Victoria Symphony Splash was an annual event held in Victoria, British Columbia on the Sunday before British Columbia Day. The event was produced by the Victoria Symphony and consisted of the Victoria Symphony playing, live on a barge, in the middle of Victoria's Inner Harbour. Also included in the event was a very large fireworks display, as well as live cannon fire, during the 1812 Overture.
The free event led to about 40,000 spectators gathered around the Victoria waterfront, as well as on the grounds of the British Columbia Parliament Buildings and The Empress Hotel. It was one of the largest annual symphony events in North America. [1] Hundreds of people also gathered in boats and kayaks to watch the concert. Each year, a young soloist was a featured performer with the orchestra.
The event in 2020 was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [2] The 2021 event was also cancelled. [3] In 2022, the event was replaced with a ten-day "Splash Around Town" music festival. [3] [4]
Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. The city of Victoria is the seventh most densely populated city in Canada with 4,406 inhabitants per square kilometre (11,410/sq mi).
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891, the ensemble has been based in the Symphony Center since 1904 and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival. Klaus Mäkelä was named music director-designate in 2024, with his first contractual season to begin in 2027. The orchestra's most recent music director is Riccardo Muti, whose tenure spanned the season's from 2010 to 2023, and he continues to perform on occasion as director-emeritus. The CSO is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five".
The BBC Proms is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in central London. Robert Newman founded The Proms in 1895. Since 1927, the BBC has organised and broadcast The Proms. Each season consists of concerts in the Royal Albert Hall, chamber music concerts at Cadogan Hall, additional Proms in the Park events across the UK on the Last Night of the Proms, and associated educational and children's events. Recently, concerts have been held in additional cities across different nations of the UK, as part of Proms Around the UK. The season is a significant event in British culture and in classical music. Czech conductor Jiří Bělohlávek described the Proms as "the world's largest and most democratic musical festival".
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Greater Victoria is located in British Columbia, Canada, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island. It is usually defined as the thirteen municipalities of the Capital Regional District (CRD) on Vancouver Island as well as some adjacent areas and nearby islands.
Ucluelet is a district municipality on the Ucluelet Peninsula, on the west coast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. Ucluelet comes from Yuułuʔił which means "people of the safe harbour" in the indigenous Nuu-chah-nulth language and is the homeland of the Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ. As of 2021, its population was 2,066, a 20.3% increase from 1,717 in 2016.
The HFStival is an annual Washington, D.C. / Baltimore rock festival. It was held every summer from 1990 through 2006 by radio station WHFS. It was held again in 2010 and 2011 in commemoration of the now-defunct station's legacy. At its peak, the HFStival was the largest yearly music festival on the East Coast, drawing 55,000 to 90,000 people. It was held at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington, D.C. from 1993 to 2004; at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore in 2005; and at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland, in 2006.
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The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO) is an Australian orchestra based in Melbourne. The MSO is resident at Hamer Hall. The MSO has its own choir, the MSO Chorus, following integration with the Melbourne Chorale in 2008.
The Victoria Symphony is a Canadian orchestra based in Victoria, British Columbia. It is considered Vancouver Island's largest and best-known performing arts organization. Currently conducted by Danish conductor Christian Kluxen, the orchestra consists of 34 full-contract, and 15 part-contract musicians. Typically, the orchestra delivers more than fifty main series programs per season, as well as a two-week-long summer series. A highlight of the year for many Victorians was the annual Symphony Splash fund-raising concert, held on the Sunday of the August long weekend. For more than 30 years, the orchestra performed on a barge in Victoria's Inner Harbour for an estimated audience of thirty thousand— including those attending in kayaks, canoes or dragonboats immediately in front of the barge. The orchestra administration consists of a staff led by Matthew White, CEO, a board of directors, and many volunteers.
The San Antonio Symphony was a full-time professional symphony orchestra based in San Antonio, Texas. Its season ran from late September to early June. Sebastian Lang-Lessing, its music director from 2010 to 2020, was the last to serve in that capacity. The orchestra was a resident organization of the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts in San Antonio. In August 2022, the orchestra's musicians reformed as the San Antonio Philharmonic, a name first used in 1914, and announced a ten-concert classical-music series for the 2022–23 season to be given at First Baptist Church of San Antonio, 100 yards from Tobin Center.
The Donauinselfest is a free open-air music festival which occurs annually at Donauinsel in Vienna, Austria. The festival is hosted by SPÖ Wien. It is the largest open-air music festival in the world, with around 3 million visitors over 3 days.
Downtown Victoria is a neighbourhood of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada that serves as the city centre and the central business district for the City of Victoria, and the Greater Victoria regions.
Victoria Harbour is a harbour, seaport, and seaplane airport in the Canadian city of Victoria, British Columbia. It serves as a cruise ship and ferry destination for tourists and visitors to the city and Vancouver Island. It is both a port of entry and an airport of entry for general aviation. Historically it was a shipbuilding and commercial fishing centre. While the Inner Harbour is fully within the City of Victoria, separating the city's downtown on its east side from the Victoria West neighbourhood, the Upper Harbour serves as the boundary between the City of Victoria and the district municipality of Esquimalt. The inner reaches are also bordered by the district of Saanich and the town of View Royal. Victoria is a federal "public harbour" as defined by Transport Canada. Several port facilities in the harbour are overseen and developed by the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority, however the harbour master's position is with Transport Canada.
Manchester Pride is a charity that campaigns for LGBTQ+ equality across the United Kingdom, predominantly in Greater Manchester. The Charity offers dialogue, training, research and policy analysis, advocacy and outreach activities focusing on LGBTQ+ rights.
The Western Canadian Music Awards (WCMAs) is an annual awards event for music in the western portion of Canada. The awards are provided by the Western Canada Music Alliance, which consists of six member music industry organizations from British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Yukon, and The Northwest Territories.
Lucerne Festival is one of the leading international festivals in the world of classical music and presents a series of classical music festivals based in Lucerne, Switzerland. Founded in 1938 by Ernest Ansermet and Walter Schulthess, it currently produces three festivals per year. Since 1999, Michael Haefliger has been its Executive and Artistic Director.
Centennial Square is a plaza in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. It was built to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the incorporation of the City of Victoria. The Victoria Police Station, city hall and McPherson Playhouse are adjacent to the square. There is a fountain in the square.
The Beethovenfest is a festival of classical music in Bonn, Germany, dedicated mostly to the music of Ludwig van Beethoven who was born there. It dates back to 1845, when the composer's 75th anniversary of birth was celebrated with unveiling his monument and performing major works.
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