West Coast Symphony Orchestra
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westcoastsymphony.bsky.social
West Coast Symphony Orchestra
@westcoastsymphony.bsky.social
34 followers 96 following 35 posts
The West Coast Symphony is a community orchestra of exceptional quality, dedicated to the performance of a wide variety of orchestral repertoire for audiences throughout the Vancouver area. View the 2025-2026 Season: https://westcoastsymphony.ca/concerts
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westcoastsymphony.bsky.social
A choir brings so much Christmas spirit to the orchestra. A match made in the North Pole really.
youtube.com/shorts/X_NwZ... Hear the marvellous Vancouver Bach Choir, joining us for All Aboard for Christmas! 🚂🎶 If you come down early we’ll do our best to get you in! Dec 20, 8pm
A choir brings so much Christmas spirit to the orchestra. A match made in the North Pole really.
YouTube video by West Coast Symphony Orchestra
youtube.com
December 18, 2025 at 9:06 PM
westcoastsymphony.bsky.social
🌠 Happy holiday rehearsals.🎄
Associate Conductor Nick Urquhart leans over his score in a black and white photo. He is holding a pencil in his right hand and is conferring with Harp soloist Rita Costanzi who is just off camera. It looks like an artsy old archival photo. A portrait of a pretty poodle. She is wearing a blue harness that has a West Coast Symphony logo patch attached with a second patch that reads "Keava" (her name) with the words "Support Poodle" underneath. Her expression is of longing, to be home, to have pets or to be fed, no one knows. Her hair is almost golden to look at. Associate Conductor Bryan Deans works on Polar Express with the orchestra and soloist wearing what looks like a conductor's hat with Mickey Mouse ears. How fun. His face has a friendly, goofy smile as he waves his baton. Associate Conductor Nick Urquhart works with harp soloist Rita Costanzi on repertoire details just before going in to the full orchestra rehearsal.
December 16, 2025 at 9:19 PM
westcoastsymphony.bsky.social
BTS… Rita Costanzi, harp soloist. She had us transfixed from the moment she plucked the first string.

Enjoy this short clip from rehearsal:
youtube.com/shorts/E-umZ...
#harp #orchestra #classicalmusic
BTS… Rita Costanzi, harp. She had us transfixed from the moment she plucked the first string. #harp
YouTube video by West Coast Symphony Orchestra
youtube.com
December 15, 2025 at 8:05 PM
westcoastsymphony.bsky.social
ALL ABOARD FOR CHRISTMAS!

We have a classic and cozy evening planned for Dec 20th!

Admission by donation.

All reserved places for this concert are now sold out.
There will be a limited number of places available at the door. Reserved seat holders should arrive before 7:50 or they may lose seats.
ALL ABOARD FOR CHRISTMAS! We have a classic and cozy evening planned for Dec 20th! Program: FRANZ XAVER GRUBER: Silent Night LAURA NOBILI: Twelfth Night Overture GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL: Harp Concerto in B-flat, Op. 4, No. 6* MARCEL SAMUEL-ROUSSEAU: Variations pastorales sur un vieux Noël* RALPH VAUGHAN-WILLIAMS: English Folk Song Suite, Third Movement: March "Folk Songs from Somerset" SERGEI PROKOFIEV: Lieutenant Kijé Suite, Op.60, Fourth Movement: "Troika" JOHANN STRAUSS II: Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka, Op. 214 LEROY ANDERSON: A Christmas Festival ALAN SILVESTRI: The Polar Express Orchestral Suite** SING-ALONG CAROLS** *Rita Costanzi, Harp Soloist **With singers from the Vancouver Bach Choir Bryan Deans, Associate Conductor Nicholas Urquhart, Associate Conductor CHRIST CHURCH CATHEDRAL 690 Burrard Street, Vancouver Saturday, December 20, 2025 at 8:00pm Doors open at 7:30 pm Admission by donation. All reserved places for this concert are now sold out. There will be a limited number of places available at the door. Please consider coming anyway, unclaimed seats are given away at 7:50pm. If you miss this concert, please join us for our first concert of 2026 on February 7th.
December 10, 2025 at 12:00 AM
westcoastsymphony.bsky.social
A wonderfully growing community. It is so refreshing to be here on Bluesky now. 🎶 Let's make the world more beautiful every day!
doodlyroses.com 🎹 sharon su @doodlyroses.com · Oct 17
There are far many more people on classical music Bluesky than could fit in a starter pack, but for those of you new here from the bad place, this is a good place to start!

go.bsky.app/2zsLk8b
November 25, 2025 at 3:24 AM
westcoastsymphony.bsky.social
What a pleasure it was to have Barry Tan as our piano soloist for French Masterworks under the masterful baton of Maestro Bujar Llapaj.

