Orchestras Canada

Last Sunday evening, the Conseil Quebecois de la Musique (CQM) celebrated both the 25th anniversary of its founding and the excellence of the musical community it supports, at the 15th annual Prix Opus Gala. We salute the following friends and members of Orchestras Canada, whose exceptional accomplishments were recognized:

Hommage prize: cellist and conductor Yuli Turovsky, founder and 30-year leader of I Musici de Montreal.
Concert of the year, Montreal: Shostakovich’s four last quartets, Quatuor Molinari
Concert of the year, modern/contemporary: Homage to Xenakis, Nouvel Ensemble Moderne
New work of the year: Mutation, by Denis Gougeon (Nouvel Ensemble Moderne)
Concert of the Year, young audiences: On n’est jamais trop classique, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal
Recording of the year, romantic/post-romantic/impressionist: La tragédie de Salomé, F. Schmitt, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Orchestre Métropolitain, ATMA Classique
Artistic Director of the year: Jean-François Rivest, Orford Arts Centre
Event of the year: Festival de Lanaudière, summer 2011

This week, we bring you news from the Westmount Youth Orchestra.

The group has just announced the appointment of violist, conductor and music educator Jean MacRae as their new artistic director and conductor. Noting that Ms MacRae is the only female youth orchestra conductor in Quebec – and one of only a handful across Canada – the news release goes on to say that “Ms MacRae is no stranger to the WYO: she has conducted the popular Dolce Musica and the String Ensemble with the Westmount Youth Orchestra since its inception. With her extensive orchestral experience as a violist with l’Orchestre Métropolitain, l’Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, La Pietà with Angèle Dubeau, Montréal Chamber Players, plus many other major orchestras across Canada, as well as many years as professor of violin, viola and chamber music at École Secondaire Pierre Laporte in Montréal, the Victoria Conservatory of Music, and at CEGEP Vincent D’Indy, she brings her talent, experience and enthusiasm to her ground breaking position.”

Congratulations to all!

The last few weeks have been good ones for Orchestras Canada members, and we’d like to acknowledge some key accomplishments and landmarks.

Congratulations to the Royal Conservatory of Music, which kicked off its 125th year of operation on November 20th. Speaking about the milestone, RCM President Dr. Peter Simon noted that, ““the broad-based programs of The Royal Conservatory support Canadian education and, ultimately, Canadian innovation. The Conservatory provides a structured system of learning that develops musical literacy, professional training for Canada’s most gifted young artists, and pioneering learning solutions. Over 125 years it has been the vision of The Royal Conservatory to weave these programs into the very fabric of society, based on our conviction that the arts are our greatest tools for learning, for fostering creativity and personal fulfillment, and for contributing to stronger and more productive societies.”
For more information about The Royal Conservatory and its programs, please visit rcmusic.ca.

We’d also like to acknowledge the many Orchestras Canada members who are finalists for the 15th annual Prix Opus, presented by the Conseil québécois de la musique (CQM). The awards – which recognize outstanding concerts, events, musical works and writing about music during the 2010-11 season – will be presented January 29 at the Salle Bourgie at the Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal. The evening will also include a special tribute to Maestro Yuli Turovsky, founder of I Musici de Montreal.

Finalists of note from our membership include:

Nouvel Ensemble Moderne (multiple categories)
Quatuor Molinari (multiple categories)
Les Violons du Roy
Orchestre symphonique de Montreal (multiple categories)
Orchestre symphonique de Québec (multiple categories)
Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières
Orchestre Métropolitain
Tim Brady/Bradyworks

For more information about the Prix Opus – and to learn more about the nomination categories and nominees – please visit cqm.qc.ca (some pages are available only in French).

On October 24, ADISQ (the association for music and sound recording in Quebec) will hold its “other gala” – an event to honour the outstanding non-commercial recordings and performers of the year. A number of Orchestras Canada members have been nominated for the classical music awards, and we’re proud to list them here:

In the “classical recording of the year – orchestra or large ensemble”, featured nominations include recordings by Les Violons du Roy (Bonbons on ATMA Classique, led by Bernard Labadie), Orchestre metropolitain (Florent Schmitt : La Tragédie de Salomé, César Franck : Symphonie en ré, on ATMA Classique, led by Yannick Nezet-Seguin) and the Orchestre symphonique de Montreal (Beethoven: Des Dieux, des Héros et des Hommes, on Analekta, led by Kent Nagano).

