Last updated: February 26, 2024
A Note from the President and CEO, National Arts Centre
The past few years have been challenging for the performing arts worldwide. At the National Arts Centre (NAC), we aim to revitalize our sector by working with outstanding partners from across the country. As part of that vision, we are dedicated to partnering with Francophone artists and arts organizations to support the expression of Francophone culture.
In February and March 2024, the NAC Orchestra, led by Music Director Alexander Shelley, is honoured to be collaborating with two exceptional arts organizations—the Orchestre symphonique de Québec and the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. Together they are joining forces to offer superb performances to audiences at le Grand Théâtre de Québec (Quebec City), the National Arts Centre (Ottawa), and Roy Thomson Hall (Toronto). At the heart of the program is Symphony No. 5 by the internationally renowned Quebec composer Jacques Hétu—his final work and one of his most significant achievements.
Canadian artistry is at the heart of this tour. In addition to the exceptional orchestral musicians and choristers on the stage, the brilliant Canadian pianist Kevin Chen is making his debut with the NAC Orchestra and OSQ.
Beyond performances in every city, learning and engagement activities, in partnership with the Conservatoire de musique et d’art dramatique and with the Faculty of Music at Université Laval, will allow artists to engage with young artists. Finally, the music on this tour will be recorded, enabling audiences everywhere to experience the performances.
On behalf of the National Arts Centre, we thank all our partners on this wonderful collaboration. Most of all, we thank you, our audiences, for joining us to celebrate Canada’s extraordinary classical music artists, and for supporting music in your community.
Enjoy the concert.
A Note from the President and CEO, Orchestre symphonique de Québec
Two Orchestras, One Symphony is a phenomenal project resulting from our collaboration with National Arts Centre Orchestra Music Director Alexander Shelley during the pandemic, when he led the Orchestre symphonique de Québec three times as a guest conductor. Over the course of our meetings, Alexander made an exciting suggestion: why not have the two capital city orchestras join forces to perform the fifth symphony of the late Quebec composer Jacques Hétu? Alexander saw this historic encounter as a way to promote the musical heritage of Quebec and Canada. Befittingly, the concert will open with a moving piece by Canadian composer Kelly-Marie Murphy. Also featured to showcase our unique cultural strengths will be young pianist Kevin Chen and the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. Our shared goal is to hold a series of concerts all across Canada that will further strengthen the musical bonds that unite us.
Astrid Chouinard
President and CEO, Orchestre symphonique de Québec
A Note from the Music Director, NAC Orchestra
I have long been beguiled by the almost tectonic power of the meeting of cultures in this country. It is a force of great energy that seems to invigorate and stimulate the artistic, linguistic, and political soul. This meeting of cultures—the inspiration and friction, the finding of common ground and recognition of differences—adds to the great tapestry that is Canada. And this project celebrates by doing: we conjoin the National Arts Centre Orchestra and the Orchestre symphonique de Québec and welcome the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir to perform a masterpiece by one of the greats of Canada’s recent past, Jacques Hétu. His Fifth Symphony renders in its opening movements musical paintings of Paris before, during, and after the Nazi invasion, while the Finale unites chorus and orchestra, intoning Paul Éluard’s poem “Liberté”. The first-half celebration of two of today’s most exciting Canadian musicians—Kelly-Marie Murphy and Kevin Chen—underscores the vibrancy and health of musical life in this country. Bringing all of these musicians, these great institutions, and immense talents together will mean doing more of what orchestras do best: listening, empathizing, understanding, communicating, leading, following, and inspiring. Each individual giving their all for the service of the whole. A microcosm of culture and society in action.
