January 19, 2006 -

Ottawa, Canada -- The National Arts Centre Orchestra will present four masterclasses over a four-week period from January 24 to February 21 featuring a variety of instruments and styles: jazz trumpet player Cecil Bridgewater on Jan. 24; NACO principal bassoon Christopher Millard on Jan. 30; violinist James Ehnes on Feb. 14; and pianist Stephen Hough on Feb. 21. Each of these four masterclasses is in English with an introduction and Q&A; in English and French.

Jazz trumpet player Cecil Bridgewater will teach as part of the “Manhattan on the Rideau” series which links leading jazz faculty members of the Manhattan School of Music (MSM) by broadband videoconferencing with accomplished music students in Ottawa and New York City. This session, produced by the NAC’s Hexagon Project in association with the MSM, will take place in the NAC’s Fourth Stage on Tuesday, January 24, from noon to 14:00. Admission is free.

NAC Orchestra principal bassoon Christopher Millard’s masterclass on Monday, January 30 from 20:00 to 22:00, is part of the “NAC Orchestra Series” at the Conservatoire de musique de Gatineau, Fernand-Graton Hall, 430 blvd. Alexandre-Taché, Gatineau, Quebec. Admission is free.

Both violinist James Ehnes on Tuesday, February 14, and pianist Stephen Hough on Tuesday, February 21, from 19:00 to 21:00, are part of the “International Series” presented in collaboration with the University of Ottawa. This series is led by internationally renowned guest soloists with the NAC Orchestra and takes place in Freiman Hall, University of Ottawa. Tickets for the International Series are $10.00 each and are available at the door. (There is free admission for University of Ottawa music students and faculty.)

A masterclass is a one-on-one lesson in which a master musician teaches a selected student or ensemble under the watchful eyes of fellow students and members of the public. Thus the audience can learn from the master along with the talented student in the spotlight. Each masterclass involves 2 to 3 students in succession followed by question-and-answer.

Cecil Bridgewater’s 30 plus years of experience includes roles as performer, composer, arranger, record producer and educator. He has been a member of the groups of Max Roach, Horace Silver and the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra to name a few. He has also shared the stage and/or studio with the Count Basie Orchestra, Duke Ellington Orchestra, Dizzy Gillespie, McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Heath, Sir Roland Hanna, Wynton Marsalis and Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers among others.

Christopher Millard, described by the peer journal The Double Reed as “one of the great bassoonists of the 20th century,” joined the National Arts Centre Orchestra as principal bassoon at the beginning of the 2004-2005 season after 28 years as principal bassoon for the Vancouver Symphony and the CBC Radio Orchestra. A regular guest artist and teacher at the Scotia, Orford and Ottawa Festivals, the Domaine Forget in Quebec and the Banff Centre, his most recent recordings include a new Schubert Octet and the Hétu Bassoon Concerto, the latter of which won a 2004 Juno Award.

James Ehnes has rapidly established a pre-eminent reputation among concert violinists. He has performed with such renowned conductors as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Sir Andrew Davis, Charles Dutoit, Andrew Litton, Zdenek Macal, and Bobby McFerrin, appearing with orchestras throughout Europe, Asia, the United States, and Canada. A prolific recording artist, he has three Juno Awards to his name. James Ehnes has won numerous awards and prizes, including the first-ever Ivan Galamian Memorial Award and an Avery Fisher Career Grant,

Stephen Hough, since winning first prize in the Naumburg International Piano Competition in New York in 1983, has appeared regularly with most of the major American orchestras and with numerous European orchestras. He has an extensive catalogue of around forty recordings, many of which have won international prizes such as the Diapason d’Or, the Deutscher Schallplattenpreis, Classic CD and Gramophone Awards.

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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