Rafael Payare Conducts Mahler’s Symphony No. 7

Admired for the powerful intensity of her playing, violinist Simone Lamsma will join the OSM in a performance of Szymanowski’s Violin Concerto no. 1. Based on the Polish poem “May Night,” the piece exudes a contemplative atmosphere. A nighttime mood also pervades Mahler’s Seventh Symphony right through to its resolution in a luminous finale. This astonishingly modern work attests to the composer’s pioneering spirit.

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Admired for the powerful intensity of her playing, violinist Simone Lamsma will join the OSM in a performance of Szymanowski’s Violin Concerto no. 1. Based on the Polish poem “May Night,” the piece exudes a contemplative atmosphere. A nighttime mood also pervades Mahler’s Seventh Symphony right through to its resolution in a luminous finale. This astonishingly modern work attests to the composer’s pioneering spirit.

Artists

Orchestre symphonique de Montréal

Rafael Payare, conductor

Simone Lamsma, violin

Works

Szymanowski, Violin Concerto no. 1, op. 35 (26 min.)

Intermission (20 min.)

Mahler, Symphony no. 7 in E minor (77 min.)

Total duration 120 minutes
Rafael Payare

Rafael Payare

Music and Artistic Director of the OSM

With his innate musicianship, gift for communication, and irresistibly joyous spirit, conductor Rafael Payare is Music and Artistic Director of both Canada’s Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (OSM) and California’s San Diego Symphony (SDSO), as well as Principal Conductor of Virginia’s Castleton Festival and Conductor Laureate of Northern Ireland’s Ulster Orchestra. Payare is celebrated for his expertise in late Romantic repertoire while also cultivating the next generation of composers with regular commissions and performances of new works. A veteran of Venezuela’s El Sistema program – in which he began playing horn at the age of 14 – and 2012 first prize winner at Denmark’s Malko Competition for Young Conductors, Payare remains dedicated to inspiring younger musicians, regularly working with youth orchestras and establishing mentorship programs like El Sistema OSM and the SDSO Conducting Fellowship. Payare resides in San Diego and Montreal with his wife, acclaimed cellist Alisa Weilerstein, and their two young children.