Orchestras Canada

Three of Orchestras Canada members are presenting short festivals this month, within the context of their regular seasons.

In Ottawa, the National Arts Centre Orchestra (led by Music Director Pinchas Zukerman) is presenting a pair of performances, April 19 and 20, of all six of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos. The concerts feature NACO principal players, augmented by trumpeter Andrew McCandless and harpsichordist-for-the-occasion, John Kimura Parker. As well, both programs will feature a pre-concert performance by organist Thomas Annand – and we suspect Bach’s music will be on the agenda there, too.

Meanwhile in Halifax, Symphony Nova Scotia’s 29th season wraps up with a three-concert French Festival, April 18-22. The festival includes a Musically Speaking program, starring SNS Concertmaster Robert Uchida and Halifax pianist Peter Allen in sonatas by Debussy and Ravel, as well as Massenet’s famous “Meditation” from Thaïs; a pair of large-orchestra concerts, led by SNS Music Director Bernhard Gueller, and including such repertoire as Ravel’s Bolero, Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto no. 2, Fauré’s Requiem, and Saint-Saëns’ massive Organ Symphony. For these last two programs, over 70 professional orchestral musicians will be onstage at the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium – a first in Halifax since the early 1980s.

And the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony is presenting a short festival celebrating the life and work of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The festival, running April 18 to 22, includes a pair of orchestral concerts led by KWS Music Director Edwin Outwater (with an array of soloists and guest artists), a special screening of Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus with a post-event talk back with a renowned musicologist, and what’s promised to be “some extra fun in the lobby at all three Mozart concerts.”

ADMINISTRATIVE / ADMINISTRATIFS

National Arts Centre / Centre national des arts
National Administrator, Music Alive Program / Administrateur/trice national/e, Programme Vive la musique (PVM)
Application deadline/Date limite : April 12 avril 2012

AUDITIONS

Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony
Concertmaster / Premier violon solo
Application deadline/Date limite : April 27 avril 2012

Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
Principal Second Violin / Deuxième violon solo
Application deadline/Date limite : April 10 avril 2012

Canadian Opera Company
Second Trumpet / Deuxième trompette
Application deadline/Date limite : May 5 mai 2012

Canadian Opera Company
Principal Trombone / Trombone solo
Application deadline/Date limite : May 11 mai 2012

Edmonton Symphony Orchestra
Section Violin
Application deadline/Date limite : June 4 juin 2012

Vancouver Opera
Violin (core orchestra)
Application deadline/Date limite : April 13 avril 2012

Orchestra London
Associate Concertmaster
Application deadline/Date limite : April 27 avril 2012

Orchestra London
Principal Flute
Application deadline/Date limite : April 30 avril 2012

The KW Symphony has let us know about a pair of media projects that demonstrate the orchestra’s artistic range to an ever-increasing audience.

On March 3, the orchestra’s concert performance with broadway diva Idina Menzel, Taye Diggs and Marvin Hamlisch (filmed at Koerner Hall in Toronto, and called “Barefoot at the Symphony”) was broadcast on PBS – and a CD and DVD of the performance were released on March 6. Copies of the CD and DVS are available through the KW Symphony, and also through Chapters Indigo, here.

As well, the orchestra is celebrating the role it played in securing a Juno nomination for Classical Composition of the Year for Heather Anne Schmidt’s Piano Concerto No. 2. The recording was made at a recent Open Ears Festival, with the composer as soloist, led by former resident conductor Daniel Warren.

Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony

The Ottawa Symphony Orchestra has announced the appointment of Peter Feldman as its new General Manager, succeeding Bryan Croft. Peter was the founding executive director of CAPACOA, the Canadian arts presenting association.

The Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra has announced the appointment of Kelly Rooney as its new Development Manager. A Thunder Bay native, Kelly is a graduate of Confederation College’s Arts Administration program. Since graduating, she has spent the last 20 year’s travelling the world, working and volunteering with a variety of arts, health promotion and social service organizations. “I’m happy to be back in my hometown, surrounded by family, and working in the arts again”, says Ms. Rooney.

Bill Skolnik, CEO of the Canadian Federation of Musicians and the Vice President from Canada for the American Federation of Musicians, has announced that he’ll be leaving his position with the CFM/AFM to serve as CEO of the Directors Guild of Canada.

The Centre in the Square, long-time performance home of the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony, has hired Sandra Bender to be its next CEO. She succeeds Jamie Grant, who is now running the Long Center for the Arts in Austin TX.

It was a sad week for Canadian music, as we recognize and mourn the passing of two pivotal figures in the development of a cosmopolitan Canadian musical culture: Helmut Kallmann and Istvan Anhalt. Both came to Canada as a result of World War II, and both made an indelible impact on our country.

