Tuning in to Nature is back August 30th from 1:00-3:00 p.m. on the Meike Trail in Morell, PEI! Embark on this 45-minute walk through Kelly Green Park accompanied by singer-songwriters, poets, and traditional + orchestral musicians!


2025 ARTIST LINEUP:
Aaron Turner (percussion)
Carlie Howell (bass)
Dale Sorensen (trombone)
Darin MacBeth (French horn)
Ian Toms (guitar)
Lana Turner (voice)
Laurie Brinklow (poetry)
Luisa Güiza (singer-songwriter)
Luka Hall (fiddle)
Nadia Haddad (singer-songwriter)
Norm Adams (cello)
Olasunkanmi Omotosho (violin)
Shawn Doiron (percussion)
Tanya Davis (poetry)

The Meike Trail at Kelly Green Park

The Meike Trail winds its way through the Kelly Green natural area. Natural areas are pieces of land set aside by the province because of their ecological significance. This site has long been considered to be one of the best sites on PEI to see shore birds, raptors and woodland bird species. There is a great variety of flora and fauna to be seen — if you take the time to look! Along the trail, both in the spruce forest, the hardwood forest, and the fields, a wide assortment of bird species, especially warblers, can be seen.

Flavours in Concert returns to offer an incredible culinary experience that will be completely unique to Double Hill Cidery. Guests will be able to roam our beautiful property in Caledonia, or relax comfortably in chairs or on picnic blankets while taking in the spectacular views and enjoying the live performances of the PEI Symphony Orchestra, featuring a collaboration with local jazz musician Carlie Howell! The performances – including collaboration with the Electric Storm Collective – will feature two 45 minute sets, featuring both Carlie and the musicians from the PEISO! The food stations of Flavours in Concert will be prepared by the renowned team at Ada Culinary Studio.

Opening the 58th season of the PEISO is a program that brings new meaning and depth to the idea of renewal, pairing works with over 300 years between them. Anchored by Viet Cuong’s Re(new)al for percussion quartet and orchestra—featuring PEISO percussionists Michael Gallant, Branden Kelly, Ryan Drew and Shawn Doiron as soloists—the concert explores elemental energy through sound, from vibrating crystal glasses to bowing vibraphones. Bach’s legendary Toccata and Fugue in D minor appears in a vivid orchestration by Stokowski, while Jocelyn Morlock’s bird-inspired Oiseaux bleus et sauvages and Respighi’s cinematic Pines of Rome round out this dynamic, nature-infused program.

PROGRAM

JS Bach Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BMV 565 (orch. Stokowski) 
Viet Cuong Re(new)al 
feat. Michael Gallant, Branden Kelly, Ryan Drew, and Shawn Dorion, percussion 
Jocelyn Morlock Oiseaux Bleus et Sauvages  
Ottorino Respighi Pines of Rome

Guest conductor Arthur Arnold makes his long-awaited PEISO debut in a program of growth and blossoming. After many years struggling to write his first symphony, overwhelmed and paralyzed by the shadow of Beethoven, Johannes Brahms produced his second symphony as if it was already composed. Known for its organic and pastoral themes, his second symphony is a story of a composer in full bloom, overcoming personal struggle in the name of their art. The orchestra welcomes back mezzo soprano Hannah O’Donnell as soloist in Berlioz’s Les nuites d’éte (Summer Nights), preceded by Zoltán Kodály’s street music inspired Dances of Galánta.

PROGRAM

Zoltán Kodály Dances of Galanta  
Hector Berlioz Les nuites d’été 
        feat. Hannah O’Donnell, mezzo soprano 
Johannes Brahms Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73

Reclaimed speaks to home, and what happens when home leaves us. The PEISO is thrilled to welcome Cris Derksen, a Juno-nominated Indigenous cellist and composer, who is internationally renowned for their genre-defying music that bridges the traditional and contemporary. This moving program includes Derksen’s own works including Round Dance, Parkdale and Controlled Burn. Paired with Nat Bartsch’s introspective Hope and Margaret Bonds’ Montgomery Variations, which responds to the American civil rights movement, the program also features Smetana’s 'Die Moldau' from Má Vlast, a passionate tribute to national identity and personal belonging.

PROGRAM:

Nat Baertsch Hope 
Cris Dersken Round Dance 
                             Parkdale 
                             Controlled Burn 
        feat. Cris Derksen, cello 
Bedrich Smetana Má Vlast  
Margaret Bonds Montgomery Variations

The season closes with a program of unbridled joy, centered in the rhythms and character of jazz, pop, and gospel music. Tracing a remarkable musical evolution from the late 19th to the 20th century, Blue connects Ravel’s mesmerizing Boléro to Omar Thomas’ exuberant 2018 work Come Sunday, celebrating new sounds and cultural voices in classical music. PEI’s own Magdalena von Eccher performs Debussy’s seldom-heard Fantaisie for Piano and Orchestra, while Gershwin’s An American in Paris—inspired by Ravel and reimagined here as perhaps a Canadian in Paris—anchors the concert with the vibrant, cosmopolitan energy of 1920s Paris.

PROGRAM:

Maurice Ravel Bolero 
Claude Debussy Fantasy for piano and orchestra 
        feat. Magdalena von Eccher, piano 
George Gershwin An American in Paris  
Omar Thomas Come Sunday