Canada's National Arts Centre Orchestra returns in triumph from its United States and Mexico Tour
November 24, 2003 -
OTTAWA, CANADA -- Canada's National Arts Centre Orchestra, featuring Music Director Pinchas Zukerman in the double role of conductor and violin soloist, has returned in triumph from its 17-day United States and Mexico Tour (October 31 to November 16) after performing ten concerts in ten cities, as well as successfully presenting over 70 different education events from. In some of the most prestigious halls in both countries, large audiences regularly greeted the Orchestra's performances with bravos, cheers and standing ovations, while the partnerships developed through the education events are just the beginning of what promises to be long and rewarding relationships.
In addition to galvanizing the NAC Orchestra from the podium, Maestro Zukerman participated in a number of the education events, including master classes and sectional rehearsals, some of which were streamed live on the Internet. Canadian composer Denys Bouliane, whose work Snow is white but water is black was performed in every city, joined the tour to give a series of lectures and master classes to composition students; Spanish-speaking horn player Félix Acevedo visited 18 elementary schools in Mexico and Chicago; the Orchestra performed two student matinees led by conductor Boris Brott in Chicago; the NACO Musicians in the Schools string quintet performed for school children, and individual principal musicians gave master classes throughout the tour. Thousands of youngsters and music students were touched by the Orchestra's visit to their cities, while school children across Canada benefited from the distribution of the NAC's Let's Go Mozart! Teacher Resource Kit to 12,500 elementary schools.
Thousands of people followed the United States and Mexico Tour on-line, with the NAC Orchestra's Tour website averaging over 800 visits a day at www.artsalive.ca. The Tour site is still open to visits, with the photo gallery and video web journals especially popular. Five videoconferenced education events are archived in their entirety, including the "Music Bridge" that brought grade 6 students in Monterrey (Mexico), Chicago (USA) and Ottawa (Canada) together to share their cultures and their responses to the music of Mozart.
The United States and Mexico Tour was presented by Export Development Canada (EDC). The Tour's Education Partner was HSBC. The National Arts Centre is also grateful for the support of TransAlta and Bombardier (Tour Partners), the National Post (Media Partner), and the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.
CRITICAL KUDOS:
"In orchestral playing, as with any job, it helps when your boss knows what he's talking about, and when it comes to string instruments, Pinchas Zukerman does… Mr. Zukerman has a tangible advantage: he can use his own instrumental expertise for finely grooming the sound of his ensemble. That he has done so effectively was clear from the very first work on the program, Rossini's Overture to "La Cenerentola," in which the strings had a rich, lustrous and highly unified sound…. One would be remiss not to mention that the orchestra's tour of the United States and Mexico included an ambitious and tech-savvy educational component. Traveling orchestras seldom make it into the schools, let alone with live Webcasts, so Mr. Zukerman and his players deserve credit for their efforts."
New York Times (New York, NY, USA)
"For nearly five years, Canada's National Arts Centre Orchestra has had a world-class violinist, Pinchas Zukerman, as its music director. One result has been the development of a string section that would make any orchestra proud…. The program ended with Beethoven's Violin Concerto… (Zukerman's) solo was excellent, of course; this concerto has long been one of his specialities. But equally impressive was the orchestra's superbly coordinated and finely nuanced performance, clearly the result of long acquaintance and intensive rehearsal."
Washington Post (Washington, DC, USA)
"Mozart's "Violin Concerto No. 5 in A Major" has long been a Zukerman speciality. It was a pleasure to note how his reading of the work has deepened through the years; his sense of continued renewal has uncovered layers not heard earlier…. He has also kept his fingers in tip-top shape over the years, and the ease with which he dove into the first movement immediately established a line of communication with the audience that was never relinquished… In Mozart's Symphony No. 41 in C Major… it was clear that the string players of the orchestra have assimilated many of Zukerman's own traits as a player."
Chicago Tribune (Chicago, Illinois, USA)
"On Friday, the incredible Pinchas Zukerman and his Canadian National Arts Centre Orchestra wowed the audience with power, vigor, fire and color, transforming the night into an unforgettable experience… What a night, what a concert, it made you glad to be alive."
The Greenville News (Greenville, South Carolina, USA)
"The cheers and standing ovation at the end were as deserved as they were heartfelt. Pinchas Zukerman and Canada's National Arts Centre Orchestra came to the Jackie Gleason Theater Thursday night with familiar and surprising music, with extraordinary music making. In the U.S. premiere of Denys Bouliane's 2003 Snow is white but water is black, orchestra and conductor created a magical, luminous landscape of sounds that made one hungry for more news of Canada's musical frontiers. In works by Beethoven, as well as in an unbilled Marriage of Figaro Overture by Mozart that was added as a prologue, there was freshness and exhilaration. This was playing for the ages."
Miami Herald (Miami, Florida, USA)
"Now in his fifth year as music director, Zukerman's leadership has clearly helped raise the Ottawa ensemble to an impressive level. The 45- member orchestra plays with impressive fire and technical polish, with a superbly flexible string section and characterful woodwinds."
Sun Sentinel (Miami, Florida, USA)
"Noteworthy throughout the performance (of Beethoven's Symphony No. 2) was the warm sound and crystalline precision of the strings…. The clean, sensitive and intensely vibrant sound of Zukerman's violin (in Beethoven's Violin Concerto) mesmerized the audience and focused their attention on the rich and sublime message of the multiple musical themes conveyed through his masterful performance."
Unomasuno (Mexico City, Mexico)
"It was a masterful concert given by the National Arts Centre Orchestra of Canada, conducted by one of the greatest violinists in the world, maestro Pinchas Zukerman."
La Jornada (Guanajuato, Mexico)
"Renowned violinist Pinchas Zukerman won over the Sociedad Artistica Technologica (SAT) audience, which rewarded him with a standing ovation at the end of Saturday's concert… As a violinist, Zukerman shone in Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 5, with a pristine beautiful sound and supreme musicality… The orchestra had one of its finest moments in the final piece, when it conveyed the full luminosity and beauty of Mozart's Jupiter symphony… Without doubt, Zukerman and his musicians did full justice to Mozart's great score."
El Norte (Monterrey, Mexico)
