≈ 45 minutes · No intermission
Last updated: February 12, 2019
Welcome to the BIG BANG Festival!
I’d like to know what that sounds like to you, and what springs to mind when you hear it. For me, it’s a shout – an explosion of joy. It’s like you’re never alone when you say it. In fact, I feel like it needs to be chanted by lots of people together. “BIIIIIIIIIIG BAAAAAANG!” Wow! That would blow anyone’s socks off! Maybe it’s because it hints at something huge and unpredictable that we know nothing about. And the Big Bang that created the universe was no doubt very loud. Today however, we’re talking about something completely different, but still thunderous in its own way: a sensational and colourful musical adventure. And it begins right here, right now…
The orchestra members and the conductor are about to go on stage. You’re on the edge of your seat and the excitement goes up another notch. But hold on… there’s someone else with them and she doesn’t have an instrument with her. Very peculiar. It’s Marcelle Hudon. She too is very talented, but believe me, she doesn’t need an instrument to bring to life the many characters and landscapes she created for this concert – her two hands will do the trick. And you’re about to see it all happen before your own eyes. Take a peak at what’s going on inside the artist’s head: What does Marcelle see when she listens to Morlock, Saint‑Saëns or Beethoven’s Fifth? What does she think you’re imagining as you listen to the music? What can she come up with to amaze you? Nothing is impossible here. ANYTHING can happen.
– Mélanie Dumont, Associate Artistic Director, Youth Programming, NAC French Theatre
National Youth and Education Trust
The National Youth and Education Trust is the primary resource for youth and education funding at the National Arts Centre. Supporters of the Trust help the National Arts Centre pursue priority initiatives through the performing arts that nurture and develop the creativity of young people in all regions across Canada and support the educators and artists who challenge and encourage them.
The National Youth and Education Trust is supported by the supporters and patrons of the annual NAC Gala and the donors of the NAC Foundation’s Corporate Circle and Donors’ Circle.
Contributions are welcome, please call the NAC Foundation at 613 947-7000, ext. 315.
Did you know?
Horsing around
The bows used to play the stringed instruments are made of wood and horsehair!
Wood to know
Reeds of woodwind instruments are made of bamboo.
Spit it out!
Most brass instruments have a special spit valve that allows water, condensation generated by blowing in the instrument, to be expelled!
Soup-er sound
A timpani looks like a big cauldron… but don’t try making soup in it!
Repertoire
Syrinx
Oiseaux bleus et sauvages
Hungarian Dance No. 1
Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67: I. Allegro con brio
Hungarian Dance No. 6
Hungarian Dance No. 21
Danse macabre, Opus 40
Artists
Canada’s National Arts Centre (NAC) Orchestra is praised for the passion and clarity of its performances, its visionary learning and engagement programs, and its unwavering support of Canadian creativity. The NAC Orchestra is based in Ottawa, Canada’s national capital, and has grown into one of the country’s most acclaimed and dynamic ensembles since its founding in 1969. Under the leadership of Music Director Alexander Shelley, the NAC Orchestra reflects the fabric and values of Canada, engaging communities from coast to coast to coast through inclusive programming, compelling storytelling, and innovative partnerships.
Since taking the helm in 2015, Shelley has shaped the Orchestra’s artistic vision, building on the legacy of his predecessor, Pinchas Zukerman, who led the ensemble for 16 seasons. Shelley’s influence extends beyond the NAC. He serves as Principal Associate Conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in the UK and Artistic and Music Director of Artis—Naples and the Naples Philharmonic in the United States. In addition to his other conducting roles, the Pacific Symphony in Los Angeles’s Orange County announced Shelley’s appointment as its next Artistic and Music Director. The initial five-year term begins in the 2026-2027 season, with Shelley serving as Music Director-Designate from September 2025. Principal Guest Conductor John Storgårds and Principal Youth Conductor Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser complement Shelley’s leadership. In 2024, the Orchestra marked a new chapter with the appointment of Henry Kennedy as its first-ever Resident Conductor.
The Orchestra has a rich history of partnerships with renowned artists such as James Ehnes, Angela Hewitt, Renée Fleming, Hilary Hahn, Jeremy Dutcher, Jan Lisiecki, Ray Chen, and Yeol Eum Son, underscoring its reputation as a destination for world-class talent. As one of the most accessible, inclusive and collaborative orchestras in the world, the NAC Orchestra uses music as a universal language to communicate the deepest of human emotions and connect people through shared experiences.
