The YAO Percussion Ensemble opens the final concert of the 2019/20 season with works by American composers covering diverse rhythms and sound effects. The rhythm section is one of the most important aspects of any music ensemble, and works like Lou Harrison’s Concerto for Violin and Percussion serve as confirmation. The highly rhythmic violin line is pleasantly contrasted by the exceptionally varied percussion ensemble, which at times produces the gamelan sound Harrison used in many of his later pieces. Speaking of rhythm, effects, and popularity, Antonio Vivaldi wrote more than 500 concertos. Today, most people can identify four of them. But those four, which we have come to recognize as The Four Seasons, have become part of our cultural fabric. Described as “intrepid” (The Globe and Mail), “genre-bending” (National Post), “profound” (The WholeNote), and “freaky good” (The Gazette), violinist Mark Fewer perform Vivaldi’s Summer with the YAO Chamber Orchestra.