May 13, 2004 -

Ottawa (Canada) -- The final National Arts Centre Orchestra TD Bank Financial Group Young People’s Concerts on Saturday, May 22 at 13:30 and 15:30 in the afternoon focus on the baton-wielding star of the podium. Lead On! The Conductor features quintessential young people’s conductor Boris Brott with a musical programme that includes samples of all the great composers: Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, and more. NAC violinist Jessica Linnebach plays the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, and young narrator Emilie Razbin reads the tale Jeremy’s Decision, together with its author Ardyth Brott, wife of conductor Boris.

The bilingual series for 7- to 11-year-olds and their grown-up friends includes pre-concert activities in the Foyer organized by the NAC Orchestra Association beginning at 12:45 for the first concert and 14:45 for the second concert.

Lead On! The Conductor brings to a close this season’s theme of “The Music Makers”, exploring what makes the performers and creators of music so extraordinary. This final episode teaches children about the person with the stick who is responsible for all that music without making a sound of his/her own! By the end of the program, Maestro Boris will have the audience conducting a fabulous piece with the NAC Orchestra!

The classics used to demonstrate aspects of the art of conducting include Brahms’s Hungarian Dance No. 1 and Symphony No. 1, Beethoven’s Seventh and Ninth Symphonies, J. Strauss’s Blue Danube Waltz and Pizzicato Polka, Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, Tchaikovsky’s “Pastoral” Symphony No. 6, R. Strauss’s Don Juan, and Fucik’s Entrance of the Gladiators. Jessica Linnebach will be the featured soloist in the third movement from Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor. Jessica first participated in the National Arts Centre’s Young Artists Programme in 1999 at the age of 16, returning the following summer. In October 2000, Pinchas Zukerman invited her to join the National Arts Centre Orchestra as guest soloist on the Orchestra’s historic tour of the Middle East and Europe.

The concert includes a reading of Ardyth Brott’s children’s tale Jeremy’s Decision, about a young boy struggling with the decision of NOT following in his conductor father’s footsteps. The story features original music by Regina composer Paul McIntyre and illustrations by Michael Martchenko projected on the NACOtron screen.

NACOtron is a feature of all NAC Young People’s Concerts presented in collaboration with Rogers Television. Five television cameras positioned on stage and in the hall capture live video images of the musicians while they are performing, and these images are projected on a screen above the stage allowing the audience to watch the action in close-up.

Pre-Concert Activities organized by the NAC Orchestra Association take place in the NAC Foyer starting 45 minutes prior to each concert. Activities for Lead On! The Conductor include one-on-one conducting stations to learn technique, plus a chance to youngsters to take up a baton and lead a 12-member ensemble of musicians from the Ottawa Youth Orchestra Academy. Orff Canada will present interactive musical activities, and NACOA will have a booth where children can “Make a Musical Garden”. The Ottawa Lynx mascot “Scratch” will also be on hand to greet the kids.

Tickets for this TD Bank Financial Group Young People’s Concert on Saturday, May 22 at 13:30 and 15:30, including Pre-Concert Activities, are $14.00 for children and $20.50 for adults (including GST and Facility Fee where applicable) and are on sale now at the NAC Box Office (Monday to Saturday from 10:00 to 21:00), and through Ticketmaster (with surcharges) at 613-755-1111.

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