Orchestras Canada

Much has been written about the federal budget, delivered by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty on Thursday, 29 March – and more will be written in weeks to come, as detailed departmental spending estimates are released. In the meanwhile, though, we’ll provide the headlines we think are particularly pertinent to the orchestral sector.

Budget 2012 explicitly indicates that the budget for the Canada Council for the Arts will be maintained at $181 million for 2012-13. We have subsequently received informal confirmation from Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore that three other programs well-used by Canadian orchestras, the Canada Cultural Investment Fund (which includes the Arts Endowment Component), the Cultural Spaces Fund and the Canada Arts Presentations Fund, will maintain funding levels in 2012-13.

As has been widely reported elsewhere, other agencies of the Department of Canadian Heritage have not fared so well, with the National Arts Centre taking an ongoing funding reduction of $1.9 million and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation taking a $115 million cut. The effect of these funding reductions will be clarified in coming days.

While this news provides valued breathing room to Canadian orchestras, it’s fair to say that the notion of “business as usual” has fundamentally changed. Budget 2012 explicitly states that “[o]rganizations within the Canadian Heritage portfolio will streamline corporate support functions, consolidate office space and improve the efficiency of operating processes, improve processes for managing programs and operations, and prioritize grants and contributions. Canadian Heritage will move to a more integrated policy framework that focuses on the socioeconomic benefits that their programs offer to Canadians and their communities. The Department will also focus on funding that leverages contributions from partners.”

Similarly, the Budget Day release from the Canada Council for the Arts quotes Director Robert Sirman as saying that “[t]he government’s decision to maintain the Council’s funding gives us the opportunity to independently take actions that will generate savings that we can reinvest back into the professional arts sector. It will also enable us to ensure our programs continue to be relevant, cost-effective and responsive to the changing needs of the community. Over the next three years we will implement a number of changes that are already in development, including reducing the cost of our office space, streamlining operational processes and adjusting programs.” The release goes on to say, “[i]n the coming months, the Council will review options that address its traditional commitment to the core of creative arts practice while reflecting areas of increasing priority, including equity, public engagement, and national and international market access.”

In addition to the measures specific to arts investment that were announced in Budget 2012, there were also a number of references to the Canadian charitable and not for profit community.

They included:
• the fundraising potential inherent in the discontinuation of the penny;
• stricter guidelines for reporting political activity by charities, and the development and delivery of education programs by the Canada Revenue Agency to ensure that charities are accurately reporting their political activity. By law, charities are able to dedicate as much as 10% of their time and resources to non-partisan political activity; however, new measures will be put in place to better track and report it, including a new section in the annual T3010 form. For more information about this, please visit cra-arc.gc.ca;
• stricter guidelines for charities accepting gifts from foreign sources to underwrite political activity.

The National Arts Centre and the Canadian Music Centre are paying tribute to JUNO Award nominees in classical categories with a special one-hour free concert on Friday March 30.

This concert will feature JUNO nominated performers Susan Hoeppner, Heather Schmidt, and the New Orford String Quartet, along with music by JUNO nominated composers Jacques Hétu, Ann Southam, Heather Schmidt, and Derek Charke. Christina Petrowska Quilico, who performed on the recordings of Heather Schmidt’s nominated piano concerto and Ann Southam’s nominated Glass Houses #5, will also perform on the program.

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

Pinchas Zukerman, the National Arts Centre Orchestra’s music director since 1999, announced earlier this week that he will be stepping down from the role in August, 2015.  Speaking about Maestro Zukerman’s decision, Peter Herrndorf (the NAC’s President and CEO) said, “The NAC has benefitted immeasurably from his leadership on the podium, his artistry as a soloist and his deep commitment to music education. Pinchas Zukerman has made a profound contribution to the musical life of Canada and the world and has served as a transformational figure at the National Arts Centre. He will be greatly missed.”

Vancouver’s Musicfest has just announced the appointment of Matthew Baird as its new program director, succeeding George Laverock. Baird is well-known to Canadian orchestras through his many years of work at the CBC.

Orchestra News notes, with sadness, the passing of violinist and violist Eleanora Turovsky, founding concertmaster of I Musici de Montréal, a 12-year member of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and a well-known teacher at the Université de Montréal.

We send our very best wishes to Peter Herrndorf , CEO of the National Arts Centre, who is currently undergoing cancer treatment. Mr. Herrndorf will take a planned medical leave, starting in April. During that leave, long-time Managing Director of the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Christopher Deacon, will serve as interim CEO.

Symphony Nova Scotia has announced that Janice Fuller will be serving as Interim Director of Communications and Marketing during Heidi MacPhee’s parental leave. Janice and Heidi will work together until the end of February, then Janice takes over.

The Saskatoon Symphony has announced that long-time principal cellist Linda Bardutz is returning to her position at the SSO. In their media release, the SSO notes, “as one of our most highly accomplished musicians, the Saskatoon Symphony looks forward to Linda resuming her role as a valued member of the SSO and Saskatoon’s musical community for many years to come.”

The National Arts Centre has announced application deadlines and program details for this year’s Summer Music Institute. The programs take place in the month of June, are designed for outstanding instrumentalists (pre-college and senior level – strings, winds and piano) and conductors. A remarkable Canadian and international faculty has been assembled – and generous scholarship support is available. For more information about the program for instrumentalists, please visit nac-cna.ca.

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.

Every year, we get media releases about holiday concerts, and every year, we applaud the intrepid programmers who come up with fresh approaches to seasonal classics, skilfully balancing novelty with tradition.

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.

The National Arts Centre presents a new exhibition – “Working Together: The National Arts Centre Honours Employee Dedication and Excellence, 2011” – of photographic portraits made by longtime NAC Orchestra violinist Lev Berenshteyn. The exhibition is free and will be on display in the main foyer of Southam Hall from late November until early December.

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.

The PEI Symphony Orchestra has announced the appointment of Natalie Williams Calhoun as its new Administrator. A busy professional cellist and teacher, Ms. Williams Calhoun has a Bachelor of Music in Violoncello Performance from the University of British Columbia and a Masters of Music from the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, England. She is currently dividing her time between her administrative role with the PEISO, teaching with the Senior Division of the Singing Strings Orchestra in Charlottetown, and freelance orchestral and chamber performance in Atlantic Canada.

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.”

Meanwhile, the National Arts Centre has reported that its 15th annual National Arts Centre Gala netted $­­­­621,000, funds that will go to the National Arts Centre’s National Youth and Education Trust. The sold­out event (which included a concert and an on­-stage, post­-concert dinner) featured Sarah McLachlan, her band, the National Arts Centre Orchestra (augmented by five young musicians who are members of the NAC’s Institute for Orchestral Studies) and music director Pinchas Zukerman. An A-­list of politicians and personalities took part, and the Honorary Chair for the event was Laureen Harper.

“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.