May 14, 2004 -

Ottawa, Canada -- The National Arts Centre’s eighth annual fall Gala, taking place on Saturday, October 2, 2004, and featuring world-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma with Music Director Pinchas Zukerman leading the National Arts Centre Orchestra, is already sold out! The Box Office opened in advance to NAC donors as well as subscribers to the NAC Orchestra’s 2004-2005 season, and all available tickets have been snapped up prior to the scheduled Box Office opening to the general public on May 17.

The National Arts Centre Gala is presented by TELUS, Founding Partner of the National Youth and Education Trust, in association with CGI, Sun Life Financial, Bruce Power, and Forest Products Association of Canada. Special thanks go to A & E Television Networks, Xerox, Tri-Co Printing, The Ottawa Citizen, LeDroit, The National Post, The Lowe Martin Group, and Biddle McGillvray Advertising.

All proceeds from the National Arts Centre Gala are designated to the National Youth and Education Trust, a primary resource for supporting the artistic development of young Canadians through education, professional training and mentoring programmes and young audience performances. The Gala Committee is chaired for the second year by Kenneth Loeb, President of Capital Box of Ottawa Limited.

Yo-Yo Ma last performed with the National Arts Centre Orchestra two years ago, when he and Maestro Zukerman joined forces for a magical night of music-making at the 2001 National Arts Centre Gala.

The many-faceted career of cellist Yo-Yo Ma is testament to his continual search for new ways to communicate with audiences, and to his personal desire for artistic growth and renewal. Whether performing a new concerto, revisiting a familiar work from the cello repertoire, coming together with colleagues for chamber music or exploring cultures and musical forms outside of the Western classical tradition, Mr. Ma strives to find connections that stimulate the imagination.

Yo-Yo Ma maintains a balance between his engagements as soloist with orchestras throughout the world and his recital and chamber music activities. Mr. Ma is an exclusive Sony Classical artist, and his discography of more than 50 albums (including 15 Grammy Award winners) reflects his wide-ranging interests. Obrigado Brazil, his 2003 recording of Brazilian music, recently won a Grammy Award for Best Classical Crossover Album. In March 2004, Sony Classical released Vivaldi’s Cello, a collaboration with Ton Koopman and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra. In addition to the standard concerto repertoire, Mr. Ma has recorded many of the large body of works that he has commissioned or premiered.

The NAC Annual Fall Gala will take place on Saturday, October 2. There will be a pre-concert reception in the Foyer for all concert-goers at 18:00. The programme for the concert, which begins at 19:00, will be announced at a later date. There will be post-concert supper and dancing on the Southam Hall stage for gala patrons.

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