The NAC Orchestra Bursary Benefit Concert is a concert of chamber music favourites featuring NAC Orchestra Concertmaster Yosuke Kawasaki, Associate Concertmaster Jessica Linnebach, musicians of the NAC Orchestra (Sean Rice, clarinet; David Hutchenreuther, cello; Hilda Cowie, double bass), and violist Paul Casey, who was awarded the Harold Crabtree Foundation Award at the 2011 NAC Orchestra Bursary Competition. The concert takes place in Le Salon at the National Arts Centre on Sunday March 4 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $15 and are available at the NAC Box Office and through Ticketmaster.

For taking part in the NAC Orchestra Bursary Benefit Concert, Paul Casey will be awarded the Vernon G. Turner Performance Opportunity Award funded by the NAC Music Department to honour Vernon G. Turner. As Chair of the NAC Orchestra Bursary Committee for nine years (2001-2010) Mr. Turner demonstrated outstanding leadership in presiding over the organization and conduct of the Committee’s annual NACO Bursary Competition. Established in the 2010-2011 season, the purpose of the award is to showcase a young musician who has won a prize at the Finals of a recent NAC Orchestra Bursary Competition.

The afternoon’s program – subject to change – includes:
ROSSINI  String Sonata No. 3 in C Major
STRAVINSKY  Elegy
DVO?ÁK  Terzetto in C major, Op. 74, B. 148
MOZART  Clarinet Quintet in A major, K. 581

The NAC Orchestra Bursary provides recognition and financial support to help further the development of young Canadian orchestral musicians who have connections to the National Capital Region. The Bursary Benefit Concert is organized by the musicians of the NACO Bursary Committee to raise funds towards prizes for future NAC Orchestra Bursary Competition winners, some of whom will go on to pursue careers in professional orchestras.

Roderick Bell is current Chair of the NAC Orchestra Bursary Committee. Mr. Bell has undergraduate and post-graduate degrees in history. He recently retired from the Department of Foreign Affairs, where he had postings in Cairo, the UN Mission in New York, Tel Aviv, and Brazil, and as Canadian Ambassador to Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Mr. Bell is a knowledgeable and passionate music lover; while posted abroad, he always sought to promote Canadian music and musicians, particularly younger musicians. Mr. Bell believes that the NAC community engagement program to school children and the encouragement of talented young people is truly essential.

The NAC Orchestra Bursary was established in 1979 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the founding of the National Arts Centre Orchestra and to thank the people of the National Capital Region for their support during the Orchestra’s first decade. The first NAC Orchestra Bursary Competition took place in 1981, when one prize of $1,000 was awarded. Thanks to the generosity of additional organizations and individuals, other prizes have been added -- for a total in 2012 of $19,000. The NACO Bursary Trust Fund provides funding for the NACO Bursary of $7,000; the NACO Vic Pomer Award contributes $2,000; and the NACO Special Prize for Best Orchestral Excerpts is worth $1000. The NACO Bursary Committee also has available three additional prizes to be awarded at the Jury’s discretion: the Harold Crabtree Foundation Award of $5,000; the Friends of the National Arts Centre Orchestra Award of $3,000, created in 1993 to celebrate the Orchestra’s 25th season; and the Piccolo Prix of $1,000 initiated in 2001 by Pasqualina (Pat) Adamo.

For additional information, visit the NAC website at www.nac-cna.ca

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