January 25, 2005 -

Ottawa, Canada -- Applications are now being accepted for the 2005 National Arts Centre Summer Music Institute. With National Arts Centre Orchestra Music Director Pinchas Zukerman, internationally renowned soloist and conductor, as its Artistic Director, the Summer Music Institute (SMI) includes the NAC Young Artists Programme (June 10 to July 2, 2005) and the NAC Conductors Programme (June 19 to 28, 2005). The NAC Young Composers Programme also continues in 2005 with application by invitation only. New deadline for applications is February 14, 2005.

Applications to the Summer Music Institute can be made online at the National Arts Centre website www.nac-cna.ca. On the main page, click the “Summer Music Institute 2005” box and follow the links  to each programme for full details and audition requirements. Otherwise, interested students may contact Christy Harris at (613) 947-7000, ext. 568, or write for information to the NAC Summer Music Institute, P.O. Box 1534, Station B, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1P 5W1.

Founded in 1999 by Pinchas Zukerman, the NAC Young Artists Programme now offers over 45 exceptional students from across Canada and around the world the opportunity to take part in technical music study at both the senior and junior level. All students receive private instruction plus coaching in chamber music, and participate in a final chamber music concert. Students of the Young Artists Programme may also be invited to participate in masterclasses and recitals, to perform with the NAC Orchestra, and to play with faculty members in a chamber music concert. Unique in its emphasis on chamber music and in the students’ interaction with the Orchestra, the NAC Young Artists Programme enjoys the partnership of Galaxie – the Continuous Music through its Galaxie Rising Stars Program of the CBC and Scotiabank through its Scotiabank Cross-Canada Scholarships.

This year’s faculty is headed by Pinchas Zukerman and co-Artistic Director Patinka Kopec, of the Manhattan School of Music (violin and viola); and includes among others Grigory Kalinovsky of the Manhattan School of Music (violin and viola); Hans Jorgen Jensen of Chicago’s Northwestern University (cello); Tatiana Goncharova of the Manhattan School of Music (piano); Joseph Kalichstein of the Juilliard School of Music (piano); Steven Dann of the Glenn Gould Professional School at Toronto’s Royal Conservatory of Music, (chamber music); Michael Tree of  the Manhattan School of Music (chamber music), the Orion String Quartet (chamber music); and Marsha Winokur, New York psychologist specialising in artistic development (career mentoring).

In order to ensure greater access to the Young Artists Programme, the NAC Foundation offers many opportunities for full and partial scholarship made possible by the support of individuals, organizations, and corporations locally and across Canada and the United States. Canadian participants will automatically be considered for full scholarships, and private donations help provide partial scholarships for international students.

The NAC Conductors Programme is now in its fifth year under master conductors Jorma Panula, mentor and teacher of a generation of highly successful young Finnish conductors, and Pinchas Zukerman. Its goal is to provide a valuable opportunity in Canada for orchestral conductors to develop under the expert guidance of accomplished orchestra leaders. A maximum of eight participants from Canada and abroad will participate in ten days of intensive study in a masterclass format. A string quintet made up of professional musicians from l’Orchestre de la francophonie canadienne with pianist Jean Desmarais will play for the conductors. Conducting sessions for each participant will be videotaped, and these videos used as the basis for detailed discussion each day.

All participants will have the opportunity to conduct the National Arts Centre Orchestra in rehearsal, after which up to four will be chosen to conduct the Orchestra in a public concert at the National Arts Centre in Southam Hall. All programme sessions will be open to auditors.

The National Arts Centre Summer Music Institute is funded by the National Youth and Education Trust with support by TELUS (founding partner of the Trust), CGI, SunLife Financial, Bruce Power, Forest Products Association of Canada, Michael Potter and Veronique Dhieux, supporters and patrons of the National Arts Centre Gala, and the National Arts Centre Foundation Donors' Circle. The NAC also gratefully acknowledges the leadership support of Dr. William and Phyllis Waters, Mrs. Jeanne F. Fuller and family, Stephen and Jocelyne Greenberg and Maestro Pinchas Zukerman.

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