≈ 90 minutes · With intermission
Last updated: September 21, 2022
Program
ANNA THORVALDSDÓTTIR Spectra for violin, viola, and cello
BRIAN NABORS Zephyr for two flutes and string quartet
KRISTINE TJØGERSEN Spiracle for brass quintet
SCHAFER String Quartet No. 2, “Waves”
Program Notes
Tonight’s Wolfgang Session, part of this season’s SPHERE Festival, is a walk on the wild side featuring contemporary works inspired by natural phenomena. In each of the four works on this program, composers creatively employ techniques that require the performing musicians to go beyond the traditional ways of playing their instruments. This is the music of nature like you’ve never heard it before!
Repertoire
Spectra for violin, viola, and cello
“One of the most distinctive voices in contemporary music” (NPR), Icelandic composer Anna Thorvaldsdóttir is known for her highly atmospheric and texturally imaginative works. As her biography describes, her music is written as an “ecosystem of sounds”, where materials continuously grow in and out of each other. Much of it is fundamentally inspired by nature and its various qualities, particularly structural ones, like proportion and flow.
A commission by the NJORD New Nordic Music Biennale in Copenhagen, Thorvaldsdóttir’s string trio Spectra was composed in 2017. It consists of, in her words, “six short movements that are performed in a seamless flow from one movement to the next.” “Atmospheric indications,” which include phrases like “with curiosity”, “with determination”, and “with lyricism and calm”, she notes, “are written in bold italic letters at the start of each movement.”
“My music is written as an ecosystem of materials that are carried from one performer—or performers—to the next throughout the process of the work,” she further explains. In Spectra, these materials include the use of a wide array of extended techniques to create special effects, including producing quarter tones, harmonics, glissandos, tremolos, changes in bow pressure, playing near the bridge of the instrument, and varied types of vibrato. Her guidance for performers of the piece can also apply to listeners’ experience of it: “As you play a phrase, harmony, texture, or a lyrical line, it is being delivered to you, passed on from another performer for you to carry on until it is delivered to another. All materials continuously grow in and out of each other, growing and transforming throughout the process.”
Zephyr for 2 Flutes and String Quartet
I. Lively
II. Reflective
III. Lively
The music of American composer Brian Raphael Nabors has recently been garnering much attention for its eclectic blend of jazz, funk, R & B, and gospel styles, with the modern techniques of contemporary classical music. Nabors credits his “charming southern upbringing” as formative to the core principles that inspire his music, which include spirituality, and reflections on life, nature, and the human condition.
He composed Zephyr in 2020 for the New Downbeat new music ensemble. About the piece, he says:
The word “zephyr” comes from the Greek language meaning “gentle wind” or “wind from the west.” Although there are many examples of gentle lyricism throughout, it is quite the fiery piece, with many other stark effects of wind and colour making their appearance. As always, I find it most fun to juxtapose the romantic with the barbarous!
Two outer movements marked “Lively” bookend a “Reflective” centre. To create the “stark effects of wind”, Nabors has the two flute players use various extended techniques, for example, air beatboxing—essentially, “talking” into the flute, resulting in a percussive, breathy series of sounds. Another is jet whistles, which are very loud glissandos produced by blowing a high, fast-pressure air stream through the flute. In the first part of the second movement, the string quartet plays slow-moving chords composed of ethereal harmonics, against which the flutes intone “pops” of sound using slap tongue and blow pitchless, steady streams of air through their instruments. As contrast to these “windy” sections in each movement, there are dynamic episodes of counterpoint—between the two flutes and between the flutes and string quartet—that evoke layers of air flow.
Spiracle for brass quintet
The compositional practice of Norwegian composer Kristine Tjøgersen is, according to her biography, “characterized by curiosity, imagination, humour, and precision. Through her work she creates unexpected and absurd auditory situations through playing with tradition, often resulting in a particular strangeness. Her work opens up perceptions of the world as complex, alive, and ever changing and not heading towards a final climax.”