West Coast Symphony was thrilled and honoured to present such an exciting program to our wonderfully warm audience. Thank you for being there with us.
Maestro Bujar Llapaj stands with piano soloist Barry Tan in front of the violin section of the orchestra. Barry is the tall one and Bujar has the white bow tie. Beside them sits a 9 foot Steinway and Sons Piano. The setting is in the Christ Church Cathedral in downtown Vancouver Canada. Barry is holding a bouquet of flowers in his left hand which should probably be tried by now since he just played a whole concert using only his left hand, yes that one by Ravel. Barry is sitting at the grand piano but not touching it, the orchestra is poised behind him. You can almost hear the silent anticipation in the photo.
November 25, 2025 at 12:15 AM
westcoastsymphony.bsky.social
Caught up last night with our piano soloist Barry Tan for a fun chat. See you all on Saturday!
Watch: youtube.com/shorts/VDsqM... #classicalmusic
Barry Tan, renowned pianist, smiling, with a caption that reads: Meeting Barry Tan. He is wearing a blue sweater and looks goofy and cute. Behind his left shoulder is a flower decoration. The linked video includes an interview and performance clip.
November 14, 2025 at 8:48 PM
westcoastsymphony.bsky.social
Wow. When one of us (two in this case-Anita and Steven) has a birthday, West Coast does its “classic” rendition of the song. We thought they had forgotten—until this happened…

Props to Steven for deflecting the blow with a rip on Ravel’s Bolero (even kept with the French Masterworks theme lol).
🥳
November 13, 2025 at 8:19 PM
westcoastsymphony.bsky.social
When Paul Wittgenstein was wounded in the First World War it cost him, a concert pianist, his right arm. Undeterred after recovery he commissioned works exclusively for the left hand from many contemporary composers at the time.
Black and white photo of Paul Wittgenstein pictured sitting at a piano staring at the keys which he is touching with his left hand. He has glasses, is clean shaved and has a short buzz hair cut. He is wearing a suit with a striped tie. The picture faces his left side so you cannot see that he is missing his right arm from his injuries sustained in World War I
November 11, 2025 at 10:36 PM
westcoastsymphony.bsky.social
French horns are our anchor whenever we feel lost at sea. ⚓️ 🌊
BTS: youtube.com/shorts/-uucC...

Come and hear Debussy’s La Mer performed by @westcoastsymphony conducted by Bujar Llapaj Sat. Nov. 15th, 8pm at Christ Church Cathedral, Vancouver.

TIX: www.eventbrite.ca/e/french-mas... #impressionism
French horns are our anchor whenever we feel lost at sea. ⚓️ 🌊
YouTube video by West Coast Symphony Orchestra
youtube.com
November 10, 2025 at 8:02 PM
westcoastsymphony.bsky.social
BONJOUR DEBUSSY! The flowing, rippling textures in La Mer wash over us, wave after wave. It is a work both stormy and calm like the many aspects of the sea.

Come hear this gorgeous music at our Nov 15th concert French Masterworks!

📍Christ Church Cathedral
🎟️ www.eventbrite.ca/e/french-mas... #yvr
November 7, 2025 at 5:56 PM
westcoastsymphony.bsky.social
Sectionals is when each section of the orchestra assembles to work out all the subtle parts of the music on a smaller scale so when they return all together the whole ensemble sounds better and tighter. www.youtube.com/shorts/3_rUp...
Enjoy these little snippets of FRENCH MASTERWORKS on Nov 15th!
Sectionals for French Masterworks #classicalmusic #vancouver #behindthescenes
YouTube video by West Coast Symphony Orchestra
www.youtube.com
November 5, 2025 at 6:35 PM
westcoastsymphony.bsky.social
NEXT CONCERT: French Masterworks
Saturday, November 15 at 8 PM
Christ Church Cathedral

Join Maestro Llapaj, the orchestra, and piano soloist Barry Tan as we journey through four French masterpieces in one unforgettable evening!

See program below:
Concert poster with a picture of the orchestra and Maestro Bujar Llapaj, Soloist Barry Tan and Assistant conductor. Details for the concert and a QR code are also displayed.
October 30, 2025 at 5:39 PM
westcoastsymphony.bsky.social
Our first concert this season was dedicated to Cathy Petry, a much loved member of the West Coast family.

