Hornist Jamie Sommerville and Symphony Nova Scotia

Hornist Jamie Sommerville conducts and performs with Symphony Nova Scotia in Halifax, Wolfville and Liverpool

Halifax, NS ’Äì Jamie Sommerville, principal horn with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and music director of the Hamilton Philharmonic, joins his former colleagues at Symphony Nova Scotia for four performances featuring music by Mozart, Sibelius, and Canadian composer Gary Kulesha.

First, Sommerville will perform on Thursday, April 2 at 7:30 pm at the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium in Halifax. Then, he and the orchestra will travel to Liverpool on Friday, April 3 to perform at the Astor Theatre at 7:30 pm. On Saturday, April 4, they will perform in Wolfville's Festival Theatre at 8:00 pm; and then on Sunday, April 5, they return to the Rebecca Cohn in Halifax for a Sunday afternoon encore performance at 2 pm.

Sommerville was once the principal hornist with Symphony Nova Scotia, and this will be his first "homecoming" as conductor. "It's tremendously exciting for me to come back to the Rebecca Cohn stage after so many years away," he says. "I have such great memories of my years playing in Symphony Nova Scotia, and of life in Halifax, but most of all, the passion and talent of my colleagues in the orchestra.

"For this, my first re-appearance here as a conductor (though with horn in tow!), I have chosen a program that, above all else, features the Symphony's fantastic musicians. They are all pieces I've come to love, and I'm so looking forward to bringing the audience along as we discover them together."

All four performances will feature Sommerville in Mozart's Horn Concerto no. 3 on French horn, and Symphony no. 38 "Prague" as conductor. He will also conduct Sibelius' incidental music for the play Pellˆ©as et Melisande and Canadian composer Gary Kulesha's Beethoven-inspired Symphony no. 3. Kulesha will actually be traveling to Nova Scotia to attend the performance.

Get your tickets now! Tickets for the Halifax performances are available at 494.3820 or 1.800.874.1669, or at www.SymphonyNovaScotia.ca. Tickets for the Liverpool performance are available at 902.354.5250 or www.astortheatre.ns.ca, and tickets for the Wolfville performance are available at 902.542.5500 or 1.800.542.TICK (8425).

While in Nova Scotia, Jamie will also be leading two masterclasses. The first will be on Monday, March 30 at 6 pm at Dalhousie University's Arts Centre, Room 406. Tickets are $15 ($10 for students and seniors) and are available at the Music Department and at the door. The second will be on Saturday, April 4 at 1 pm at Acadia University's Festival Theatre. Tickets are $15 and are available by calling 421.1300, ext. 229.

About Jamie Sommerville

Jamie Sommerville joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra as principal horn in January 1998. As a former hornist for the Toronto Symphony, the Montreal Symphony, the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra, Symphony Nova Scotia, and as acting solo horn of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, he has traveled throughout the globe and recorded extensively as an orchestral player. Sommerville is heard regularly on the CBC network in various chamber music combinations, and has recorded the entire standard horn repertoire for broadcast over the past 20 years. He maintains an active and growing conducting career, presenting a full season of subscription and educational concerts in Hamilton each year.

About Symphony Nova Scotia
Expect the Unexpected with Symphony Nova Scotia ’Äì from Baroque to Berlioz to bluegrass! Each year the 37-member ensemble performs for more than 40,000 audience members (including 14,000 young music lovers) in communities across Nova Scotia. Under the inspirational leadership of Bernhard Gueller, Symphony Nova Scotia is recognized as one of the finest orchestras in the country. Join the orchestra in celebrating its 25th anniversary this season!

Symphony Nova Scotia is grateful to the Canada Council for the Arts, Nova Scotia Tourism, Culture, and Heritage, and the Halifax Regional Municipality for their continued support.

This concert is generously sponsored by Women for Music.