Program
KELLY-MARIE MURPHY Dark Nights, Bright Stars, Vast Universe* (9 min)
CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 22 (23 min)
I. Andante sostenuto
II. Allegro scherzando
III. Presto
Kevin Chen, piano
INTERMISSION
JACQUES HÉTU Symphony No. 5, Op. 81** (40 min)
I. Prologue: Allegretto
II. L’Invasion (The Invasion): Vivace
III. L’Occupation (The Occupation): Adagio
IV. Liberté (Liberty): Andante
Toronto Mendelssohn Choir
*NAC Orchestra commission
**Toronto Symphony Orchestra commission
Text and Translation for Hétu’s Symphony No. 5
Texte de Liberté par Paul Éluard
Sur mes cahiers d’écoliers
Sur mon pupitre et les arbres
Sur le sable sur la neige
J’écris ton nom
Sur toutes les pages lues
Sur toutes les pages blanches
Pierre sang papier ou cendre
J’écris ton nom
Sur les images dorées
Sur les armes des guerriers
Sur la couronne des rois
J’écris ton nom
Sur la jungle et le désert
Sur les nids sur les genêts
Sur l’écho de mon enfance
J’écris ton nom
Sur les merveilles des nuits
Sur le pain blanc des journées
Sur les saisons fiancées
J’écris ton nom
Sur les champs sur l’horizon
Sur les ailes des oiseaux
Et sur le moulin des ombres
J’écris ton nom
Sur chaque bouffée d’aurore
Sur la mer sur les bateaux
Sur la montagne démente
J’écris ton nom
Sur la mousse des nuages
Sur les sueurs de l’orage
Sur la pluie épaisse et fade
J’écris ton nom
Sur les formes scintillantes
Sur les cloches des couleurs
Sur la vérité physique
J’écris ton nom
Sur les sentiers éveillés
Sur les routes déployées
Sur les places qui débordent
J’écris ton nom
Sur la lampe qui s’allume
Sur la lampe qui s’éteint
Sur mes maisons réunies
J’écris ton nom
Sur le fruit coupé en deux
Du miroir et de ma chambre
Sur mon lit coquille vide
J’écris ton nom
Sur le tremplin de ma porte
Sur les objets familiers
Sur le flot du feu béni
J’écris ton nom
Sur toute chair accordée
Sur le front de mes amis
Sur chaque main qui se tend
J’écris ton nom
Sur la vitre des surprises
Sur les lèvres attentives
Bien au dessus du silence
J’écris ton nom
Sur mes refuges détruits
Sur mes phares écroulés
Sur les murs de mon ennui
J’écris ton nom
Sur l’absence sans désir
Sur la solitude nue
Sur les marches de la mort
J’écris ton nom
Sur la santé revenue
Sur le risque disparu
Sur l’espoir sans souvenir
J’écris ton nom
Et par le pouvoir d’un mot
Je recommence ma vie
Je suis né pour te connaître
Pour te nommer
Liberté
Text from Liberty by Paul Éluard
On my schoolboys’ copybooks
On my desk and on the trees
On sand and snow
I write your name
On all pages read
On all pages blank
Stone blood paper or ash
I write your name
On the gilded images
On the arms of warriors
On the crown of kings
I write your name
On the jungle and the desert
On nests on gorse
On the echo of my childhood
I write your name
On the wonders of the nights
On the white bread of the days
On seasons betrothed
I write your name
On the fields on my horizon
On the wings of birds
And on the mill of shadows
I write your name
On every whiff of daybreak
On the sea on the ships
On the raging mountain
I write your name
On the foam of clouds
On the labour of storms
On the dense and tasteless rain
I write your name
On gleaming shapes
On bells of colour
On physical truth
I write your name
On awakened paths
On spreading roads
On overflowing squares
I write your name
On the lamp that kindles
On the lamp that dies
On my houses joined
I write your name
On the fruit cut in two
On the mirror and my room
On my bed empty shell
I write your name
On the threshold of my door
On familiar things
On the surge of blessed fire
I write your name
On all accordant flesh
On the foreheads of my friends
On every hand held out
I write your name
On the windows of surprises
On attentive lips
High above the silence
I write your name
On my ruined shelters
On my extinguished beacons
On the walls of my fatigue
I write your name
On absence without desire
On barren solitude
On the steps of death
I write your name
On health returned
On vanished risk
On hope without remembrance
I write your name
And by the power of a word
I begin my life again
I was born to know you
To name you
Liberty
Repertoire
Dark Nights, Bright Stars, Vast Universe (NACO commission)
With music described as “breathtaking” (Kitchener-Waterloo Record), “imaginative and expressive” (The National Post), “a pulse-pounding barrage on the senses” (The Globe and Mail), and “Bartok on steroids” (Birmingham News), Kelly-Marie Murphy’s voice is well known on the Canadian music scene. She has created a number of memorable works for some of Canada’s leading performers and ensembles, including the Toronto, Winnipeg, and Vancouver Symphony Orchestras, The Gryphon Trio, James Campbell, Shauna Rolston, the Cecilia and Afiara String Quartets, and Judy Loman.