In the “classical recording of the year – soloist or small ensemble”, we salute the nomination of the Quatuor Alcan, participants in the recording entitled Mathieu: Trio & Quintette; Chausson – Concert, also featuring Alain Lefèvre and David Lefèvre, on the Analekta label.

Finally, in the “classical recording of the year – vocal”, we recognize the nominations of Les Violons du Roy (Britten: Les Illuminations, featuring Karina Gauvin and led by Jean-Marie Zeitouni, on the ATMA label), and Orchestre Metropolitain (on a recording entitled Marie-Josée Lord, led by Giuseppe Pietraroia featuring the eponymous singer, on ATMA Classique).

Last week, Montreal’s Orchestre Metropolitain – led by music director Yannick Nezet-Seguin along with some gifted young musicians, rappers and dancers – staged a flash mob celebration of the orchestra’s 30th season in a shopping mall. You can watch the festivities, here.

Photo: Pierre Dury

The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra has announced details of its 60th anniversary season, its seventh under the leadership of music director Bill Eddins. A typically busy season for the ESO, it features a wide array of classical, pops, family, light classical, holiday and special event programming, and is as creative in presentation format as it is in choice of artists and repertoire. A special highlight? The orchestra’s first-ever performance at New York’s Carnegie Hall, as part of the second annual Spring For Music Festival in May 2012. For this event – a curated celebration of creative orchestral programming – the ESO and Bill Eddins will perform a program entirely made up of ESO-commissioned works: John Estacio’s Triple Concerto for Piano, Violin, and Cello, written for the ESO’s inaugural performance at the Winspear Centre in 1997; Allan Gilliland’s Dreaming of the Masters III composed for trumpet virtuoso Jens Lindemann; and a new work by the ESO’s new Composer in Residence Robert Rival. Soloists for the program include Lindemann, pianist Angela Cheng, violinist Juliette Kang, and cellist Denise Djokic. For more information, please visitwww.edmontonsymphony.com.

The Manitoba Chamber Orchestra has announced its 2011-12 season, a busy nine-concert season at Winnipeg’s Westminster United Church under the leadership of music director Anne Manson. Season highlights include the introduction of new composer-in-residence Serge Arcuri, an all-Philip Glass program (to be subsequently recorded for the Orange Mountain Music label), special guests from Spain, new works by Stewart Goodyear, Michael Oesterle and Serge Arcuri, as well as a rich array of works from the chamber orchestra canon, from Bach through Sibelius. The intrepid group continues its strong commitment to community engagement and education programs throughout. For more information, please visit www.manitobachamberorchestra.org.

The Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières, led by music director Jacques Lacombe, has dedicated its 2011-12 season to the memory of celebrated Trois-Rivieres native and composer Jacques Hétu. The nine concert season features such outstanding soloists as violinist Alexandre da Costa, guitarist Sébastien Deshaies, pianists André Gagnon, Marc-André Hamelin, and André Laplante, and singer Fabiola Toupin, and will also welcome guest conductors Gilles Bellemare et Gemma New. Programming of note? Mahler’s Symphony #9, Marc-André Hamelin’s take on Busoni, Orff’s ever-green Carmina Burana, Christmas-themed works by André Gagnon – and more. For details, please visitwww.ostr.ca.

The Orchestre Métropolitain will present 29 performances of 10 different programs in 11 different locations during a busy 2011-12 season, under the leadership of music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Featured soloists include Welsh baritone Bryn Terfel, Canadian pianist Jan Lisiecki, cellist and Montréal native Stephen Tétreault, Ontarian conductor Julian Kuerti, American soprano Angela Meade, the Quasar saxophone ensemble, the Montreal-based group Quartango, and percussionist Marie-Josée Simard – and repertoire riches include a weekend devoted to the complete symphonies of Brahms as well as his Violin Concerto, the continuation of the orchestra’s traversal of Haydn’s London symphonies and the conclusion of its Mahler cycle, with the presentation of the Adagio from Tenth Symphony. A new after-work chamber music series will also be presented at the Montreal Museum of Fine Art’s new Bourgie concert hall. www.orchestremetropolitain.com

Congratulations to the following members and friends of Orchestras Canada for their recent honours:

Tenor Marc Hervieux and Orchestre Metropolitain (under the leadership of music director Yannick Nezet-Seguin) was awarded the ADISQ prize for Classical Vocal Album of the Year for Tenor Arias. The recording, on the ATMA Classique label, is distributed by Naxos.