Spiracle for brass quintet was composed in 2017. In the score, Tjøgersen describes the underlying inspiration for the piece:
Spiracles are breathing openings found on the surface of insects, spiders, certain cartilaginous fish such as particular species of sharks, and stingrays. Sharks and rays have a spiracle behind each eye. When the shark is not moving, the spiracle helps the shark to breathe. Spiracles aid fish in breathing even when they are lying on the ocean bottom or when they are buried in the sand. Insects have spiracles, which allow air to move into their tracheal system. Since insects do not have lungs, they use spiracles to exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide with the outside air. The blowhole of the whale is also sometimes called a spiracle in older texts. Whales use their blowholes to take in the air and dispel carbon dioxide when they surface.
As if to evoke the sound of spiracles in action, Tjøgersen has the musicians use a myriad of creative playing techniques to generate unusual sounds from their instruments. These include air sounds, air sounds with pronounced letters, air tones with flutter, slap tongue, tongue tremolo to sound like a helicopter, singing and playing at the same time, playing without the mouthpiece, and using the instrument the “wrong way”. Requiring playing of great subtlety and finesse, the piece progresses with essentially alternating sections of pitch-less sounds shaped by clear rhythmic patterns, which are, at times, infused with shifting “wah wah” tones. About a third of the way through, second trumpet and trombone intone a melodic phrase, which Tjøgersen notes is a quote from the song “In Bloom” by Nirvana. Spiracle closes with a reflective series of chords in the trumpets, horn, and tuba, and the trombone responding with singing glissandos.
String Quartet No. 2, "Waves"
During the late 1960s and 1970s, Canadian composer R. Murray Schafer established an educational and research group called the World Soundscape Project at Vancouver’s Simon Fraser University. Borne out of his deep concern about the harmful effects of technological sound on humans, i.e, noise pollution, particularly in urban environments, the project initiated the field of acoustic ecology—the study of the relationship between humans and their environment as mediated through sound. In 1976, Schafer completed his first work to integrate his soundscape research with his creative endeavours as a composer: his second string quartet, “Waves”.
In his program note to the piece, he describes how his analysis of ocean waves on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of Canada shaped the composition:
The recurrent pattern of waves is always asymmetrical, but we have noted that the duration from crest to crest usually falls between 6 and 11 seconds. Few ocean waves are of longer or shorter duration than this. It is this wave motion that gives the quartet its rhythm and structure. The listener will hear the dynamic undulations of waves in this piece, and as it develops several types of wave motion are combined. I have sought to give the quartet a liquid quality in which everything is constantly dissolving and flowing into everything else. That is to say, the material of the work is not fixed, but is perpetually changing, and even though certain motivic figures are used repeatedly, they undergo continual dynamic, rhythmic, and tempo variation.
To enhance the fluidity of the music, Schafer allows the musicians some artistic freedom to execute their parts, as indicated by a timeline underneath the score that suggests when the musical motifs are to be played. Overall, the piece might be described as a meditation on the many sounds of water—from calm, soothing burbles to droplet sprays to the surging, pounding waves. In his 1977 landmark book The Tuning of the World in which he summarized his ideas and theories about soundscape, Schafer considered water to be “the fundamental of the original soundscape and the sound which above all gives us the most delight in its myriad transformations.” He noted that “the mind must be slowed to catch these millions of transformations of the water, on sand, on shale, against driftwood, against the seawall.”
Schafer’s work in soundscape also influenced his interest in the spatial distribution of musicians during live performance to create certain effects. Near the quartet’s conclusion, he instructs the first violinist, then second violinist, then violist to get up and slowly leave the stage in different directions “as if in a trance”, taking their murmuring figures into the distance. In the last moments, the cellist is given the optional instruction to pick up a spyglass and, “in a very deliberate and controlled manner”, look to where the other musicians have gone and pan slowly across the audience. After this action, the cellist plays the final chord, and fades out gradually on an E-flat note.
Program notes by Hannah Chan-Hartley, PhD
Artists
Paul Casey was born and raised in Ottawa and is an avid orchestral, chamber, and solo musician and pedagogue.
Paul is one of the newest additions to the National Arts Centre Orchestra viola section as a soloist. Paul has performed with NACO as part of FanFair, the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra, and has given recitals in Canada and the United States. He was the 2011 recipient of the NACO Bursary Competition’s Crabtree Foundation Award.
Paul obtained a Master of Music and a Bachelor of Music from Indiana University and the University of Ottawa, respectively, and most recently studied at McGill University.
