Orchestras Canada

A number of Canadian orchestras launched their 2012-13 seasons last week. Here’s a quick round-up:

The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, under music director Bill Eddins, announced its 2012-13 season, offering a variety of repertoire and artists over seven different series, a gala with Measha Brueggergosman and the Symphony Under the Sky festival.

The Niagara Symphony celebrates its 65th season in 2012-13 with MasterWorks, Pops and a brand new Family Series. The season, under the leadership of music director Bradley Thachuk, includes the launch of a multi-year Beethoven Project (which will culminate in a performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in St. Catharines’ new performing arts centre).

Orchestra London, led by music director Alain Trudel, says it’s “pulling out all of the stops next season with blockbuster performances, breakout stars, and a whole lotta Beethoven” over multiple series, guaranteed to appeal to all tastes. Guests include violinist Jonathan Crow, trumpeter Jens Lindemann, harpist Valerie Milot, and conductors Victor Sawa, Brian Jackson, and Uri Mayer.

The Regina Symphony’s season is entitled Around the World – and it features music from France, Germany, Russia, Central America, Antarctica, and more – with a distinctly Canadian twist. Soloists on the season include Canadian Brass, Meaghan Smith and James Ehnes, along with L’Arsenal A Musique’s The Little Prince, and Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra’s Galileo Project.

On Sunday, January 29 at 2:30 p.m., the Niagara Symphony presents its neat solution to an artist cancellation: hire his twin brother, instead.

The NSA had originally scheduled a program that would be led by its music director, Bradley Thachuk, and also feature him as guitar soloist. Plagued by a recurrence of tendinitis, Maestro Thachuk withdrew – and the engagement was offered to his twin brother, Steven, instead. It’s no patronage appointment, either: brother Steven currently serves as Professor of Guitar/Chair of Guitar Studies at California State University, Northridge, following faculty appointments at the University of Toronto, the Royal Conservatory of Music‘s Glenn Gould School and Queen’s University. The twin brothers started studying together at age 5, going on to form a “hair metal” band in their teens, before pursuing careers in classical music.

For more information, please visit niagarasymphony.org.

This past weekend, the Niagara Symphony (led by Music Director Bradley Thachuk) gave the first Canadian performance of Shadows, a new work for orchestra and piano soloist by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. The work (which featured project instigator Jeffrey Biegel as soloist) was commissioned by a consortium of orchestras from around the world, and funded using the crowd-funding website, kickstarter.com. It had its premiere in New Orleans (under the auspices of the Louisiana Philharmonic) in October, and the November 27 performance in St. Catharines marked its Canadian premiere.

You can read more about the work – and the process that led to its creation – here.

July 4-29, the Niagara Symphony presents the 50th annual edition of its Summer Music Camp at St. Catharines ON’s Ridley College.

The Camp offers a complete range of programs, from Early Years programming for children 18 months to 7 years to a rigorous 3-week academy for advanced music students. And all campers have access to daily Guest Artist recitals and Music Appreciation sessions and the camp experience is balanced with recreational activities, theme days – and special events for our 50th anniversary celebration. Many of the camp faculty – led by Camp artistic director (and NSA resident conductor) Laura Thomas are Niagara Symphony musicians, and “all are committed to expanding the musical horizons of their students and creating a learning environment of discovery, discipline and delight.”

The Niagara Symphony and the Windsor Symphony, two of southern Ontario’s professional regional orchestras, are featuring talented members of their own communities on stage this weekend in a pair of imaginatively-programmed concerts, both taking place in their respective cities February 26 and 27.

HEY, NIAGARA, WE’VE GOT YOUR TALENT! features three vocalists, a pianist, five fiddlers and a guitarist – “ranging in age from 13 years to we won’t tell!”, in a program led by the Niagara Symphony’s associate conductor Laura Thomas. The guests are Brian Barber, piano; Amanda Botts, fiddle; Jonathon Dick, baritone; Brennan Doherty, fiddle; Connor Doherty, fiddle; Jocelyn Fralick, soprano; Tara Hart, vocalist and Warren Stirtzinger, guitar and the program includes a piano concerto by Leroy Anderson, a jazz favourite on guitar, a haunting country song, a famous comic duet from Mozart’s The Magic Flute, and a toe-tapping “Fiddle Summit” finale that brings together five energetic Celtic fiddlers plus the full Symphony.

