≈ 90 minutes · No intermission
Last updated: May 22, 2019
Reflection
The opening of the National Arts Centre on June 2, 1969 was a momentous occasion for the country. On its opening weekend, 40,000 people poured into downtown Ottawa to catch their first glimpses of the NAC, North America’s only bilingual, multidisciplinary performing arts centre, at an open house – just as we had today. The NAC’s opening was covered live by CBC/Radio-Canada and by international news outlets like the New York Times.
The National Arts Centre Orchestra was created over the course of that first summer in 1969, with a selection of extremely talented young musicians. With just two weeks to rehearse, the Orchestra performed its first concert, conducted by Mario Bernardi, on October 7, 1969. Before long, its outstanding reputation became widely known, with the Orchestra performing not only in Ottawa, but in concert halls around the world. Today the Orchestra is admired not only for the excellence of its ensemble, but also for championing, commissioning and recording new Canadian work; connecting with communities across Canada and around the world through touring; and nurturing the musicians of tomorrow through its artist training programs.
That same commitment to artistic excellence, creation, education and our national role are tightly woven into the National Arts Centre’s DNA. NAC Dance, English Theatre, French Theatre, Indigenous Theatre and NAC Presents are committed to providing the best artistic programming on our four stages, while playing an active role in strengthening the performing arts in communities across the country. And here in our rejuvenated building in the Nation’s Capital, our Public Spaces team is making the NAC more welcoming and accessible to Canadians than at any other time in its history.
This is what we celebrate today. Our deepest thanks to all of you for your support, and for being part of Canada’s National Arts Centre. We couldn’t do any of it without you. Here’s to fifty more!
Reflection
The National Arts Centre offered an open house today which gave Canadians an opportunity to look behind the curtain, and this evening a chance to hear our resident jewel in a free concert for the NAC family and community.
Our program celebrates the wide range of music the NAC Orchestra can offer, anchored in the great orchestral canon and championing the best of today’s creators. We strive to make space for Indigenous voices, and to celebrate performers from around the country.
Since its founding, the National Arts Centre Orchestra has been versatile, adjusting to surroundings with remarkable grace and commitment: on the concert stage, in the pit for opera and ballet, in the recording studio and on tour across Canada and around the world. The members’ virtuosic talent and extraordinary ensemble skills have remained constants over the years. It has been my greatest honour to lead this fierce group of musicians over the last four of these 50 years.
Program
MOZART: Le nozze di Figaro, K. 492: Overture
STANILAND – GRAND-MAÎTRE: Alberta Ballet, Caelestis : pas de deux
Kelley McKinlay, dancer
Mariko Kondo, dancer
Jean Grand-Maître, choreography
Andrew Staniland, composer
Original music, “Styx” (Phi, Caelestis)
Raven Hehr, costume design
DVOŘÁK: Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95, “From the New World”*
IV. Allegro con fuoco
GILDAY – CLOUTIER (Orch. Mayo): We Fall+
Leela Gilday, vocals & guitar
Sylvia Cloutier, vocals
BOUDREAU: Valse de l’asile*
Alain Lefèvre, piano
MORLOCK: My Name is Amanda Todd (excerpt)+*
KREISLER: Caprice Viennoise
Blake Pouliot, violin
R. STRAUSS: Im Abendrot
Measha Brueggergosman, soprano
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67
I. Adagio – Allegro vivace
+ NAC commission | * Recorded by the NAC Orchestra
THIS CONCERT WILL BE PERFORMED WITHOUT INTERMISSION.
Artists
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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. To date, he has spearheaded over 40 major world premieres, 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 Warsaw Philharmonic, the Seattle Symphony, the Chicago Civic Orchestra, and the National Symphony of 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 Nurnberger Symphoniker, 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 (Opera National de Montpellier), 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 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 Germany’s National Youth Orchestra, 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).
A passionate singer/songwriter and soulful performer, Leela Gilday has a voice that comes straight from the heart. Confessing her stories to her audiences with a gutsy voice and open stage presence, Gilday weaves her experiences as a northerner, a member of the Dene nation, and a traveler into a beautiful world that transports the listener.
Born and raised in the Northwest Territories, she writes about the people and the land that created her. The power in her voice conveys the depth of her feelings of love and life in a rugged environment and vibrant culture, as if it comes straight from that earth. Leela’s family is from Délįne on the shore of Great Bear Lake and her rich vocals dance across the rhythmic beats of traditional Dene drumming as smoothly as a bass line onstage the largest venues in the country. And she has played them all.
Sylvia Cloutier originally from Kuujjuaq, Nunavik (Northern Quebec) living in Iqaluit, Nunavut, is a mother, performing artist, producer, director, well known for performing Inuit throat singing and drum dancing. She has collaborated with many artists all over the world including Think of One from Belgium; Tafelmusik, a Toronto based baroque orchestra; Montréal based DJ Geronimo Inutiq and the National Symphony Orchestra.
