The National Arts Centre (NAC) is pleased to announce that Montreal-born conductor, composer, and trombonist Alain Trudel has been appointed as the Principal Youth and Family Conductor of the National Arts Centre Orchestra. His appointment takes effect at the beginning of the 2012-2013 season.

In his new role, Alain Trudel will work closely with the National Arts Centre Music Education team to develop the Orchestra’s Student Matinees and ‘TD Family Adventures with the NAC Orchestra’ concerts, and he will be the principal conductor of these concerts. He also participates in outreach, including orientation sessions with schoolteachers, community visits, school visits, and adult education programs.

Maestro Trudel has conducted numerous ‘Family Adventures’ concerts at the National Arts Centre and is tremendously popular with the audience and the orchestra musicians alike. This season, Alain Trudel will conduct A-BACH-cadabra, a ‘TD Bank Group Family Adventures with the NAC Orchestra’ concert on October 29 and he will be featured as a trombone soloist in one of the Jacques Hétu Celebration concerts on February 8, 2012. The Paris music review Le Monde de la Musique called Trudel “the Jascha Heifetz of the trombone” for his skill with that instrument. 

Maestro Trudel succeeds Boris Brott, who was recently appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the Teatro Petruzzelli, in Bari, Italy, one of the country’s principal opera houses. Boris Brott is an internationally recognized Canadian artist, appearing around the world as guest conductor, educator, motivational speaker, and cultural ambassador. Maestro Brott will continue to appear on the National Arts Centre’s ‘TD Bank Group Family Adventures’ series as a guest conductor. Boris Brott said, “ I want to thank Genevieve Cimon, Claire Speed, and the highly creative staff at the NAC and all our collaborators for so many years of creative programming. Alain Trudel is the perfect choice to succeed me in this position. I have the greatest respect for his talents and wish him every success. I look forward to my return as a guest artist.”

Peter Herrndorf, President and CEO of the National Arts Centre, said, “I’ve had the good fortune to see Alain Trudel onstage many, many times, both as a conductor and a musician. The National Arts Centre is extremely pleased to welcome him to the NAC family in his new role – and I know our audiences are in for a real treat.” Pinchas Zukerman, Music Director of the National Arts Centre Orchestra, added, “I have played with Alain, and I have great respect for his abilities as both conductor and educator. All of us at the NAC Orchestra wish him the best of luck in the role of Principal Youth and Family Conductor.”

Alain Trudel said, “I am thrilled to be part of such a great team and fantastic orchestra. Together we will keep creating exciting ways for our youth to enjoy the sheer pleasure of live orchestral music, and for families to feel they are part of the adventure too.”

Geneviève Cimon, Director, Music Education and Community Engagement, said, “I am very pleased that Alain Trudel will be succeeding Maestro Brott in this important role. I have had the great pleasure of working with Maestro Brott for the past 10 years, and we recently celebrated his 100^th education concert with the NAC Orchestra.  It’s vital – for me, for the Music Education department, and for the NAC as a whole -- that Boris Brott’s successor brings the same passion and commitment to the magic of great music-making. I have enjoyed working with Alain Trudel over the past few years as a guest conductor, and I am confident that Alain will be a driving force in music education in this country as Principal Youth and Family Conductor of the National Arts Centre Orchestra.”

 “A new chapter of glory -- Trudel a master with Mahler. ...the most outstanding concert in all of Scotia Festival of Music’s 30 years. ... In the end, it came down to conductor Trudel’s absolute mastery of the score (Mahler’s Symphony No. 2) and his unceasing work...Trudel’s passion for this music is at the service of the highest level of musical insight and understanding. ..”
Stephen Pedersen, The Chronicle Herald (Halifax) June 2009

 “Trudel's reading (Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 9) was very expressive. Under his baton the orchestra crossed every ‘T’ emphatically and drove every pointed nuance in the music home with a level of force that was almost frightening.”
norules-nolights.com /Brian Hay, September 2011

 “Alain Trudel and Orchestra London, in an explosive burst of Olympic-sized energy, honored the intent of the composer (Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 2) and brought the house to its feet in the climatic end to a great evening of music.”
Renée Silbermann, The Beat (London), February 2010

“It was beautiful playing overseen by conductor Alain Trudel , who is probably the best thing that’s ever happened to the CBC Radio Orchestra since it was founded 70 years ago…”
Lloyd Dykk, Vancouver Sun, 2008

BIOGRAPHY
Music director of Orchestra London Canada, l’Orchestre Symphonique de Laval, the National Broadcast Orchestra, as well as Principal Guest Conductor of the Victoria Symphony Orchestra, Alain Trudel is one of the most sought after conductor on the Canadian scene. A frequent guest with the National Arts Centre Orchestra and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra Trudel made his debut with l’Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, the Gävle Symphony Orchestra (Sweden), and with the Saint-Petersburg Cappella Symphony Orchestra during the 2010-2011 season. Trudel made his Opera de Montréal debut in 2009, Conducting Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, as well as the 30th anniversary gala, which was released as a live CD and nominated at L’ADISQ. In 2010 he also made his debut at l’Opéra de Quebec conducting their Gala and the production of Die Fledermaus. Highly committed to the new generation of musicians, Trudel is very proud to be the conductor of the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra, and has been regularly invited to conduct the National Youth Orchestra of Canada. Their recording of Mahler’s 6th Symphony and Le sacre du prinptemps was nominated as “Best Orchestral Album of the Year” at the 2010 JUNO Awards. Beyond the borders of Canada, Trudel has conducted orchestras in the UK, the USA, Sweden, Russia, Japan, Hong Kong and in Latin America. Highly appreciated for his collaborative spirit, he has worked with many world famous artists, among them Ben Heppner, Anton Kuerti, Measha Brueggergosman, Pinchas Zukerman, and Isabel Bayrakdarian. First known to the public as a trombone soloist, Alain Trudel made his solo debut at the age of 18, with Charles Dutoit and l’Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal. He has been guest soloist with leading orchestras on five continents, and was the first Canadian to be a Yamaha international artist. Alain is very happy to come back to his roots, as he was appointed Hannaford Street Silver Band’s principal guest conductor at the start of the 2010-2011season. Alain Trudel is the recipient of numerous awards, among them the Virginia Parker Prize, Le grand prix du disque Président de la République de l’Académie Charles Cros (France), and more recently the Heinz Unger Prize for conducting. He has also been named an Ambassador of Canadian Music by the Canadian Music Centre.

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Information:   
Gerald Morris
Communications Officer, NAC Music
613-947-7000, ext. 335 
[e-mail]  gerald.morris@nac-cna.ca