Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Song Exploder Present Symphony Exploder: The Rite of Spring

The Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) is elated to announce a uniquely immersive musical experience and a listening party like no other—Symphony Exploder: The Rite of Spring. On April 5, 2024, Hrishikesh Hirway, the visionary behind the groundbreaking Song Exploder podcast and Netflix series, joins Music Director Gustavo Gimeno and the TSO for the hit show’s first-ever live orchestral collaboration.

Corresponding with Song Exploder’s 10th anniversary, this must-see event will feature Hirway and Gustavo in an onstage conversation that dissects the mesmerizing layers of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, interspersed with excerpts and live replays from the famously scandalous piece, and followed by a complete, heart-pounding rendition by the full orchestra. Discover how The Rite of Spring has influenced pop culture, from its inclusion in Disney's Fantasia to the infamous riot during its première in 1913. Think Tár meets Maestro meets the best live podcast you’ve ever heard.

“My relationship with the city of Toronto goes back a long way, and I'm likewise grateful for my various creative engagements across Canada,” says Hrishikesh Hirway. “So it’s going to be a really special experience to début the first orchestral version of the Song Exploder experience with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. This special orchestral edition of Song Exploder — Symphony Exploder — will be one of the highlights of the tenth anniversary of Song Exploder. I’m enthralled to discover, along with Toronto’s music community, how the capacity for deep-listening that we’ve cultivated for ten years will translate into the very fertile grounds of orchestral music. I couldn’t have asked for a better specimen than Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, it’s going to be like nothing else we’ve ever heard.”

“Almost every 20th- and 21st-century composer owes something to Igor Stravinsky, and The Rite of Spring represents the true beginning of that pervasive and perpetual influence,” adds Gustavo Gimeno. “Powerful, emotional, and, in a way, almost terrifying, it expresses, in a daringly original voice, the very essence of who the composer was. It’s many things at the same time—so when Hrishi, the orchestra, the audience, and I dive into this famed ballet score, we will be immersing ourselves in both the building blocks of modern music and in Stravinsky himself, in ways that promise to be illuminating and unforgettable.”

Created in 2014 and hailed by The New Yorker as a show that “elevates simple curiosity into a profound exploration of artistry,” Song Exploder is an award-winning podcast where musicians take apart their songs, and, piece by piece, tell the story of how they were made. Each episode is produced and edited by host and creator Hrishikesh Hirway, a “musical archaeologist” known for his incisive conversations with pop stars and music icons—from Billie Eilish and Bono to Yo-Yo Ma and Metallica. Currently the fourth-most popular show in Canada on Apple Podcasts, Song Exploder has released close to 400 episodes and was adapted into a series on Netflix in 2020—featuring the Nine Inch Nails, The Killers, Alicia Keys and more.

Watch the teaser trailer:

Trailer by Patrick Hodgson

Symphony Exploder - Key VisualHrishikesh Hirway COURTESY OF ASH GREENToronto Symphony Orchestra (Photo by Allan Cabral)

Information & Tickets

Symphony Exploder: The Rite of Spring

Fri, Apr 5, 2024

Roy Thomson Hall

Gustavo Gimeno, conductor

Hrishikesh Hirway, host

For Tickets 

Visit TSO.CA/SymphonyExploder, call 416.598.3375 (Mon–Fri, 9:30am–5:00pm), or visit the Patron Services Centre at 145 Wellington St. W., Suite 500 (Mon–Fri, 9:30am–5:00pm).

For current health and safety protocols at Roy Thomson Hall, please visit TSO.CA/Safety.

The TSO Season Presenting Sponsor is BMO Financial Group.

The TSO acknowledges Mary Beck as the Musicians’ Patron in perpetuity for her generous and longstanding support.

Gustavo Gimeno’s appearances are generously supported by Susan Brenninkmeyer, in memory of Hans Brenninkmeyer. 

The TSO’s Education and Community Engagement programs are generously supported by Francine and Bob Barrett. 

TSOUND Connections is generously supported by TD Bank Group through the TD Ready Commitment and the George C. Hunt Family Foundation.

The TSO is grateful for the support of the Toronto Symphony Foundation and all levels of government, including the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, the Toronto Arts Council, the Government of Canada, and the Government of Ontario.

Media Contact

For media requests, please contact:

Tat Read, Senior Director, Communications

Toronto Symphony Orchestra

tread@TSO.CA