Yannick Nézet-Séguin Will Embark on Tour of Canada

The performances in Canada will take place in Toronto, Ottawa, and Nézet-Séguin’s hometown of Montreal.

By: Stephi Wild Mar. 08, 2024

Music and Artistic Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin will lead The Philadelphia Orchestra on a Tour of Canada—their first trip together to his home country—plus two concerts in Ann Arbor, Michigan, April 17–21, 2024. The performances in Canada will take place in Toronto, Ottawa, and Nézet-Séguin’s hometown of Montreal, where the Orchestra will be presented by the Orchestre Métropolitain, which Nézet-Séguin also leads as artistic director and principal conductor.

“It is always a privilege to travel with my beloved Philadelphia Orchestra, and this tour has special significance for me,” said Music and Artistic Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin. “I am excited for my American family to be hosted by my Canadian family, and for us to share in the power of music, especially through the works of Florence Price and Sergei Rachmaninoff, who are both so important to me and to the Orchestra.”

The Philadelphia Orchestra first performed in Montreal 100 years ago, in February 1924. That visit was scheduled to also include a stop in Ottawa, but the performance was cancelled due to a blizzard, and the Orchestra did not return to Ottawa until 1945. The Orchestra first performed outside the United States when it traveled to Toronto in 1918, led by Music Director Leopold Stokowski.

The Orchestra also has a long history in Ann Arbor, where it first performed in 1913 under Stokowski. From 1936 to 1984, the Orchestra appeared annually as the resident orchestra of the University of Michigan’s May Festival.

Throughout the tour, Nézet-Séguin and the Orchestra will perform repertoire with deep significance to them, including Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2 and Florence Price’s Symphony No. 4. On April 21 in Michigan, Nézet-Séguin will also lead the Orchestra in Brahms’s A German Requiem with the UMS Choral Union to conclude the University Musical Society’s 2023–24 season.

Sergei Rachmaninoff enjoyed a unique relationship with The Philadelphia Orchestra, which he called “the greatest orchestra in the world.” In 1909, he conducted his Second Symphony with the Philadelphians. He appeared several times as soloist with the Orchestra and composed many of his later works for the ensemble, including the Fourth Piano Concerto, the Third Symphony, the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, and the Symphonic Dances.

Nézet-Séguin and The Philadelphia Orchestra have been restoring, performing, and recording the works of Florence Price, winning their first GRAMMY® Award for “Best Orchestral Performance” in 2022 for the Deutsche Grammophon recording of Price’s First and Third Symphonies.

During the tour, Nézet-Séguin and musicians of the Orchestra will participate in a variety of additional activities, including master classes and coaching sessions with young musicians, community performances, connections with colleagues from the Orchestre Métropolitain, business and tourism events, and special events with United States Ambassador to Canada David L. Cohen.

The Philadelphia Orchestra’s 2024 Tour of Canada is made possible through the support of its tour sponsors, the Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development. The Orchestra is grateful to its tour partners, the U.S. Embassy and Consulates in Canada, and is a longstanding participant of the Arts Envoy Program of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

Tour Dates

April 17 at 8:00 PM—Wednesday evening
Koerner Hall, The Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto, Canada