Paul is on faculty at the Leading Note Foundation’s OrKidstra program and was the string coach for the Ottawa Junior Youth Orchestra. He is also a member of the Silflay String Quartet with his wife, cellist Karen Kang, and violinists Leah Roseman and Mark Friedman.
Karen Donnelly was unanimously appointed Principal Trumpet of Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra in October 1999, following three successful seasons (1996-1999) as acting principal trumpet and continues to enjoy each year with this wonderful ensemble.
Before joining the NAC Orchestra, Karen was a freelancer in Montreal, where she performed with most ensembles in the area, including the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal. Karen was the principal trumpet with Orchestra London (Canada) from 1994 to 1996. She has been guest principal trumpet with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Les Violons du Roy, the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, and currently enjoys playing Associate Principal Trumpet with the Sun Valley Music Festival Orchestra.
Karen has been a featured soloist with many professional and community-based groups. These include the NAC Orchestra, Thirteen Strings, the Kingston Symphony, the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra London, the McGill Symphony Orchestra, the Hannaford Silver Street Band, the National Honour Band of Canada, the Parkdale Orchestra, the University of Regina Wind Ensemble, and many high school bands in the region.
In 2019, Karen spearheaded a new initiative, the Canadian Women’s Brass Collective, to shine a light on female brass players and provide visibility and mentoring for all students.
Music education has always been very close to Karen’s heart. Her work with the True North Brass Quintet creates opportunities for educational concerts and workshops in schools. Through the NAC’s learning and engagement programs, Karen has given masterclasses in Switzerland, Mexico, China, the United States, the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Canada.
Karen joined the teaching staff at the University of Ottawa in 2002, and she is an honorary teaching artist and mentor for the OrKidstra program, providing music to kids in equity-deserving communities in Ottawa.
Karen studied at the University of Regina and McGill University, where she completed a Master of Music. She wouldn’t be a musician, however, without her school band program in her hometown of Regina, Saskatchewan.
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.
A native of Toronto, Chris began playing tuba at age 12 at Winona Drive Senior Public School and instantly discovered a passion for performing.
During his time at Winona, Chris met Chuck Daellenbach of the Canadian Brass and performed over 50 concerts with the Winona Brass Quintet, including a tour of Japan. Chuck would serve as a role model and mentor for the remainder of Chris’s career, and those early musical experiences with the quintet would leave an indelible imprint on him.
After graduating from the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan, Chris’s formal education included studies with Dennis Miller at McGill University, Alain Cazes at the Montreal Conservatory, and Dan Perantoni at Indiana University. He spent his summers performing with various festival orchestras, including the National Academy Orchestra (Hamilton, Ontario), the National Repertory Orchestra (Breckenridge, Colorado), the National Orchestral Institute (College Park, Maryland), the Verbier Festival Youth Orchestra (Switzerland), and a memorable summer in the Ceremonial Guard band on Parliament Hill.
Chris’s professional orchestral tuba career began overseas in Spain, where he performed as principal tuba with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia for two seasons from 2001 to 2003 before returning to Canada to take up the same position with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra in 2003. Chris served as principal tuba with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra for 15 seasons from 2003 until 2018 when he started as Principal Tuba with the National Arts Centre Orchestra.
Chris has been an active teacher and enjoys sharing his passion for music. While in Europe, Chris was the Professor of Tuba at the ESMAE School of Music in Porto, Portugal, and is the former instructor of tuba at the University of Manitoba. He is very proud of his former students, who hold a variety of positions.
Chris has recorded with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, the Real Filharmonía de Galicia, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Canadian Brass, and numerous studio recordings in the USA. Chris has appeared as a soloist with a variety of ensembles, including the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the University of Manitoba Wind Ensemble, and the National Youth Band of Canada. Chris gave the orchestral premiere of the Victor Davies Tuba Concerto in 2009 with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and is always on the lookout for new tuba repertoire to perform for Canadian audiences. When he is not playing tuba, Chris enjoys running, golfing, and spending time with his wife, Desiree, and their two kids, Evelyn and Keenan.
Canadian violinist of German and Lebanese ancestry, Jessica Linnebach, has established herself as an accomplished artist with a thriving multi-faceted career encompassing solo, chamber, and orchestral performances.
