The Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony announced in a terse Facebook post on Sunday evening the complete cancellation of its 2023-2024 season. The board of directors (CA) of the orchestra, of which adopted Montrealer Andrei Feher is the musical director, had warned the musicians a few hours before the decision, citing financial reasons.
“Scheduled concerts and all other orchestra activities for the 2023-24 season will not take place. Given the symphony’s financial situation, it was simply not possible for the organization to continue with planned events. We do not have any more information to share at this time, but we hope to be able to provide more information soon,” we can read on the Facebook page.
The cessation of activities also affects the youth orchestra. No other information is filtering from the organization based in the remote suburbs of Toronto.
According to information reported by the CTV network in Kitchener, members of the Youth Orchestra selected less than two weeks ago received an email on Friday reminding them to go to the rehearsal scheduled for Sunday. On Saturday, they received another message simply telling them that “the season would not start this week”.
Uncertainty
Everyone is uncertain about the very future of the orchestra. On social networks, musicians are wondering about what is planned for them. Same story from members of the administration. By email, they were promised a “zoom meeting” in the second part of the week. The orchestra’s telephone number is absent and Andrei Feher did not respond to our interview request.
The Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1945. It is a professional orchestra of around fifty musicians, employed for 38 weeks annually. It musically serves a population of 600,000 people in Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge, 100 kilometers from Toronto, with a population growth forecast of 700,000 for 2031. It is the third largest orchestra in Ontario behind the Symphony Orchestra of Toronto and the National Arts Center Orchestra of Ottawa.
Kitchener, a center of German immigration, which was called Berlin until 1916, is also known for its Oktoberfest and its universities. The emblematic conductor of its symphony orchestra was Raffi Armenian, musical director from 1971 to 1993. At the Montreal Conservatory, Armenian trained Andrei Feher, who has conducted the orchestra since 2018.
In January 2023, the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra appealed to Waterloo Region Council to request a special financial contribution due to the impacts of the pandemic.
Feher was to open the season on September 30 with cellist Johannes Moser as soloist and Bolero by Ravel as a climax.