In Windsor, meanwhile, the WSO celebrates a decade with its music director (and now, music director designate of the Cincinnati Pops) John Morris Russell in a program entitled JMR’s Greatest Hits, featuring Windsor-area soloists. It’s a wildly eclectic crew that includes returning performers folk singer Marcel Beneteau; Chorale du Tricentenaire; the Windsor Barvinok Ukrainian Dancers; jazz great Shahida Nurulla; the Windsor Light Music Theatre; boxing star Jeannine Garside; the Nupur Jhankar Indian dancers; the Emerald Isle Dancers and the Cincinnati Studio Cloggers. As well, the WSO will introduce Windsor audiences to percussionist Sally Zori; bellydancer Laila Kaushik; writer Ted Shaw and singer Mark Morson. We welcome any insights into just what boxer Jeannine Garside will be doing!

Member orchestras across Canada are opening their new seasons even as we type this – and we wish music-lovers everywhere (be they audiences, musicians, conductors, composers, volunteers or arts managers!) much joy in the days and months ahead. Here are a few highlights from the Eastern edge of the country:

Symphony Nova Scotia starts its 28th season with Symphony Week, filled with free concerts and special events at venues like City Hall, the Spring Garden Road Library, Scotia Square Mall, Citadel High, and the Maritime Museum. Performances will include everything from children’s music to orchestral concerts featuring the entire Symphony, and a particular highlight is the . final stage of the Emerging Composer-Director Mentorship Program, during which emerging composers partner with up-and-coming film directors to produce fully-orchestrated three-minute film cues, which will be screened for the first time. The events of Symphony Week are timed to coincide with the Atlantic Film Festival, Culture Days and Word on the Street - and it’s an amazing roster of events. symphonynovascotia.ca

On October 5, the Orchestre symphonique de Saguenay-Lac St. Jean presents a symphonic tribute to the 100th anniversary of the birth of Chicoutimi folk painter Arthur Villeneuve at the Palais Montcalm in Quebec. The program is led by OSSLSJ music director Jacques Clément, and explores themes dear to the painter: nature, religion, painting and the region in which he lived and worked. The program includes a work especially written for the occasion by Jean-Pierre Bouchard, entitled Arthur, la peinture; and features poet and “omni-creator” Raôul Duguay, who will pay tribute to the painter and perform his celebrated song, La Bitt’à Tibi. A night to remember!  lorchestre.org

The National Arts Centre Orchestra opens its season with a 7-concert celebration of Mozart and Haydn, under the leadership of Music Director Pinchas Zukerman, featuring orchestral concerts at the NAC, chamber music concerts by the Escher Quartet at the National Gallery, and a stellar line-up of soloists, including Emanuel Ax, Juho Pohjonen (in his Canadian debut), Jeffrey Kahane, Shai Wosner, and Benjamin Hochman, and writer/broadcaster Eric Friesen. nac-cna.ca

There’s particular anticipation surrounding the opening concert of the Niagara Symphony, in St. Catharines ON, where they will welcome Music Director Designate and Principal Conductor Bradley Thachuk to lead the opening concert of its 63rd season on Sunday, October 3 – a concert also featuring cellist Shauna Rolston. Maestro Thachuk’s appointment was announced last spring, and he will take up full-time duties with the NSA next year. niagarasymphony.org

We admit it: in the transition to our summer publication schedule, we missed listing some summer concerts offered by member orchestras and others. Our apologies to the Winnipeg Symphony (which presented a series of free concerts in Winnipeg and Kenora, June 25 to July 4 – culminating in a
performance for Her Majesty the Queen, with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Juno Award-winner Chic Gamine, Sierra Noble and Chantal Kreviazuk); the Windsor Symphony (which kicked off Summerfest Uptown at the Windsor Armouries on June 26 – and will be continuing with its “Quintets and Sunsets” series July 10 and 11); and the Niagara Symphony (which gave a Canada Day performance on – you guessed it – July 1).

Here’s what we can tell you about other upcoming events!

