Artists

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  conductor Jessica Cottis

  

  conductor Jessica Cottis

  Award-winning conductor Jessica Cottis, named “2019 Classical ‘Face to Watch’” (The Times, U.K.), is much in demand, working regularly with leading orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Houston Symphony; new music ensembles including London Sinfonietta and Bang on a Can; and has enjoyed numerous re-invitations at the Royal Opera House-Covent Garden, and the BBC Proms. She has recorded for the BBC, ABC, and Decca Classics labels.

  One of the most outstanding Australian conductors working today, Jessica Cottis is Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Canberra Symphony Orchestra, with whom she has pioneered several initiatives, including significant commissions and the championing of Australian works. Recognized for her engaging, wide-ranging, and thought-provoking programming, Cottis’s domain is music of the 19th to 21st centuries; in the 2022–23 season she will present two world premieres with the Canberra Symphony Orchestra, the first by Leah Curtis and the second Kinds of Blue by Miriama Young.

  Cottis’s early musical career was as an organist. Awarded first class honours at the Australian National University, she continued her studies in Paris with pioneering French organist Marie-Claire Alain, before commencing conducting studies at London’s Royal Academy of Music under Colin Metters and Sir Colin Davis. She went on to serve as Assistant Conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and at the Sydney Symphony Orchestra alongside mentors Sir Donald Runnicles, Charles Dutoit, and Vladimir Ashkenazy.

  A gifted communicator, Cottis works widely as an advocate for classical music. Described as “cool, contained, super-articulate and engaging” (The Scotsman), she is a frequent contributor on BBC radio and television. Cottis now resides in London, and outside of music pursues her passion for butterflies all over the world. 

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  violin Simone Lamsma

  

  violin Simone Lamsma

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  cello Harriet Krijgh

  

  cello Harriet Krijgh

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  Featuring National Arts Centre Orchestra

  

  Featuring National Arts Centre Orchestra

  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 such as James Ehnes, Angela Hewitt, Joshua Bell, Xian Zhang, Gabriela Montero, Stewart Goodyear, Jan Lisiecki, and Principal Guest Conductor John Storgårds.

  Alexander Shelley began his tenure as Music Director in 2015, following Pinchas Zukerman’s 16 seasons at the helm. Principal Associate Conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and former Chief Conductor of the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra (2009 - 2017), he has been in demand around the world, conducting the Rotterdam Philharmonic, DSO Berlin, Leipzig Gewandhaus, and Stockholm Philharmonic, among others, and maintains a regular relationship with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie and the German National Youth Orchestra.

  National and international tours have been a hallmark of the National Arts Centre Orchestra from the very beginning. The Orchestra has toured 95 times since its inauguration in 1969, visiting 120 cities in Canada, as well as 20 countries and 138 cities internationally. In recent years, the orchestra has undertaken performance and education tours across Canada, as well as the U.K. and China. In 2019, the Orchestra marked its 50th anniversary with a seven-city European tour that included performances and education events in England, France, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden, and that showcased the work of six Canadian composers.

  The NAC Orchestra has recorded many of the more than 80 new works commissioned since its inception, for radio and on over 40 commercial recordings. These include Angela Hewitt’s 2015 JUNO Award-winning album of Mozart Piano Concertos; the groundbreaking Life Reflected, which includes My Name is Amanda Todd by Jocelyn Morlock, winner of the 2018 JUNO for Classical Composition of the Year; and from the 2019 JUNO nominated New Worlds, Ana Sokolović’s Golden Slumbers Kiss Your Eyes, 2019 JUNO Winner for Classical Composition of the Year.

  The NAC Orchestra reaches a national and international audience through touring, recordings, and extensive educational outreach. The Orchestra performed on Parliament Hill for the 2019 Canada Day noon concert in a live broadcast for CBC Television.

  NAC media featuring National Arts Centre Orchestra

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  Flentrop organ Thomas Annand

  

  Flentrop organ Thomas Annand

  Thomas Annand was a student of Graham Steed, John Grew, and Marie-Claire Alain.  In 1987 he won First Prize at the RCCO National Organ Competition and since then has pursued an active career as a performer on organ, harpsichord and as conductor. He has been Director of Music at St. Andrew’s Church, Ottawa since 1992, giving over 200 recitals there including a series of weekly recitals where he performed a vast repertoire including the ten symphonies of Widor, the complete organ works of Liszt, Franck and Mendelssohn.  As harpsichordist he performed all the major works of Bach in 7 marathon recitals in 2004-2005. He has performed as a soloist with the National Arts Centre Orchestra and Les Violons du Roy, touring with them to Carnegie Hall on three occasions.  He has been a featured artist in the Boston Early Music Festival, the Carmel Bach Festival, the International Congress of Organists and the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival. As a conductor he was the founder of Capital BrassWorks with whom he recorded for the CBC SM5000 series, and a frequent guest conductor of the Thirteen Strings. He has appeared on film (Denys Arcand’s Le Règne de la Beauté), radio and television.  In addition he has had his choral music published and performed and has contributed continuo realizations to editions of early music.  Thomas Annand is a Fellow of the RCCO for which he has worked as an examiner and a jury member for the Organ Playing Competition, and is a past-Chair of the Ottawa Centre.

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