In a much-anticipated annual ritual, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson will declare March 7-13, 2011 to be NATIONAL ARTS CENTRE ORCHESTRA WEEK in the National Capital Region. This marks the fifth year in a row for this high-spirited series of events highlighting the role of the NAC Orchestra and its musicians in the local community. Throughout each year, NACO musicians participate in hundreds of educational and outreach events, inspiring and entertaining tens of thousands of students and adults.

This year, for the first time, the National Arts Centre Orchestra will give two free lunchtime concerts in Ottawa/Gatineau. As always during NAC Orchestra Week, there will also be numerous concerts by smaller ensembles of NACO musicians. One particular ‘Musicians in the Schools’ concert during NAC Orchestra Week is extra special. This added performance by the NAC’s Ambassador Brass Trio at Glen Cairn Public School on March 10 has been fully funded by an anonymous private donor.

FULL ORCHESTRA CONCERTS – free, open to the public, no tickets required
• Tuesday, March 8, noon
Food Court at Place du Centre -- 200 Promenade du Portage, Gatineau
• Wednesday, March 9, noon
Jean Pigott Hall at Ottawa City Hall – 111 Lisgar Street, Ottawa
Mayor Jim Watson will be on hand to proclaim NATIONAL ARTS CENTRE ORCHESTRA WEEK and host the concert.

In both concerts, Richard Lee (Resident Conductor of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra) leads the NAC Orchestra in a 30-minute program featuring Mozart’s Overture to The Marriage of Figaro; Dvo?ák’s Serenade for Strings (2nd movement); Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto (3rd movement), featuring Ottawa native NACO Second Trumpet Steven van Gulik; and Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony (4th movement).

SMALL ENSEMBLE CONCERTS –not open to the public
During the remainder of this special week, small ensembles will bring music to local community centres and retirement homes.
• Monday, March 7 at 2 p.m.: Brass Trio performance for Retraite en action at the Richelieu-Vanier Community Centre, Ottawa
• Thursday, March 10 at 1:30 p.m.: Brass Trio (Karen Donnelly, trumpet, Julie Fauteux, horn, Don Renshaw, trombone) performance at St-Vincent Hospital, Ottawa
• Friday, March 11 at 10:45 a.m.: Small ensemble performance for l’Académie des retraités de l’Outaouais at Cabane-en-bois-rond, Gatineau
• Friday, March 11 at 2:00 p.m.: Small ensemble performance at Centre d’hébergement La Pietà, Gatineau

COMING SOON: THE NAC ORCHESTRA WEEK CONTEST
Tell us what you think is EXTRAORDINARY about your Orchestra!
Details on how to enter and prizes are www.nac-cna.ca

A typical NAC Orchestra season includes more than 50 separate concert events and over 100 performances, most of which are performed in the NAC’s Southam Hall or in a concert hall in another city when the Orchestra is on tour. However, NAC Orchestra musicians, as individuals or in small ensembles, participate in numerous Musicians in the Schools educational activities outside the NAC throughout the year. The Orchestra includes a string quartet and quintet, a brass quintet, a brass sextet, a wind quintet, a brass trio, and a percussion duo, all of whom are kept busy performing and teaching in schools throughout Ottawa and the Ottawa Valley.

During NAC ORCHESTRA WEEK, the National Arts Centre website will have a special feature including a calendar of events and a website contest which asks you to ‘Tell us what you think is EXTRAORDINARY about your Orchestra!’

Special thanks go to the Friends of the NAC Orchestra, without whose help and support NAC Orchestra Week would not be possible.

The NACmusicbox TIMELINE: 200 orchestral works, 80 Canadian compositions,
1 interactive TIMELINE.
Visit NACmusicox.ca
The NACmusibox TIMELINE is live! The TIMELINE is a free online graphic representation of 200 NAC Orchestra recordings contextualized across a 300-year range, from Baroque to 20th Century music. Explore musical works and the historic events which shaped them. Discover Canada's unique contributions to orchestral history. The NACMusicbox TIMELINE is produced in partnership with virtualmuseum.ca and CBC Radio 2.

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