Ms. Cloutier is the co-founder of a performance company Aqsarniit producing shows that promote Inuit culture for special events such as the Nunavut Celebration at the Museum of Civilization in April 1999, Toonik Tyme and Alianait festival in Iqaluit, Canadian North’s Nunavut Day Gala in 2007, fashion shows for the Government of Nunavut promoting the high fashion seal skin products.
Ms. Cloutier was the producer for a television series Inuit Piqqusingit with Inuit Communication Systems Limited in 2000 learning about Inuit survival skills across Nunavut. She has also been involved as a motivational speaker for youth events and has worked extensively with creating training for youth in creative projects while addressing social issues such as video production, the development of murals, social theatre, music, dance and circus.
She was the Artistic Director of Qaggiq theatre company in Iqaluit, project manager at the Northern village of Kuujjuaq and collaborator with Social Hip Hop projects with the Blueprints for life team working in Inuit communities in Nunavik and Nunavut. In 2009, Mr. Cloutier was managing the social Circus program CIRQINIQ as the Recreation advisor for Arts & Culture at the Kativik Regional Government, a program developed for youth in Nunavik in collaboration with Cirque du Soleil’s social circus department Cirque du Monde.
She joined her Excellency Governor General Michaëlle Jean on the state visit to Norway and Ukraine in 2009 and was named “Woman of the Year” by Pauktutiit, the national Inuit women’s organization and later received an award for “Outstanding young woman of the year” by Qullit Nunavut women’s organization in 2013. Sylvia is the producer and co-director of TULUGAK bringing together Inuit performing artists from Canada and Greenland since 2011. She is currently a television Producer at Inuit Broadcasting Corporation in Iqaluit.
Hailed as a “hero” (Los Angeles Times), a “smashing” performer (The Washington Post), “a pianist who breaks the mold” (International Piano) and who “stands out from the typical trends and artifices offered on the international scene” (Classica), Alain Lefèvre pursues a sparkling career, having performed in over 40 countries, in the most prestigious venues (Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Théâtre du Châtelet, Salle Pleyel, Teatro Colon, Palacio de Bellas Artes, Herodes Atticus Theatre, and Epidaurus Theatre), and at numerous international festivals such as Ravinia, Saratoga, Wolf Trap, Athens, Istanbul, and Cervantino. His dazzling performances are frequently described as “unequalled” (Westdeutsche Zeitung) and “unparalleled” (Los Angeles Times, The Sacramento Bee). Saluted for his “phenomenal technique” (The Spectator), his “sparkling playing resulting in fascinating interpretations” (Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger), his “sovereign mastery” (Hamburger Abendblatt), Mr. Lefèvre has been guest soloist of great orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre national de France, the Philadelphia Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, National Symphony, the China Philharmonic, the SWR, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, and the Moscow Virtuosi; and he has worked with renowned conductors such as James Conlon, Charles Dutoit, Christoph Eschenbach, JoAnn Falletta, Claus Peter Flor, Lawrence Foster, Jacek Kaspszyk, Jacques Lacombe, Kent Nagano, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Vladimir Spivakov, and Long Yu. He has revived the music of André Mathieu in concert in New York, Paris, London, Berlin and Shanghai, to name a few. His discography covers a vast repertoire, from John Corigliano’s Piano Concerto – which BBC Music Magazine considers the reference version – to Chopin’s 24 Preludes, for which critics “celebrate Alain Lefèvre,” placing his interpretation alongside the recordings of the “illustrious” Alicia de Larrocha, Ivan Moravec, and Arthur Rubinstein (Fanfare). He has won numerous prizes, including a JUNO, an Opus, 10 Felix awards (ADISQ), and the AIB Award (London) for “International personality of the year – Radio,” for his radio program broadcast on ICI Musique/RadioCanada. Alain Lefèvre is an Offi cer of the Order of Canada, Chevalier of the Ordre national du Québec, and Chevalier of the Pléiade Order.
Alain Lefèvre appears courtesy of Warner Classics.
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Described as “immaculate, at once refined and impassioned” (Arts Atlanta), violinist Blake Pouliot (pool-YACHT) has anchored himself among the ranks of classical phenoms. A tenacious young artist with a passion that enraptures his audience in every performance, Pouliot has established himself as “one of those special talents that comes along once in a lifetime” (Toronto Star).
Blake Pouliot’s 2023–2024 symphonic highlights include appearances with Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Artis-Naples, the NAC Orchestra, and Orchestre symphonique de Québec, among others. In Europe this season, Pouliot makes his Spanish debut with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Spain at the Teatro Monumental in Madrid, performing Tchaikovsky’s Violon Concerto with Rossen Milanov as well as playing and directing Piazzolla’s The Four Seasons in a separate chamber program. As a chamber musician, Pouliot returns to the NAC, Aspen Music Festival, and La Jolla Summerfest where he performed the festival-opening concert last year with conductor Alan Gilbert. He also returns to the National Youth Orchestra of Canada for his third consecutive year as Artist-in-Residence.