Known for her “burnt caramel sound, utterly fearless virtuosity . . . and romantic lyricism” (ARTSFILE), Jessica has performed as a soloist with orchestras around the world. A passionate chamber musician, Jessica is a member of the Ironwood String Quartet along with her NAC Orchestra colleagues Emily Kruspe, Carissa Klopoushak, and Rachel Mercer. They are frequent performers at chamber music series and festivals, including the NAC’s WolfGANG and Music for a Sunday Afternoon series and Ottawa Chamberfest, Pontiac Enchanté, Ritornello, and Classical Unbound festivals. As part of a commitment to reaching broader audiences, Jessica is one of the artistic directors of the Classical Unbound Festival, a chamber music festival in Prince Edward County, Ontario.
Accepted to the world-renowned Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia at age ten, Jessica remains one of the youngest-ever Bachelor of Music graduates in the school’s history. While there, Jessica’s primary teachers were Aaron Rosand, Jaime Laredo, and Ida Kavafian. At age 18, she received her Master of Music from the Manhattan School of Music in New York City, where she studied with Pinchas Zukerman and Patinka Kopec.
Jessica resides in Ottawa, where she has been Associate Concertmaster with the NAC Orchestra since 2010. A natural leader, Jessica has performed numerous times as guest concertmaster with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.
Jessica plays a circa 1840 Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume (Guarnerius del Gésu 1737) violin. Her bows are crafted by Ron Forrester and Michael Vann.
In 2014, after 12 years of living abroad, violist David Marks returned to Canada to accept the position of Associate Principal Viola with the NAC Orchestra. Born in Vancouver, David grew up in Virginia in the heart of a musical family. He experimented with composing, writing, drawing, and painting from an early age. These passions have resulted in dozens of original songs, paintings, and murals. His viola studies took him across the U.S. and Europe for lessons with Roberto Diaz, Atar Arad, Karen Tuttle, Gerard Caussé, Thomas Riebl, and Nobuko Imai; to the Banff Centre; L’Académie de Musique Tibor Varga; and Prussia Cove.
In Europe, David performed as Principal Viola with L’Orchestre de Montpellier and L’Opera de Bordeaux, La Orquesta de la Ciudad de Granada, Holland Symfonia, and Amsterdam Sinfonietta. He was Principal Viola of the London Philharmonic Orchestra under the batons of Vladimir Jurowski, Christoph Eschenbach, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and Marin Alsop. As a fixture on the contemporary music scene, he performed across Europe with the Asko/Schonberg Ensemble, Ensemble Modern, the Mondriaan Quartet, Fabrica Musica, and Nieuw Amsterdamse Peil. He was a member of the avant-garde Dutch contemporary music group Nieuw Ensemble, with whom he toured China and recorded over 40 works.
As a folk musician, David has toured Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, singing his songs with The History of Dynamite. His folk opera The Odyssey was performed at the Banff Centre and subsequently at Theater de Cameleon in Amsterdam. He plays fiddle and guitar and has performed with Van Dyke Parks, Bill Frisell, and Patrick Watson.
He lives with his wife and four children in Wakefield, Quebec.
Described as a "pure chamber musician" (The Globe and Mail) creating "moments of pure magic" (Toronto Star), Canadian cellist Rachel Mercer has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician across five continents.
Grand prize winner of the 2001 Vriendenkrans Competition in Amsterdam, Rachel is Principal Cello of the NAC Orchestra in Ottawa and Co-Artistic Director of the "5 at the First" Chamber Music Series in Hamilton and Orleans, Ontario. Rachel plays with the Mercer-Park Duo, the St. John-Mercer-Park Trio and the Ironwood Quartet, and was cellist of the JUNO award-winning piano quartet Ensemble Made In Canada (2008-2020), the AYR Trio (2010-2020), and the Aviv Quartet (2002-2010). She has given masterclasses across North America, South Africa and Israel and talks on performance and careers in music.
