of the Year by the Newfoundland & Labrador Arts Council. They have earned not one, but two JUNO nominations for Roots Album of the Year and continue to take their music around the world.With the release of 2024’s Out Here, The Once have delivered a thoughtful and playful assembly of songs mingling their musical roots from Newfoundland along with folk, bluegrass, country, Americana, and modern indie rock. Members Geraldine Hollett, Andrew Dale, and Phil Churchill have created a sound representative of their home province of Newfoundland while pushing the boundaries on the great Canadian songbook with their soothing vocal harmony and acoustically rich core.
Lyrically, The Once’s newest collection of songs encompass an arresting sense of loss with the
belief that the good can be found in all people, and a desire to bring it out here for everyone to enjoy. A ray of hope in a confusing time. A port in a storm. A provocation with a grin.
This material is soaked with the poetic charm and sunny sadness of the trio’s collective disposition. Written across Newfoundland and recorded in the band’s GingerBeard House studio the band took their time creating this record. “Sometimes music takes a while to flow”, Geraldine Hollett explains. “If you don’t panic and instead surround yourself with people who love you that you can trust, magic can happen.”
Maestro’s Mixer Sponsors
UPCOMING CONCERTS
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NSO Staff
Simon Rivard, Music Director
Martin MacDonald, Principal Pops Conductor
Hugh Donnan, CEO
Lynn Ann Pye, Patron Relations
Jennifer Brennan, Education & Outreach Coordinator
Susan Kelsey, Marketing & Event Manager
Dominic Greene, Personnel Manager
Steve Power, Production Manager/Video Production/Editing
Jenny Griffioen, Librarian
Kyle McDavid, Graphic Designer
NSO Board
Jessica Chapman (Chair)
Michelle Davis (Vice-Chair)
Tom Hickey (Past Chair)
Douglas Wright (Treasurer)
Robert Thompson (Corporate Secretary)
Philip Harrington
Eleanor Swanson
Heather McKinnon
Andrea Rose
Duncan Fitzpatrick
Glenn Colton
Alana Walsh-Giovannini
Aimee Letto
Robert Decker
Jennifer Massey
Jing Xia
Karen Bulmer
Chris Williams
Amanda Hann
Charlie Byrne
Andrii Shyshkin
Beth Porter