A hallmark of the NAC Orchestra is its national and international tours. The Orchestra has performed concerts in every Canadian province and territory and earned frequent invitations to perform abroad. These tours spotlight Canadian composers and artists, bringing their voices to stages across North America, the United Kingdom, Europe, and Asia.
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“A natural communicator, both on and off the podium” (The Telegraph), Alexander Shelley performs across six continents with the world’s finest orchestras and soloists.
With a conducting technique described as “immaculate” (Yorkshire Post) and a “precision, distinction and beauty of gesture not seen since Lorin Maazel” (Le Devoir), Shelley is known for the clarity and integrity of his interpretations and the creativity and vision of his programming. He has spearheaded over 40 major world premieres to date, including highly praised cycles of Beethoven, Schumann and Brahms symphonies, operas, ballets, and innovative multi-media productions.
Since 2015, he has served as Music Director of Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra and Principal Associate Conductor of London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. In April 2023, he was appointed Artistic and Music Director of Artis–Naples in Florida, providing artistic leadership for the Naples Philharmonic and the entire multidisciplinary arts organization. The 2024–2025 season is Shelley’s inaugural season in this position. In addition to his other conducting roles, the Pacific Symphony in Los Angeles’s Orange County announced Shelley’s appointment as its next Artistic and Music Director. The initial five-year term begins in the 2026–2027 season, with Shelley serving as Music Director-Designate from September 2025.
Additional 2024–2025 season highlights include performances with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Colorado Symphony, the National Philharmonic in Warsaw, the Seattle Symphony, the Chicago Civic Orchestra, and the National Symphony Orchestra (Ireland). Shelley is a regular guest with some of the finest orchestras of Europe, the Americas, Asia, and Australasia, including Leipzig’s Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Helsinki, Hong Kong, Luxembourg, Malaysian, Oslo, Rotterdam and Stockholm philharmonic orchestras, and the Sao Paulo, Houston, Seattle, Baltimore, Indianapolis, Montreal, Toronto, Munich, Singapore, Melbourne, Sydney, and New Zealand symphony orchestras.
In September 2015, Shelley succeeded Pinchas Zukerman as Music Director of Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra, the youngest in its history. The ensemble has since been praised as “an orchestra transformed ... hungry, bold, and unleashed” (Ottawa Citizen), and his programming is credited for turning the orchestra “almost overnight ... into one of the more audacious orchestras in North America” (Maclean’s). Together, they have undertaken major tours of Canada, Europe, and Carnegie Hall, where they premiered Philip Glass’s Symphony No. 13.
They have commissioned ground-breaking projects such as Life Reflected and Encount3rs, released multiple Juno-nominated albums and, most recently, responded to the pandemic and social justice issues of the era with the NACO Live and Undisrupted video series.
In August 2017, Shelley concluded his eight-year tenure as Chief Conductor of the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra, a period hailed by press and audiences alike as a golden era for the orchestra.
Shelley’s operatic engagements have included The Merry Widow and Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet (Royal Danish Opera), La bohème (Opera Lyra/National Arts Centre), Louis Riel (Canadian Opera Company/National Arts Centre), lolanta (Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen), Così fan tutte (Opéra national de Montpellier Languedoc-Roussillon), The Marriage of Figaro (Opera North), Tosca (Innsbruck), and both Le nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni in semi-staged productions at the NAC.
Winner of the ECHO Music Prize and the Deutsche Grunderpreis, Shelley was conferred with the Cross of the Federal Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in April 2023 in recognition of his services to music and culture.
Through his work as Founder and Artistic Director of the Schumann Camerata and their pioneering “440Hz” series in Dusseldorf, as founding Artistic Director of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen’s “Zukunftslabor” and through his regular tours leading the National Youth Orchestra of Germany, inspiring future generations of classical musicians and listeners has always been central to Shelley’s work.
He regularly gives informed and passionate pre- and post-concert talks on his programs, as well as numerous interviews and podcasts on the role of classical music in society. In Nuremberg alone, over nine years, he hosted over half a million people at the annual Klassik Open Air concert, Europe’s largest classical music event.
Born in London in October 1979 to celebrated concert pianists, Shelley studied cello and conducting in Germany and first gained widespread attention when he was unanimously awarded first prize at the 2005 Leeds Conductors Competition, with the press describing him as “the most exciting and gifted young conductor to have taken this highly prestigious award.”
