For more information about the conducting programming (led by Kenneth Kiesler and Pinchas Zukerman, and featuring the Orchestre de la francophonie and the National Arts Centre Orchestra), please visit nac-cna.ca. (English)

The application deadline is February 6, 2012.

Herewith, an idiosyncratic list of concerts and events that have caught our eye!

December 11, Symphony on the Bay presents a family Christmas, Hannukah and New Year’s concert at Burlington ON’s Royal Botanical Gardens, featuring the winners of its Young Artists’ Competition, waltzes and a sing-along. James McKay conducts.

December 9 and 10, the Orchestre symphonique de Saguenay-Lac St. Jean presents one performance each in Jonquière and Roberval, featuring star baritone Gino Quilico and rising star Marie-Pier Simard-Gagnon, along with the massed Symphony Chorus and the vocal ensemble from the Conservatoire de musique de Saguenay. Maestro Jacques Clement conducts.

December 11, the Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières, led by Music Director Jacques Lacombe, presents a holiday program with pianist Andre Gagnon and the 84 members of l’Orphéon de Trois-Rivières. The program is comprised of material originally recorded for CD by Gagnon and the orchestra last year and now available on the disc Dans le silence de la nuit.

Also on December 11, the National Arts Centre Orchestra Players’ Association presents its 22nd annual Christmas FanFair Concert and Carol Sing-Along in support of the Ottawa Food Bank and the Snowsuit Fund. It’s a free concert, and it takes place in the main foyer of the National Arts Centre at 12 noon. The concert is led by NAC violist (and conductor of the Ottawa Chamber Orchestra) David Thies-Thompson, and special guests include guest conductor Laureen Harper (yes, the Laureen Harper), mezzo-soprano Julie Nesrallah, and violist Paul Casey, winner of the Harold Crabtree Foundation Award in the 2011 National Arts Centre Bursary Competition. Last year the National Arts Centre Orchestra Player’s Association donated more than $30,000 to the Ottawa Food Bank and the Snowsuit Fund through fundraising efforts over the holidays.

The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra celebrates the musical accomplishments of its own community in this year’s Messiah performances (December 16 and 17) by featuring four outstanding Edmonton natives in the solo roles: Linda Perillo, Frances Jellard, John Tessier and Nathan Berg. I Coristi Chamber Choir, Òran and the U of A Madrigal Singers unite to form the chorus, and ESO music director Bill Eddins leads from the harpsichord.

This exhibition was commissioned by the NAC to celebrate the outstanding contributions of more than two dozen dedicated National Arts Centre employees, in recognition of their 25, 30, 35 and 40 years of service. Working in different capacities and in different areas of the organization for more than 25 years or more, these NAC employees have collectively contributed 735 years of commitment and uninterrupted service.

Clockwise from top left: Nicholas Atkinson, Principal tuba, 35 years service; Donald Renshaw, trombone, 25 years service, Douglas Burden, bass trombone, 35 years service; Lynne Hammond, first violin, 40 years service.

Hearty congratulations to Dale Godsoe, winner of the Symphony Nova Scotia’s 2011 Concertmaster Award. The award, which is presented to an individual or organization that has made a significant contribution to the well-being of SNS, is in honour of Ms Godsoe’s leadership of the orchestra’s Listen to the Future Endowment Campaign. The campaign, which began in 2008, has raised more than $5 million in cash, pledges, and anticipated matches under Dale’s guidance and leadership. SNS has not, however, been the only beneficiary of her time and wise counsel – as the media release notes, “in addition to her work at Symphony Nova Scotia, Dale has also provided leadership to the National Arts Centre, the United Way, the YWCA of Canada, and the Atlantic Film Festival. She has served as chair of the Vision TV Network and currently chairs the S-VOX Foundation, a foundation developed out of Vision TV that focuses on pluralism within Canada’s faith communities.”

“Thousands of young Canadian artists and audience members will benefit from the funds raised at the National Arts Centre Gala. The proceeds from the Gala support young artist training programs, as well as arts education resources like the NAC’s award-winning website ArtsAlive.ca. I want to thank all our wonderful Orchestra musicians and Conductor Pinchas Zukerman who donated their talent, our valued presenting sponsor SunLife Financial, and the sold-­out audience who enjoyed Sarah McLachlan’s artistry at the Gala. We have officially kicked ­off Ottawa’s social season with style!” said Jayne Watson, CEO, NAC Foundation.

“Our music director Alexander Mickelthwate, and executive director Trudy Schroeder, along with all their staff and all the musicians of the WSO, have worked tirelessly to achieve this year’s excellent results,” says the WSO Board President and Chair Dorothy Dobbie. “I thank all of the members of the board who gave generously of their time, talents and treasure to preserve and protect the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. They have made excellent progress in our fundraising and friend-raising efforts, both, and their thoughtful guidance has been an inspiration to me.”

Artistic highlights included the 20th annual WSO New Music Festival, curated by Music Director Alexander Mickelthwate and Composer-in-Residence Vincent Ho, and the orchestra’s first performance in Ottawa in almost 35 years as part of the Prairie Scene Festival in May at the National Arts Centre.

“The development of a healthy, artistically vibrant, fully engaged and financially stable orchestra is a complex process, and there is not one easy answer for rebuilding and growth,” says WSO Executive Director Trudy Schroeder. “They say that it takes a village to raise a child, and the same concept holds true for the diverse kinds of support needed to sustain and nurture a robustly healthy symphony orchestra in our community.”

For more information (and to register), please visit challengingdigitalmedia.zerista.com

Toronto’s Creative Trust has issued a “hold the date” notice for September 20 and 21, when Donna Walker Kuhne (author of Invitation to the Party: Building Bridges to the Arts, Culture and Community) will give a keynote address and facilitate workshops on diversifying audiences. For more information, please visit: creativetrust.ca

It’s a partnership with the Virtual Museum of Canada and CBC Radio Two – and it incorporates an almost mind-boggling array of recordings, visual enhancements and thoughtful historical context. TIMELINE maps 80 Canadian works and 134 international works on an interactive timeline, from the Baroque period to the 21st Century, featuring over 200 audio recordings, 200 concert programs, 95 composer biographies and over 300 pages of historic events. Each musical work is highlighted on the timeline within its social, political and cultural context.

In addition, the site examines Canada’s contribution to orchestral history with two three-part podcast series about Canadian Contemporary Music Making in Canada, Post WW2. Writer-broadcaster Eric Friesen hosts the English podcast while Jean-Jacques Van Vlasselaer, musicologist and longtime music critic for Le Droit newspaper, hosts the French version.

To start your tour, please visit artsalive.ca/collections/nacmusicbox.

The program features two major works by Tchaikovsky (the violin concerto and the Symphony #5) as well as a new work by Winnipeg’s Randolph Peters, entitled Io. Speaking about the piece, Dr. Peters notes, “the 11-minute Io is a fanfare with a romantic, slow theme in the middle. The title comes from the fact that the opening texture is similar to Holst’s “Jupiter: The Bringer of Jollity”. Io is a moon of Jupiter, so naturally it might share some of Jupiter’s music. At least for the first 15 seconds.”

The Prairie Scene runs from April 28 to May 6 and is the fifth in a series of national Scene festivals celebrating and showcasing Canada’s finest established and emerging artists. Prairie Scene includes more than 500 Saskatchewan and Manitoba artists — musicians, actors, choreographers, visual and media artists, filmmakers, writers, and master chefs — bringing their unique talents to concert halls, theatres, galleries, bars, clubs, museums, and restaurants throughout the region.