During his time as Soloist-in-Residence of Orchestre Métropolitain in 2020–2021, Pouliot and Yannick Nézet-Séguin performed Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5 and Piazzolla’s The Four Seasons which led to Pouliot’s 2022 debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra, performing John Corigliano’s The Red Violin (Chaconne for Violin and Orchestra) with Nézet-Séguin. Pouliot won the Grand Prize at the 2016 Orchestre symphonique de Montréal Manulife Competition and was named First Laureate of both the 2018 and 2015 Canada Council for the Arts Musical Instrument Bank.
Pouliot released his debut album of 20th-century French music on Analekta Records in 2019 to critical acclaim, including a five-star rating from BBC MusicMagazine and a 2019 JUNO nomination for Best Classical Album.
Pouliot performs on the 1729 Guarneri del Gesù on generous loan from an anonymous donor.
Motivated and hungry for new experiences, Measha Brueggergosman’s career effortlessly embraces the broadest array of performance platforms and musical styles and genres.
Measha began her career predominantly committed to the art of the song recital and has presented innovative programs at Carnegie Hall, Washington’s Kennedy Center, London’s Wigmore Hall, both the Konzerthaus and Musikverein in Vienna, Madrid’s Teatro Real, as well as at the Schwarzenberg, Edinburgh, Verbier and Bergen Festivals with celebrated collaborative pianists Justus Zeyen, Roger Vignoles, Julius Drake, and Simon Lepper.
On the opera stage, her recent highlights include the roles of Giulietta and Antonia in Les contes d’Hoffmann, Elettra in Idomeneo, Jenny in Weill’s Mahagonny, Emilia Marty in Janáček’s Věc Makropulos, Hannah in Miroslav Srnka’s Make No Noise, and Sister Rose in Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking. On the concert platform last season she returned to Carnegie Hall with the New World Symphony, performed Elettra in Idomeneo at Opera Atelier, Toronto, and gave a recital at the Barbican Center, London. She has also recently worked with the Orchestre de Paris, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony and New World Symphony Orchestras and conductors such as Daniel Barenboim, Michael Tilson Thomas, Franz Welser-Möst, Sir Andrew Davis, Gustavo Dudamel and Daniel Harding.
Her first recording for Deutsche Grammophon, Surprise, includes works by Schoenberg, Satie and Bolcom and is one of the most highly regarded debut albums of recent years. Her subsequent disc Night and Dreams, which features songs by Mozart, Brahms, Strauss, Schubert, Debussy, Duparc and Fauré won several awards and her recording of the Wesendonck Lieder with Franz Welser-Möst and the Cleveland Orchestra earned her a Grammy nomination.
Off the stage, Measha is just as active: she recently released her memoir Something Is Always On Fire published by Harper Collins, she appears regularly on primetime TV (most recently advocating on behalf of contemporary Canadian literature); and leading Canadian children across the country in song, in celebration of the nationwide campaign for music education.
Measha Brueggergosman champions the education and involvement of new audiences and holds several honorary doctorates and ambassadorial titles with international charities.
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 U.K. and Artistic and Music Director of Artis—Naples and the Naples Philharmonic in the U.S. Shelley’s leadership is complemented by Principal Guest Conductor John Storgårds and Principal Youth Conductor Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser. 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.
Tobi Hunt McCoy is enjoying another year as season Stage Manager with the National Arts Centre Orchestra. In past seasons, she stage-managed Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Christopher Plummer in 2001 and Colm Feore in 2014. She co-produced the 1940s Pops show On the Air with Jack Everly for the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, a show they co-produced in 2007 for the NAC Orchestra.
In 2018, McCoy made her Southam Hall acting debut in the role of Stage Manager in the Magic Circle Mime Co.’s production of Orchestra from Planet X. Additional professional duties have included aiding Susanna and the Countess in schooling the Count and Figaro on the finer points of marital love during The Marriage of Figaro, keeping her eyes open (for the first time ever) during the flying monkey scene in The Wizard of Oz, mistakenly asking Patrick Watson for proof of identity backstage, holding her breath while marvelling at the athletic ability of the cast during Cirque Goes Broadway, continuing to implement feedback on her British-Columbian French with the choruses of Ottawa, and cheering on Luke and Princess Leia with Charlie Ross, Émilie Fournier, and Eric Osner during the Star Wars Pops concert.
In her spare time, McCoy is the Head of Arts, Drama, English, and Library at Lisgar Collegiate Institute.
International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees