70th Anniversary
an opportunity to donate
The Cowichan Symphony Society has been presenting live classical, symphonic, and pop music concerts for the last 70 years, designed to advance, encourage, and promote Canadian performers and composers. World-class musicians from Canada and around the world have entertained our audiences every year with exceptional performances of music by the world’s greatest composers. Each year for over 30 years, the Society has presented live Educational Concerts to over 1400 students in the Cowichan Valley. The Society established an Endowment Fund early in its history, which annually helps to ensure that these programs can continue.
To celebrate the 70th anniversary of live music, the Society is offering Anniversary Buttons for donations going directly into the Endowment Fund. For $70 (or $1 for every year of music) you will receive a Bronze Button; for $350 (or $5 for every year of performances) you will receive a Silver Button; and for $700 (or $10 for every year of world-class presentations) you will receive a Gold Button. Since all of your donations go into the Endowment Fund, you will be helping to support the next 70 years of live music in the Cowichan Valley. And you will receive a Tax Receipt for your donation. And if you receive a silver or gold button before the July 20th Wine and Opera 70th Anniversary Concert, you will receive a complimentary ticket to that event at the Cherry Point Winery.
Help support the Cowichan Symphony Society the bringer of live symphonic music by donating for your Anniversary Buttons, which will be available throughout the 70th Anniversary year
All donations toward this worthwhile endeavor are gratefully accepted and receive a tax receipt.
You can donate to the Cowichan Symphony Society in a number of ways:
1. Use Canada Helps on our website
2. Use Interac e-Transfer to treasurer@cowichansymphonysociety.ca (autodeposit)
3. Or mail a cheque to:
The Cowichan Symphony Society
P. O. Box 732
Duncan, B.C. V9L 3Y1
- Donors are acknowledged in each symphony programme.
- You can also donate to the Cowichan Symphony Society Endowment Fund. In this case, your donation is deposited with the Vancouver Foundation, and every year the interest is used by the Society to fund our important programs. Please visit https://vancouverfoundation.ca/cowichan-symphony-society
The Cowichan Symphony Society was founded in 1955, and in July, 2025, we will present a special 70th Birthday Celebration Concert!
Your donation keeps giving to the Society every year, hopefully for the next 70 years, and longer.
Support Live Symphonic Music in the Cowichan Valley, and these Educational Concerts, with a donation today.
Thank you.
The Volunteer Board of Directors
Concert Season 2025-2026
Victoria Symphony
Saturday September 27, 2025 at 7:30 pm
Cowichan Performing Arts Centre
Christian Kluxen conductor
Josh Hopkins baritone *
Russell Bajer English Horn +
Sibelius Symphony No. 7 in C Major
https://www.youtube.com/embed/Bi9QiDrJJmw?si=KoAlXPszDmOBu2Qc
(opens in YouTube)
Heggie / Margaret Atwood Songs for Murdered Sisters *
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=WXSGdQHAfjE&si=B0hBJshpHD-khRR_
Sibelius The Swan of Tuonela +
https://www.youtube.com/embed/w5xJAOlXdUI?si=Hh-a_L6ZlZWnrBto
(opens in YouTube)
Sibelius Symphony No. 6 in D minor
https://www.youtube.com/embed/SIcjeoRLcoE?si=k9Vcb6F_92JfgHmC
(opens in YouTube)
Programme Description:
Ten years following the tragic death of his sister, opera star Joshua Hopkins showcases a powerful song cycle that honours her memory and comforts those who are in grief. Co-commissioned by the National Arts Centre Orchestra and Houston Grand Opera, composer Jake Heggie sets poetry by Margaret Atwood in a moving musical work that speaks out against domestic violence. Music of Sibelius balances the program with works of sublime beauty and pastoral comfort.
2. Victoria Symphony
Saturday November 15, 2025 at 7:30 pm
Cowichan Performing Arts Centre
Christian Kluxen conductor
Terence Tam violin *
Unsuk Chin, Subito con forza
Bartók, Violin Concerto No. 2 *
Beethoven, Symphony No. 3 “Eroica”
Programme Description:
Three heroic works are featured, beginning with Subito con forza, by South Korea’s Unsuk Chin. Her orchestral miniature, is “haunted by Beethovenian gestures…amid Chin’s own exquisite orchestral palette – icy shivers of strings, rasping woodwind and ghostly muted trumpets” (The Guardian). In producing his Violin Concerto No. 2, Bartók followed in the footsteps of Beethoven and Brahms with a work that quickly became championed by Yehudi Menuhin – here played by the VS’s Concertmaster Terence Tam. Beethoven’s monumental Third Symphony was bigger and longer than anything that preceded it – and it remains a colossus of the musical literature.
3. Victoria Baroque
January 18, 2026 at 2pm
Brentwood College, Mill Bay
Mireille Asselin soprano
Jesse Blumberg baritone
Programme Description:
“Of Gods and Men” this program will take you on a tour through the great love stories of ancient mythology brought to life by the music of Handel, Purcell, and Rameau.
4. Victoria Symphony
Saturday March 28, 2026 at 7:30pm
Cowichan Performing Arts Centre
Christian Kluxen conductor
Andreas Brantelid cello *
Mendelssohn Symphony No. 3 “Scottish”
Beethoven Egmont Overture
Prokofiev Sinfonia Concertante *
Programme Description:
The misty and melancholy atmosphere of Edinburgh’s Holyrood Palace provided the initial inspiration for Mendelssohn’s “Scottish” Symphony. Its triumphant finale parallels the conclusion of Beethoven’s Egmont – a tragedy that ends in victory. The Sinfonia Concertante is one of Prokofiev’s final works, created in consultation with soloist Mstislav Rostropovich. It is one of the most demanding works in the cello repertoire. To interpret it, Christian Kluxen welcome his outstanding Danish compatriot, Andreas Brantelid.
SPONSOR PROGRAM
The Cowichan Symphony Society is a non-profit, all volunteer association
promoting classical music in the Cowichan Valley for the last 70 years. In
partnership with the Victoria Symphony, Victoria Baroque, and other orchestras,
we organize and promote a series of four live concerts annually. In addition, the
Society presents two educational concerts for 1,500 students in the Cowichan
Valley.
The cost to produce each concert is often $18,000 or more, and ticket sales only
cover 60% of the costs. The Society works hard to keep these concerts accessible
and affordable to the general public and students. To do this, the Society relies on
donations, sponsorships, and advertising.
We invite you to contribute to our live symphonic program by advertising in our
programmes and brochures. All ads are in colour, are professionally printed, and
reach more than 3,000 patrons each year.