Dr. Kallman was widely recognized as Canadian music’s foremost historian, and is perhaps best-known for his pivotal role in editing both editions of the Encyclopedia of Music in Canada. From 1950-1970, he worked at (and ultimately supervised) the CBC’s music library; from 1970 to 1987 he headed the Music Division of the National Library of Canada.

Dr. Anhalt was a long-time resident of Kingston ON, where he moved in 1971 to take up the position of Head of the Music Department at Queen’s University. As his obituary noted, “many of his major compositions – four operas, seven symphonies and numerous other works were written during the Kingston years, notably the four symphonic works inspired by commissions from Glen Fast, the conductor of the KSO, whose confidence in him brought about the creation of some of his most beautiful works.”

This Thursday and Friday (February 23 and 24), the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony is joining forces with the University of Waterloo’s Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) to present a musical illumination of the principals of quantum computing. The concert will be led by KWS music director Edwin Outwater, and narrated by IQC Director Raymond Laflamme. What’s it going to sound like? Well, the media release tells us that “the musical program extends from well-known pieces by Mozart and Webern to radical, rarely performed pieces by Xenakis, Brant, Ives and Cage”. And what’s the connection to science – and quantum computing, in particular? The media release notes that “music and science have followed surprisingly parallel paths over the past century: both were governed by order and logic during the Enlightenment; both saw a breakdown of tradition in the early 1900s, and both saw the emergence of challenging new rules and paradigms throughout the 20th Century.”

“Quantum science and music have more in common than people might think,” said Laflamme. “Both can be challenging and counterintuitive, both can be beautiful and fascinating. In many ways, both seek to describe and make sense of the world in which we live.”

For more information, please visit kwsymphony.ca.

The Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony launched its 2012-13 season last week – more than 70 performances across 8 distinct series, beginning with an opening night celebration of Kitchener’s centennial with performances of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Additional season highlights include a Tchaikovsky Festival, a unique Mahler Symphony No. 5 concert, a holiday concert with Canadian pop superstars Barenaked Ladies, Bugs Bunny at the Symphony and an Intersections program saluting Indian music, Bollywood and Beyond. The season marks Edwin Outwater’s sixth as music director, and he promises “an adventure for both the audience and the orchestra.”

Sinfonia Toronto, the intrepid Toronto-based string chamber orchestra led by Nurhan Arman, has announced its 14th season, a 7-concert series at the Glenn Gould Studio (with a gala season opener at the George Weston Recital Hall). ST regularly features stellar Canadian and international soloists, and next year is no exception: soloists on the season include Tchaikovsky competition gold medallist, cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan, pianists Angela Cheng, Dmitri Levkovich, and Anastasia Rizikov (a Toronto prodigy who won the adult level of the Rotary International Competition in Spain at the age of 11) – and many others. As well, the orchestral will continue its Composer-in-Residence program, next year with distinguished Toronto composer Chan Ka Nin.

The Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony has announced that Steven Sitarski, concertmaster of the orchestra for the past 15 seasons, has resigned in order to pursue other career directions.

On November 3, 2011, board and staff members, musicians, and donor members of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony (KWS) received a financial, operational and artistic report on the orchestra’s performance in fiscal year 2011-12. It’s a good news story, all around.

Reporting on the finances, Board Treasurer Glen Dyrda said, “I am delighted to report that for the year ended July 31, 2011, the KWS has recorded an operating profit of $102,283, and we have reduced our accumulated deficit from over $632,509 to $530,601. This is an outstanding financial result, only made possible by the support of our patrons, our generous donors and sponsors, our partners at all three levels of government, our amazing team of volunteers, our talented musicians, and an outstanding group of KWS employees who bring their passion to this organization each and every day”.

“Looking back on the season, it seems incredibly rich and creative to me,” Music Director Edwin Outwater reflected. “I honestly know of very few orchestras in North America that could offer such quality and creativity in a single season. It has reaffirmed my belief that risk-taking and unique experiences are the key to revitalizing classical music.”

For more information about the KW Symphony, please visit kwsymphony.ca.

The Hamilton Philharmonic Youth Orchestra has just announced the appointment of Colin Clarke as its new music director – only the third person to hold the position since the orchestra’s founding almost 50 years ago. He succeeds cellist and conductor Paul McCulloch. Mr. Clarke began his duties with the HPYO on October 31, and will make his public debut with the orchestra in the winter of 2012. Meanwhile, Mr. McCulloch will lead his final program with the HPYO on November 26. For more information about the orchestra – and Mr. Clarke – please visit hpyo.com.

At its recent Annual General Meeting, the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony presented the 2011 Mabel Krug Award and the 2011 Rachel Smith-Spencer Award. The Mabel Krug Award went to long-time KWS volunteer Joan Thompson, in honour of long-term active service, energy and the the advancement of the KWS. The Rachel Smith-Spencer Award, an annual employee recognition award, was presented to Sandra Villaraga for her outstanding job performance, dedication, positive attitude and contributions to the KWS.