Kelly-Marie Murphy was born (in 1964) on a NATO base in Sardegna, Italy, and grew up on Canadian Armed Forces bases all across Canada. She began her studies in composition at the University of Calgary with William Jordan and Allan Bell, and later received a PhD in composition from the University of Leeds, England, where she studied with Philip Wilby. After living and working for many years in the Washington, D.C. area where she was designated “an alien of extraordinary ability” by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, she is now based in Ottawa, quietly pursuing a career as a freelance composer.
Commissioned by the NAC Orchestra and composed in 2023, Dark Nights, Bright Stars, Vast Universe is Murphy’s response to Richard Strauss’s orchestral work Don Juan. As she reveals in her note to her piece, “in considering how to respond to this iconic tone poem, I decided to look at what else was happening in the world while Strauss was composing. One significant event for me was Vincent van Gogh’s painting Starry Night in 1889. Another was the discovery of the Horsehead Nebula by Williamina Fleming in 1888. Mrs. Fleming was one of the “Harvard Computers”, a group of women who were taught to analyze stellar spectra and catalog stars for astronomers at the Harvard College Observatory. Her extraordinary life became the subject of my tone poem.”
“Dark Nights, Bright Stars, Vast Universe has a few main themes throughout,” she further describes: “questioning, searching, and curiosity; perseverance and determination; and the beauty of the starry sky. The piece begins with a questioning theme in the harp, answered by solo woodwinds. As the questioning and searching intensifies, it leads to the driving themes of perseverance and determination. This is fast and relentless and, at times, turbulent. Doubt creeps in for a moment with trumpet and oboe solos. Gradually, confidence and strength are regained, and a calm focus is revealed with a brass chorale. The main theme of perseverance returns, eventually leading to success and discovery. Throughout the piece, we are aware of the stars: shining, calling, guiding.”
Biography and program note provided by the composer
Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22
I. Andante sostenuto
II. Allegro scherzando
III. Presto
The Second Piano Concerto is Saint-Saëns’s (1835–1921) earliest work still in the active repertoire. It serves as a perfect example of the composer’s polish, neat formal proportions, clarity of texture, and classic elegance of style. The story of how the work came to be written is an interesting one. Saint-Saëns and the pianist-composer Anton Rubinstein had met in 1858 and had been close friends ever since, often playing piano duets together and sometimes performing in concert with Saint-Saëns on the podium and Rubinstein at the piano. One day in 1868, Rubinstein commented that for all his appearances in Paris as a soloist, he had never conducted there. So, he and Saint-Saëns exchanged hats, so to speak, and just three weeks later, on December 13, Rubinstein mounted the podium at the Salle Pleyel to conduct the concerto Saint-Saëns had written in the interim (it took just 17 days!)
