Turn of the Century: Elgar, Beach & Sibelius

Orchestra Toronto Presents

Sunday, November 1, 2026 at 3:00PM Pre-Concert Chat at 2:15PM

The George Weston Recital Hall Meridian Arts Centre, 5040 Yonge St.

Michael Newnham, Conductor

Elgar: Enigma Variations Beach: Piano Concerto Sibelius: Finlandia

Anya Alexeyev, Piano

Orchestra Toronto presents an afternoon centered on three remarkable works composed in 1899, a pivotal year at the threshold of a new century. The program opens with Elgar’s Enigma Variations, a series of fourteen character sketches, each revealing a friend or colleague, tied together by a still-unsolved “hidden theme.” Anya Alexeyev then brings to life Amy Beach’s Piano Concerto, a work of lyricism and virtuosity that showcases the bold voice of one of America’s first internationally recognized female composers. The concert concludes with Sibelius’s Finlandia, a stirring tone poem whose melodies and dramatic climaxes evoke both the Finnish landscape and the fervor of a people yearning for freedom.