February 06, 2006 -

• Pinchas Zukerman in 12 different programmes as conductor and/or violinist/violist

• Tour of Quebec led by Pinchas Zukerman

• NACO debuts including conductors Thomas Dausgaard, and Gustavo Dudamel, and guest artists Barnabás Kelemen, Simon Trpceski, and Eartha Kitt

• World premiere of a new symphony by Gary Kulesha; new music eX-pressions led by Oliver Knussen, and NACO first performances of works by Bartók and Berlioz

Ottawa (Canada) -- Today the National Arts Centre Orchestra announced programming details of its 2006-2007 subscription season at a launch celebration to which all subscribers and special guests of the Orchestra were invited. Highlights of the season include the return of Music Director Pinchas Zukerman together with Principal Pops Conductor Jack Everly and Principal Youth and Family Conductor Boris Brott; a Quebec Tour led by Pinchas Zukerman; NACO debuts by Danish conductor Thomas Dausgaard and the young Venezuelan sensation Gustavo Dudamel, and guest artists including Hungarian violinist Barnabás Kelemen, Macedonian pianist Simon Trpceski, and sultry singer Eartha Kitt; and the return of old friends such as conductor Franz-Paul Decker, and pianists Emanuel Ax, Yefim Bronfman and Jon Kimura Parker, and of American conductor Leonard Slatkin for the first time since 1977. The NAC Orchestra will also present the world premiere of a new symphony by NAC Award Composer Gary Kulesha; a two-part celebration of new music entitled eX-pressions, led and hosted by leading British composer-conductor Oliver Knussen; and NACO first performances of Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra, Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique and Kodály’s Psalmus Hungaricus. A series of visiting orchestras will include the Montreal Symphony Orchestra for its first NAC visit since 1990, and the Orion String Quartet performing all six Bartók Quartets in the NAC’s 50th anniversary Hungarian celebrations.

Guest artists making their NAC Orchestra debuts include Hungarian violinist Barnabás Kelemen, named Gramophone’s Classical Artist of the Year in 2003, performing Bartók Rhapsodies; Canadian violinist Karen Gomyo, making her orchestral debut after dazzling NAC audiences at her Aber Diamond Debut recital; the young award-winning Israeli pianist Shai Wosner; the Macedonian pianist Simon Trpceski performing the Saint-Saëns Second Piano Concerto; one of America’s foremost lyric sopranos Janice Chandler-Eteme in Messiah, and American bass-baritone Greer Grimsley in Verdi’s Requiem.

Sultry, glamorous singer Eartha Kitt will make her debut on the CTV Pops Series, as will the von Trapp Children – grandchildren of the family immortalized in the musical The Sound of Music. That series will also include a screening The Wizard of Oz with state-of-the-art projection and sound, and the lush Oscar-winning score performed live by the NAC Orchestra.

Conductors leading the NAC Orchestra for the first time include Thomas Dausgaard,Chief Conductor of the Danish National Orchestra; Gustavo Dudamel, the 24-year-old sensation from Venezuela who is already making waves around the world; and British conductor David Lockington leading this year’s Messiah.

Returning artists include pianists Emanuel Ax, Yefim Bronfman, Anton Kuerti, Jon Kimura Parker and Yuja Wang; violinists Viviane Hagner and Nikolaj Znaider; sopranos Karina Gauvin and Arianna Zukerman;mezzo-sopranos Anita Krause and Susan Platts; contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux in songs by Mahler; tenors Frédéric Antoun, John MacMaster and James Taylor; and bass-baritones Gerald Finley (singing Mozart concert and opera arias in the season-opening concert), Greer Grimsley and Gaétan Laperrière; and bass Gary Relyea. The CTV Pops Series will see the return of the Canadian Brass.

Conductors making welcome returns to the NAC Orchestra include five-time Grammy Award-winner Leonard Slatkin, Music Director of the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center; former Principal Guest Conductor Franz-Paul Decker leading the Hungarian celebratory concert; the Estonian conductor Eri Klas, returning after a successful debut performance in 2006; the Brazilian Maestro Roberto Minczuk, American Andrew Litton, Music Director of the Dallas Symphony for 12 years, appearing with NACO for the first time since 1991; and the Irish conductor John McNamara returning to lead Christmas with the NAC Orchestra after his sold-out debut in 2005.

Oliver Knussen, one of the leading composers in the world today, will also return to conduct and host eX-pressions, a two-part celebration of new music featuring his own compositions and music by other contemporary composers. The British conductor will lead the NAC Orchestra in his own Song Cycle on poems by Emily Dickinson, Rainer Maria Rilke, W.H. Auden and Antonio Machado, as well as works by Dallapiccola, Schoenberg, and Respighi on March 7. The second concert at Dominion-Chalmers Church on March 10 will feature ensembles of the NAC Orchestra performing Schoenberg’s Pierrot lunaire – a melodrama for voice and chamber ensemble plus addition works by Knussen, Lindberg and Glandert. Both concerts are free.