The Concerto opens with an elaborate piano solo—a free-form, fantasia-like passage that shows Saint-Saëns’s debt to J.S. Bach’s organ music. After the initial orchestral statement, the piano presents a lyrical theme that Saint-Saëns lifted from a Tantum ergo for voice and organ by a former pupil of his, Gabriel Fauré. The pianist Alfred Cortot said that Fauré, “with absolute sincerity, congratulated himself on the honour his master had done him by using his theme.” Glittering cascades of notes, thundering octaves, and dazzling passage work are used to great effect. In a surprise gesture, the opening material returns at the end of the movement, but now in hushed, subdued tones with “a poetic quality of something remembered from the depths of the past.”
The scherzo trips along gaily, light as a feather in the best tradition of Felix Mendelssohn, except for the jaunty second theme that brings images of dancing horses to some minds.
The third movement employs the furious tarantella rhythm in a whirlwind tour de force. Everything points to a master craftsman. To quote Cortot again, “the music displays neat and even brilliant rhythms, more intelligence than sensibility, more verve than feelings.” The concerto ends in a blaze of fiery virtuosity.
Program note by Robert Markow
Symphony No 5, Op. 81
I. Prologue: Allegretto
II. L’Invasion (The Invasion): Vivace
III.L’Occupation (The Occupation): Adagio
IV. Liberté (Liberty): Andante
Jacques Hétu (1938–2010) is one of the most performed Quebec composers, both at home and abroad. Born in Trois-Rivières, he studied composition with Clermont Pépin at the Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal and later in Paris with Henri Dutilleux and Olivier Messiaen. Jacques Hétu’s style is a happy mix of classical forms, romantic sensibility, and modern musical languages. His works are solidly built and generally quite lyrical. They often generate considerable power and his orchestrations are especially colourful and sparkling. Hétu composed more than 80 works in every classical genre, including chamber music, symphonic music, and vocal music.
Commissioned by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Hétu’s Symphony No. 5 was premiered by the TSO conducted by Peter Oundjian for the New Creations Festival in February 2010. Here is how Hétu described his work:
I. Prologue (Paris before World War II): The city slowly awakens and gradually becomes something resembling a giant merry-go-round. Noisy children, murmuring throngs, joyous processions, and the confusion of an approaching fun fair interact and blur into one.
II. The Invasion (The War): Breathless, agitated, violent, dramatic music. A motif is heard in the unison winds with continuous embellishment from the strings. This culminates in dense polyphony in which different sections of the orchestra compete for prominence. The short and somewhat calmer passage of this scherzo is a lament that will be developed in the following movement. The opening section is heard again in abridged form.
III. The Occupation (The German occupation): A sort of funeral march. The music proceeds slowly, in a supplicating manner. This is halted by an anguished cry consisting of the overtone series of the note C piled up in an enormous tutti. Unison strings lead to an expressive motif that will become the subject of a series of developments while accelerating. A more tranquil episode is heard in the winds, followed by an abridged return of the opening march material. A final transformation in the brass leads to the coda, where the anguished cry is amplified.
IV. Liberty (The hope for liberation): Thousands of copies of Paul Éluard’s poem “Liberté” were dropped over Occupied France by RAF planes during 1942. The poem expresses the desire to write the word “liberté” in every way possible at every stage of life. This incantatory poem, a hymn to all periods of a person’s life, still has universal reverberations today.
Musically, each stanza is treated in the manner of a short dramatic scene. The orchestral colour and vocal treatment vary from stanza to stanza. The last line of each stanza, “J’écris ton nom” (I write your name), serves as a recurring motif.
The first main section comprises the stanzas concerning recollections from childhood: “cahiers d’écoliers” (schoolboys’ copybooks); “images dorées” (gilded images)—and communion with nature—“chaque bouffée d’aurore” (every whiff of daybreak); “sueurs de l’orage” (labour of storms).
The second, more intimate section opens with the a cappella choir evoking, first, the gentleness of night—“Sur la lampe qui s’allume” (On the lamp that kindles); next, tenderness, sensuality—“toute chair accordée” (all accordant flesh)—and hope. Then the tone becomes discouraging, with “refuges détruits” (ruined shelters) and “marches de la mort” (steps of death).
