Student Matinee : Montero & Schumann | Jan 15, 2020

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

NAC Orchestra

Jan 15, 2020

Southam Hall 1 Elgin Street Ottawa Canada

1-gabriela-montero-credit-premiere-performances-hong-kong — Gabriela Montero © Premiere Performances Hong Kong

2-gabriela-montero-piano-credit-premiere-performances-hong-kong — Gabriela Montero © Premiere Performances Hong Kong

Music Classical music Masterworks Piano

Performance options	Start time	Language	Availability
Wednesday, January 15, 2020	10:00 am	bilingual	Seats available

Join us for an intimate evening of romance with music by German composer Emilie Mayer, and by Clara Schumann and Robert Schumann, one of history’s first and most enduring musical partnerships!

Nineteenth-century composer Emilie Mayer created musical works in a wide range of forms, resulting in a comprehensive œuvre unrivalled by other female composers of the Romantic era. Her Faust Overture conjures the idealism of Beethoven and the invention of Liszt and Mendelssohn, while remaining completely and dazzlingly her own.

We welcome Venezuela’s brilliant Gabriela Montero back to the National Arts Centre to perform Clara Schumann’s gorgeous Piano Concerto in A minor. An accomplished and famous concert pianist, Clara Schumann was by all accounts also a brilliant composer. She began work on her piano concerto at the tender age of 13, and it is rightly esteemed as one of her most impressive works. By turns airy and energetic, this piano concerto perfectly summons the feeling that defined the Romantic Period – that music could convey emotions far better than words ever would.

Robert Schumann composed his bittersweet Symphony No. 3 in 1851, just a few years before his descent into mental illness and death. This triumphant and joyful work demonstrates the creativity and imagination that transcended his struggles and made him one of the great composers of his time.

This event has passed

This event ended on: Jan 16, 2020

Adults & chaperones

1 Free adult per 15 students

Free admittance for special needs assistants

$ (HST included) for additional chaperons At the discretion of the National Arts Centre

Payment deadlines

3 weeks before the performance

Full payment is required by the payment deadline. The NAC reserves the right to cancel any orders submitted but not paid for by the payment deadline.

Seating

There are no reserved seats for NAC student matinee performances.

Instead of tickets you will receive a letter of admission and groups will be seated on a first-come, first-served basis at the performance.

The letter of admission will be issued upon receipt of full payment.

If you have any questions, please contact us at education@nac-cna.ca

Artists

Conductor Alexander Shelley
Conductor Alexander Shelley

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 the 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.

Alexander Shelley is also the Principal Associate Conductor of London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and, starting with the 2024–2025 season, Artistic and Music Director of Artis-Naples and the Naples Philharmonic in Florida, USA. In the spring of 2019, he led the NAC Orchestra on its critically acclaimed 50th Anniversary European tour, and in 2017, he led the Orchestra in a tour across Canada, celebrating Canada’s 150th anniversary. Most recently, he led the Orchestra in its first performance at New York’s Carnegie Hall in 30 years.

He has made eight recordings with the NAC Orchestra, including the JUNO-nominated New Worlds, Life Reflected, ENCOUNT3RS, The Bounds of Our Dreams, and the acclaimed Clara, Robert, Johannes four-album series, all with Canadian label Analekta.

The Music Director role is supported by Elinor Gill Ratcliffe, C.M., O.N.L., LL.D. (hc)

Alexander Shelley a reçu le titre de directeur musical de l’Orchestre du CNA en septembre 2015. Depuis, l’ensemble a été qualifié de « transformé », « passionné », « ambitieux » et « déchaîné » (Ottawa Citizen), et classé parmi les plus audacieux en Amérique du Nord (magazine Maclean’s) pour sa programmation.

Champion de la création au Canada, Shelley a signé récemment le projet multimédia Réflexions sur la vie, INCONDITIONNEL et RENCONTR3S, une collaboration avec Danse CNA comportant trois nouveaux ballets d’envergure.

Shelley s’attache à cultiver les talents de la relève : il est notamment un ambassadeur d’OrKidstra, un programme de développement social qui, à travers la musique, aide les jeunes d’Ottawa à acquérir des compétences essentielles.

Alexander Shelley est également premier chef d’orchestre associé du Royal Philharmonic Orchestra de Londres, et, à partir de la saison 2024-2025, directeur artistique et musical d’Artis-Naples et de l’Orchestre philharmonique de Naples en Floride (États-Unis). Il a dirigé l’Orchestre du CNA au printemps 2019 à l’occasion d’une tournée européenne très applaudie soulignant le 50^e anniversaire de l’ensemble et, en 2017, dans le cadre d’une tournée aux quatre coins du Canada pour célébrer le 150^e anniversaire du pays. Plus récemment, l’Orchestre a donné, sous sa baguette, son premier concert en 30 ans au Carnegie Hall de New York.

