Celtic celebration with Stratford Symphony Orchestra and The Bookends returns in 2025

Stratford Celtic band The Bookends are thrilled to be working with the Stratford Symphony Orchestra again for a Celtic Celebration on Jan. 25, 2025. There will be a matinee and evening performance.

The new year will bring back a collaboration between local Celtic band the Bookends and the Stratford Symphony Orchestra (SSO) just in time for Robbie Burns Day.

The Stratford Symphony Orchestra and The Bookends will perform together on Jan. 25, Robbie Burns Day, for a Celtic Celebration. There will be two shows, one starting at 2 p.m. and the other starting at 7:30 p.m., at Avondale United Church featuring a mix of traditional and contemporary music.

The 2025 Celtic Celebration is building from the 2022 Celtic Celebration concert.

Pete Watson, guitarist in The Bookends, said the pos-pandemic-restriction concert was a great time, and the Celtic band loved performing with the orchestra.

"The moment we heard they were interested in having us back in January, 2025, we were like, 'Yeah! We're absolutely in,’ ” Watson said.

The 2025 Celtic Celebration, conducted by SSO principal conductor William Rowson, will have three new pieces, including two Bookends originals by fiddler and banjo player Errol Fischer. There will also be a slip-jig set where the music will be played in an 8/9 signature.

Watson said performing with the Stratford Symphony Orchestra is an experience that keeps bringing more for The Bookends to celebrate. The album, A Celtic Celebration, recorded with the orchestra, was nominated for a 2024 Canadian Folk Music Award. Watson said listening to the orchestra perform the songs with The Bookends on stage at the concert in 2022 was one of his fondest memories in his musical career.

"It just lifted me off the ground and the audience reaction was incredible,” he said. “It's a wonderful musical journey that we’ve enjoy so much."

A.J. Ashley, general manager of the Stratford Symphony Orchestra, said that while he wasn’t part of the 2022 Celtic Celebration concert, he heard plenty of positive feedback about it. So far, he’s enjoying working with The Bookends and is looking forward to the 2025 concert coming together.

“The enthusiasm and excitement for the show is really great to see when we all come together,” Ashley said. “I'm looking forward, once we get to rehearsals and actually working together, to the sound that we’ll be able to make as a full group. It’ll be interesting to hear the orchestra play some of the Celtic songs along with some of the more classical in the same concert”.

Tickets for a Celtic Celebration are $60 for adults, $15 for students and free for children under 12 years old. Tickets can be purchased online by visiting www.stratfordsymphony.ca.