In the powerful final section, “Sur la santé revenue… par le pouvoir d’un mot” (On health returned … by the power of a word), the word “liberté” surges forth like a victory march.
Program note by Claude Ricignuolo; translated by Craig Schweikert
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.
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).
Since starting his piano studies at age five, Kevin Chen has been recognized for his achievements from his earliest years in the musical world, placing first in the Canadian Music Competition when he was eight. Following this, he was named one of the CBC’s “Top 30 Hot Canadian Classical Musicians under 30” and one of “100 Remarkable Canadians” in Maclean’s magazine while Kevin was still less than ten years old.
Now 18, his consecutive first-place wins in distinguished international competitions have earned him widespread acclaim, including first prize in the Arthur Rubinstein Piano Master Competition in Tel Aviv, Israel (March 2023); first prize in the Concours de Genève (November 2022); first prize in the Franz Liszt International Piano Competition in Budapest, Hungary (September 2021); first prize in the Hilton Head International Piano Competition in Hilton Head, U.S.A. (March 2020); and first prize in the International Piano-e-Competition in Minneapolis, U.S.A. (July 2019).
In addition to his thoroughly well-received performances in some of the world’s most renowned concert halls, including New York’s Carnegie Hall, London’s St. John’s Smith Square, and Taipei’s National Concert Hall, Kevin has also been invited to perform in many prestigious festivals, such as the Festival International de Piano de la Roque d’Anthéron, the International Chopin Festival in Duszniki-Zdrój, the Chopin and his Europe Festival in Warsaw, and the Oxford Piano Festival.
Kevin has been performing regularly with orchestras since his debut with the Abbotsford Youth Orchestra at the age of seven. These include the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Hungarian National Orchestra, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Taipei Symphony Orchestra, among others.
As of October 2023, Kevin currently studies at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover with Professor Arie Vardi. He previously studied privately in Calgary with Professor Marilyn Engle and Colleen Athparia.
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.
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Founded in 1902, the Orchestre symphonique de Québec (OSQ) is Canada’s oldest symphony orchestra. A key player in the provincial capital’s music scene, it has always been closely linked to the city’s history. Among other events, it participated in the celebrations of Quebec City’s tercentenary in 1908, the Sommet de la francophonie in 1987, and the 400th anniversary of Quebec City in 2008, when the Orchestra performed Mahler’s monumental Symphony of a Thousand. It also shared the stage with Plácido Domingo before an audience of 100,000, a highlight in its history.
In addition to the major works of the symphonic repertoire, the OSQ performs many works by composers from Quebec, Canada, and abroad.
A leader in arts education and outreach, it contributes to the popularization of symphonic music through innovative projects such as the Zoo musical and the digital educational platform La galerie symphonique. Music education has been a key component of the Orchestra’s mission since 1936, and its Matinées symphoniques and Concerts famille enable young people to discover classical music, both in schools and at public performances. The OSQ also supports the next generation of musicians through its association with the Conservatoire de musique de Québec and the Laval University Faculty of Music.
Under the direction of renowned conductors, the OSQ has won numerous awards and produced 26 albums, several of which have won awards. The Orchestra continues to enrich Quebec’s cultural life with a broad and diverse program. Clemens Schuldt is the OSQ’s 12th music director.
Founded in 1894 by Augustus Vogt, the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir is proud to be one of Canada’s oldest, largest, and most recognized choral ensembles, renowned for over 125 years for delivering the highest standard of musical performance.
Grand symphonic sound that can only be achieved by a large choir has been the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir’s trademark. Performing both sacred and secular repertoire, TMChoir choristers have long been committed to offering audiences a profound emotional experience of some of the most powerful music ever composed.
The TMChoir is a Juno winner, and Grammy-nominated.