NAC Orchestra musicians appearing as soloists are Amanda Forsyth (principal cello) performing the Shostakovich Cello Concerto No. 1, Kimball Sykes (principal clarinet) performing excerpts from Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto, and Jethro Marks (associate principal viola) and Joel Quarrington (returning to the NAC Orchestra as principal double bass) who will join with Zukerman and pianist Yuja Wang for Schubert’s Trout Quintet.

The 10th Anniversary of the NAC Gala announced last week will see a spectacular gathering of musical royalty on the Southam Hall stage: pianist Emanuel Ax, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, Celtic fiddler Natalie MacMaster, violinist Gil Shaham, with the NAC Orchestra led by conductor and violinist Pinchas Zukerman. The NAC is honoured to once again have TELUS, Founding Partner of the NAC’s National Youth and Education Trust, as the Presenting Sponsor of the annual Gala.

The Montreal Symphony Orchestra led by its new Music Director Kent Nagano will appear for the first time at the National Arts Centre since 1990 during the Quebec Scene with world-renowned Canadian tenor Michael Schade. The Quebec Scene will also see a return of the Quebec Symphony Orchestra led by Music Director Yoav Talmi with oboe/English horn player Philippe Magnan as soloist. The annual exchange visits between Ottawa and Toronto will continue with the return of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra with Music Director Peter Oundjian on the podium and violinist Leila Josefowicz as guest soloist. The National Arts Centre Orchestra will perform in Toronto on April 19, 2007.

Other visiting ensembles include the Hubbard Street Dance Chicago in a new dance/orchestra collaboration to the music of Mozart originally created especially for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra with Pinchas Zukerman; and the aforementioned Orion Quartet performing Bartók; the Von Trapp Children and the Canadian Brass. Ottawa choirs appearing include the Ottawa Choral Society, (Matthew Larkin, director), the Cantata Singers of Ottawa (Michael Zaugg, director), the Opera Lyra Ottawa Chorus (Laurence Ewashko Director), the Ottawa Regional Youth Choir (Barbara Clark, director), and the NAC debut of the Boys Choir of Christ Church Cathedral (Matthew Larkin, director).

Pinchas Zukerman will conduct ten of the seventeen Mark Motors Audi Signature, Bostonian Bravo and Ovation Series concerts and will join with ensembles of the NAC Orchestra in one of the Music for a Sunday Afternoon chamber concerts. As soloist, audiences will hear the internationally celebrated artist in the Bartók Viola Concerto, Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 3, Schubert’s Trout Quintet, and excerpts of Mozart on the Hubbard Street Dance programme.

Pinchas Zukerman said, “The theme of our season launch is ‘Meet your Orchestra’ and I hope that many of our patrons will take us up on that invitation throughout 2006-2007. The members of the NAC Orchestra are very fine musicians and I have a wonderful time making music with them. I’m looking forward with great anticipation to the upcoming season of fantastic music both at home and on tour, and to furthering our education initiatives around the country.”

Jack Everly, Principal Pops Conductor who has become a huge favourite with pops audiences, will be on the podium for three of the six concerts on the CTV Pops Series, two of which he created himself as Artistic Director of the Symphonic Pops Consortium: Broadway’s Leading Men, the male sequel to the enormously popular Broadway Divas presented in 2005; and From Vienna, With Love, an evening of brilliant singing and dancing to music ranging from Viennese operetta to the Great White Way. Everly will also lead the concert featuring the Von Trapp Children.

Boris Brott, the Orchestra’s energetic Principal Youth and Family Conductor returns to lead all four programmes of the popular TD Canada Trust Young People’s Concerts which this season will focus on the orchestra family, each concert featuring a different section of the orchestra. The concerts are titled Musical Celebrations; The Rhythm of Life; Hear, There and Everywhere; and Song of the Wild.

The Quebec Tour is Pinchas Zukerman’s seventh tour since becoming Music Director of the National Arts Centre Orchestra. It will take place in early November 2006. Claire Speed, the Orchestra’s Director of Music Education has already made two trips to the province to begin arrangements for the extensive education activities that will take place alongside the concerts. Details will be announced at a later date.

Works receiving their first NAC Orchestra performances include an NAC-commissioned world premiere of a new symphony entitled Serenissima by NAC Award Composer Gary Kulesha, Berlioz’s remarkable Symphonie Fantastique, Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra, Barber’sFirst Essay for Orchestra, Kodály’s Psalmus Hungaricus, Lalo’s Symphonie espagnole and the 1945 version of Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite. The main series also includes Symphony No. 3 by Canadian composer Jacques Hétu, and Spanish Airs by Canadian composer José Evangelista.

