SPO image, from SookePhil.ca

Sooke BC  — The Sooke Philharmonic Orchestra will release a new virtual concert on its website at 7:30 pm on Sunday, November 1.

The concert, Ode to Autumn, will feature four small ensembles that have been rehearsing separately following physical distancing protocols.

The repertoire includes:

• Serenade for Strings and Elegy, Op. 58 — Elgar
• Irish Melody — Frank Bridge
• English Folk Song Suite and Charterhouse Suite — Vaughan Williams
• Trois Pièces for Woodwind Quartet — Eugene Bozza

“So much of playing beautifully together is about listening to each other,” says SPO conductor Yariv Aloni. “Physically distanced playing challenges our musicians in new ways; we have to listen more carefully, pay more attention, feel the music together. Our ensembles have risen to the challenge and advanced their playing.”

A world-class violist, Aloni also the music director of the Victoria Chamber Orchestra and the Victoria Youth Orchestra.

The autumn concert will be recorded live at Sooke’s Holy Trinity Church on Halloween. The video will be professionally produced by Lumera Productions, and then made available to the public on www.sookephil.ca.

The concert is the second virtual release of the SPO; the first was in early October, the inaugural performance of the Voces Intimae string quartet. The video of that performance is also available at www.sookephil.ca.

Audiences watching the videos are encouraged to make a donation to the SPO. Contributions over $25 will receive a tax receipt.