Internationally recognized conductor, scholar, and pedagogue Jean-Sébastien Vallée was named as the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir’s eighth Artistic Director in June 2021. In addition to his work as Artistic Director of the Choir, Jean-Sébastien is Associate Professor of Music, Director of Choral Studies, and Coordinator of the Ensembles & Conducting Area at the Schulich School of Music of McGill University.
Jean-Sébastien has conducted ensembles throughout North America, Europe, and Asia and has prepared choruses for leading orchestras including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, and the National Arts Centre Orchestra. In addition to his interest in choral, operatic, and orchestral music, Jean-Sébastien is an advocate for contemporary music, making it a priority to premiere and commission works by young composers, and to program rarely performed repertoire. He has recorded extensively under the ATMA Classique label.
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.
Credits
NAC Orchestra
First Violins
Yosuke Kawasaki (concertmaster)
Jessica Linnebach (associate concertmaster)
Noémi Racine Gaudreault (assistant concertmaster)
Emily Kruspe
Marjolaine Lambert
Emily Westell
Manuela Milani
Carissa Klopoushak
Second Violins
*John Marcus (guest principal)
Jeremy Mastrangelo
Frédéric Moisan
Leah Roseman
Zhengdong Liang
Edvard Skerjanc
Mark Friedman
**Karoly Sziladi
**Winston Webber
Violas
Jethro Marks (principal)
David Marks (associate principal)
David Goldblatt (assistant principal)
Paul Casey
Tovin Allers
David Thies-Thompson
Cellos
Rachel Mercer (principal)
Julia MacLaine (assistant principal)
Leah Wyber
Marc-André Riberdy
Timothy McCoy
Double Basses
Max Cardilli (assistant principal)
Vincent Gendron
Marjolaine Fournier
Flutes
Joanna G’froerer (principal)
Stephanie Morin
Oboes
Charles Hamann (principal)
Anna Petersen
English Horn
Anna Petersen
Clarinets
Kimball Sykes (principal)
Sean Rice
Bassoons
Darren Hicks (principal)
Vincent Parizeau
Horns
Julie Fauteux (associate principal)
Lawrence Vine
Lauren Anker
Louis-Pierre Bergeron
Trumpets
**Karen Donnelly (principal)
Steven van Gulik
*Alexandre Jolly
Trombones
Colin Traquair
Bass Trombone
Zachary Bond
Tuba
Chris Lee (principal)
Percussion
Jonathan Wade
*Andrew Johnson
Principal Librarian
Nancy Elbeck
Assistant Librarian
Corey Rempel
Personnel Manager
Meiko Lydall
Orchestra Personnel Coordinator
Laurie Shannon
*Additional musicians
**On leave
Orchestre symphonique de Québec
First Violins
Catherine Dallaire (concertmaster)
Julie Tanguay (associate concertmaster)
Caroline Béchard (assistant concertmaster)
France Vermette
Simon Boivin
Ethan Balakrishnan
Élise Caron
Michiko Nagashima
Mireille St-Arnauld
Second Violins
Pierre Bégin (principal)
Anne-Sophie Paquet, (assistant)
Inti Manzi
Justin Li
Mélanie Charlebois
Zhixin Ouyang
Estel Bilodeau
France Marcotte
Violas
Lambert Chen (principal)
Frank Perron (assistant)
Claudine Giguère
Mary-Kathryn Stevens
Sébastien Grall
Étienne Chénard
**Véronique Vanier
*Brenna Hardy-Kavanagh
