There’s a joyous, energetic rhythm in Bob Bernhardt’s voice, the sound of a man eager to dive into the next project.
As musical director and conductor of the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera, and as the principal pops conductor of the Louisville Orchestra, you’d think juggling two batons would be a handful.
However, the charming Bernhardt returns for a fifth consecutive year as conductor at Edmonton Symphony Orchestra’s traditional fall opener Symphony Under the Sky.
Rather than just being another job, the affable conductor describes the four-day alfresco festival running in Hawrelak Park, Sept. 3 to 6 as, “a source of great gratification and delight.”
Together with ESO artistic administrator Rob McAlear, the two have cobbled together a popular musical extravaganza that will appeal to the tastes of its multi-generational audience.
Featured highlights are special guest artists, violinist Karen Gomyo and pianist Jim Witter along with guest conductor Claude Lapalme and Edmonton’s own Knock School of Irish Dance. The full-spectrum repertoire ranges from Celtic to Canadian, John Williams to Elton John and Bach to Brahms. The 52-piece orchestra also premieres St. Albert composer Sean Doherty’s new work Rainstorm on Monday during the Great Canadian Song Book.
“It’s a musical harvest, a bittersweet end to summer and an exciting launch to the main season. It really is a cornucopia,” says Bernhardt.
Opening the festival’s classical portion on Friday night is Bach, Beethoven and Brahms with Canadian sensation Karen Gomyo, an ESO favourite performing Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2 on her Stradivarius. “There is some very heavy lifting required. It’s a charmer and everyone will love it.”
Saturday afternoon shifts into a more populist mode with The Celtic Spirit, with a sampling of tunes from Felix Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture and Leroy Anderson’s Irish Suite. And of course, there will be traditional ballads and jigs ranging from My Wild Irish Rose to The Rakes of Mallow. “It will be a light and fun afternoon.”
Following the matinee concert is a family barbecue where ESO musicians flip burgers and serve beverages. The nominal $5 charge will go to support the ESO’s education programs.
Saturday evening is Bernhardt’s favourite portion of the program with a tribute to John Williams’ Greatest Hits. “He’s my idol. He’s my mentor,” explains Bernhard
Williams has scored music for an extraordinary 90 films and was Oscar nominated for about 40; films that ranged from Fiddler on the Roof, Superman, Jurassic Park and Harry Potter to Schindler’s List, Hook, Memoirs of a Geisha and Star Wars.
“John has an extraordinary gift for melody and makes it fit so beautifully in a film. As a composer there is no one like him. The prolific output, the variety, the atmosphere, the moods he creates. It’s an entire evening and nothing is repeated.”
Following on Sunday afternoon, Ontario-based Jim Witter takes the audience into a musical time machine of two of the greatest pop-rock songwriters of the 1970s in The Piano Men — The Music of Billy Joel and Elton John.
Wrapping up the festival on Sunday is guest conductor Claude Lapalme with music from the Great Canadian Song Book. Members of the 20th Field Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery once again return to supply the cannonades for Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture.
