"Mosaics: Music from Around the World" The season finale of the
Young People's Concerts on May 24
May 16, 2003 -
Ottawa (Canada) -- The 2002-2003 Young People's Concerts
series on the theme of "Musical Kaleidoscopes" will come to a close
on Saturday, May 24 at 13:30 and 15:30. The four-part bilingual
series presented in association with Alcatel, for 7- to 11-year-olds
and their grown-up friends, explores a spectrum of sounds, colours
and rhythms from around the world. With conductor Boris Brott again
on the podium, the May 24 programme is entitled "Mosaics: Music from
Around the World". The concert ticket includes pre-concert activities
in the Foyer beginning at 12:45 for the early concert and 14:45 for
the later concert.
This global musical mosaic of melody, colour and rhythm will
include the local African drumming and dancing talents of Kathy
Armstrong and the Baobab Youth Performers, the virtuosic playing of
George Gao on the Chinese erhu, and a host of other exotic
sounds.
The programme opens with Beethoven's Fidelio Overture
before moving to the Far East with erhu player George Gao in Qing
Melodies Capriccio, and Inuit Canada with Ray Luedeke's
Tales of Netsilik. After that, Canadian composer Claude
Champagne's Danse villageoise represents French-Canadian
music while his fellow Canadian Sir Ernest MacMillan's
Fantasy on Scottish Melodies, with a performance by the School
of Highland Dancing, represents Canada's British heritage. Aaron
Copland's "Hoe Down" from Rodeo takes the audience to the
U.S. and then it's off to South American with Ginastera's
Estancia. Finally the Baobab Tree percussion ensemble performs
Gahu Songs, African-inspired music by William Cahn.
Pre-Concert Activities organized by the NAC Orchestra Association
take place in the NAC Foyer starting 45 minutes prior to each
concert. Community partners for this final concert include the Museum
of Nature with sounds of insects from around the world; the Embassy
of Indonesia presenting the percussion goup Kolindang; NACOA member
Go Sato with his Peace Tree of origami cranes, and the NAC Orchestra
Youth Council with interactive maps and music.
All Young People's Concerts feature NACOtron presented in
collaboration with Rogers Television. Five television cameras
positioned on stage and in the hall capture live video images of the
musicians while they are performing, and these images are projected
onto a giant screen above the stage allowing the audience to watch
the action in close-up.
Tickets for this Young People's Concert on Saturday, May 24
at 13:30 and 15:30, including Pre-Concert Activities, are $13.50 for
children and $19.50 for adults (including GST and Facility Fee where
applicable) and are on sale now at the NAC Box Office (Monday to
Saturday from 10:00 to 21:00), and through Ticketmaster
(with surcharges) at 613-755-1111. Visit the National Arts
Centre's web site at www.nac-cna.ca.
