A few things to know ... Fire up your imagination as Alexander Shelley leads a program of story-driven works, which conjure vivid scenes of explosive battles and candlelit ballrooms. Just like Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings, Richard Strauss's Ein Heldenleben follows the journey of a brave hero searching for freedom and adventure.

"I don't see why I shouldn't compose a symphony about myself," Richard Strauss confessed to a friend. "I find myself quite as interesting as Napoleon!" With that battle cry of confidence, Richard Strauss harnessed all the power of a super-sized orchestra to compose Ein Heldenleben (A Hero's Life). Get ready to embark on an epic musical journey as Strauss falls in love, overcomes his critics, and reflects on a lifetime of musical adventures.

Be whisked away to 19th-century Vienna as you experience two works inspired by the waltz. In Mon seul désir: Hommage à Strauss, Juno Award–winning composer Alexina Louie reimagines the waltzes of Strauss's romantic opera Der Rosenkavalier, while Maurice Ravel's La valse evokes the shimmering sights and sounds of a candlelit ballroom with music of wistful reverie and breathtaking intensity. And Canadian composer Kelly-Marie Murphy channels the brooding mystery and swirling energy of T.S. Eliot's poetry in Through the Unknown, Unremembered Gate.