November 03, 2005 -

OTTAWA, CANADA -- National Arts Centre Music Director Pinchas Zukerman and children in Regina, Calgary and Ottawa will play music together through the latest in broadband videoconference technology.

Music Connexions will see Zukerman and the children perform part of Antonio Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons in front of live audiences in all three cities on Nov. 10. The children will also present their own artistic interpretation of the piece using their own cultural traditions.

Over 70 children, most of whom are Aboriginal, will participate in this live event from the Atrium of First Nations University in Regina, the Leacock Theatre in Calgary and Rehearsal Hall B at the National Arts Centre.

The children are from St. Augustine Community School in Regina SK, Chief Old Sun School in Siksika just east of Calgary AB, the Kana:takon School in St. Regis (Akwesasne) QC and the Akwesasne Mohawk School on Cornwall Island (Awkesasne) ON.

This special music project has provided several unique opportunities for these young students. Over the last six weeks, children in participating schools have been learning about Antonio Vivaldi, as well as how to sing and play an excerpt from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons on the recorder in preparation for the one-hour music sharing-session on Nov.10. 

Through Music Connexions, the children also learn about Canada by connecting to pen-pals in other parts of the country who, like them, have roots in Aboriginal culture and tradition.

“This is a rich learning experience, one that will continue far beyond the final music-sharing event on Nov. 10, and that will affect these children for a very long time,” said Claire Speed, director of music education of the NAC.

The project is a fine example of how the NAC is striving to support music teaching and learning in schools over the long-term. In Music Connexions, not only do the children learn about Vivaldi and how to play his music on recorder, so do the teachers. In late summer and early fall, the NAC arranged for local specialists to lead teacher clinics on recorder-playing, and provided student materials and the NAC’s teacher resource kit, called Vivaldi and the Four Seasons. The NAC developed the kit with curriculum experts and distributed it this fall to every elementary school in Alberta and Saskatchewan. 

“One of the great things about Music Connexions is that the teachers now have resources and skills they can use again and again,” said Speed. “Sustainable music education is what the NAC is trying to support in elementary schools across the country.”

The public is welcome to attend the free, public presentations of Music Connexions at the locations listed below. Please call the RSVP number in your area to reserve a seat.

Regina
Atrium, First Nations University
2:00 - 3:30 pm
RSVP (306) 790-5950 x 0

Calgary
Leacock Theatre, Mount Royal College
1:00 - 2:30 pm
RSVP: (403) 440-5055

Ottawa
Rehearsal Hall B, National Arts Centre
3:00 - 4:30 pm
RSVP: (613) 947-7000 x 550

Yamaha Canada and local distributors of St John’s Music in Regina, Calgary and Ottawa supported Music Connexions by supplying recorders, method books and partial funding for recorder clinics.

The National Arts Centre plays a national role in education and community outreach, and in the use of new technology to reach Canadians from coast to coast. Music Connexions  is just one of over 90 educational events taking place as part of the orchestra’s performance and education tour to Alberta and Saskatchewan, Nov. 7-19.

The tour will see orchestra members visit Regina, Melville, Prince Albert, Humboldt and Saskatoon. Alberta events include stops in Grande Prairie, Medicine Hat, Calgary, Edmonton, Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Banff, Red Deer and Lethbridge.

The NAC Orchestra Alberta-Saskatchewan Tour is supported by Alberta Presenting Sponsor EPCOR and Saskatchewan Presenting Sponsor CN, with additional Major Support in Alberta from CN. Bell is the Technology Sponsor in Alberta. The Tour’s Education Sponsors are ConocoPhillips in Alberta and SaskEnergy in Saskatchewan. True Energy Inc. is the Saskatchewan Community Sponsor. Special funding for the Tour’s education programs is provided by Education Donor CIBC, National Arts Centre Friends – Alberta and donors to the NAC’s National Youth and Education Trust. The National Post is the Tour’s National Media Partner.

Special thanks to the Interdepartmental Partnership with the Official-Language Communities (IPOLC) and supporters of the National Youth and Education Trust.

Follow the tour online at www.artsalive.ca.

For more information, contact:
Mary Gordon
Communications Advisor
National Arts Centre
(613) 947-7000 x 524

Jane Morris
Communications Officer
National Arts Centre Orchestra
(613) 947-7000 x 335
Cell: (613) 302-0727