Ticket sales slow for TBSO concert

“tour de Fort” is hoping tickets sales pick up prior to the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra’s concert here this Friday evening (Feb. 11).
“Things have been going slow. Surprisingly so. As of earlier this week, 72 tickets were sold,” said tour de Fort treasurer Gary Rogozinski.
The Townshend Theatre, where the concert will held starting at 7:30 p.m., seats more than 400.
“Usually, the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra sells out,” Rogozinski noted. “I’m hoping people buy them later this week, or at the door. It’s going to be a really, really good concert.
“I’m still optimistic,” he added. “People in Fort Frances seem to be in the habit of buying tickets at the last minute.”
Tickets are available for $20 each at the Fort Frances Public Library and Gillons’ Insurance Brokers in Emo. They’ll also will be for sale at the box office Friday night.
The TBSO’s stop here will be the third on a short tour through Northwestern Ontario. It also is playing in Kenora and Dryden.
TBSO music director Geoffrey Moull has prepared the repertoire for the series of concerts, which includes:
•Concerto Grosso, Op. 6, No. 1 by G. F. Händel;
•Symphony No. 103 by J. Haydn;
•“The Barber of Seville” Overture—G. Rossini;
•“Cavelleria Rusticana” Intermezzo—Mascagni;
•Roses from the South—J. Strauss;
•Habanera—E. Chabrier; and
•Sevillana—E. Elgar.
An intermission will be held between Symphony No. 103 and “The Barber of Seville” Overture (changes to this program are not expected but may be made, if necessary).
The TBSO is the largest fully-professional arts group in Thunder Bay, and the only professional orchestra between Toronto and Winnipeg. It has been a part of the cultural fabric of the city for 43 years.
Last fall, the TBSO released a new CD, “Variations on a Memory,” honouring Canadian compositions that have played a major role in the successful development of the orchestra and celebrating Thunder Bay as the 2003 Cultural Capital of Canada.
The TBSO tours throughout the region (from Kenora and Fort Frances to Chapleau and Wawa), bringing evening symphony concerts and day-time school concerts to communities that otherwise would not have access to a symphony orchestra.