Long before Ed Sheeran was taken to court for allegedly borrowing someone else’s music, Mozart was “admiring” the work of the Haydn brothers — admiring them right into his scores!

The finale to Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony has long thrilled audiences. So it may be surprising to learn that a key motif was lifted note-for-note, orchestration-by-orchestration, from Joseph Haydn’s 13th Symphony. When you hear them side by side, the evidence is irrefutable.

But that’s not all. The concert will include two world premieres and a special bonus.

• Alan Belkin, a highly regarded composer, teacher and author, wrote his Viola Concerto for Julliard masters graduate Graham Cohen. 
• MNO Composition Fellow River Sawchyn, one of “30 promising Canadians under the age of 30,” honors the concert’s theme by purloining melodies and passages from Mozart and Haydn in his new piece, “Finding Light.”

And the added bonus? In addition to their classical chops, River Sawchyn and Graham Cohen fiddle. River specializes in American styles and Graham in Canadian ones. Put them together, and you’ll get a hoedown like you’ve never heard before.