Orchestras Canada

It’s been two years since the passing of French-Canadian composer and educator Jacques Hétu – and the National Arts Centre Orchestra is marking the occasion with a two-concert celebration of his work, February 8 and 9, and an exhibition chronicling his life and career, on display in the foyer of Southam Hall, February 7 to 17. Admission to both concerts is free, but tickets must be obtained in person at the NAC box office.

Hétu requires little to no introduction to Canadian orchestras: his catalogue includes some 80 works, including symphonies, opera, choral and chamber music, and concertos for numerous instruments. NACO’s programs this February include an orchestral concert on February 8, led by music director Pinchas Zukerman, and featuring soloists Alain Trudel (trombone) and Nathalie Paulin (soprano). The major work on the program is Hétu’s Symphony No. 3, originally commissioned by the CBC for the CBC Vancouver Chamber Orchestra. The concert on February 9 features chamber music by Hétu and his teachers, performed by leading players from NACO in assorted configurations.

For more information about the celebration, please visit nac-cna.ca.

There’s also a robust section devoted to Jacques Hétu on the NAC’s Music Timeline on-line feature, which you can access here.

Our congratulations to Bernard Labadie, music director of les Violons du Roy and La Chapelle de Québec, who was recently selected as Grand Lauréat of the Year by Le Soleil and Radio-Canada, in honour of the acclaim his artistry has brought to Quebec’s capital region.

Orchestra News was saddened to learn of the death, earlier this week, of Canadian composer Jacques Hétu.  A native of Trois-Rivières, M. Hétu taught at Université Laval, the Université de Montréal and UQAM.  His catalogue of compositions comprises over 70 works, and he has been one of the most-performed Canadian composers of works for orchestra.  We’ll not soon forget the experience of taking him backstage to meet the members of the National Youth Orchestra of Canada in 2004, fresh from a performance of his Images de la Révolution:  the NYO members were as excited to thank him for the privilege of playing his work as he was pleased to meet them.