An Exchange of Musical Ideas

When an orchestra goes on tour, the music is the first priority – selecting repertoire, shipping the instruments, tuning in a new space. But that music very quickly evolves into friendships, in an exchange of music. Between October 26 and November 4, the National Arts Centre Orchestra will…

Political Pawn. Teenage Queen. Lover. Victim. Marie Antoinette.

Villain or victim? Haughty free-spending queen or impetuous naive girl? In his full-length ballet Marie -- an ambitious storytelling extravaganza -- Houston Ballet Artistic Director Stanton Welch offers a new perspective on the controversial and always fascinating life of Marie Antoinette.…

Meet Gil Garratt of the NAC English Theatre Company

Reconnecting with the North

The first performance of the NAC Orchestra's Northern Tour will take place at at the Nakasuk Schook in Nunavut. However, this is not the first time the National Arts Centre has visited Nunavut. For the past three years through The Music Alive Program: Nunavut NAC teaching musicians have…

The Little Prince

"One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes." --Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince   What is your favourite part of The Little Prince? Is it that little flower whose constant demands confound the Little Prince and his love for her? Is it…

Hong Kong Orchestra Reaches out to Canada

First Canadian tour of one of Hong Kong’s flagship professional orchestras I first heard about the Hong Kong Sinfonietta from NAC Orchestra Music Director Pinchas Zukerman.  He had high praise for their artistry and talked fondly about making music with them, so far away, in Hong Kong. …

Ode to Duain Wolfe

Duain Wolfe is the Grammy Award-winning director of the Chicago Symphony Chorus. Over the past several years, whenever a massed choir is called for in an NAC Orchestra concert, Duain flies in and works the singers to the point of exhaustion. And we choristers love him for it.  On Saturday…

Donor Profile: Dr. Kanta Marwah

The event happened many years ago but Dr. Kanta Marwah has never forgotten it.  The distinguished research professor and professor emeritus of economics had recently arrived in Ottawa to join the faculty at Carleton University.  She chose to spend this particular New Year’s Eve celebrating…

From Beethoven to Elgar with Pinchas Zukerman

Maestro Zukerman will perform Elgar's Violin Concerto Tuesday night, as the NAC Orchestra’s Beethoven Festival continues. What a treat this performance will be for all in attendance; Pinchas is known for his interpretation of the Elgar concerto internationally. In music journalist…

2012-2013 NAC Dance Season Kicks off With Crystal

The story of Shakespeare’s The  Tempest was retold last night to a captivated audience attending the season premiere of the NAC Dance season, launched with a Canadian premiere of Crystal Pite-Kidd Pivot’s The Tempest Replica. It is hard to believe that with only seven cast members and a…

Reflection by Conrad Tao

"Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 was the first Beethoven concerto that I performed with an orchestra, and thus the work holds a very special place in my heart. From its perfectly constructed, succinct, Mozart K. 491-echoing opening theme — dare we call it a hook? — to its…

Without you…

Culture Days

Everyone knows that any good performance hall worth its salt is haunted by ghosts. The NAC is no different. If you roam backstage, (and you're really, really quiet) you might hear an otherwordly voice reciting a line from Shakespeare's King Lear, or Michel Tremblay's Les Belles-soeurs. Or…

Reflection by Angela Cheng

"The Emperor was written at the height of Beethoven’s middle period, and its innovations are groundbreaking and revolutionary. Instead of opening with an orchestral exposition, he begins with a cadenza where the piano immediately announces an equal partnership between soloist and orchestra.…

Shining the spotlight on Canadian contemporary music