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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Alexander Shelley succeeded Pinchas Zukerman as Music Director of Canada’s NAC Orchestra in September 2015. The ensemble has since been praised as being “transformed, hungry, bold, and unleashed” (Ottawa Citizen) and Shelley’s programming credited for turning the Orchestra into “one of the more audacious in North America” (Maclean’s).
Shelley is a champion of Canadian creation. Recent hallmarks include multimedia projects Life Reflected and UNDISRUPTED and three major new ballets in partnership with NAC Dance for Encount3rs. He is passionate about arts education and nurturing the next generation of musicians. He is an Ambassador for Ottawa’s OrKidstra, a charitable social development program that teaches children life skills through making music together.
In April 2022, Alexander Shelley made his debut at Carnegie Hall with the NAC Orchestra in its long-awaited return, and in the spring of 2019, he led the Orchestra on its critically acclaimed 50th-anniversary European tour, with stops in London, Paris, Copenhagen, and Stockholm.
Shelley is also the Principal Associate Conductor of London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and, starting with the 2024–2025 season, the Music Director of Artis-Naples and the Naples Philharmonic in Florida, USA. Previous releases with the NAC Orchestra include the Juno-nominated New Worlds, Life Reflected, ENCOUNT3RS, The Bounds of Our Dreams, the acclaimed multi-volume Clara - Robert - Johannes series, all with Canadian label Analekta, as well as Truth in Our Time with Orange Mountain Music.
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.
Since its debut in 1969, the National Arts Centre (NAC) Orchestra has been praised for the passion and clarity of its performances, its visionary educational programs, and its prominent role in nurturing Canadian creativity. Under the leadership of Music Director Alexander Shelley, the NAC Orchestra reflects the fabric and values of Canada, reaching and representing the diverse communities we live in with daring programming, powerful storytelling, inspiring artistry, and innovative partnerships.
Alexander Shelley began his tenure as Music Director in 2015, following Pinchas Zukerman’s 16 seasons at the helm. Principal Associate Conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and former Chief Conductor of the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra (2009–2017), he has been in demand around the world, conducting the Rotterdam Philharmonic, DSO Berlin, Leipzig Gewandhaus, and Stockholm Philharmonic, among others, and maintains a regular relationship with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie and the German National Youth Orchestra.
Each season, the NAC Orchestra features world-class artists such as the newly appointed Artist-in-Residence James Ehnes, Angela Hewitt, Joshua Bell, Xian Zhang, Gabriela Montero, Stewart Goodyear, Jan Lisiecki, and Principal Guest Conductor John Storgårds. 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.
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The Orchestre symphonique de Québec, founded by Joseph Vézina in 1902, is the oldest orchestra in Canada and has a history that has closely paralleled that of Québec City. The Orchestra participates in a host of national and international events and produces major pieces from the symphonic repertoire, as well as pieces by Quebec, Canadian, and foreign composers. Over the years, the Orchestra has received numerous awards and accolades. The Orchestre symphonique de Québec leverages its position as a leader in education and community outreach to democratize orchestral music through innovative projects such as the Zoo musical®, the Symphonic Gallery digital education platform, Les Matinées symphoniques for elementary schools, and Notes à repetition for high schools. The Orchestra is known for its collaborations with the Conservatoire de musique de Québec and Université Laval’s faculty of music.
Clemens Schuldt was recently appointed Music Director of the Orchestre symphonique de Québec, a position he commenced from 2023–2024 season. Hailed by the press as one of the most exciting conductors emerging from Germany today, he is widely praised for his innovative interpretations and his deep understanding of music. His knowledge, particularly about the classical and romantic repertoire, as well as his creativity to include lesser-known and contemporary works in his programs are widely acclaimed.
Clemens Schuldt opened the 2023–2024 season with a tour of Germany and Eastern Europe with the German Bundesjugendorchester and Martynas Levickis. He returned to the Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música, where he conducted the season opening concert. In addition to symphonic works, Clemens Schuldt devotes himself intensively to opera. Last season he also conducted a highly praised new production of Mozart’s Mitridate, re di Ponto together with The English Concert at Garsington Opera. At Staatstheater Karlsruhe, he led the revival of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte.
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