The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra began the 2025-26 season — its 107th — at the Orpheum Theatre Friday night, with a brilliant launch for what may well be a challenging moment for our orchestra. Article content Article content

Before the concert began, the audience was made freshly aware that these are fraught times for the arts. VSO musicians dressed in bright blue T-shirts were out in force at the entrances, politely greeting patrons, reminding them of ongoing contract negotiations, and providing a timely reminder of all the orchestra means for local audiences.

Inside the theatre, and once the last rousing notes of O Canada faded away, music director Otto Tausk conducted American composer Missy Mazzoli’s Sinfonia (for Orbiting Spheres), a work the maestro deemed a good companion for

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