Presented by Audi

Beethoven’s Ninth

Shelley conducts Andrew Balfour and Anna Clyne

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Jess Gilliam
Music Classical music Masterworks Vocal
  • ANDREW BALFOUR ᓂᔭ niya (I Am)
  • ANNA CLYNE Glasslands
  • LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125
  • In-person event
  • Bilingual
  • ≈ 2 hours and 20 minutes · With intermission

In recognition and thanks for invaluable donor support, the NAC Orchestra and NAC Dance grants insider access to donors to audit a working rehearsal in Southam Hall. Often, an artist or member of the artistic team gives insights into the creative process and invites questions from donors. Seating is limited.

Ludwig van Beethoven rocked the world of classical music in many ways, and his Symphony No. 9, with its spine-tingling “Ode to Joy,” was a radical work that introduced singing into a symphony for the first time—and what singing it was!

Anna Clyne’s Glasslands, a co-commission of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, BBC Radio 3, the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Artis-Naples, Naples Philharmonic and the Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León, “conjures an imaginary world of three realms governed by the banshee—a female spirit who, in Irish folklore, heralds the death of a family member, usually by wailing, shrieking, or keening in the silence of the night.” Featured soloist British saxophonist Jess Gillam is musical lightning in a bottle, animating the world with her outstanding talent and infectious personality, every ounce of which she shares for this performance.

ᓂᔭ niya (I Am), by Winnipeg-based composer Andrew Balfour, was commissioned by the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra as a companion piece to Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9.  Of Cree descent, Balfour is an innovative, multi-faceted composer/conductor with a  large body of choral, instrumental, electro-acoustic and orchestral works. 

Performance is approximately 2 hours and 20 minutes including intermission

Artists

  • dscf9130-curtis-perry-2-cropped
    Conductor Alexander Shelley
  • Saxophone Jess Gillam
  • Soprano Kirsten MacKinnon
  • mchardy-photo-headshot
    Mezzo-Soprano Allyson McHardy
  • andrew-haji-headshot-c-2
    Tenor Andrew Haji
  • 1-william-thomas-c.-benjamin-ealovega
    Bass William Thomas
  • ottawachoralsociety-fb-headshot
    Featuring Ottawa Choral Society
  • Chorus Master Gabrielle Gaudreault
  • bio-orchestra
    Featuring NAC Orchestra
  • hunt-mccoy-tobi-fred-cattroll-535
    Stage Manager Tobi Hunt McCoy
  • Director Gabrielle Gaudreault