Topics: hexagon

Arts and social inclusion videoconference

The topic of arts and social inclusion is one that the NAC Orchestra is exploring in their programming throughout the year as well as during the upcoming tour to Europe. In preparation for the tour, the NAC Orchestra hosted it’s inaugural conversation about Arts and Social Inclusion in…

Connecting Canada and the World

The next time you’re in the NAC’s Southam Hall lobby, take a moment to peek through the window of the Hexagon Studio. You might see NAC Orchestra clarinetist Sean Rice teaching his students at St. John’s Memorial University via ultra-high definition video-conferencing technology. Or you…

New and improved Hexagon Studio makes connections possible across Canada and all...

The next time you’re at the NAC, take a few minutes to peek inside the window of the Hexagon Studio off of the Southam Hall lobby.  “Studio activity is seasonal, but it’s safe to say there is usually one, if not two, very cool things happening in or around the studio every day,” says…

Nicholas Atkinson interviews Alexander Shelley

The NACOcast, a classical music podcast produced by the National Arts Centre, regularly rates in the top five classical music podcasts on iTunes. Hosted by Nicholas Atkinson, Principal Tuba of the NAC Orchestra, the series explores the broad world of orchestral music and its great…

Explore the Symphony: The passion behind the podcast

Tucked into the back corner of the NAC’s lobby the Hexagon Studio is a small space where big ideas are discussed. It is the home of NAC podcasting and it is where NAC Orchestra musician Marjolaine Fournier and music critic Jean-Jacques van Vlasselaer can be seen engaged in passionate…

Music and the Brain: Christine Carter on the psychology of practice

In 1999, the National Arts Centre’s Music Director Pinchas Zukerman founded the Summer Music Institute with just 10 students. Today, the Institute welcomes over 70 students each year and has become a magnet for the best young Canadian and international classical artists, providing…

Happy birthday, NAC: Canada’s home for the performing arts turns 45

On June 2, 1969, the National Arts Centre opened its doors for the first time, and history was made. "Not since Expo 67’s shimmering debut has an opening night stirred such an exhilarating sense of grand occasion.” – Time  “After a weekend of splendid weather, the opening night was…

Speaking at a distance, yet building a community

From February 26 to March 6 the programming channel at the NAC Hexagon studio will shift from Classical to Blues. The switch is due to the NAC's partnership with RBC Bluesfest in order to deliver, for the first time ever, RBC Bluesfest's Blues in the Schools (BITS) program to a classroom in…

The Golden Era: Pinchas Zukerman’s Gift of Music to Canadians

“Pinchas not only expresses his lifetime of experience through his work, but through his commitment to excellence in his teaching, conducting and advocacy. He represents a vision, but most especially a sound of a more beautiful, hospitable world.” – Adrian Anantawan, Canadian violinist and…

Music Alive Program connects in Ottawa

Trumpet player Rachel Niego-Akavak first met NAC Orchestra musician Karen Donnelly in 2012 through the Music Alive Program in Nunavut. Rachel is a talented young musician but she did not have a trumpet teacher to take her music training to the next level. Over the past two years Karen has…

Bringing the Blues to Northern B.C.

At the National Arts Centre, we strive to be a catalyst for performance, education and learning in communities across Canada. From February 26 to March 6, we are thrilled to be partnering with RBC Bluesfest so that we can deliver, for the first time ever deliver, RBC Bluesfest's Blues in…

ConneXXions North: Innovative technology connects students in Canada’s North with NAC musicians

It is a beautiful Saturday morning in Nunavut as a group of young trumpet players arrive for their music lesson. There is no instructor waiting for them, unless you count high school music teacher, Mary Piercey. Instead the room in Inuksuk High School in Iqaluit is filled with the broadband…

Erhu masterclass with Professor Yu Hongmei

Earlier this year Professor Yu Hongmei, renowned erhu soloist and teacher at China's Central Conservatory of Music held a masterclass with Ottawa student Leo Zhang in the NAC's Hexagon Studio.

Making connections possible that wouldn’t otherwise be possible

The Hexagon Project: Building bridges between technology and the performing arts

Classrooms of students from as far away as the United States and Mexico share their reactions to Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons with kids here in Canada... ...a talented young violinist living in a small community in Northern Canada receives one-on-one instruction from Pinchas…