National Arts Centre - Centre national des Arts Canada is our stage. Le Canada en scène.

UNDISRUPTED

National Arts Centre Orchestra Ottawa

Curators Measha Brueggergosman
Shawnee Kish
Nicole Lizée
Ana Sokolović
Music Director and Conductor Alexander Shelley
Creative Producer Donna Feore

Undisrupted is a ground-breaking series of televisual episodes crafted to redefine the orchestra experience on screen. Visionary curators Measha Brueggergosman, Shawnee Kish, Nicole Lizée and Ana Sokolović were each invited to create highly personal new works using the National Arts Centre Orchestra as their megaphone.

Following their recording sessions with the orchestra, the curators worked alongside Montreal’s Normal Studio to create a unique visual experience that blends the energy, dynamism and intimacy of live orchestral performance through graphic design and mixed reality. An artistic response to unprecedented times, each of Undisrupted’s four episodes will reflect the diverse talent and experiences of the curators and their collaborators.

Company

Since its debut in 1969, the National Arts Centre Orchestra has been praised for the passion and clarity of its performances, its visionary educational programs, and its prominent role in nurturing Canadian creativity. Under the leadership of Music Director Alexander Shelley, the Orchestra performs a full series of subscription concerts at the National Arts Centre each season, featuring world-class artists. The NAC Orchestra also reaches a national and international audience through touring, recordings, and extensive educational outreach.

Measha Brueggergosman is an international award-winning Canadian soprano who performs both as a classical and popular music artist. In 2015, she appeared in the documentary television series Songs of Freedom, which profiled her exploring and learning about her African heritage leading up to a live concert performance of African-American spiritual music.

Shawnee Kish, an Indigenous powerhouse singer-songwriter, was the winner of CBC Music’s Searchlight 2020. Shawnee proudly identifies as a two-spirit person and is passionate about supporting LGBTQ2S+ youth through her inspirational music and performances.

Called “a brilliant musical scientist” (CBC), Montreal-based composer and video artist Nicole Lizée creates new music from an eclectic mix of influences. Nicole’s compositions range from works for orchestra to pieces for solo turntablist featuring DJ techniques that are fully notated and integrated into a concert music setting.

Serbian-born Canadian composer Ana Sokolović was the first female composer to be commissioned to write for the Canadian Opera Company. In 2019, she won the JUNO Award for Classical Composition of the Year for her work “Golden Slumbers Kiss Your Eyes...”, which was commissioned and recorded by the NAC Orchestra.

Creative team

Curators Measha Brueggergosman
Shawnee Kish
Nicole Lizée
Ana Sokolović
Music Director and Conductor Alexander Shelley
Creative Producer Donna Feore
Visual design Normal Studio
Sound producer Carl Talbot, MUSICOM Productions
Video capture ProdCan Inc.
Lighting designer Kimberly Purtell

National Creation Fund investment

The National Creation Fund’s investment of $150,000 supported extended time for each of the curators to research and prepare their work, and made it possible for the creative and technical teams to test and refine project materials and design through additional workshops.