“I must say that the summer break is always way too long,” says Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra music director Daniel Raiskin. That long break will come to an end this weekend when the orchestra returns to the Centennial Concert Hall stage for the first concerts of its 2025-2026 season. They will be joined by pianist Alexei Volodin, who last performed alongside the WSO in 2023 in Sergei Rachmaninoff’s second and third piano concertos. This season will see soloist and orchestra collaborate on another piano concerto pairing, presenting Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky’s first piano concerto on Saturday night, and his second on Sunday afternoon. .embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; } Raiskin praises both the famous first piano concerto and the lesser-known second for their dazzling virtuosity and the sincerity of their expression, and not just for the pianist. “The Piano Concerto #1 opens with an incredible, beautiful solo of the flute,” he says, highlighting the chance for new principal flutist Christian Paquette, “and here and there, a cello line or a beautiful line of the violins worthy of Romeo and Juliet by the same composer.” “It’s this summation of all these things, incredible sincerity of emotion, beauty of melodic lines, balance between the role of the soloist and the orchestral material, and the way it all comes together in both cases into a rousing finale which is not going to leave anyone in their seats.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra (@wpgsymphony) New players take their seats in the orchestra The orchestra will be welcoming in a familiar soloist alongside having players in new roles in the orchestra or introducing completely new musicians to their ranks. This includes the promotion of Karl Stobbe to concertmaster after the retirement of Gwen Hoebig at the conclusion of last season, and the appointment of a new principal cellist (Elie Boissinot) and principal flutist, amongst others. “It is going to add a new dimension to the orchestra,” says Raiskin. “It is challenging because you again need to mold into a group of people that thinks and plays and feels in the same direction, but it also offers a lot of wonderful opportunities.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra (@wpgsymphony) Both performances of Tchaikovsky’s piano concertos will be paired with the fourth symphony of Johannes Brahms (a performance that sees Raiskin having performed all four of Brahms’ symphonies with the WSO) and Elysium, a composition by former guest conductor and performer at the Winnipeg New Music Festival Samy Moussa. More information on these concerts and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra’s upcoming season can be found at the orchestra’s website.