The Music Director role is supported by Elinor Gill Ratcliffe, C.M., ONL, LL.D. (hc).
Choreographer of the Inanimate
There’s a colour called Marcelle Hudon! When you encounter one of her oversize puppets or discover one of her handcrafted or robotic creations dancing with light and shadow, you know you’re witnessing another magic trick by this unique and remarkable local artist. In her lush studio, she experiments with materials, objects and video; she then incorporates sound or live music, as in Le pavillon des Immortels heureux (2014). Thanks to her skill at bringing inanimate objects to life, she is also much in demand for television and film productions.
Praised by critics for the beauty, clarity and fluidity of her sound, impeccable phrasing, and consummate musicality, Joanna G’froerer enjoys an exciting career as an orchestral player, chamber musician, soloist, and educator. Principal Flute of Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra since 1992, Joanna was appointed to this position at age 20, one of the youngest musicians ever hired by the Orchestra.
A native of Vancouver, Joanna comes from a family of professional musicians. She studied flute in Vancouver with Kathleen Rudolph and in Montreal with Timothy Hutchins, earning a Licentiate in Music from McGill University in 1993. Her education also included orchestral training at the Interlochen Arts Camp and with the National Youth Orchestra of Canada.
Joanna performs regularly as a soloist with the NAC Orchestra, appearing in over 30 programs since joining the Orchestra. She has also performed concerti with many of Canada’s other fine ensembles, including the Vancouver, Victoria, and Quebec City symphony orchestras. Joanna is a past first-prize winner of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra Competition.
Joanna’s recordings include a CBC disc of Mozart’s Flute Quartets with Pinchas Zukerman, Martin Beaver, and Amanda Forsyth, named Best Canadian Chamber Music Recording of 2002 by Opus magazine. A Naxos recording of Rodrigo’s Flute Concerto and Fantasía para un gentilhombre with the Asturias Symphony under Maestro Maximiano Valdes was “exquisitely played by the Canadian virtuoso Joanna G’froerer” (Anthony Holden, The Observer). Also, for Naxos, Saint-Saens’ Music for Wind Instruments was a Gramophone magazine Editor’s Pick in 2011. A new recording of Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 2, with Jens Lindemann, James Ehnes, Jon Kimura Parker, and Charles Hamann, was nominated for a JUNO Award in 2021.
Joanna has been featured in the chamber music festivals of Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, and Ottawa, as well as Halifax’s Scotia Festival of Music, the Campos do Jordao Festival in Brazil, and the Affinis Festival in Japan. She is a member of the National Arts Centre Wind Quintet and the G’froerer Gott Duo with harpist Michelle Gott.
Joanna co-founded the Classical Unbound Festival in Prince Edward County, Ontario, and served as Co-Artistic Director during its first three seasons.
As an educator, Joanna has taught flute at the NAC Summer Music Institute, at Domaine Forget and the National Youth Orchestra of Canada and presented masterclasses at universities and conservatories throughout Canada, as well as in the United States, Europe, and Asia. She is presently on the music faculty at McGill University in Montreal.
Joanna G’froerer is a Wm. S. Haynes Artist, playing a custom 19.5 K gold Haynes flute with lightweight silver mechanism and headjoints in 19.5K and 14K gold.
Mathieu Marcil has been creating lighting designs for various theatre companies since 1991. From Carbone 14 to Omnibus by way of the Groupe de la Veillée, the companies he works with reflect his affinity for physical theatre. His interest in young audiences has also led him to work regularly with the children’s theatre companies Bouches décousues and Le Clou. Always on the lookout for new lighting experiences, he has exported his skills to various disciplines, including circus, with Les Gens d’R (Échos, presented at the 2000 Venice Biennale). His research on the relationship between lighting and the physical body sparked his interest in the puppeteer’s craft. “Sensitive” is the word most often used to describe his lighting designs.
Laurie began her stage management career with English Theatre and Jean Roberts’s company at the National Arts Centre. Since then, she has been honoured to work with NAC English Theatre, NAC Indigenous Theatre, the National Arts Centre Orchestra, and NAC Popular Music and Variety. Laurie has been production stage manager for the Shaw Festival and Theatre Calgary and stage manager for, amongst others, the Arts Club Theatre Company, The Globe Theatre, the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, Mirvish Productions, the Stratford Festival, the Great Canadian Theatre Company, Grand Theatre, Theatre New Brunswick, and Neptune Theatre.
International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees