OTTAWA (Canada) –Sink your teeth into some fierce music on Saturday November 21 at 10:00 p.m., when members of the NAC Orchestra perform chamber music with a wild side for an unforgettable night at Mercury Lounge in the Byward Market.

WolfGANG Session No. 4, the first of the season, is again co-presented with our friends at the Mercury Lounge, in partnership with the Arboretum Festival.  It will combine a mix of contemporary and indie classical music with lively collaborations between NAC Orchestra musicians and Mercury Lounge’s resident DJ and video projection artist.  Together, this lively combination will push classical music out of its comfort zone awakening Ottawa’s music scene. 

The repertoire will include an enticing array of works by composers Philip Glass, Analia Llugdar, Johannes Maria Staud and Bryce Dessner. The mood of the evening is casual and attendees are encouraged to share the experience on social media by using the hashtag #WolfGANGSessions. 

The NAC Orchestra musicians performing at WolfGANG Sessions appreciate good music, and like most, they enjoy music from all genres. "I don't know of many classical musicians who don't listen to and love other types of music equally" says violinist Carissa Klopoushak.

The evening will come to a close with Bryce Dessner’s colourful Ahyem for string quartet. Dessner is a Brooklyn-based composer, guitarist, and curator who audiences may recognize as a member of the Grammy Award-nominated band “The National.” Ahyem means “homeward” in Yiddish, and Dessner composed the work for the Kronos Quartet. The piece is a tribute to Dessner’s paternal grandmother who immigrated to New York from Poland during the Russian Revolution.  With its vivid ferocity and sudden violent accents, he masterfully captures the experience of her harrowing journey.

In a recent interview with Clarinetist Sean Rice, Dessner discussed these influences, “…my piece sort of evokes that kind of intense feeling of travel and moving from one place to another. But also, I think musically it relates a little bit to the music of Eastern Europe. You know, I love the music of Bartók and composers like Ligeti or the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, so it has a bit of that feeling to it.”

The talented NAC Orchestra musicians performing on this exciting concert are Jessica Linnebach (violin), Carissa Klopoushak (violin), David Marks  (viola), Julia MacLaine (cello), Thaddeus Morden  (cello) and Sean Rice  (bass clarinet).

Doors open at 9:00 p.m. and the show kicks off at 10:00 p.m. Tickets are available online in advance for $15 dollars or at the door for $20.  Mercury Lounge is located at Located at 56 Byward Market.

Learn More: WolfGANG Sessions on YouTube

 

ABOUT THE NAC ORCHESTRA

Formed in 1969 at the opening of Canada's National Arts Centre, the NAC Orchestra gives over 100 performances a year with renowned artists including Itzhak Perlman, Renée Fleming, James Ehnes, Emanuel Ax and Yo-Yo Ma. It is noted for the passion and clarity of its performances and recordings, its ground-breaking teaching and outreach programs, and nurturing of Canadian creativity.

In September 2015 Alexander Shelley began his tenure as Music Director with the National Arts Centre’s Orchestra. Shelley has an unwavering reputation as one of Europe’s leading young conductors, notably as Chief conductor of the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra and most recently as the Principal Associate Conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Since its inception the Orchestra has commissioned 100 works, mostly from Canadian composers. In 2001 it inaugurated the National Arts Centre Awards for Canadian Composers and the recipients thus far have been Denys Bouliane, John Estacio, Peter Paul Koprowski, Gary Kulesha, Alexina Louie and Ana Sokolovic.

Previous NAC Orchestra Music Directors include Pinchas Zukerman, Mario Bernardi and Trevor Pinnock. The 2015-16 season features Principal Guest Conductor John Storgårds , Alain Trudel as Principal Youth and Family Conductor and Principal Pops Conductor Jack Everly completing the strong artistic team.

In addition to a full series of subscription concerts at the National Arts Centre each season, tours are undertaken to regions throughout Canada and around the world, most recently to China (2013) and the UK (2014). The latter commemorated the start of the First World War and explored themes of remembrance and healing through music in over 50 education and performance events. Following the footsteps of Canadian troops 100 years ago, it showcased the brilliant work of Canadian composers and the NAC Orchestra's musicians, both as performers and as educators, and received standing ovations in packed halls throughout the UK.

In 1999, Pinchas Zukerman founded the NAC Young Artists Program, part of the wider NAC Summer Music Institute, which provides elite training to talented young musicians. Students all over the world are also taught via videoconferencing in the NAC's cutting-edge Hexagon Studio. The Orchestra also created and continues to pioneer education work locally and in indigenous communities in northern Canada.

The NAC Orchestra has made over 40 commercial recordings, including Angela Hewitt’s 2014 Juno Award-winning album of Mozart Piano Concertos conducted by Hannu Lintu. Many more concerts are freely available through NACmusicbox.ca on the NAC's performing arts education website ArtsAlive.ca. These include many of the 100 new Canadian works commissioned by the NAC Orchestra in its 45 year history.

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TO BOOK AN INTERVIEW, PLEASE CONTACT:

Andrea Ruttan

Communications Officer, NAC Orchestra
National Arts Centre
(613) 947-7000, ext. 335
Andrea.Ruttan@nac-cna.ca