The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra presents the six-concert Symphony Under The Sky festival, September 3 – 6, at the Heritage Amphitheatre in Hawrelak Park. It’s a varied program, with (as the media release says) “everything from Bach to Billy Joel.” Guest conductor Bob Bernhardt will lead the orchestra in five of the six concerts, and soloists include violinist, Karen Gomyo the Knock School of Irish Dance, pianist Jim Witter, and the guns of the Royal Canadian Artillery. For more information, please visit here.

There’s been an encouraging update from the Victoria Symphony about their annual Symphony Splash event, scheduled for August 1, 2010. Absent a major title sponsor this year, the Victoria Symphony team set about to create another kind of giving opportunity for patrons interested in ensuring that Symphony Splash went ahead. In late June, the orchestra announced that its new fundraising initiative, titled Victoria Symphony Splash Band of Heroes, has already generated $50,000 in new support for the marquee event. In response to the loss of its title sponsor, the Victoria Symphony invited numerous companies and individuals to lend their support. The Victoria Symphony Splash Band of Heroes, asks for $1,000 contributions in exchange for specific recognition benefits. According to Mitchell Krieger, executive director of the Victoria Symphony, “It’s wonderful to see these Heroes stepping up to support Victoria Symphony Splash, especially as so many are new to the Symphony family. Making more connections to the community will not only keep Splash vibrant, it will help the Symphony’s long-term sustainability. We are nearly halfway to our goal of 100 Heroes, and we hope that more will step forward between now and August 1st.” Band of Heroes has proven to be a success as 45 businesses and individuals have already joined Band of Heroes, and more are signing up every week. Band of Heroes gives companies of all sizes and individuals the opportunity to support the event in a way not previously available. See here for more information.

The Fort Macleod International Festival, formerly known as Windy Mountain Music, has announced details of its spring 2010 festival, running from May 27 – 31, 2010.  The Festival, under the artistic leadership of violist Rivka Golani, will include such artists as pianist Anton Kuerti, cellist Leonid Gorokhov, clarinetist Darko Brlek and the Alberta based violinist Edmond Agopian, violin/violist Barry Shiffman, and Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra associate conductor Mélanie Léonard.  For more information, please visit here.

The Niagara Symphony has launched its 2010-11 season – its 63rd!  Programming includes 4 MasterWorks concerts and 4 pairs of POPS! concerts, beginning in October 2010 and ending in May 2011. This will also be the first season with the Symphony’s new Music Director, whose identity will be announced later this Spring.  Soloists include cellist Shauna Rolston, violinist Julia Wedman and hornist Austin Hitchcock.  For more information, please visit the NSA’s website here.

The Niagara Symphony’s Composer in the Classroom program is now celebrating its sixth season.  The program, offered by Niagara Symphony to students in Grade 5 to Grade 8 at select schools in the region, provides students with the opportunity to write their own piece of music while learning the fundamentals of music theory.  The grand finale?  On the final day, the students will witness their compositions being performed by professional musicians.

The program is led by NSA associate conductor Laura Thomas, and consists of three intensive 90-minute sessions with Thomas, followed by an orchestration workshop with symphony musicians to fine-tune the new works.

For more information, please visit here.

The Niagara Symphony has announced the appointment of Karen A. Bannister to the new position of Resource Development Manager effective November 9, 2009 – completing the Symphony’s new administrative team.  Ms Bannister holds a Bachelor of Arts, Honors degree in Drama from Queen’s University and a Psychology degree from McMaster University. She is also a graduate of the Income Managers Program, which trains individuals in fundraising and marketing principles specific to the arts community.  She began her career at the Canadian Stage Company in Toronto but for the past six years has worked in various resource development positions at the Shaw Festival – from Marketing Manager and Corporate Sponsorship Manager to her most recent position as Senior Associate of Membership. Karen resides in Niagara Falls with her husband and young son.
 
The Regina Symphony Orchestra has announced the appointment of Brenda Sherring, who will serve as the orchestra’s Interim Executive Director during Natasha Bood‘s one-year maternity leave.  Ms Sherring began her duties at the RSO on October 26. 

Earlier this week, Betty Webster (former Executive Director of Orchestras Canada) was one of twenty Ontarians to be awarded the Ontario Senior Achievement Award, at a ceremony in the Lieutenant Governor’s Suite at Queen’s Park.  The awards recognize those who have made outstanding contributions to their communities after turning 65 – and we were proud to have played a role in Betty’s nomination!