June 14, 2006 -

Ottawa, Canada -- Come don your red and white and celebrate Canada Day at the National Arts Centre. Everyone is welcome and activities are free.

The ever-popular Canada Day party at the NAC will feature concerts with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, choral and world music, comedy, dance and other Canada Day festivities.

On Saturday, July 1at 10:00, the day begins with a Southam Hall concert by Unisong, a 400-voice ensemble of choirs from across Canada.

At 12:30 and 14:00 on Lawrence Freiman Lane (just beside the NAC), be dazzled by the West African rhythms of Baobab Tree, then brace yourself for big laughs with the comedy-percussion trio BAM.

At 13:00 and 14:30 on the Elgin Street Terrace (beside the Fourth Stage entrance), Pardon my French will rev up the crowd with a foot-stompin’, fiddle-sawin’ and squeeze-boxin’ good time!

And at 14:30 and at 19:30 Music Director Pinchas Zukerman leads the NAC Orchestra in a programme that will feature the Unisong choir, Mount Royal College Conservatory piano student Jan Lisiecki, and string and wind players from Canada and around the world who are participating in this year’s NAC Summer Music Institute, a three-week music intensive for some of the world’s most promising performers, composers and conductors.

The Orchestra will shine with repertoire that includes the first movement of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 (featuring Jan Lisiecki) and the Fourth Movement of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5. The string players from the Summer Music Institute’s Young Artists Programme will play Weber’s Oberon Overture. And the Unisong Choir will sing works by Canadian composers Paul Halley and Stephen Hartfield.

The NAC doors will be open all day. Everyone is welcome and no tickets are required. Visit www.nac-cna.ca for more details.

The National Arts Centre’s Canada Day celebration is presented by Rogers Communications Inc.

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For more information:
Mary Gordon, Communications Advisor
National Arts Centre
(613) 947-7000, ext. 524