-
Red carpet highlights from the 2015 Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards
June 3, 2015The Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards for Lifetime Artistic Achievement are Canada’s highest honour for the performing arts. This year's recipients are singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan, filmmakers Atom Egoyan and Jean-Marc Vallée, actor-directors Diana Leblanc and R.H. Thomson,…
-
The arts are our country’s deepest expression
May 11, 2015Earlier this spring the laureates for the 2015 Governor General's Performing Arts Awards were announced at events held in Montreal, Victoria, Vancouver and Toronto and via live stream. They were the first of many celebrations that will honour Canadian artists whose accomplishments have…
-
Daniel Lanois: What lives outside of measurement
May 11, 2015For Daniel Lanois, the most important qualities of an artist not quantifiable. "It's hard to measure imagination and original thought, instinct, intuition,” the acclaimed producer and musician said. “All those primal powers we possess as adventurers cannot be measured." Daniel Lanois…
-
A Harmonic Storm: Daniel Lanois with the NAC Orchestra
May 1, 2015In June 2013 Daniel Lanois visited the National Arts Centre to receive the Governor General's Performing Arts Award for lifetime achievement. Two years later Lanois is once again backstage at the NAC's Southam Hall - this time as a performer. "It's nice to experience this beautiful edifice…
-
Experience Ontario’s best artists at the Scene
April 27, 2015At the National Arts Centre, we like to say that “Canada is our stage,” a statement that underlines our commitment to work with artists and arts organizations across the country to build a national stage for the performing arts. The Scene festivals are a perfect illustration of that…
-
Hip-hop in Baker Lake, Nunavut
April 22, 2015The Music Alive Program: Nunavut funded a hip-hop week in Baker Lake from March 9 to March 12. Nelson Tagoona, who performed at the NAC’s Northern Scene a couple of years ago, taught eight workshops on a style he’s credited with inventing— an entirely new category of music called throat-…
-
From the truck to the stage
April 10, 2015The National Ballet of Canada's production of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is a dazzling over-the-top extravaganza that truly delights audiences. The sets, costumes and equipment required for this magnificent ballet fill nine tractor trailers and it takes an expert team to assemble this…
-
Governor General Performing Arts Awards: Shining the spotlight on this year’s laureates
April 9, 2015Montreal—Winners of the Governor General Performing Arts Awards were announced at a news conference at the PHI Centre in Montreal. The 2015 laureates for the highest honour in the performing arts in Canada are: Walter Boudreau, C.M. Composer, conductor and artistic director Atom Egoyan,…
-
Nicholas Atkinson interviews Alexander Shelley
March 24, 2015The 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…
-
Molly Johnson sets the stage for Ontario Scene
March 18, 2015When Molly Johnson walked on stage at the programming announcement for Ontario Scene she had the audience in the palm of her hand. Her trademark smokey voice and sassy stage presence transported her listeners from an afternoon press launch to a late night club. Bille Holiday's music has…
-
Meet the two-wheeled Associate Producer of NAC Presents
January 29, 2015Meet Xavier Forget. He’s the Associate Producer of French Programming for NAC Presents, the National Arts Centre’s Canadian music series. Since its creation in 2011, not only has Xavier programmed some of Canada’s biggest Francophone artists – Ariane Moffat, Pierre Lapointe, Jean Leloup –…
-
Jill Barber: Music and motherhood
January 29, 2015Singer-songwriter Jill Barber is a repeat performer at NAC Presents, a concert series showcasing Canada’s best singer-songwriters. Inspired by many musical styles, she deftly combines a Motown groove with sophisticated retro pop on her sixth album Fool’s Gold. Music and motherhood,…
-
A violin’s personality: Timothy Chooi and his 1729 Guarneri del Gesù
January 19, 2015When musicians perform they become one with their instrument. For violinists, the bow is an extension of their arm, and the sound communicates their emotions and interpretation of the score. While training at the National Arts Centre's Summer Music Institute, Timothy Chooi (age 20) took…
-
Dark and friendly: Christopher Millard on why he loves bassoon
January 6, 2015Q & A with Christopher Millard, Principal Bassoon, NAC Orchestra A Bassoon Concerto – since WHEN does a bassoon get up and solo as frontman to an entire orchestra and audience, please? Not often. We are usually content to sit amongst our more flamboyant woodwind colleagues, trying to…
-
The NAC Orchestra Rideau Lakes Brass Quintet at Stonehenge
October 29, 2014The NAC Orchestra Rideau Lakes Brass Quintet gave a 20 minute chamber music recital at Stonehenge, one of the wonders of the world and the best-known prehistoric monument in Europe. In October 1914, young Canadian Soldiers packed up and stepped onto ocean liners to cross the Atlantic.…