The Vancouver Island Symphony鈥檚 27th season includes three shows at the Sid Williams Theatre in Courtenay.

Symphony At The Side features performances in December, January and February.

VIS artistic director and conductor Pierre Simard said the symphony program was developed with the COVID-19-related attendance limitations in mind. It will feature small ensembles, chamber groups and the full orchestra, but the first full orchestra show won鈥檛 be held until January.

On Dec. 3 at 7 p.m., Keep Calm & Carol On will get people into the Christmas spirit, with a performance by the VIS Back Row Brass with special guests Festive Brass.

On Sunday, January 23, 2022, the full VIS orchestra offers a 2 p.m. matinee performance of Electrifying Eroica 鈥� a piece the orchestra was rehearsing when the pandemic hit.

Electrifying Eroica will feature the belated premi猫re of Playing in Silence by Vancouver-based composer Katerina Gimon with words by former Nanaimo poet laureate Tina Biello, as well as a performance of Symphony No. 3 (Eroica) by Beethoven, which was supposed to coincide with the composer鈥檚 250th birthday.

鈥淭he Erioca symphony has a special meaning because it is about resilience. It is about going forward and breaking barriers and not letting barriers be in the way because it is many times considered the piece that made the switch between the classical era and the romantic era,鈥� Simard said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just the perfect way to bring the orchestra back on stage.鈥�

The third VIS concert at the Sid is the string orchestra鈥檚 presentation of Slavonic Sweets at 2 p.m. on Feb. 13, highlighted by Tchaikovsky鈥檚 Souvenir de Florence, op. 70.

Simard said picking the program, particularly for the chamber shows, meant striking a balance in order to showcase the different sections of the symphony, like brass and woodwind. He said the pandemic had him reflecting on the individual musicians and that 鈥渁 main component in crafting the season was really giving a voice to the musicians as much as we could.鈥�

鈥淪ome of them have played more than 20 years in the orchestra, so they鈥檙e family,鈥� Simard said. 鈥淎nd we really did not want to lose the musicians. We did not want to see them go because of what happened. This pandemic was completely out of anyone鈥檚 control, so this focus on the musicians themselves almost became more important or certainly as important as the repertoire choices themselves.鈥�

Tickets for all three shows are on sale now at

- With files from Josef Jacobson, Nanaimo News Bulletin