NAC Award Composer Alexina Louie gives piano masterclass in new music to students at the NAC in Ottawa and by Broadband to students at UBC in Vancouver on June 4
June 03, 2003 -
Ottawa, Canada -- National Arts Centre Orchestra Award Composer Alexina Louie will give an innovative masterclass to young piano students in both Ottawa and Vancouver on Wednesday, June 4, via broadband networks. The masterclass takes place from 13:00-15:00 Ottawa time in the NAC’s Fourth Stage with Alexina Louie in person, and from 10:00 to 12:00 noon Vancouver time at the School of Music Recital Hall at University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver where Louie will be teaching the students by Broadband video-conferencing. This connectivity is part of the National Arts Centre’s Hexagon project, that uses broadband technology to advance distance learning in the arts.
Four students will participate in Ottawa and five in Vancouver, ranging in age from 9 to 16. They will each be working on short piano pieces from Music for Piano and Starlight, Starbright composed by Alexina Louie for young students. This is the first session of a three-year national broadband project in which Louie will work with students of increasing age and experience. The public is invited to attend the sessions in both cities. In Ottawa tickets are $10.00 (adults) and $5.00 (students), and can be purchased at the entrance to the Fourth Stage. Admission is free in Vancouver.
The Vancouver masterclass is arranged in collaboration with UBC’s Telestudios (UBC's team focused on the development of leading edge technology-based educational communication tools), the UBC School of Music and with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (VSO). NAC Orchestra Music Director Pinchas Zukerman and principal cello Amanda Forsyth are donating their services for a special fundraising concert for the VSO on Friday, June 6. While in Vancouver, both Zukerman and Forsyth are also giving masterclasses in person at UBC on Thursday, June 5, 14:00 to 16:30 (Vancouver time).
Pinchas Zukerman is a pioneer in the use of videoconferencing for distance teaching, and has used this teaching method for over a decade. Since his arrival at the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the NAC’s Hexagon project team has worked in close collaboration with the National Research Council (NRC); CANARIE Inc. (Canada’s Advanced Internet Development Organization), and the Department of Canadian Heritage to advance distance teaching using CA*net, the world’s first national optical fibre R&D Internet network. Through the Hexagon project, The NAC is now “wired” for broadband videoconferencing in many locations on its premises. The NAC is developing partnerships with teaching institutions in other parts of Canada and internationally who have the capability of linking with the NAC using this technology.
In March 2002 at the launch of the NAC New Music Programme, the National Arts Centre named Alexina Louie as one of three recipients of the $75,000 NAC Composer Awards. Each composer has been commissioned to create three works over a four-year period, during which time they will work closely with the National Arts Centre Orchestra on a series of new music education initiatives. These Vancouver-Ottawa masterclasses are part of these outreach initiatives.
Born in Vancouver to Chinese parents, Alexina Louie studied at UBC and the University of California at San Diego, and is now based in Toronto. In 1986 she became the youngest ever to be named “Canadian Composer of the Year.” She has twice received the SOCAN Award (1990, 1995) for being the most frequently performed Canadian composer. Commissions by Canada’s most prestigious soloists and musical organizations are numerous enough to allow Louie to pursue a career exclusively devoted to composition. She has recently finished writing a string quartet for the NAC Orchestra to be premiered in July. Shattered Night, Shivering Stars, commissioned by the National Arts Centre Orchestra and premiered in 1997, was later recorded as part of an all-Louie CD featuring the NAC Orchestra on CBC Records. The piece won the Juno Award for Best Classical Composition in 2000.
List of students for Alexina Louie masterclass:
10:00AM Vancouver time/ 13:00PM Ottawa time
Starlight, Starbright
10:00-10:10 Introduction
10:10-10:15 Vancouver, Deanna Chan - Distant Stars
10:15-10:20 Ottawa, Jennifer Burden - Blue Sky 1
10:20-10:26 Ottawa, Miranda Glen - Star Gazing
10:26-10:32 Ottawa, Rebecca Rodal - Moonlight Toccata
10:32-10:42 Vancouver, David Hankleman - O Moon
10:42-10:47 Vancouver, Ashley Chen - Shooting Stars
Music for Piano
10:47-10:52 Introduction
10:52-11:02 Vancouver, Hannah Hahn - Changes
11:02-11:14 Vancouver, Janet Cho - Distant Memories
11:14-11:24 Ottawa, Mimi Lam - Once Upon a Time
11:24-12:00 Ottawa and Vancouver - Question and Answer Period