An advocate for new Canadian music, Rachel has commissioned and premiered over 30 works, including cello concerti by Stewart Goodyear and Kevin Lau, as well as solo and chamber works by Vivian Fung, Andrew Downing, Alice Ho, David Braid, Kelly Marie-Murphy, John Burge, and Jocelyn Morlock. Recent chamber and solo albums include Kevin Lau: Under A Veil of Stars (Leaf Music), Our Strength, Our Song (Centrediscs), John Burge: One Sail (Naxos), Alice Ho: Mascarada (Centrediscs), and from 2012, the complete Bach Suites (Pipistrelle) with the 1696 Bonjour Stradivarius Cello from the Canada Council for the Arts Musical Instrument Bank. Rachel currently plays a 17th-century cello from Northern Italy.
Although Marc-André Riberdy’s musical education began with the violin, he later changed his allegiance to the cello. He first studied with Father Rolland Brunelle and Sophie Coderre at the École de musique de Lanaudière and then with Elizabeth Dolin at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal. He did further studies in Jean-Guihen Queyras’s class at the Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg, Germany.
Marc-André made a name for himself in numerous music competitions, including the Lanaudière classical music festival and competition, the Canadian Music Competition, and the Hélène-Roberge Music Competition. He was also awarded a special prize at the 2016 Domnick cello competition in Stuttgart, Germany.
During his studies, Marc-André performed as a soloist with various orchestras, including the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal’s string orchestra, its symphony orchestra, and the Joliette Youth Orchestra. He became the Orchestre Métropolitain’s associate solo cello in 2016 before joining the NAC Orchestra’s cello section in 2018. He plays a Giovanni Gagliano 1790–1800 cello with a Karl Hans Schmidt bow, both generously made available to him by Canimex.
Ottawa-born trumpet player Steven van Gulik joined the National Arts Centre Orchestra in 2009. He began playing the cornet at age eight, studying with his uncle Kenneth Moore and performing with the local Salvation Army church band.
Having won the National Arts Centre Orchestra Bursary in 1993 and competing successfully at many regional, provincial and national music festivals, Steven decided to pursue studies at the Interlochen Arts Academy and then at McGill University with former NAC Orchestra principal trumpet Douglas Sturdevant and Montreal Symphony Orchestra principal trumpet Paul Merkelo. An active chamber musician, he has performed in every season of Ottawa Chamberfest and can be heard regularly performing with Capital BrassWorks, an Ottawa-based brass ensemble. Steven can also be heard performing on CBC Radio as a recital soloist and chamber musician and on stage with various orchestras across Canada.
Steven was the principal trumpet of the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra and has performed as a soloist with the Thunder Bay Symphony, the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra and the National Arts Centre Orchestra.
Steven was a member of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra from 2000 to 2007 and performed on international tours and recordings before moving west to become a member of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra from 2007 to 2009. He has returned to his hometown of Ottawa with his wife, Lianne, and their daughter, Maria.
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Mintje van Lier (1982) is Principal Second violin with Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra.
At the age of five, Mintje started studying the violin under Anneke Schilt-Plate and continued with Hans Scheepers, Joyce Tan, Mimi Zweig, Chris Duindam and Lex Korff de Gidts. In 2006 she received her Bachelor of Music at the Amsterdam Conservatory. She continued her studies in the class of Ilan Gronich at the Universität der Künste, Berlin, receiving the Diplom in 2009.
From 2004-2006, Mintje performed as a member of the European Union Youth Orchestra under the direction of Bernard Haitink, Sir Colin Davis, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Paavo Järvi and Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
In 2007, Mintje studied in the Academy of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, after which, she was awarded a scholarship from the Bernard Haitink Fund for Young Talent. In 2008, Mintje won the position as assistent principal 2nd Violin with the Netherlands Radio Chamber Filharmonic. In the five years leading up to the closing of this orchestra, Mintje enjoyed playing under the frequent guest conductor’s Philippe Herreweghe and Frans Brüggen. Mintje freelances with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. From 2014—2021 Mintje was the assistant principal 2nd violin of the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as a member of the Jenufa String Quartet.
She has taken part in the Zermatt Festival with the Scharoun Ensemble of the Berliner Philharmoniker. In Berlin, Mintje played with Solistenensemble Kaleidoskop.
Mintje plays a Theo Marks violin (2018).
Principal Horn with the National Arts Centre Orchestra from 2002 until 2024, Lawrence Vine previously served as Principal Horn with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, and the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra.
