Details

•  Add to my calendar

    Add this event (add only this event to your calendar)
   Add ESO Season Calendar (add all ESO events in the 2010-11 Season)
    ESO Events RSS Feed (subscribe to our upcoming event RSS feed)
    ESO Events by Email (subscribe to our upcoming event feed by email)

Extraordinary feats of artistry return to the Winspear Centre, bringing a magically musical experience to our annual Gala. Showcasing many of the finest Cirque artists in the world, this extravaganza synchronizes the imaginative athleticism of aerial flyers, acrobats, contortionists, and strongmen, with the brilliance of the ESO performing beloved classical masterpieces. Be amazed, be awed, be stunned! Don’t miss this incredibly unique synergy of orchestral music, featuring the mighty sounds of the Davis Concert Organ, and the spectacle of Cirque.

Tickets include a pre-concert reception in the main lobby. Doors open at 6:30 PM.

*Limited tickets available. Please call the box office at 780-428-1414.*
Be sure to check out our performances with the Peking Acrobats on May 9 & 10, 2011.

Ticket Information

$125 Dress Circle Loges (A)
$110 Dress Circle (A)
$95 Terrace (B)
$75 Orchestra (C)
$65 Upper Circle (D)
$50 Gallery (E)
$75 Orchestra Front (F)
Tickets subject to applicable service charges. Sampler Pass vouchers cannot be redeemed for this event.

Thank you to our gala performance sponsors:
 &  

Program Information

HOLST

Artist Information

William Eddins, conductor

William Eddins is in his sixth season as Music Director of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. During his tenure, he has made it a priority that he conduct performances in nearly every subscription series the orchestra has presented, as well as a wide variety of special concerts and galas.

Bill Eddins began playing the piano at age five, but was bitten by the conducting bug while in his sophomore year at the Eastman School of Music. In 1989, he decided to begin conducting studies with Daniel Lewis at the University of Southern California. Assistant Conductorships with both the Minnesota Orchestra and the Chicago Symphony (the latter under the leadership of Daniel Barenboim) honed his skills even further.

Mr. Eddins has many interests outside music. He is fond of biking, tennis, reading, pinball, and cooking. He recently completed building his own recording studio at his home in Minneapolis, where he lives with his wife Jen (a clarinetist), and their sons Raef and Riley. While conducting has been his principal pursuit, he continues to perform on piano in Edmonton and elsewhere. He accepts a limited number of guest appearances each year. In 2008, he conducted a rare full staging of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess for Opéra de Lyon, which won him great acclaim, leading to a repeat engagement in Lyon in July and September 2010, as well as Edinburgh in August 2010, and in London in September 2010. During August 2009, Bill toured South Africa, conducting three gala concerts with soprano Renée Fleming and the kwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra.

---

Cirque de la Symphonie

Cirque de la Symphonie is an exciting new production designed to bring the magic of cirque to the music hall. It is an elegant adaptation of some of the most amazing cirque performances witnessed anywhere, and it showcases many of the best artists in the world. The audience is thrilled and bedazzled by aerial flyers, acrobats, contortionists, dancers, jugglers, balancers, and strongmen. These are some of the most accomplished veterans of exceptional cirque programs from across the globe. They include world record holders, gold-medal winners of international competitions, Olympians and some of the most original talent ever seen. Their performances are uniquely adapted to stage accommodations shared with the symphony, and each artist’s performance is choreographed to the music arrangement provided by the maestro. When the artists of Cirque de la Symphonie perform in front of the full orchestra, an incredible fusion of these two great art forms takes place. The aerialists and acrobats turn the concert into a three dimensional entertainment extravaganza, and the orchestra seems to play with enhanced enthusiasm. Veteran concert-goers and new patrons alike are thrilled by the exhilarating cirque performances and the majesty of the live symphony orchestra. 

Alexander Streltsov is a Russian aerial artist who started working with future Cirque du Soleil choreographer Pavel Brun and famed producer Valentin Gneushev when he was only twelve, performing on Broadway at the Gershwin Theater. The same year he won the gold medal in the competition among international cirque artists at the prestigious Festival Mondial Du Cirque De L'Avenir in Paris. His combination of natural strength, artistic expression, and grace sets his performance apart from other aerialists. Also known as “Sasha,” he has performed for three Russian presidents and the Bolshoi Ballet, numerous symphonies in the US and Europe, and elaborate theater and stage productions worldwide. He has made many television appearances, such as the star-studded ABC-TV special “Christopher Reeve- A Celebration of Hope” and the PBS nationwide broadcast of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s Fourth of July Celebration. He continues be a favorite at music halls, where he soars out over the audience in a spectacular display of aerial artistry or performs his riveting spinning cube act.

