Donor event | Marvellous Mozart | National Arts Centre

National Arts Centre - Centre national des Arts Canada is our stage. Le Canada en scène.

NAC Orchestra

Wed, February 26, 2020

10:00 AM

Southam Hall 1 Elgin Street Ottawa Canada

1-georgeli-pianist5-photocreditsimonfowler — George Li © Simon Fowler

2-xian-zhang-15x15-c-b-ealovega — Xian Zhang © B. Ealovega

Music Classical music Masterworks Piano

Qigang Chen L’éloignement
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WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major
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WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART Symphony No. 41 in C major, “Jupiter”

≈ 2 hours · With intermission

In recognition and thanks for invaluable donor support, the NAC Orchestra and NAC Dance grants insider access to donors to audit a working rehearsal in Southam Hall. Often, an artist or member of the artistic team gives insights into the creative process and invites questions from donors. Seating is limited.

Qigang Chen is a musical chameleon whose compositions are filled with echoes of his youth in China, alongside vivid textures inspired by later life in France. His incandescent composition for string orchestra, L’éloignement, is filled with beautiful expressions of traditional Chinese folk music, suggesting the loneliness of his years in confinement for “ideological reeducation” during China’s Cultural Revolution.

Prepare for fireworks when guest soloist George Li performs Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23, one of the composer’s most passionate and expressive works, and one of his first concerti to include a relatively new instrument called the “clarinet.” Praised by The Washington Post for his “staggering technical prowess” and “sense of depth and command,” George Li exudes an effortless grace and maturity at the piano far beyond his years.

Mozart’s Symphony No. 41 was his last and longest, and evidence that his prowess as a composer never waned. Nicknamed for the majestic passages that conjure the thunderbolts of Roman god Jupiter, Symphony No. 41 is filled with pure and fiery passion that rightly places it among the greatest symphonies of all time.

Guest conductor Xian Zhang makes her welcome return to the podium of Southam Hall to lead the NAC Orchestra in this blending of great musical minds.

Learn more in the program notes ›

Performance is approximately 2 hours including intermission

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Artists

Conductor Xian Zhang
Conductor Xian Zhang

Xian Zhang is currently in her sixth season as Music Director of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. Since taking up this position, she has commissioned works from such composers as Thomas Adès, Daniel Bernard Roumain, Qigang Chen, Christopher Rouse, Vivian Li, Gary Morgan, Christian McBride, and Paquito D’Rivera. She is responsible for introducing an annual Lunar New Year Celebration concert to the orchestra and will remain at the helm of the orchestra through and beyond their 100th anniversary in 2022.

The acclaim she has been receiving for her work in New Jersey has resulted in a strong North American career, with upcoming engagements which include returns to San Francisco Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia, Detroit New World, Minnesota, Montreal, NAC Ottawa, and Toronto Symphony orchestras. Lauded by Steven Smith in The New York Times as a “virtual-concert jet-setter”, she has been championing works by Nokuthula Ngwenyama, Tyshawn Sorey, and William Grant Still.

Xian Zhang holds the positions of Principal Guest Conductor of Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Conductor Emeritus of Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, following a hugely successful period from 2009–2016 as Music Director. She has previously served as Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC National Orchestra & Chorus of Wales and was the first female conductor to hold a titled role with a BBC orchestra.  In 2002, she won first prize in the Maazel-Vilar Conductor's Competition. She was appointed New York Philharmonic’s Assistant Conductor in 2002, subsequently becoming their Associate Conductor and the first holder of the Arturo Toscanini Chair. 

Xian Zhang en est à sa sixième saison en tant que directrice musicale de l’Orchestre symphonique du New Jersey. Depuis son entrée en piste, elle a commandé des pièces de compositeurs comme Thomas Adès, Daniel Bernard Roumain, Qigang Chen, Christopher Rouse, Vivian Li, Gary Morgan, Christian McBride et Paquito D’Rivera. On lui doit d’ailleurs la création d’un concert annuel de célébration du Nouvel An lunaire pour cet orchestre. Elle sera toujours à la tête de l’orchestre lorsque celui-ci fêtera son 100^e anniversaire en 2022, et par la suite.

La réputation que lui a value son travail au New Jersey lui a permis de bâtir une grande carrière en Amérique du Nord. Elle fera d’ailleurs un retour au sein de l’Orchestre symphonique de San Francisco, de l’Orchestre philharmonique de Los Angeles, de l’Orchestre de Philadelphie, de Detroit New World, de l’Orchestre du Minnesota, de l’Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, de l’Orchestre du CNA à Ottawa et de l’Orchestre symphonique de Toronto. Couverte d’éloges par Steven Smith dans le New York Times, qui la décrit comme étant une « jet-setter des concerts virtuels », elle met de l’avant les œuvres de Nokuthula Ngwenyama, Tyshawn Sorey et William Grant Still.

