2nd Annual “My First NAC” Showcase Concert Features Canada’s Star Musicians of Tomorrow

When Canadian music students come to the NAC to participate in programs like the “Manhattan on the Rideau” jazz broadband masterclasses or the Summer Music Institute, they don't expect to get called back, months or even years later, to be awarded a $1,000 prize and perform as part of a showcase concert, produced by the same incredible team who puts together the NAC's biannual “Scene” festivals.

But that’s just what happened to the 8 talented young musicians you’ll hear in the 2nd annual “My First NAC” Showcase concert, presented by Astral Radio. The concert takes place in the NAC Studio on May 29 at 7:30 p.m.

You’ll hear 18-year-old violin prodigy Timmy Chooi, flying directly from Germany, where he’s been touring with the orchestra from the prestigious Curtis Institute. Timmy has been here before for the Summer Music Institute, a solo recital, and a performance with the NAC Orchestra as part of our Family Adventures series.

Jazz trumpeter and composer Simon Millerd will be reunited with pianist and composer Dan Reynolds, who used to play together in Montreal until Dan relocated to Vancouver. They’ll get the opportunity to work with award-winning drummer Matthew Chalmers on a tune written by Millerd. Dan and Matthew will also explore the repertoire of Chick Corea and Gary Burton, when Matthew exchanges his drumsticks for vibraphone mallets. All three are alumni of the NAC’s “Manhattan on the Rideau” broadband masterclasses.

Three winners from recent years of the NAC Orchestra Bursary Competition will unite to perform two movements from Debussy’s sublime Trio for Flute, Viola, and Harp. Flutist Lara Deutsch won the Friends of the NAC Orchestra award in 2009, and violist Emilie Grimes won the Harold Crabtree Foundation Award in 2010. They’ll be joined by harpist Antoine Malette-Chénier, who not only won the Crabtree Award in 2009 and the NAC Vic Pomer prize just last month, but who was also one of the first Astral Artist Prizewinners at last year’s inaugural “My First NAC”!

Pianist Alexander Malikov, no stranger to the NAC after his performances in our Musically Speaking pre-concert series and again this season in our Family Adventures with the NAC Orchestra series, will return to perform Ravel's haunting and virtuosic “Scarbo” from “Gaspard de la nuit”. And the fantastic mezzo-soprano Aidan Ferguson, alumnus of the Summer Music Institute’s Vocal Program, will enchant the audience with Richard Strauss’s “Sein wir wieder gut” (“The Composer’s Aria”), paired with Bizet’s popular “Habanera” from “Carmen”.

Don’t miss these incredible young artists in a showcase concert featuring some of the finest talent to emerge from the NAC’s training programs! Tickets for this FREE concert can be picked up at the NAC box office.