 

Christine Van Loo is a 7-time consecutive National Champion, Female Olympic Athlete of the Year, and Athlete of the Decade in acrobatic gymnastics. She was inducted into the USSA (acro-gymnastics) Hall of Fame and the World Acrobatics Society Gallery of Honor. As a professional aerialist and acrobat she has performed in the 2002 Winter Olympics, at two Grammy Awards (with No Doubt and with Ricky Martin), at the American Music Awards (with Aerosmith), the Miss Universe pageant, and Paul McCartney's European tour. She choreographed the aerials for Britney Spears World Tour and the Stars on Ice US tour. Christine provides spell-binding performances of static silks, aerial hoop, and duo trapeze with Cirque de la Symphonie.

 

The mind-boggling strength and agility of Jarek and Darek’s “Duo Design” provides one of the most powerful acts to be included in Cirque de la Symphonie’s captivating program. This dynamic and exciting balancing act consists of Jaroslaw Marciniak and Dariusz Wronski, former Polish national hand-balancing champions. They have competed and performed throughout Europe and the United States, winning championships in Evian, France and Sarasota, Florida. Over the past few years, these prolific performers have thrilled audiences at several NBA halftimes, Cirque du Soleil, Circus Circus, Busch Gardens, and the national tour of Cirque Ingenieux. Their Cirque de la Symphonie performances have left audiences stunned and amazed at music halls everywhere.

 

Aloysia Gavre is another incredible aerial performer from the Ecole National de Cirque, Montreal, with early training from Master Lu-Yi and the Pickle Family Circus School. Her aerial acrobatics and graceful maneuvers on the aerial hoop, suspended high above the stage, add three-dimensional excitement to the symphony and the music hall. Aloysia was the Special Prize Winner at the International Circus Festival in Monte Carlo. A veteran of stage and theater performances worldwide, Aloysia is best known as a veteran of Cirque du Soleil’s “Quidam” and “O.” Her five years with Quidam established her as one of the best aerial artists in the world, and today she shares that experience with others as choreographer for Cirque Mechanics and Troupe Vertigo and as director of Cirque School in Los Angeles. Aloysia’s regular performances with Cirque de la Symphonie and live orchestras take aerial acrobatics to a new level.

 

Vladimir Tsarkov provides a spell-binding performance with combinations of mime and juggling feats. A favorite of the younger members of the audiences, Vladimir’s Red Harlequin act features rings, balls, and batons, and he’s even been known to teach the maestro a trick or two! He is a veteran of Circus Circus, Cirque Ingenieux, and various Cirque de la Symphonie performances. Vladimir graduated from Russia’s prestigious State College of Circus and Theater Arts and won the gold medal at the Cirque de Demain International Festival in France. His performance with the symphony is pure entertainment and guaranteed to please audiences of all ages.

 

Elena Tsarkova, the “Lady in White,” is a graduate of the famed Moscow Circus School and first-place winner of the prestigious National Russian Circus Festival.  From her “Master of Sports” in gymnastics, Elena developed into a unique and graceful performer with the Big Apple Circus, Switzerland’s Circus Knie, and Germany’s Circus Roncalli. Her combination of contortion, balance, and graceful dance moves has made her a major star with Cirque de la Mur in Florida and Circus Circus in Las Vegas. Elena’s experience with many major stage and theater productions offers a professional background that allows for a truly unforgettable performance with the live symphony. The “Lady in White” provides an elegant touch to Cirque de la Symphonie.

 

Elena Lev began her training to become a rhythmic gymnast at an early age, and simultaneously formed a hula hoop act while still very young. A veteran performer with Cirque du Soleil’s Alegría and Quidam touring shows, Elena also appeared in the film “Alegría.” She has also appeared with Il Circo, the Birdhouse Factory and other productions. She is widely regarded as the best hoops act in the world, with an act that combines unbelievable feats of contortion, hoop spinning, and dance.  Her appearances have included the Academy Awards, The Tonight Show, Good Morning America, the American Music Awards, the NFL Show at the Superdome, and numerous other international productions. Elena was a silver medalist at the Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain in Paris, and also medaled in the International Art Festival in China and the Fuji competitions in Tokyo. Elena’s performances with Cirque de la Symphonie elevate her act to a new art form, fusing her mastery of movements to the elegance and power of the full symphony orchestra.

 

Janice Martin is a brilliant classical solo violinist, who brings multiple talents to Cirque de la Symphonie. She has won competitions such as the Washington International Competition and the Lena Na International Competition and was recipient of the Amadeus Career Grant Award and the Career Award Grant from the National Endowment of the Arts. In addition to being a concert violinist, opera singer and classical pianist, Janice has become a cirque artist as well. This “supergirl” may be suspended in the air on silk fabrics or an aerial hoop, while playing a solo on her violin. Janice has built an esteemed reputation internationally, playing in such concert halls as The Chicago Cultural Center, Carnegie and Lincoln Center’s Tully Hall in NYC, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, The Great Hall at Canberra, Australia, and the House of Culture in Czech Republic. Janice has been a solo artist with many orchestras around the world, but her performances with Cirque de la Symphonie add another dimension to the live concert, as she single-handedly fuses cirque with symphony.

 

Multimedia

Cirque de la Symphonie performing with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra: