-
Canada’s Digital Stage
August 24, 2020#CanadaPerforms was initially launched on March 19 by the National Arts Centre and its founding partner, Facebook Canada. The short-term relief fund helped ease the financial strain for 700 professional Canadian artists and published authors impacted by the closure of performance venues and…
-
NAC English Theatre Brings Together Artists and Audiences to Reimagine Theatre for...
August 24, 2020As part of its response to the escalating climate crisis —and in light of the current COVID-19 pandemic— the National Arts Centre hosted an extraordinary three-day/three-country digital experiment to explore how artists and arts institutions can rethink their practice and programming in…
-
NAC Superfan: Ken McKinlay
July 17, 2020Ken McKinlay has been coming to concerts at the National Arts Centre for more than 28 years. He sees at least 30 performances each season. Ken is the NAC Orchestra’s number one fan. “I’m missing the Orchestra like crazy,” says Ken, who last saw the NACO perform Mozart on February 26,…
-
NAC Superfan: Diane Obam Dallaire
June 26, 2020Diane Obam Dallaire and her seven-year-old son Samuel were recently walking in downtown Ottawa when they caught sight of the National Art Centre’s three-storey digital Kipnes Lantern. Months after the building had closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she felt a pang of sadness. “I miss…
-
Jayne Watson on the challenges and opportunities of arts fundraising during COVID-19
April 28, 2020Jayne Watson is the CEO of the National Arts Centre Foundation. Q. What donor trends are emerging due to the crisis? A: We’re seeing, not surprisingly, donors stepping up to assist what I’d call frontline services: health care, hospitals, food banks during this unprecedented global…
-
Catching up with NAC donors: Denzil Feinberg and June Wells
April 28, 2020Denzil Feinberg and his spouse June Wells are enthusiastic NAC donors and patrons. Their apartment into which they moved in 2005 after living in Winnipeg for about 30 years is within walking distance of the NAC. Denzil was President of Canada's first professional financial planning…
-
Five Minutes with Lara Deutsch
January 9, 2020Flutist Lara Deutsch performs regularly with the NAC Orchestra and with orchestras across the country. She is the recipient of many awards, including the Grand Prize of the 2014 National Arts Centre Orchestra Bursary Competition, and is an alumna of the NAC’s Young Artists Program. Lara…
-
Zones Théâtrales and Indigenous Theatre Join Forces
January 9, 2020Every two years, the National Arts Centre and venues throughout the National Capital Region celebrate French theatre with Francophone communities across Canada during Zones Théâtrales. Under the artistic direction of Gilles Poulin-Denis, Zones Théâtrales took place from September 9 to 14.…
-
Ahead by a Century: Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha Re-imagined
January 9, 2020Created in 1911 by Scott Joplin, Treemonisha is one of the few surviving live performance pieces about the immediate post-slavery era written by a Black person who actually lived through it. More than a century later, this first all-African American opera is being reinvented thanks to help…
-
Sharing the Gift of Live Performance
January 9, 2020For a decade, the NAC has helped thousands of children and their families experience the magic of live performance through the Share the Spirit program. Presented by Sun Life Financial, Share the Spirit provides free tickets to vulnerable populations in the National Capital Region through…
-
Behind the Scenes with Boston Ballet
November 29, 2019Attending open rehearsals is one of the many perks donors receive when they support performance, creation and learning across Canada through the National Arts Centre Foundation. During the first snowfall of the season on November 7, NAC Foundation supporters spent a wonderful afternoon…
-
David and Susan Laister - A happy association
July 29, 2019Forty-six years is a long time. But for David and Susan Laister, it represents years of happy and satisfying association with the National Arts Centre. Originally from the United Kingdom, the Laisters came to Canada in 1969. David was attending Queen’s University, Kingston, on a…
-
Daryl Banke and Mark Hussey
July 29, 2019“We love the NAC!” And with their long association and financial support of the National Arts Centre it’s clear that Daryl Banke and Mark Hussey mean what they say! Both Mark and Daryl began attending NAC performances after their move to Ottawa in 2001. They subscribed to the ballet and…
-
Brenda Cardillo - Patron Exemplar
July 29, 2019“No question — dull and colourless!” That’s how National Arts Centre patron and donor Brenda Cardillo describes what her life would be without the arts. And she should know. Brenda has been an avid attendee and supporter of the NAC for almost 50 years. She simply cannot imagine what…
-
The Transformative Power of Angélique
April 3, 2019On Thursday March 21, the first full day of spring, director Mike Payette spoke to NAC supporters about the play Angélique, a play that invites its audience to look deep within and emerge anew. Mike gave NAC supporters an overview of the challenging play by the late Lorena Gale that they…