Ottawa Mayor Larry O’Brien has declared May 10-16 as the fourth annual National Arts Centre Orchestra Week. This year, the week focuses on ‘The National Arts Centre Orchestra in the Community’ and includes a number of private and free public concerts (performed by small NAC Orchestra ensembles) and education and outreach events held in venues around the city, as well as the usual schedule of NAC Orchestra performances at the National Arts Centre and at other locations. High-profile concerts at this year’s NAC Orchestra Week – during the 40th Anniversary Season of the National Arts Centre — will be performed in the Centre Block of Parliament Hill, at Ottawa City Hall, and in various schools, community centres, and retirement homes in Ottawa. Also taking place during NAC Orchestra Week will be a ‘Music for a Sunday Afternoon’ concert at the National Gallery of Canada as well as several events at the NAC itself, including an open student rehearsal, the NAC Orchestra Bursary Competition Finals, and three CTV Pops Series concerts.

You don’t even need to be in Ottawa to take part: during NAC Orchestra Week, the National Arts Centre website will have a special feature including a calendar of events, a daily blog written by a member of the NAC Orchestra, a bilingual audio presentation by NACO Assistant Principal Double Bass Marjolaine Fournier, and a website contest which asks the musical question ”If you could be anybody in the NAC Orchestra, who would you be – and why?”