September 15, 2005 -

Ottawa, Canada -- Soprano Jessye Norman has been forced to cancel her appearance on the 2005 NAC Gala for reasons of health. However the National Arts Centre is thrilled to announce that the internationally renowned, five-time Grammy Award-winning soprano Kathleen Battle will perform in her place on the Gala with the National Arts Centre Orchestra conducted by Music Director Pinchas Zukerman. The concert also features Canadian rising star mezzo-soprano and Rolex protégée Susan Platts. The ninth annual Gala, which has been sold out since last spring, will take place as scheduled on Saturday, October 1 in the NAC’s Southam Hall. There will be a pre-concert reception in the Foyer for all patrons at 18:00, followed by the concert at 19:00. Those with Gala dinner tickets will also attend will a post-concert reception followed by dinner and dancing on the Southam Hall stage.

The NAC Gala is presented by TELUS, Founding Partner of the NAC’s National Youth and Education Trust in association with SunLife Financial, CGI, Bruce Power, Michael Potter and Veronique Dhieux, supporters and patrons of the National Arts Centre Gala, and the National Arts Centre Foundation Donors' Circle. The Honorary Chair of the 2005 NAC Gala is Mrs. Sheila Martin. The 2005 Gala Committee is chaired by Jacques Shore.

Details of the programme for the Gala will be confirmed shortly.

KATHLEEN BATTLE, a five-time Grammy Award winner, is celebrated for her many recordings and television appearances that have brought her voice and musicianship into millions of homes worldwide. Throughout a remarkable career that has brought her to the stages of the world’s leading opera houses and major concert halls, critics have never tired of rhapsodizing over her limpid, unmistakable sound.  In quite poetic terms, they have compared it to “the ethereal beauty of winter moonlight” (The Washington Post), “a paradoxical meeting of earth and sky” (Philadelphia Inquirer), and “cream from a miraculous, bottomless pitcher” (The New York Times).

The superstar soprano has appeared on stages including the Metropolitan Opera, the opera houses of Vienna, Paris, San Francisco and Chicago, and London’s Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Miss Battle has enjoyed close collaborations with most noted artists of our time and has performed with the world’s great orchestras in Vienna, Berlin, Paris, New York, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Cleveland and Los Angeles. She has also appeared regularly in the festivals of Salzburg, Ravinia, Tanglewood, Blossom, Hollywood Bowl, Mann Music Center, and performed in recital in the music capitals of the world. Kathleen Battle made her NAC debut in 1989, and was the guest artist for the NAC’s second annual Gala in 1998.

PINCHAS ZUKERMAN, the world-renowned instrumentalist and Music Director of the National Arts Centre Orchestra is equally respected as a violinist, violist, conductor, teacher and chamber musician. He is a champion of the NAC’s rapid expansion in education, having founded the NAC’s Summer Music Institute, which last summer assembled 70 talented musicians to study with an international faculty. He has also led five national and international tours with the NAC Orchestra since becoming Music Director, with education playing an ever more important role. This season’s British Columbia tour included over 90 education events in addition to concerts. All these initiatives are supported by the National Youth and Education Trust.

SUSAN PLATTS, the new Canadian mezzo-soprano sensation, has already made a name for herself with orchestras across Canada, including the NAC Orchestra, and has been featured in a number of acclaimed CBC-Radio broadcasts. Last season she made New York debuts at both Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall in the same month. Among other debuts this season, she appeared at Milan’s La Scala in fall 2004. Compared by many to a young Maureen Forrester, she was selected last May after a world-wide search to be Jessye Norman’s protégée as part of the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative.

Any ticket holder wishing to return a Gala ticket will be entitled to a full refund or exchange voucher provided the ticket is returned 48 hours prior to the date of the Gala.

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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

Jayne Watson, Director of Communications,
National Arts Centre
(613) 947-7000, ext. 260
jwatson@nac-cna.ca