OTTAWA (Canada) – Enjoy one of the most majestic pieces of music ever written, on December 15-16, when acclaimed conductor Trevor Pinnock leads the NAC Orchestra, in an uplifting performance of Handel’s Messiah.

Trevor Pinnock is a renowned British conductor and harpsichordist. He was Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the NAC Orchestra from 1991 to 1996. For this Sun Life Financial supported performance, Pinnock brings his signature sparkle back to Southam Hall with a magnificent chorus and hand-picked vocalists.

The soloists performing this holiday classic are soprano Karina Gauvin; mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke; tenor John Tessier; and bass-baritone Christian van Horn. They will be joined by the Cantata Singers of Ottawa and Ewashko Singers led by chorus master Laurence Ewashko.

As Steven Mazey wrote in the Ottawa Citizen in 2009, “…[Pinnock] seems to have a special feeling for Handel’s Messiah…. His recording of the piece has been widely praised as among the best versions available, and his Ottawa performances of Messiah have been memorable.

Music critic Richard Todd praised Pinnock’s performances as “the most refined and musical Messiah to grace Southam Hall in many years. Pinnock’s sense of the music’s shape and proportion would be hard to find in another conductor, and he found beauty in many details that normally flow by unnoticed.”

Baroque composer George Frideric Handel, whom Beethoven called “the greatest composer that ever lived,” composed Messiah in just 24 days, without ever leaving his house. It was first performed in Dublin in 1742, and instantly won popular success. 

The Messiah is a celebration of birth, death and resurrection. Musical scholars note the spaciousness in Handel’s music, the dramatic silences, and the stirring contrast. Handel often blends different styles, including English church music, the German Passion-music tradition, and the Italian melodic style. Audiences will delight in the Messiah’s sweeping sacred story, which features dazzling arias, orchestral fireworks, and beloved choruses, including the stirring “Hallelujah Chorus.”

The Friends of the NAC Orchestra is holding a spectacular silent auction on December 15 and 16 in the main foyer of the NAC in conjunction with this NAC Orchestra concert. Bid on outstanding and unique donated items from across Canada and from around the world. Proceeds benefit the Friends of the NAC Orchestra’s commitment to music education programs for young people. Help us build a fantastic future for music in Canada!

Join us on December 15 -16 at 7 p.m. for the holiday classic Handel’s Messiah, supported by presenting Sponsor Sun Life Financial. Tickets start at just $29 and are available at the NAC Box Office or online at NAC-CNA.ca.

 

TREVOR PINNOCK BIOGRAPHY

Trevor Pinnock is known worldwide as a harpsichordist and conductor who pioneered performance on historical instruments with The English Concert, the orchestra which he founded in 1972 and led for the next thirty years. He now divides his time between conducting, solo, chamber music and educational projects.

In the 2015-16 season, Mr. Pinnock conducts two tours with with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and pianist Maria João Pires. He will also conduct the Dresdner Phiharmonie and make return visits to the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Kammerakademie Potsdam, National Arts Centre Orchestra Ottawa, Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg, Kammerorchester Basel, Kioi Sinfonietta.

Recordings to be released this season include a solo recital, Journey, on the Linn label, C.P.E. Bach flute concertos with Emmanuel Pahud and the Kammerakademie Postam on EMI, and the Mozart Gran Partita for winds and a Haydn Notturno with the Royal Academy of Music Soloists Ensemble on Linn. Trevor Pinnock’s work at the RAM also includes orchestral concerts as Principal Guest Conductor of the Concert Orchestra and opera projects. In 1992 he was awarded the honour of CBE and he is also an Officier des Arts et des Lettres.

 

ABOUT THE NAC ORCHESTRA

In September 2015 Alexander Shelley began his tenure as Music Director with the National Arts Centre’s Orchestra. Shelley has an unwavering reputation as one of Europe’s leading young conductors, notably as Chief conductor of the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra and most recently as the Principal Associate Conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Formed in 1969 at the opening of Canada's National Arts Centre, the NAC Orchestra gives over 100 performances a year with renowned artists including Itzhak Perlman, Renée Fleming, James Ehnes, Emanuel Ax and Yo-Yo Ma. It is noted for the passion and clarity of its performances and recordings, its ground-breaking teaching and outreach programs, and nurturing of Canadian creativity.

Since its inception the Orchestra has commissioned 80 works, mostly from Canadian composers. In 2001 it inaugurated the National Arts Centre Awards for Canadian Composers and the recipients thus far have been Denys Bouliane, John Estacio, Peter Paul Koprowski, Gary Kulesha, Alexina Louie and Ana Sokolovic.

Previous NAC Orchestra Music Directors include Pinchas Zukerman, Mario Bernardi and Trevor Pinnock. The 2015-16 season features Principal Guest Conductor John Storgårds , Alain Trudel as Principal Youth and Family Conductor and Principal Pops Conductor Jack Everly completing the strong artistic team.

In addition to a full series of subscription concerts at the National Arts Centre each season, tours are undertaken to regions throughout Canada and around the world, most recently to China (2013) and the UK (2014). The latter commemorated the start of the First World War and explored themes of remembrance and healing through music in over 50 education and performance events. Following the footsteps of Canadian troops 100 years ago, it showcased the brilliant work of Canadian composers and the NAC Orchestra's musicians, both as performers and as educators, and received standing ovations in packed halls throughout the UK.

In 1999, Pinchas Zukerman founded the NAC Young Artists Program, part of the wider NAC Summer Music Institute, which provides elite training to talented young musicians. Students all over the world are also taught via videoconferencing in the NAC's cutting-edge Hexagon Studio. The Orchestra also created and continues to pioneer education work locally and in indigenous communities in northern Canada.

The NAC Orchestra has made over 40 commercial recordings, including Angela Hewitt’s 2014 Juno Award-winning album of Mozart Piano Concertos conducted by Hannu Lintu. Many more concerts are freely available through NACmusicbox.ca on the NAC's performing arts education website ArtsAlive.ca. These include many of the 100 new Canadian works commissioned by the NAC Orchestra in its 45 year history.

 

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TO BOOK AN INTERVIEW, PLEASE CONTACT:

Andrea Ruttan

Communications Officer, NAC Orchestra
National Arts Centre
(613) 947-7000, ext. 335
Andrea.Ruttan@nac-cna.ca