May 13, 2003 -

Ottawa, Canada -- The 2003 edition of the National Arts Centre's Young Artists Programme will take place from Monday, June 16 to Saturday, July 5. This prestigious advanced training programme directed by Pinchas Zukerman has expanded once again to include 36 participants ranging in age from 14 to 25, from St. John's, Newfoundland to Victoria, BC in Canada, as well as from China, Hungary, Israel, Russia, Spain, the USA and Uzbekistan. It has also expanded to add instruction in double bass under NAC Orchestra principal double bass Joel Quarrington to the ongoing programmes for violin, viola, cello and piano. The participants will be in residence at the University of Ottawa for three weeks of private instruction, master classes, and chamber music training. Some will also take part in performances during the Great Composers Festival, and some will perform in chamber ensembles for the NAC Conductors Programme.

The faculty is headed by Pinchas Zukerman, Manhattan School of Music and Music Director of the NAC Orchestra, and Patinka Kopec, who heads the Pinchas Zukerman Performance Program at the Manhattan School of Music. They are joined in teaching violin and viola by Grigory Kalinovsky, also from the Manhattan School of Music. Cello will be taught by Margaret Munro Tobolowska of the NAC Orchestra, with special guest artists Amanda Forsyth, principal cello of the National Arts Centre Orchestra, and Danish cellist Hans Jorgen Jensen, Professor of Music at Northwestern University in Chicago; Piano is taught by Tatiana Goncharova of the Manhattan School of Music with special guest artist Joseph Kalichstein, famed American pianist of the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio; chamber music by violist Steven Dann of the Glenn Gould Professional School at the Royal Conservatory of Music; and double bass by Joel Quarrington, principal double bass of the National Arts Centre Orchestra. Orchestral repertoire is led by Walter Prystawski, concertmaster of the NAC Orchestra.

The Young Artists Programme was created by Pinchas Zukerman in 1999 in order to provide gifted young musicians with training at the highest level. Taking time to help develop the next generation of musicians has always been of the utmost importance to the Israeli-born violinist and violist who was himself mentored in his youth by some of the finest musical talents of the time.

The number of applications increased significantly this year and showed a marked increase in artistic level. Participants for the NAC Young Artists Programme were selected through audition by CD, video and audio tape. Two students were discovered during the Orchestra's Atlantic Tour in November 2002.

There will be a number of different opportunities for the public to observe the students in performance and training. These include the Canada Day concerts on July 1, the "Chamber Music Extravaganza" on July 4, and the final chamber music concert to showcase participants on July 5. The public will also be able to observe selected students in a series of master classes with Pinchas Zukerman and other teachers between June 18 and July 2.

The 36 participants for the 2003 National Arts Centre Young Artists Programme are:

violin: Anna Basis (21, Russia), Thomas Cosbey (23, Regina, SK, Canada), Luis Esnaola (18, Spain), Ilia Grosz (15, Israel), Bela Horvath (20, Hungary), Daniel Khalikov (19, Uzbekistan), Marta Krechkovsky (19, Toronto, ON, Canada), Tali Kravitz (19, Israel), Jennie Press (23, St. John's, NL, Canada), Jesus Reina (16, Spain), Anita Walsh (24, Ottawa, ON, Canada), Andrew Wan (19, Edmonton, AB, Canada), Hayley Wolfe (22, USA), Jie Wu (20, China); viola: Michael Bursey (25, Regina, SK, Canada), Alyssa Delbaere-Sawchuk (16, Winnipeg, MB, Canada), Mara-Lise Gearman (24, USA), Tom Palny (20, Israel), Sheldon Person (25, Edmonton, AB, Canada), Olivier Philippe-Auguste (19, Haiti), Theresa Rudolph (23, Burnaby, BC, Canada), Nathan Selman (18, USA/Norway), Emlyn Stam (19, Calgary, AB, Canada); cello: Rachel Aptowitzer (14, Israel/Canada), Raphaël Dubé (18, Mt-St-Hilaire, QC, Canada), Adrian Fung (22, Burlington, ON, Canada), Jonathan Koh (22, USA), Thaddeus Morden (18, Ottawa, ON, Canada), Adam Press (20, St. John's, NL, Canada), Louis-Philippe Robillard (21, Montreal, QC, Canada), Gwendolyn Smith (25, London, ON, Canada); double bass: Nicholai Bobas (22, Ottawa, ON, Canada), Benji Jordan (22, Huntsville, ON, Canada); piano: Audrey Bild (16, Victoria, BC, Canada), Marie-Charline Foccroulle (25, Gatineau, QC, Canada), Bryan Wagorn (19, Ottawa, ON, Canada).

The Associate Sponsor of the 2003 Young Artists Programme is Galaxie: The Continuous Music Network. The programme is supported by the National Youth and Education Trust with special thanks to TELUS, Founding Partner of the Trust, Corus Entertainment, J. Armand Bombardier Foundation and Universal Music, as well as NAC Donors' Circle supporters and National Arts Centre Gala audience members. Canadian participants are eligible for full scholarships, including The Mitchell Sharp Promising Young Musician Award, the Galaxie "Rising Star" Award, the New Sun Award, the Joyce Conger Award for the Arts, the McKinlay Family Scholarship, the Ridgen Family Scholarship, the NACOA Scholarship, the Marjorie Goodrich Scholarship, the Fuller Family Scholarship, the Walter Prystawski Scholarship, the Bourse Roland Madou pour jeunes musiciens francophones en situation minoritaire, the Dr. Ruth M. Bell, C.M. Scholarship, and the Jenny and Hy Belzberg Scholarship in honour of Pinchas Zukerman, among others.

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