Since my first orchestral experience – a young witness to the NAC Orchestra performing Handel’s Messiah twenty years ago – to my first internship in Marketing at the NAC, I have been rather smitten with this orchestra. As an Associate Marketing Officer, I used to sneak into the top balcony of Southam Hall to listen in on afternoon rehearsals. We also had yoga classes on the cushy red carpet outside the Hall, and many a downward dog had classical music performed to perfection as its soundtrack.
After leaving the NAC Orchestra to follow my soon-to-be husband across the country, I have continued to work in performing arts marketing, and travel at least once a year to enjoy a special concert in Ottawa. It was with great anticipation that the arts community in Kingston prepared to welcome the NAC Orchestra to perform on the Grand Theatre stage for the first time since its major restoration in 2008. Many things in our facility and operations have improved over the past decade, including a newly excavated orchestra pit, an education and community engagement program, improved backstage area, a presenting program of more than 50 performances a year and our brand new Steinway. It filled me with pride to see so many familiar faces from the orchestra on the Grand stage, demonstrating their technical precision, musical phrasing and overt enthusiasm for their job. In addition to a stellar performance, several musicians gave masterclasses to Queen’s University students, Christopher Millard gave an informative and humourous pre-show chat, and Eric Friesen interviewed the charming young pianist Daniil Trifonov immediately following the performance.
I used to lace up my running shoes for a jog over Pretoria Bridge and in the winter, I would don my skates for a glide along the Rideau Canal. Now, I still run on my lunch hours, but on the shores of Lake Ontario, and my skating sessions happen just outside my office on Springer Market Square. I have seen hundreds of arts performances throughout my career, but the thrill of those first few notes conducted by Maestro Zukerman are still just as exciting as the first time I heard the Hallelujah chorus so many years ago.
