VSO rings in 2025 with Salute to Vienna New Year’s Concert, January 1
Annual tradition to feature soprano Mónika Fischl and tenor Martin Piskorski with the Strauss Symphony of Canada, conducted by Imre Kollár

Salute to Vienna New Year’s Concert.
Vancouver Symphony Orchestra presents Salute to Vienna New Year’s Concert at the Orpheum on January 1 at 2:30 pm
THE EVER-POPULAR WALTZES of Austrian composer Johann Strauss II will fill the Orpheum with festivity on New Year’s Day at the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra’s Salute to Vienna show, presented by Attila Glatz Concert Productions.
On January 1, in a tradition that has been around for more than two decades, the VSO will host a team of internationally celebrated performers to ring in the new year with works that pay tribute to the Golden Age of Vienna. Led by Hungarian conductor Imre Kollár (who will keep the mood light by sharing jokes and stories all afternoon long), the Strauss Symphony of Canada with members of the VSO will play a variety of soaring arias, romantic duets, and festive overtures—think such timeless favourites as the “The Blue Danube” waltz.
Salute to Vienna is a recreation of Neujahrskonzert, a famous New Year’s Day concert in Austria that is performed annually by the Vienna Philharmonic at the Musikverein. The show has been held each year for more than eight decades.
At the VSO, joyful touches will make for an equally celebratory concert. Audiences can expect an enlivened atmosphere with bright costumes and lush flowers, while the musicians will be accompanied by renowned dancers and singers. Among this year’s performers are two talented European vocalists, soprano Mónika Fischl and tenor Martin Piskorski.
Fischl, who trained at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, has performed several of the classical prima donna roles in Hungarian and Viennese operetta, including Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus, Sylva in Gypsy Princess, and Hanna in The Merry Widow, to name just a few. Piskorski, meanwhile, being from Austria himself, is equally well-versed in the region’s musical traditions.
Salute to Vienna is nearly sold out, with only a handful of tickets still up for grabs.
Stir editorial assistant Emily Lyth is a Vancouver-based writer and editor who graduated from Langara College’s Journalism program. Her decade of dance training and passion for all things food-related are the foundation of her love for telling arts, culture, and community stories.
Related Articles
Concert shines a light on previously under-recognized Japanese, Armenian, Irish, Scottish, and Indigenous music
Vetta Chamber Music concert features a quartet that also includes violinist Joan Blackman, bassist Jodi Proznick, and pianist Jane Hayes
Program also features mezzo-soprano Marion Newman in the world premiere of Marcus Goddard’s Mountain Visions
Friends of Chamber Music concert includes William Walton’s Piano Quartet in D minor, a varied piece with an interesting backstory
Joining Cormier and the 60-voice choir are Laurence Mollerup on bass, Liam MacDonald on percussion, and Keith Sinclair on guitar
Musicians of the VSO curate intimate concerts at Pyatt Hall
Quicksilver Baroque Ensemble plays a program of sonatas by Italian and German composers
The francophone four-piece have fans in Europe and the States. Now it’s our turn
Saxophonist Ravi Coltrane leads an ensemble through his late mother’s final album
The bandleader of the quartet Ronin brings “controlled intensity” to BlueShore at CapU
Jeremy Dutcher also receives the National Arts Centre Award as part of the announcement
Diverse program features songs that evoke feelings of wanderlust, including new arrangements of “Roam” by the B-52s and Billy Joel’s “River of Dreams”
Program hosted by Paolo Pietropaolo features zheng player Dailin Hsieh, flutist Paolo Bortolussi, cellist Jonathan Lo, and pianist Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa
Renowned musicians to play compositions by Martinů, Korngold, and Dvořák
The Toronto-based band is a leader in today’s bluegrass music scene
Music director Richard Epp dives into details on Mozart’s score in the comedic opera coming to the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts
Caravan World Rhythms presents the nine-member ensemble, which evokes the beauty of Mongolian grasslands through haunting harmonies and vibrant strings
Trumpet virtuoso Tine Thing Helseth leads the ebullient all-female group
The Ontario-based electronic artist makes a return to the mighty instrument at Vancouver New Music
U.K. artist and experimentalist to host a three-day workshop followed by a collaborative public presentation
The distinguished musicians will perform Haydn’s Piano Trio in A major, Beethoven’s Piano Trio in G major, and Dvořák’s Piano Trio No. 4 in E minor