Shelley a fait paraître huit enregistrements avec l’Orchestre du CNA, dont Nouveaux Mondes (finaliste aux prix JUNO), Réflexions sur la vie, RENCONTR3S, Aux frontières de nos rêves, ainsi que la série louangée par la critique de quatre albums Clara, Robert, Johannes, tous parus sous l'étiquette canadienne Analekta.

Le poste de directeur musical bénéficie du soutien d’Elinor Gill Ratcliffe, C.M., O.N.L., LL.D.  (hc).
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Piano Gabriela Montero
Piano Gabriela Montero

Gabriela Montero’s visionary interpretations and unique compositional gifts have garnered her critical acclaim and a devoted following on the world stage. Anthony Tommasini remarked in The New York Times that “Montero’s playing had everything: crackling rhythmic brio, subtle shadings, steely power…soulful lyricism…unsentimental expressivity.”

Recipient of the prestigious 2018 Heidelberger Frühling Music Prize, Montero’s recent and forthcoming highlights include debuts with the New World Symphony (Michael Tilson Thomas), Yomiuri Nippon Symphony in Tokyo (Aziz Shokhakimov), Orquesta de Valencia (Pablo Heras-Casado), and the Bournemouth Symphony (Carlos Miguel Prieto), the latter of which featured her as Artist-in-Residence for the 2019–20 season. She made her debut with the NAC Orchestra in 2016.

A graduate and Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music in London, Montero is also a frequent recitalist and chamber musician, having given concerts at such distinguished venues as the Wigmore Hall, Kennedy Center, Vienna Konzerthaus, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, and the Leipzig Gewandhaus.

Montero is also an award-winning and bestselling recording artist. Her most recent album, released in autumn 2019 on the Orchid Classics label, features her own “Latin” Concerto and Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major, recorded with the Orchestra of the Americas in Frutillar, Chile.

Born in Venezuela, Montero made her concerto debut at age eight in her hometown of Caracas. She is a committed advocate for human rights, whose voice regularly reaches beyond the concert hall. She was named an Honorary Consul by Amnesty International in 2015, and recognized with Outstanding Work in the Field of Human Rights by the Human Rights Foundation for her ongoing commitment to human rights advocacy in Venezuela.

Les interprétations visionnaires et les talents de compositrice exceptionnels de Gabriela Montero lui ont valu les éloges de la critique et un public dévoué sur la scène internationale. Anthony Tommasini écrivait dans le New York Times que « son interprétation a tout ce qu’il faut : une rythmique grésillante et grandiose, des nuances subtiles, une puissance d’acier… un lyrisme émouvant… une expressivité sans fard. »

Parmi les engagements récents et à venir de Montero, qui a remporté le prestigieux prix 2018 du Festival de musique d’Heidelberg, notons : des débuts avec les orchestres symphoniques New World (Michael Tilson Thomas) et Yomiuri du Japon (Aziz Shokhakimov), l’Orchestre de Valence (Pablo Heras-Casado), ainsi que l’Orchestre symphonique de Bournemouth (Carlos Miguel Prieto), où elle a été artiste en résidence pendant la saison 2019-2020. Elle a fait ses débuts avec l’Orchestre du CNA en 2016.

Diplômée et compositrice associée de la Royal Academy of Music à Londres, récitaliste et musicienne de chambre, elle a donné des concerts dans les hauts lieux : le Wigmore Hall, le Kennedy Center, le Vienna Konzerthaus, l’Amsterdam Concertgebouw et le Leipzig Gewandhaus.

Montero a également enregistré des albums primés parmi les plus vendus. Sa dernière parution, lancée à l’automne 2019 sur étiquette Orchid Classics, est d’ailleurs son propre Concerto pour piano n˚ 1 (le concerto « Latin ») et le Concerto pour piano en sol majeur de Ravel, enregistré en compagnie de l’Orchestre des Amériques à Frutillar, au Chili.

Née au Venezuela, l’artiste a donné son premier concerto à l’âge de huit ans dans sa ville natale : Caracas. Elle est une grande défenseuse des droits de la personne dont la voix s’élève bien au-delà des salles de concert. Elle a été nommée consule honoraire par Amnistie internationale en 2015. La Human Rights Foundation a également reconnu son travail extraordinaire dans le domaine des droits de la personne pour ses actions militantes au Venezuela.
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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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Learning and engagement at Canada’s National Arts Centre is made possible through the support of many generous individuals and organizations from across the country. Arts Alive is generously supported by the Azrieli Foundation, the Government of Nunavut, Canadian North, Calm Air, The River Philip Foundation, The Turnbull Family Community Building Foundation, and The Thomas Sill Foundation. Thank you also to Grant and Alice Burton, Canada Life, A Donor-Advised Fund at the Community Foundation of Ottawa, Friends of the NAC Orchestra, Donors to the NAC Foundation's Future Fund, The Janice and Earle O’Born Fund for Artistic Excellence, and the donors and sponsors of the NAC’s National Youth and Education Trust, the primary resource for youth and education funding at the National Arts Centre.

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