The mezzanine lobby of the Thunder Bay Community Auditorium was already buzzing with anticipation as patrons gathered ahead of the evening’s Masterworks concert, drinks in hand and conversations building. Before the music began, and just ahead of the pre-show conductor talk, the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra stepped forward to unveil its 66th season.
The atmosphere emphasized the significance of the occasion.
This integration, rather than a standalone announcement, wove the reveal directly into the audience experience, bridging the energy of the current season with excitement for what comes next.
“We want people to know that we are listening to them,” said Brittany Moat, General Manager (co-interim) and Finance Manager of the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra. “Their feedback is important.”
That message directly shaped every aspect of the season’s planning.
When planning the 2026–27 lineup, Moat said audience feedback was brought directly into the room, guiding decisions that audiences will recognize immediately.
“We did bring that feedback to the table,” she said. “That’s why you see the return of Jeans ’n Classics, Northern Lights at the Italian Cultural Centre, and afternoon concerts—those are things people wanted.”
Alongside these returning favourites, the season also leans into artistic ambition.
In the Masterworks series, the orchestra will present some of the most high-profile guest artists it has brought to Thunder Bay in years, including Ukrainian pianist Anna Sagalova, Canadian pianist Avan Yu, and Andrew Wan, concertmaster of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal.
“These are some of the biggest names that we’ve brought in in the eight and a half years that I’ve worked here,” Moat said. “To have the concertmaster of the biggest orchestra in the country coming to Thunder Bay – that’s a big deal.”
Moat noted that programming at that level also comes with a degree of risk, particularly when bringing in large-scale guest artists, but said the goal is to build a season that is both compelling for audiences and sustainable for the organization.
For Moat, achieving both familiarity and innovation is essential to engaging audiences.
“I think it’s really important for the orchestra to be accessible to the people of Thunder Bay,” she said.
That philosophy shapes the Pops series, which brings large-scale audience favourites like Star Wars: The Complete Saga and the return of Jeans ’n Classics. Meanwhile, Masterworks programming continues to explore cornerstone repertoire alongside Canadian voices.
This commitment to partnership is also evident in collaborations closer to home. The orchestra will again join Badanai Theatre for a full presentation of The Sound of Music, building on a relationship that defines Thunder Bay’s performing arts landscape.
That spirit of collaboration, said Geneviève Leclair, a guest conductor and candidate in the orchestra’s ongoing artistic director search, who was leading that evening’s performance, stood out immediately during her time in the city.
“I find a lot of my career has been collaborations—with dancers, with singers, with visual artists,” she said. “It brings an interesting creativity… and it’s a fantastic way of creating ties inside the community between different arts organizations.”
For Leclair, such a connection forms the heart of what orchestras can, and should, be.
“It’s quite precious what you have here,” she said. “Having that kind of quality of cultural offering for classical music – it’s wonderful. It’s something to cherish and to keep growing.”
She also highlighted the orchestra’s willingness to take creative risks.
“The dare in their programming – the diversity, the willingness to do pieces that we haven’t heard about – that’s something orchestras are often still a little bit scared of,” she said. “You need both. Music has to preserve the past, but also keep it alive.”
Beyond the mainstage concerts, that approach extends to more intimate, community-focused experiences. The Northern Lights series returns to the Italian Cultural Centre, while Candlelight concerts at Urban Abbey offer immersive, close-up performances. Classical Plus programming highlights musicians from within the orchestra, and Family concerts invite younger audiences into the experience through themed programming.
The season also includes Noondaagotoon, a special presentation featuring Thunder Bay artist Nick Sherman that centres Indigenous voices through music and storytelling.
Over the past year, the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra has continued to rebuild and redefine its role following the pandemic, balancing financial sustainability with artistic growth. Like many orchestras across the country, it has navigated shifting audience habits while working to re-establish a stable subscription base and expand community engagement, efforts that are reflected in the structure and direction of the upcoming season.
Season subscriptions are returning as part of that approach, offering access to 21 concerts across venues throughout the city, eight at the Thunder Bay Community Auditorium and 13 in other spaces, at an average cost of less than $36 per ticket with a subscription.
“It provides some predictability in terms of our audience size,” Moat said, noting subscriptions were a key part of the orchestra’s model prior to the pandemic.
The season will also help shape the orchestra’s future. Five finalists remain in the search for a new artistic director, each set to conduct during the year, with musicians, staff and audiences all invited to provide feedback before a final decision is announced.
For Moat, that openness is central to the season’s philosophy.
“We want people to know that their voice matters,” she said.
As the new season announcement and pre-concert talk wrapped, patrons began to make their way from the lobby into the auditorium for that evening’s performance, Masterworks 4: Behaving Badly, a program built on collaboration among soloists, chorus, and orchestra.
This performance embodied the symphony’s future direction. The community, including artists and audiences, now helps shape the orchestra’s path.
Season subscriptions and tickets for the 2026–27 season are now on sale. To learn more about the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra, explore the upcoming season, or catch the final concerts of this year, visit tbso.ca or tbca.com
And if there’s one takeaway from the evening, it’s this—there’s nothing quite like experiencing the passion of live music, shared together in our community.
2026–27 Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra Season at a Glance
Masterworks Series
- Looking Forward, Looking Backward – Friday, October 16, 2026, TBCA
- That’s Rich – Friday, January 29, 2027, TBCA
- Dvorak Festival -Friday, April 2, 2027, TBCA
- Blockbusters – Friday, April 30, 2027, TBCA
Pops Series
- Star Wars: The Complete Saga – Saturday, November 14, 2026, TBCA
- Holiday Pops: The Christmas Songbook – Saturday, December 19, 2026, TBCA
- Peter Brennan’s Jeans ‘N Classics Presents: Fleetwood Mac – Saturday, March 6, 2027, TBCA
- The Sound of Music with Badanai Theatre Co. – Saturday, April 24, 2027, TBCA
Voices Series
- Reflections – Friday, November 6, 2026, St. Paul’s United Church
- Hallelujah – Messiah – Saturday, December 5, 2026, St. Paul’s United Church
- Hope – Friday, February 26, 2027, St. Paul’s United Church
Candlelight Series
- Candelight Christmas – Saturday, December 12, 2026, Urban Abbey
- Cupid’s Arrow – Saturday, February 13, 2027, Urban Abbey
- Merry Melodies – Friday, March 5, 2027, Urban Abbey
Classical Plus Series
- Night and Day — Friday, November 20, 2026, Hilldale Lutheran Church
- Snapshots in Time — Friday, March 12 & 13, 2027, Hilldale Lutheran Church
Northern Lights Series
- Matt Sellick Presents: Watching the Sky — Friday, October 23, 2026, Italian Cultural Centre
- An Evening with Aaron MacDonald – Friday, February 5, 2027, Italian Cultural Centre
Family Series
- Halloween Spooktacular — Saturday, October 31, 2026, TBD
- The Great Outdoors (Peter and the Wolf) — Saturday, February 20, 2027, TBD
- On the Big Screen — Saturday, April 17, 2027, TBD
Special Presentation
- Noondaagotoon (featuring Nick Sherman) — Friday, January 22, 2027, Matawa Education & Care Centre
