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Alexander Shelley
Alexander Shelley succeeded Pinchas Zukerman as Music Director of Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra in September 2015. The ensemble has since been praised as “an orchestra transformed … hungry, bold, and unleashed” (Ottawa Citizen) and Alexander’s programming credited for turning the orchestra “almost overnight … into one of the more audacious orchestras in North America.” (Maclean’s magazine).
Born in London in October 1979, Alexander, the son of celebrated concert pianists, 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. His conducting technique is immaculate, everything crystal clear and a tool to his inborn musicality”. In August 2017 Alexander concluded his tenure as Chief Conductor of the Nürnberger Symphoniker, a position he held since September 2009. The partnership was hailed by press and audience alike as a golden era for the orchestra, where he transformed the ensemble’s playing, education work and international touring activities. These have included concerts in Italy, Belgium, China and a re-invitation to the Musikverein in Vienna.
In January 2015 he assumed the role of Principal Associate Conductor of London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with whom he curates an annual series of concerts at Cadogan Hall and tours both nationally and internationally.
Described as “a natural communicator both on and off the podium” (Daily Telegraph) Alexander works regularly with the leading orchestras of Europe, the Americas, Asia and Australasia, including the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester Berlin,, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Gothenburg Symphony, Stockholm Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Sao Paulo Symphony and the Melbourne and New Zealand Symphony Orchestras. This season’s collaborations include debuts with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National de Belgique, Orchestre Metropolitain Montreal, Orquesta Sinfonica de Valencia, and Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra; alongside returns to MDR Sinfonieorchester Leipzig, Orchestre Philharmonique de Luxembourg and the Tasmanian symphony orchestras. He will also embark on an extensive tour of Europe with the National Arts Centre Orchestra performing in cities such as London, Paris, Stockholm and Copenhagen
Highlights of the previous season include debuts with the Helsinki and Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestras and Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, as well as at the Aspen Festival in Colorado. Re-invitations include Konzerthausorchester Berlin, RTE National Symphony Orchestra and a return to the Tivoli Festival with the Copenhagen Philharmonic.
Alexander’s operatic engagements have included The Merry Widow and Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet (Den Kongelige Opera); La Bohème (Opera Lyra/National Arts Centre), Iolanta (Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen), Così fan Tutte (Opéra National de Montpellier), The Marriage of Figaro (Opera North) in 2015 and he led a co-production of Harry Somers’ Louis Riel in 2017 with the NACO and Canadian Opera Company.
Alexander was awarded the ECHO prize in 2016 for his second Deutsche Grammophon recording, “Peter and the Wolf”, and both the ECHO and Deutsche Grunderpreis in his capacity as Artistic Director of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen’s “Zukunftslabor”, a visionary project of grass-roots engagement, which uses music as a source for social cohesion and integration. Through his work as Founder and Artistic Director of the Schumann Camerata and their ground-breaking “440Hz” series in Dusseldorf, and through his leadership roles in Nuremberg, Bremen and Ottawa, inspiring future generations of classical musicians and listeners has always been central to Alexander’s work. He has led the German National Youth Orchestra on several tours of Germany and works with many thousands of young people a year in outreach projects. He regularly gives informed and passionate pre- and post-concert talks on his programmes, as well as numerous interviews and podcasts on the role of classical music in society. He has a wealth of experience conducting and presenting major open-air events - in Nuremberg alone he has, over the course of nine years, hosted more than half a million people at the annual Klassik Open Air concerts - Europe’s largest classical music event.
The Music Director role is supported by Elinor Gill Ratcliffe, C.M., O.N.L., LL.D. (hc)
Adrian Lo
Adrian Lo is a Hong Kong born, Chinese-Canadian conductor, jazz double bassist, composer, and educator. His earliest musical influences came from his training as a classical pianist, and from his father’s love for 60s pop-rock. In his mid-teens, Adrian began exploring concert band and jazz repertoire through the guidance of his high school music teachers. At the age of 15, he picked up his first baton, conducting his school’s string orchestra through the 5th Movement of Peter Warlock’s Capriol Suite. Since then, Adrian has been the conductor of the senior jazz bands at Castlemore Public School and Pierre Elliott Trudeau High School in Markham, Ontario. He is currently entering his fourth year in the music education program under the jazz stream at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Music.
Murray Lefebvre
Murray Lefebvre is a graduating student of the Bachelor of Music program at Queen’s University. Over the last four years, he has studied clarinet under Dr. Kornel Wolak and Gordon Craig and has studied conducting with Dan Tremblay and Darrell Christie.
Murray is the musical director of the Queen’s University Concert Orchestra (QUCO) and of the Kingston Military Wives Choir. He is also the assistant musical director of theatre writer Leslie Arden's Lancashire Lass workshop at the Dan School of Drama and Music in Kingston. Murray has shown his affinity for musical leadership as a teaching assistant, an ensemble manager, and an executive member for the Queen’s University Student Music Educators’ Association. Murray has also taken part in various musical theatre productions, in the Queen’s Clarinet Choir Orchestra, and in the Wind Ensemble in which he was co-concertmaster for the 2019-2020 school year.
Murray is an ardent advocate for music education and hopes to demonstrate this passion as a high school music teacher. He looks forward to facilitating learning and music-making, and to create music alongside his students. Murray is confident that, with the continued support of his friends, family, and amazing professors, this aspiration will soon become a reality.