Vancouver Symphony Orchestra moves Symphony at Sunset to David Lam Park on July 11
Free outdoor concert pairs Beethoven and Elgar with John Williams film scores under False Creek stars.
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The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra is relocating its wildly popular free outdoor concert to David Lam Park on the shores of False Creek on July 11, at 8 p.m., due to water-tunnel work at Sunset Beach.
Music director Otto Tausk will conduct a program that spans centuries — opening with "O, Canada" and the "Coast Salish Anthem," then diving into Ludwig van Beethoven's iconic Symphony No. 5 (the one that starts with the rhythmic "da-da-da-dum" motif Beethoven described as "fate knocking at the door"). The Allegretto from his Seventh Symphony rounds out the classical anchor.
John Williams' film scores take the second half: the "Flying Theme" from E.T., the "Obi-Wan Kenobi Theme" from Star Wars, "The Flight to Neverland" from Hook, and selections from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Tausk has also programmed Tchaikovsky's joyful Symphony No. 4, Sri Lankan-born Canadian composer Dinuk Wijeratne's "Letter From the Afterlife," Saint-Saëns' "Rondo," and Edward Elgar's pulsing Enigma Variations: Nimrod.
Arrive early, bring a blanket, and pack a picnic. The concert is free, presented in partnership with the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation. Views of the city and False Creek are courtesy of Mother Nature.