The Hungarian 50th Anniversary celebrations will be recognized in special concerts on October 18 and 19 led by Franz-Paul Decker including the aforementioned NACO premiere of the Bartók Concerto for Orchestra and Kodály’s Psalmus Hungaricus, as well as Bartók’s Rhapsodies for Violin and Brahms’ Hungarian Dances. The performances on October 16 and 17 by the Orion Quartet of all six of Bartók’s Quartets at Dominion Chalmers Church are part of the same festivities.

Peter Herrndorf declared, “All of us at the NAC are proud of our Orchestra’s accomplishments over the past season and we look forward to an exciting future with Pinchas Zukerman and our wonderfully talented musicians. The Orchestra’s tour to Alberta and Saskatchewan was inspiring for its performances both on-stage and in classrooms across both provinces; the Summer Music Institute continues to take its place among the most important music education centres in the country; and the current season continues to attract enthusiastic audiences. We hope that many more patrons – new and current – will take us up on our invitation to “meet” the NAC Orchestra in Ottawa and across Canada.”

Christopher Deacon, Managing Director of the NAC Orchestra, added: “There is a fantastic breadth of programming to look forward to, both in the performances of masterpieces new to our Orchestra and in the presentation of Canadian compositions. I am looking forward to the two eX-pressions concerts led by renowned composer Oliver Knussen, as well as the works of Canadians Evangelista and Hétu, and especially the brand-new symphony by NAC Award Composer Gary Kulesha who will also be the Lead Composer for our Summer Music Institute.”

Subscribers to the 2006-07 season along with members of the NAC Donors Circle have first chance at getting tickets to the 10th Anniversary NAC Gala featuring Emanuel Ax, Yo-Yo Ma, Natalie MacMaster, Gil Shaham and Pinchas Zukermanon September 27, 2006. The Gala is presented by TELUS, Founding Partner of the National Youth and Education Trust. The Trust is also supported by Sun Life Financial, patrons of the Gala and the National Arts Centre Foundation Donors’ Circle. These tickets go on sale on February 6 to donors and subscribers. Box Office opens on April 24 to the general public.

The season consists of the two-night, six-concert Mark Motors Audi Signature, and Bostonian BravoSeries; the two-night Ovation Series, which has become a five-concert series to make way for the eX-pressions new music celebration; the three-night, six-concert CTV Pops Series; the TD Canada Trust Young People’s Concerts twice a day over four afternoons; plus the four-concert Music for a Sunday Afternoon chamber music series presented at the National Gallery of Canada. The Bombardier Great Performers Series will be announced on May 10.

The National Arts Centre thanks its sponsors and donors for their dedicated support of the NAC Orchestra and its classical, pops and youth series. Every sponsor has renewed its commitment for the 2006-2007 Orchestra season and several have reached landmarks. Mark Motors of Ottawa returns for a ninth season to present the Mark Motors Audi Signature Series and provide the Audi automobile that is the National Arts Centre Orchestra’s official car. Bostonian Executive Suites returns as the presenting sponsor of the Bostonian Bravo Series and continues its tradition of providing hospitality to many visiting NAC artists. The NAC is particularly proud to acknowledge media partner the Ottawa Citizen, whose cumulative gifts to the National Arts Centre over the past 15 years have surpassed $1 million. The support of Bombardier Inc., TD Canada Trust, Rogers Television and CTV allows the NAC to continue to present world-class artists and expand the reach of its youth and education programmes in the region. Thanks to Aber Diamond Corporation, National Arts Centre can showcase the best emerging talent on our national stage through the Aber Diamond Debut Series. Special thanks are extended to the many individual donors to the National Arts Centre Foundation for their exemplary support of the National Arts Centre Orchestra, its annual initiatives and its youth programming.

The NAC’s National Youth and Education Trust provides funding for youth programming. The Trust is supported by Founding Partner TELUS, Sun Life Financial, Michael Potter and Véronique Dhieux, supporters and patrons of the National Arts Centre Gala, and the National Arts Centre Foundation Donors’ Circle.

Subscribers benefit from a number of privileges including discounts on regular ticket prices; subscriber preferred discounts off additional Orchestra, Theatre and Dance tickets; 10% off lunch at Le Café; first choice of the best seats in Southam Hall; FREE EXCHANGES (new this year) into any other Orchestra, Theatre or Dance subscription event; priority on purchases of additional Orchestra tickets before the Box Office opens to the general public; advance notice of special events; a free subscription to Presto! the NACO newsletter; and special discounts at CD Warehouse and Nicholas Hoare, Bookseller.

Following extensive research, the NAC has substantially lowered prices for its Southam Hall Balcony seats. For the classical series concerts, regular subscription prices are now just $16.50 a ticket.

Subscribers with specific tastes in music or with schedules that make it hard to decide
on a series, may prefer the popular Pick-Six option. They can put together their own package of six concerts from the seventeen concerts of the Mark Motors Audi Signature, Bostonian Bravo and Ovation Series.

Patrons can subscribe online (www.nac-cna.ca/subscribe); by phone (613-947-7000, ext 620); or in person at the NAC.

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