Cellos
Blair Lofgren (principal)
Ryan Molzan (assistant)
Carmen Bruno
Jean-Christophe Guelpa
Diliana Momtchilova
Marie Bergeron
**Susanne Villeneuve
Double Basses
Jean Michon (principal)
Jeanne Corpataux-Blache (assistant)
Graham Kolle
Ian Simpson
Flutes
**Jacinthe Forand (principal)
Geneviève Savoie (second flute and piccolo)
Oboes
Philippe Magnan (principal)
Hélène Déry (second oboe and English horn)
Clarinets
Stéphane Fontaine (principal)
Marie-Julie Chagnon (second clarinet and bass clarinet)
Bassoons
Marlène Ngalissamy (principal)
Mélanie Forget (second bassoon and contrabassoon)
Horns
Mikhailo Babiak (principal)
**Marjolaine Goulet
Lorenzo Robb
Anne-Marie Larose
Trumpets
Andre Dubelsten (principal)
Trent Sanheim
Trombones
Nick Mahon (principal)
Vladislav Kalinichenko
Scott Robinson (principal bass trombone)
Tuba
Zachariah Dietenberger (principal)
Timpani
Marc-André Lalonde (principal)
Percussion
Bryn Lutek (principal)
*Jean-Luc Bouchard
Harp
Isabelle Fortier (principal)
Orchestra Personnel Manager
Tristan Lemieux
Orchestra Personnel Coordinator
Mélanie Charlebois
Production Manager
Alexandre de Grandpré
Artistic Administration Director
Joël Brouillette
Artistic Administration Coordinator and Assistant to the Music Director
Isabelle Lépine
Assistant Conductor
Marie-Claire Cardinal
*Additional musicians
** On leave
Toronto Mendelssohn Choir
Soprano 1
Catherine Alberti
Tia Andriani
Ann-Marie Barrett-Tandy
Leslie Bradshaw
Ada Chan
Amy Chen
Laureen Choi
Maria Farrier
Leslie Finlay
Marina Galeano
Rebecca Genge
Alice Liu
Claire Luc
Emily Parker
Olha Movsessian
Hannah Silverberg
Jaclyn Siou
Chong Tan
Sinéad White
Sophya Yumakulov
Soprano 2
Jocelyn Belfer
Lesley Bouza
Louise Boyden
Marlo Burks
Rayna Crandlemire
Kim Finkelstein
Alison Haines
Gabrysia Kowalik
Alysha Ladha
Jocelyne Lussier
Lindsay McIntyre
Michele Pearson
Ariane Prescott
Michelle Prunier
Mary Ridgley
Sylvia Romanowska
Heather Rowe
Alto 1
Julia Barber
Adrienne Eastwood
Claudia Lemcke
Gillian Grant
Simon Honeyman
Heather McGrath
Annie Odom
Parnian Parvin
Jan Szot
Jennifer Ujimoto
Tarquin Wongkee
Virginia Wright
Ashley Wu
Alto 2
Jane Agosta
Marlo Alcock
Renee Ardiente
Rebecca Claborn
Kristin Crawford
Ryan McDonald
Bethany Jo Mikelait
Susan Mumford
Kiley Venables
Patti Vipond
Susan Worthington
Jessica Wright
Tenor 1
Mitch Aldrich
Omar Flores
Nick Gough
Alejandro Guerrero
Charles Im
Clement Kam
Daniel Meeks
Nicholas Nicolaidis
Tenor 2
Samuel Broverman
Tom Bishop
Michael Clipperton
Peter DeRoche
Ryan Valdés-Doyle
John Gladwell
Nathan Gritter
Lucas Jin
Ben Keast
Eric Lee
Timothy McPhail
Neil Payne
David Serber
Terrence Tsang
Bass 1
Jeffrey Baker
David Chan
Steven Foster
Paul Genyk-Berezowsky
Michael Harrison
Timothy Khoo
John Lemke
Matt Lozinski
Joseph McGowan
Magnus Mee
David Peer
Graham Robinson
Albert Wong
David Yung
Bruce Yungblut
Bass 2
Neil Aronoff
Yoosik Choi
Peter Eratostene
Kieran Kane
Frederick Mei
David Powell
Milovan Prelevic
Michael Qin
Jordan Scholl
Gavriel Rhys Swayze
Karl Tomczak
Sean van Wyk
Jonah Wall
Isaiah Yankech