January 30, 2006 -

Ottawa, Canada -- Vadim Repin, the Siberian-born violin phenomenon, will make his National Arts Centre Orchestra debut performing Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in Bostonian Bravo Series concerts on Thursday, February 9 and Friday, February 10 at 20:00 in the NAC’s Southam Hall. Dutch conductor Kees Bakels, who is replacing NAC Orchestra Music Director Pinchas Zukerman* for these concerts, will also lead the Orchestra in J.S. Bach’s Suite No. 3 and Haydn’s Symphony No. 98.

Born in 1971, Vadim Repin started to play violin at the age of five, and six months later had his first stage performance. At only eleven he won the gold medal in all age categories in the Wienawski Competition and gave his recital debuts in Moscow and St Petersburg. In 1985 at fourteen he made his debuts in Tokyo, Munich, Berlin, Helsinki; a year later in Carnegie Hall.  Two years later Vadim Repin was the youngest ever winner of the most prestigious and demanding violin competition in the world, the Queen Elisabeth of Belgium Competition. Since then he has appeared with the world’s greatest orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony, the Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, La Scala Milan, the Los Angeles and New York Philharmonic Orchestras, the Orchestre de Paris, the Royal Concertgebouw.

Vadim Repin’s prize-winning recordings on the Erato/Warner Classics label include the Shostakovich Violin Concerto No. 1, a deeply personal work by one of the Soviet Union’s foremost composers. Written in 1948, the concerto was wisely withheld by Shostakovich until after Stalin’s death as its dark introspection did not conform to demands for optimistic and heroic works aimed at the masses. It was premiered in 1955 by the legendary David Oistrakh who called it “very profound, Shakespearian, demanding from the artist the greatest emotional and intellectual dedication.” Repin performs on the magnificent Stradivarius 'Ruby' 1708 by kind permission of the Stradivarius Society of Chicago.

Kees Bakels has held numerous titled positions with major orchestras, most recently Music Director of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO). Appointed to that position in April 1997, he was the central artistic force behind the creation of the Orchestra, from the auditioning of the musicians leading up to its first rehearsals and inaugural concerts which he conducted in August 1998 at the new PETRONAS Hall in Kuala Lumpur.  His other positions have included Principal Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra and Principal Guest Conductor and Artistic Adviser to the Quebec Symphony Orchestra. He was Chief Guest Conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra for 10 years until 1999 and still works with that orchestra each season.

Tickets for these Bravo Bostonian Series concerts on February 9 and 10 are on sale now at $27.00, $47.50, $58.00 and $60.00, with box seats at $79.00 (GST and Facility Fee included) at the NAC Box Office (Monday to Saturday from 10:00 to 21:00), and through Ticketmaster (with surcharges) at 613-755-1111.  Ticketmaster may also be accessed through the NAC’s web-site at www.nac-cna.ca.

Groups of 10 and more save 15% to 20% off the regular price of tickets to NAC Music, Theatre and Dance performances.  To reserve your seats call 947-7000 ext. 384 or email grp@nac-cna.ca.  Half-price tickets for students in all sections of the hall are on sale in person at the NAC Box Office upon presentation of a valid student ID card.

*The National Arts Centre announced on December 16 that Pinchas Zukerman is taking a five-and-a-half month sabbatical from the Orchestra. Replacement conductors are taking over the five sets of NAC Orchestra concerts that Maestro Zukerman was scheduled to conduct in this period. Conductor Kees Bakels is the second of these.

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For more information please contact:
Jane Morris, Communications Officer,
National Arts Centre Orchestra
(613) 947-7000, ext. 335
jmorris@nac-cna.ca