Xian Zhang occupe les postes de première chef invitée de l’Orchestre symphonique de Melbourne et de chef émérite de l’Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, après un mandat couronné de succès en tant que directrice musicale de 2009 à 2016. Elle a également été première chef invitée de l’Orchestre national de la BBC et du Chœur du pays de Galles, et la première femme chef d’orchestre à détenir un titre dans un orchestre de la BBC. En 2002, elle a remporté le premier prix au Concours de chefs d’orchestre Maazel-Vilar. Elle est devenue chef adjointe de l’Orchestre philharmonique de New York la même année, avant d’être nommée chef associée et de devenir la première titulaire de la Chaire Arturo Toscanini.
NAC media featuring Xian Zhang
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piano George Li

piano George Li

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Featuring National Arts Centre Orchestra
Featuring National Arts Centre Orchestra

Since its debut in 1969, the National Arts Centre 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 Orchestra performs a full series of subscription concerts at the National Arts Centre each season, featuring world-class artists such as James Ehnes, Angela Hewitt, Joshua Bell, Xian Zhang, Gabriela Montero, Stewart Goodyear, Jan Lisiecki, and Principal Guest Conductor John Storgårds.

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.

National and international tours have been a hallmark of the National Arts Centre Orchestra from the very beginning. The Orchestra has toured 95 times since its inauguration in 1969, visiting 120 cities in Canada, as well as 20 countries and 138 cities internationally. In recent years, the orchestra has undertaken performance and education tours across Canada, as well as the U.K. and China. In 2019, the Orchestra marked its 50th anniversary with a seven-city European tour that included performances and education events in England, France, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden, and that showcased the work of six Canadian composers.

The NAC Orchestra has recorded many of the more than 80 new works commissioned since its inception, for radio and on over 40 commercial recordings. These include Angela Hewitt’s 2015 JUNO Award-winning album of Mozart Piano Concertos; the groundbreaking Life Reflected, which includes My Name is Amanda Todd by Jocelyn Morlock, winner of the 2018 JUNO for Classical Composition of the Year; and from the 2019 JUNO nominated New Worlds, Ana Sokolović’s Golden Slumbers Kiss Your Eyes, 2019 JUNO Winner for Classical Composition of the Year.

The NAC Orchestra reaches a national and international audience through touring, recordings, and extensive educational outreach. The Orchestra performed on Parliament Hill for the 2019 Canada Day noon concert in a live broadcast for CBC Television.

Depuis sa création en 1969, l’Orchestre du CNA reçoit des éloges pour la passion et la clarté de ses interprétations, pour ses programmes éducatifs novateurs et pour son apport à l’expression de la créativité canadienne. Sous la direction du Directeur musical Alexander Shelley, l’ensemble propose chaque saison une série complète de concerts d’abonnement au Centre national des Arts qui mettent en vedette des artistes de réputation internationale, tels James Ehnes, Angela Hewitt, Joshua Bell, Xian Zhang, Gabriela Montero, Stewart Goodyear, Jan Lisiecki et le premier chef invité John Storgårds.

Alexander Shelley a amorcé son mandat à la direction musicale de l’Orchestre du CNA en 2015, succédant à Pinchas Zukerman, qui a été aux commandes de l’ensemble pendant 16 saisons. Premier chef associé du Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Shelley a été le premier chef de l’Orchestre symphonique de Nuremberg de 2009 à 2017. Demandé partout dans le monde, il a dirigé entre autres la Philharmonie de Rotterdam, DSO Berlin, le Leipzig Gewandhaus et la Philharmonie de Stockholm, et il maintient des liens avec la Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie et l’Orchestre national des jeunes d’Allemagne.

Les tournées nationales et internationales sont depuis toujours une caractéristique distinctive de l’Orchestre du CNA. L’ensemble a fait 95 tournées depuis sa création, ce qui comprend des arrêts dans 120 villes canadiennes, 20 pays et 138 villes du monde. Au cours des dernières années, l’Orchestre a effectué des tournées de concerts et d’activités éducatives au Canada, au Royaume-Uni et en Chine. En 2019, il a célébré son 50e anniversaire par une tournée européenne de sept villes en Angleterre, en France, aux Pays-Bas, au Danemark et en Suède, où il a mis en valeur le travail de six compositeurs canadiens et offert une série de concerts et d’activités éducatives.

Depuis son inauguration, l’Orchestre du CNA a commandé plus de 80 nouvelles œuvres, la plupart à des compositeurs canadiens. L’Orchestre a enregistré pour la radio plusieurs de ses 80 œuvres de commande, et en a diffusé plus d’une quarantaine à des fins commerciales. Parmi celles-ci, citons le disque des concertos pour piano de Mozart enregistré avec Angela Hewitt et primé aux JUNO en 2015, l’œuvre révolutionnaire Réflexions sur la vie, qui comprend la pièce My Name is Amanda Todd de Jocelyn Morlock, couronnée Composition classique de l’année aux JUNO 2018, et l’album finaliste aux JUNO 2019 Nouveaux Mondes, sur lequel paraît Golden Slumbers Kiss Your Eyes… d’Ana Sokolović, lauréate du JUNO de la Composition classique de l’année (2019).Son concert-midi sur la Colline du Parlement pour la fête du Canada l’an dernier a été diffusé en direct sur les ondes de CBC.
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composer, L’Éloignement Qigang Chen

composer, L’Éloignement Qigang Chen

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