Students with the Sudbury Catholic District School Board were absolutely thrilled to take in the live concert performance of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s Northern Lights Tour 2005 at Laurentian University’s Fraser Auditorium recently. Over 600 students witnessed the dazzling specter of the Northern Lights inspired by the beauty of the north and brought to life by the skill and virtuosity of truly remarkable musicians.

The opening work on the programme, Firework and Procession, was written especially for the Northern Lights Tour by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s Composer Advisor, Gary Kulesha. It is a festive and ceremonial work, which begins with a depiction of sky rockets. A procession interrupts the fireworks, once the procession passes, the fireworks resume and the work closes with ceremonial grandeur. Throughout the performance the Northern Lights theme is interspersed with other well-known orchestral classics.

This season, orchestras around the world are celebrating the 250th anniversary of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s birth. In this historic year, no concert would be complete without a little Mozart, so in honour of this remarkable musician the Toronto Symphony Orchestra completed their performance with the Figaro Overture.