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Vancouver Symphony Orchestra’s next season will feature several concerts in Surrey, with a twist.
A new Surrey Sundays series brings afternoon concerts to Bell Performing Arts Centre starting at 3:30 p.m., in a change from the evening performances of the long-established Surrey Nights concerts.
The VSO’s 2025-26 season, announced April 1, will include five Surrey Sundays concerts at the Sullivan in-school theatre, plus two of the annual Traditional Christmas concerts there on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, with Andrew Crust conducting and Christopher Gaze hosting.
A highlight of the Surrey Sundays series is „The Music of James Bond“ (May 10, 2026), to feature vocalist Jimmie Herrod of America’s Got Talent and Pink Martini fame, in his Vancouver-area debut. Concert-goers can expect to hear Sean O’Loughlin-conducted songs from Thunderball and Goldfinger and other Bond favourites, plus hits from Austin Powers, Mission Impossible and Pink Panther films, a VSO brochure notes.
The four other afternoon performances are Beethoven Piano Concertos (Sept. 21, with guest pianist Behzod Abduraimov), Faure’s Requiem (Nov. 9, with Vancouver Chamber Choir and three guest vocalists), Tchaikovsky & Rachmaninoff (Jan. 25, 2026, featuring pianist Joyce Yang) and Ravel’s Bolero (March 1, 2026, percussionist Colin Currie).
The Surrey Sundays series continues to be endowed by Werner and Helga Höing, longtime VSO supporters who recently presented Höing Awards to 16 student-musicians at Surrey schools. The winners, honoured annually during the VSO’s annual spring concert at the Bell and listed on surreyschools.ca, each received $1,000 for their school music department.
The VSO’s 107th season will bring world-class musicians to Orpheum Theatre and other Vancouver-area venues for more than 150 concerts.
„This season, I’m especially excited to reunite with the legendary Yo-Yo Ma at the Orpheum in April 2026 for Elgar’s Cello Concerto,“ stated Otto Tausk, VSO music director.
„Our subscribers can anticipate a stellar lineup of guest soloists, including violinist Gil Shaham, pianist Hélène Grimaud, mezzo-soprano Rihab Chaieb, and countless others,“ he continued.
„Our London Drugs VSO Pops Series promises electrifying concerts featuring the iconic music of James Bond, Phil Collins, Disney, the disco era, and more. Meanwhile, Movie Nights with the VSO presented by TELUS bring Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters to life with a full orchestra, including Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Disney’s Encanto, and holiday favourites like Home Alone, Elf, The Holiday, and Hocus Pocus. And for families, our VSO Kids Concerts offer the perfect introduction to the magic of live orchestral music.“
Also of interest is „Brahms x Radiohead“ (Orpheum, March 21, 2026), billed as „an epic symphonic synthesis of Radiohead’s album OK Computer and the Brahm’s First Symphony,“ with Steve Hackman conducting. „The piece offers a reimagined experience of each work by seeing it through the lens of the other, exploring the explosive tension and deep pathos they have in common,“ the VSO advertises.
For series subscriptions, „early bird“ pricing ends June 3, and all tickets go on sale to the general public June 25. Details are posted on vancouversymphony.ca/25-26-season, or call 604-876-3434.
Tom Zillich
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