Shelley Conducts Mahler’s “Resurrection”: with the NAC Orchestra

Three things to know:

Hear the epic work that brought the film Maestro—Bradley Cooper’s 2023 biopic of Leonard Bernstein—to its ecstatic conclusion. Believe it or not: These concerts mark the NAC Orchestra’s first-ever performance of Mahler’s soul-stirring “Resurrection” Symphony! Experience the best of Canadian artistry as we join forces with members of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and NACO Mentorship Program participants.

Gustav Mahler once remarked, “A symphony must be like the world. It must contain everything.” And in his “Resurrection” Symphony, the Austrian composer creates not only a world, but an expansive universe of his own—pushing the boundaries of symphonic music with an apocalyptic work for massive orchestra, offstage brass bands, full choir, pipe organ, and two vocal soloists.

In these performances, the NAC Orchestra, led by Alexander Shelley and joined by early-career artists from the NACO Mentorship Program, and the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, led by Jean-Sébastien Vallée, will take you on a spiritual journey that confronts questions of life, death, and what awaits us in the great beyond. The earth will shake, graves will burst open, and voices of heavenly splendour will banish death with Mahler’s joyous message of rebirth and renewal: “Rise again! Yes, thou shalt rise again!”