Young musicians compete for $16,000 in prizes at the Finals of the NACO Bursary 2002 on May 19
May 13, 2002 -
Ottawa, Canada -- Up to eight young musicians from the region will
compete for prizes totalling $16,000 at the final auditions of the
2002 NACO Bursary Competition to be held on Sunday, May 19 at 19:00
in the National Arts Centre Studio. These finalists will be selected
from 36 instrumentalists who will perform in recital at preliminary
auditions held before a jury of National Arts Centre Orchestra
musicians and guest members at the NAC on May 17 and 18. The winners
will be announced and presented with cheques and certificates after
the May 19 concert. The NACO Bursary is offered to music students in
or from the region aged 16 to 24 who are following a recognized
course of music study in preparation for careers as professional
orchestral musicians.
The Chair of this year's Bursary Committee is Vernon G.
Turner, Canada's former Ambassador to the USSR and an active
volunteer at the National Arts Centre. In 1997, he chaired the Gala
Committee for the NAC's first major gala fundraiser, An
Evening with Jessye Norman, and subsequently served as a member
of the Black and White Opera Soirée Committee in 1999, 2000
and 2001.
The Bursary Committee consists of NAC Orchestra musicians Walter
Prystawski (concertmaster), Winston Weber (assistant principal second
violin), Marjolaine Laroche (assistant principal double bass),
Charles Hamann (principal oboe), and Karen Donnelly (principal
trumpet), with Alexander (Sandy) Waddell as the non-voting NACOA
representative. The Bursary Jury includes invited guests Matthew
Larkin, organist and Director of Music at St. Matthew's Church,
and soprano Rosemarie Landry, NAC Board of Trustees member and Head
of Voice at the Faculty of Music, Université de
Montréal.
The NACO Bursary Trust Fund was established in 1979 to commemorate
the 10th anniversary of the founding of the National Arts
Centre Orchestra and to thank the people of the National Capital
Region for their support during the Orchestra's first decade.
The top prize funded by the NAC is the NACO Bursary of $6,000. A
second NAC-funded prize of $1,500 the Vic Pomer Award is named after
the late NACO violinist Vic Pomer. Both are to be used by the winners
for a recognized course of music study. The NACO Bursary Committee
also has available three additional prizes to be awarded at its
discretion: the New Sun Orchestral Student Bursary of $5,000, created
by the Community Foundation of Ottawa-Carleton in 1997, and provided
by an anonymous donor "to assist a favourite institute", and the
National Arts Centre Orchestra Association Award of $3,000, created
in 1993 to celebrate the Orchestra's 25th season. The
Prix Piccolo of $500 was initiated last year by Pasqualina (Pat)
Adamo who actively supports NAC activities.