A much sought-after chamber musician, Lawrence has performed with Andrew Dawes, Lynn Harrell, Joseph Kalichstein, Anton Kuerti, Malcolm Lowe, Gabriela Montero, Menahem Pressler, Pascal Rogé, David Shifrin, Joseph Silverstein, and Pinchas Zukerman. He regularly performed at home and on tour with the National Arts Centre Wind Quintet, a highly acclaimed ensemble that has recorded for the Naxos label.
As a soloist, he appeared with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, and Ottawa’s Thirteen Strings Chamber Orchestra. His festival credits included the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Cleveland’s Kent Blossom Music, Ottawa Chamberfest, and Ottawa’s Music and Beyond Festival.
An active teacher and clinician, Lawrence proudly taught the horn studio at the University of Ottawa’s School of Music. Previously, he taught at the University of Manitoba and has presented masterclasses at the Manhattan School of Music, Baltimore’s Peabody Institute, Chicago’s Roosevelt University, Toronto’s Royal Conservatory of Music, Wilfrid Laurier University, the Canadian International School of Hong Kong, and the Universities of Colorado, Toronto, British Columbia, Calgary, and Victoria. He also served on the faculties of the NAC Summer Music Institute and the NACO Mentorship Program.
The Globe and Mail has praised his “fine, burnished playing,” the Winnipeg Free Press commended his “delicate phrasing, rounded tone, and sense of poise,” the Ottawa Citizen enthused that his “playing was assured, and his clear sound was remarkably subtle,” and the Montreal Gazette described his playing as “radiant.”
Stephanie Morin joined the NAC Orchestra as Second Flute and Piccolo in 2020 and is currently on faculty at the University of Ottawa. In addition to her teaching at uOttawa, Stephanie has been a guest speaker and teacher at programs such as OAcademy, Fluture Music Studio, and Flute On The Edge. She is also an active chamber musician and has performed in NAC chamber music concerts and at Ottawa Chamberfest.
Before her tenure at the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Stephanie was Assistant Principal Flute with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and Principal Flute of the Laval and Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean orchestras. She has also performed with ensembles such as Les Violons du Roy, the Orchestre Métropolitain, and the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal.
Stephanie pursued her music studies in Montreal, first at Marianopolis College with Carolyn Christie, then at McGill University with Denis Bluteau, and finally at the Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal, where she completed a Master’s in Flute Performance with Marie-Andrée Benny.
Stephanie is a prize-winner at the OSM, Canadian Music, Prix d’Europe, and Orchestra Toronto Concerto competitions.
Canadian violinist Emily Westell has established herself as a versatile musician. Since her debut as a soloist with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra at age 15, she has performed as soloist and conductor with the Orchestre de chambre de Paris and has played concerti with the Tanglewood, Banff Festival, and University of Calgary orchestras. A winner of the 2012 Canada Council for the Arts Musical Instrument Bank Competition (loan of the 1717 Windsor-Weinstein Stradivari), she was awarded the 2013 Astral Artist Prize from Canada’s National Arts Centre. Emily has performed chamber music and solo recitals in Paris (Cité de la Musique), New York (Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall), Boston (Jordan Hall), and the Netherlands (International Holland Music Sessions). Her concerts have been broadcast on CBC and Radio-Canada.
Emily has performed at the festivals of Prussia Cove, Norfolk, Spoleto USA, Orford, Meadowmount, and Lanaudière. An advocate for new music, Emily has performed with the Harvard Group for New Music, Columbia Composers, Boston’s Callithumpian Consort, and on the Land’s End Chamber Ensemble CD, Rollin’ Down #1, winner of the Western Canada Music Award for Outstanding Classical Album. She is a former instructor of violin and chamber music at McGill University.
Emily recently completed post-doctoral professional studies with Pinchas Zukerman in the Manhattan School of Music’s prestigious Zukerman Performance Program with a President’s Award. Her previous teachers include Edmond Agopian, Miriam Fried, and Jonathan Crow. She holds a Doctor of Music from McGill University (where she was an SSHRC Doctoral Fellow), a master’s degree from the New England Conservatory, and the Fine Arts gold medal from the University of Calgary for the top graduate.