Awards season is heating up in the province of Quebec with the announcement of the nominees for the ADISQ prizes for 2010. We issue hearty congratulations to the following OC member orchestras!

In the category Album of the Year – Orchestra or Large Ensemble, we salute both the Orchestre metropolitain and the Orchestre symphonique de Quebec for their nominations – the OM for their recording of Bruckner’s Symphony No. 8 (led by Music Director Yannick Nezet-Seguin), and the OSQ for their recording of piano concertos and a symphony by Felix Mendelssohn, featuring Louis Lortie as pianist and conductor. Both recordings were released on the ATMA Classique label, and produced by Johanne Goyette. For more information about all the nominees, please visit here.

In the category Album of the Year – Classical vocal, we salute the Orchestre metropolitain and the Orchestre symphonique de Montreal. The OM was nominated for two recordings – the first, led by conductor Alain Trudel, documents l’Opera de Montreal’s 30th anniversary gala concert, and the second is a recording of tenor arias, with soloist Marc Hervieux and Music Director Yannick Nezet Seguin. The OSM (led by Music Director Kent Nagano) has been nominated in the same category for its recording of Mahler’s Song of the Earth, with soloists Klaus Florian Vogt and Christian Gerhaher.

adisq.com

On June 16 and 17 in Ottawa, and June 20 in Montréal, the National Arts Centre Orchestra and the Orchestre Métropolitain will join forces – along with eight soloists and a 296-voice mass choir – under the leadership of OM music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, for Gustav Mahler‘s Symphony No. 8. The Ottawa performances mark the first-ever performance of the work by the National Arts Centre Orchestra and all three concerts are now completely sold out. The cast of soloists includes Erin Wall, Joni Henson, and Nathalie Paulin, sopranos; Susan Platts and Anita Krause, mezzo-sopranos, John MacMaster, tenor; Alexander Dobson, baritone; and Robert Pomakov, bass – and a chorus of 296 comprised of the Ottawa Choral Society (Matthew Larkin, Director), Cantata Singers of Ottawa (Michael Zaugg, Director), Ottawa Festival Chorus (Laurence Ewashko, Director), The Ewashko Singers (Laurence Ewashko, Director), Choeur de l’Orchestre Métropolitain (Alain Cazes and Pierre Tourville, Directors), and the Boys and Girls Choirs from Christ Church Cathedral, Ottawa (Matthew Larkin and Timothy Piper, Directors) – all under the direction of Duain Wolfe, Chorusmaster.

The performance on June 16 will also feature a very special presentation: her Excellency Michaëlle Jean will present a Governor General’s Performing Arts Award to Maestro Nézet-Séguin. Although the awards were “officially” presented in Ottawa on May 1, Maestro Nézet-Séguin was not able to attend, due to a previous conducting commitment – so a short on-stage ceremony (including a short film, produced by the National Film Board of Canada) will take place prior to the opening of the concert on June 16. For additional information, you can visit the NAC website here.

Hearty, if belated congratulations to the Orchestras Canada members whose recordings have been nominated for Juno Awards this year!  The nominations were announced March 3, and the awards will be presented during Juno week, April 12-18 in St. John’s, Newfoundland.

In the Classical Album of the Year, Large Ensemble or soloist(s) with Large Ensemble Accompaniment category, we salute OC members
Les Violons du Roy – Bartok
Louis Lortie and Orchestre symphonique de Québec - Mendelssohn – Piano Concertos 1 & 2 – Symphony No. 5
National Youth Orchestra of Canada – Selections From the 2009 National Tour
Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Orchestre Métropolitain - Bruckner Symphony No. 8

In the Classical Album of the Year:  Solo or Chamber Ensemble, we honour
I Musici de Montreal – Tchaikovsky: Souvenir de Florence, Quartet No. 1

And, in the Classical Composition of the Year category, we recognize the nomination of Rob Teehan‘s Dreams of Flying, recorded by the National Youth Orchestra of Canada.

For more information on the Juno Awards, you can visit the website here.