IN MEMORIAM: CATHY PETRY

Cathy Petry was born in New Westminster, BC in 1954. She married Ken on May 26, 1985. The next day they moved onto their sailboat.
A happy woman sits in her wheelchair by the marina in Vancouver. Her name was Cathy Petry and she was an important member of our symphonic family.
October 21, 2025 at 9:38 PM
westcoastsymphony.bsky.social
Enjoy these highlights from A Night of Opera, our wonderful season opening concert featuring Chloé Hurst, soprano and Aaron Durand, baritone. 💐

Watch --> youtube.com/shorts/WJlqW...

Including clips from Mozart's The Magic Flute, Lehár's The Merry Widow and Leoncavallo's Pagliacci.

#classicalmusic
A photo still taken from the video linked in the post. Hightlights from recent concert. In the phot a soprno sings while looking into the eyes of a baritone singing at her. They are holding hands in front of an orchestra. The word "highlights!" headlines across the photo, serving as a cover photo for the video. The video was a little too big to upload on bluesky hence the link to youtube. The soprano is wearing a gorgeous pink gown with layered tresses cascading down. Around her waist is a black ribbon tied in a bow. The baritone is wearing a black tuxedo with a black tie.
October 16, 2025 at 10:00 PM
westcoastsymphony.bsky.social
What an absolute treat it was to play with Chloé Hurst and Aaron Durand and the audience was so welcoming and warm. The duo’s incredible voices and onstage charisma charmed us all!

A brilliant start to a shiny and exciting season for West Coast Symphony! Thank you all for being there!
#orchestra
soloists Chloe Hurst and Arron Durand pose for a photo together during intermission. She is wearing a gorgeous pink dress with cool tresses and he is wearing a black tuxedo. Chloe Hurst announcing what the next opera excerpt is about. The duo singing while holding hands. Pa pa pa duet by Mozart from the Magic Flute The soloists stand with flowers in their hands in front of the orchestra withe Conductor Bujar Lllapaj smiling in between them.
October 8, 2025 at 9:53 PM
westcoastsymphony.bsky.social
It’s hard work being West Coast’s resident poodle!

See you all tonight for A Night of Opera featuring soprano Chloé Hurst and baritone Aaron Durand of Opera 101 Vancouver.

🪄Maesto Bujar Llapaj
🪄Assistant Conductor Ethan Tong
📍Christ Church Cathedral 690 Burrard Street
🕗8pm TONIGHT!
October 4, 2025 at 11:48 PM
westcoastsymphony.bsky.social
Lovely chat with soprano Chloé Hurst learning about her musical background and collaboration with baritone Aaron Durand for Opera 101. Watch: youtube.com/shorts/smZnm...
This season opening concert is THIS Sat Oct 4th @ 8pm. Tickets: www.eventbrite.com/e/1573739169... #classicalmusic
Lovely conversation with Chloé Hurst. Join us October 4th! #soprano #opera #vocalartist
YouTube video by West Coast Symphony Orchestra
youtube.com
October 2, 2025 at 8:35 PM
westcoastsymphony.bsky.social
In just a few days we officially open our season with A Night of Opera! Featuring the wonderfully talented Aaron Durand, Baritone and Chloé Hurst, Soprano singing a collection of works both fun and moving. Christ Church Cathedral Saturday October 4th at 8pm. Tix -> www.eventbrite.com/e/a-night-of...
October 1, 2025 at 11:49 PM
westcoastsymphony.bsky.social
Had a wonderful chat with our baritone soloist Aaron Durand this week. Watch: youtube.com/shorts/Kg9xB... He and soprano Chloé Hurst will be delighting our audiences this Saturday October 4th, 8pm.
Tickets still available and going quick, reserve a spot today!
🎟️ www.eventbrite.com/e/1573739169...
Had a wonderful chat with our baritone soloist Aaron Durand. Join us Oct 4th! #opera #vancouver
YouTube video by West Coast Symphony Orchestra
youtube.com
September 29, 2025 at 10:43 PM
westcoastsymphony.bsky.social
ANNOUNCING: West Coast Symphony’s 2025-2026 Concert Season has begun! 🎶

First up: A Night of Opera - Oct 4th, 8pm at Christ Church Cathedral (690 Burrard) feat:
Chloé Hurst, Soprano
Aaron Durand, Baritone @halfwaymonk.bsky.social
Bujar Llapaj, Conductor
Tix: www.eventbrite.com/e/1573739169...
September 24, 2025 at 6:56 PM