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

Last week, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra learned that it had been invited to perform at Carnegie Hall, as one of six North American orchestras performing at the 2014 Spring for Music Festival. The WSO will give its first performance in Carnegie Hall since 1979 on May 8, 2014.

S4M began in 2011, and is designed as a celebration of the quality and creativity of North American orchestras. Orchestras are invited to participate on the basis of the imagination and boldness of their proposed programs, as judged by an expert panel of evaluators. The Orchestre symphonique de Montreal closed out the 2011 festival, and the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra will be featured in 2012.

The WSO will perform three works that have also been featured at its annual New Music Festival: Derek Charke’s 13 Inuit Throat Song Games featuring throat singer Tanya Tagaq, WSO Composer-in-Residence Vincent Ho’s The Shaman: Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra featuring Dame Evelyn Glennie as well as R. Murray Schafer’s Symphony No. 1. And, of course, WSO music director Alexander Mickelthwate will conduct.

For more information, please visit springformusic.com.

On March 15, the Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal’s Young Ambassadors Club will present a one-of-a-kind fundraising gala for 350 of Montreal’s young leaders. The event, chaired by Maya Azzi and Winston Chan, marks the opening of Arsenal, a venue set in over 20,000 square feet in a completely renovated former shipyard.

The event unfolds in four stages:
1. Participants get an exclusive tour of the very first exhibit at Arsenal, dedicated to important works from a dozen or so of the foremost Montreal collections. Featured artists include Anselm Kiefer, Irene F. Whittome, Marc Séguin and Carl Bouchard.
2. Participants also take in a discussion between Mr. L. Jacques Ménard, President of BMO Financial Group, Québec, and member of the OSM board of directors, and Mr. Jean-François Bélisle, Director of Arsenal – during which they’ll discuss the business world’s involvement in the arts, and share some leadership lessons.
3. Naturally, there will be a performance by the OSM. This one will be led by Peter Eötvös (former music director of Ensemble intercontemporain) who will conduct Répons by Pierre Boulez and Stravinsky’s The Firebird, right in the exhibition space, with the audience seated all around the orchestra.
4. The evening concludes with a cocktail party, accompanied by renowned DJ Thomas H.

Created at the start of the 2009-2010 season, the OSM’s Young Ambassadors Club was established in order to offer networking activities at OSM concerts, and to develop an audience of young professionals and to expand the growth of the community that sustains the OSM. Funds raised by this gala will help support the OSM’s education activities.

For more information, please visit osm.ca.

Orchestras Canada is implicated in three upcoming events:
February 2 (English), February 6 (French) and February 7 (English), arts researcher Kelly Hill presents a webinar on audiences, markets and engagement in the performing arts. Participation is free for Orchestras Canada members, thanks to the Performing Arts Alliance. To learn more, and to sign up on line, please click here.

March 2-4, we’re co-presenting a workshop designed specifically for small budget orchestras and volunteer presenters of classical music with CCI, the Ontario Presenting Network. Entitled Marketing Classical, the workshop will be led by expert marketers and trainers Lendre Kearns, Judy Harquail and Cheryl Ewing, and the costs are subsidized by the Ontario Arts Investment Fund. For more information, and to register, please click here.

And, of course, Orchestras Canada’s national meetings are taking place in Montreal from May 27-29, with the valuable help of the Orchestre symphonique de Montreal and HEC Montreal, along with our wonderful programming committee. This year, we’re running a parallel stream for education and community engagement staff, too. As they are confirmed, we’re posting logistics and programming details on the OC website, here.

We’re issuing “hold the date” advisories for three upcoming Orchestras Canada learning and networking activities:

1. Webinar on Audiences, Markets and Engagement
Canada’s Performing Arts Alliance is presenting a webinar for performing arts managers and marketers.

Audiences, Markets and Engagement in the Performing Arts
Presenter: Kelly Hill, President, Hill Strategies Research

This webinar will highlight key information on performing arts audiences, marketing and engagement, with an emphasis on research findings that performing arts managers and marketers can apply to their day-to-day work in the sector. The presentation will include information about performing arts attendance, consumer spending, audience motivations and audience engagement. The goal of the session is to leave participants with relevant data that can help them increase the efficiency of their marketing, fundraising and communication endeavours, as well as inspiring participants to find new ways of reaching audiences and sponsors.

The webinar will be delivered three times in English and French:
Thursday, February 2, 13:00 (ET) – English -  Register
Monday, February 6, 13:00 (ET) – French -  Register
Tuesday, February 7, 14:00 (ET) – English -  Register

Cost:
• Registration is free for members of a Performing Arts Alliance association (Canadian Dance Assembly, CAPACOA, Opera.ca, Orchestras Canada, PACT).
• Registration is $25.00 + HST for all other participants.

Kelly Hill’s presentation is funded by the Department of Canadian Heritage, the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council in conjunction with their funding of the Statistical Insights on the Arts series.

2. Workshop on Promotion, Marketing and Audience Development

When? Friday, March 2 (evening) to Sunday, March 4 (noon).

Where? Toronto

What? A workshop designed to help Ontario’s small budget orchestras and volunteer classical music presenters
• diversify and engage audiences
• program with confidence
• sell more tickets

Who’s Putting It On? The workshop is a partnership between Orchestras Canada and CCI – Ontario Presenting Network, with support from the Ontario Arts Investment Fund. Lead presenters are Lendre Kearns, Judy Harquail and Cheryl Ewing – and there will be special guests as well.

Who’s It For? Volunteers and staff from Ontario’s small budget orchestras and volunteer classical music presenting groups. Enrollment will be capped at 50 people, and we’d encourage you to sign up two people from your organization to maximize your learnings!

How Much? Pricing and registration details are TBA, but we’ll keep it reasonable. We’re also working on accessing travel subsidies and great hotel prices for out-of-towners.

How Do I Register? Watch Orchestras Canada’s newsletter & website AND your email for updates.

3. Orchestras Canada National Orchestra Meetings
The program is being planned and logistical details are being sorted out – and we’re getting ever more excited about OC’s National Meetings 2012. They’re in Montreal this year, co-hosted by the Orchestre symphonique de Montreal, and they run from May 27 (mid-day) to May 29 (mid-day). More details will be available by the end of January – watch this space!

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).

As you may have read in a recent issue of Orchestras Canada’s e-newsletter, Orchestra News/Info Orchestres, OC will be holding its national meetings in Montréal from 12 noon, Sunday, May 27 to 12 noon on Tuesday, May 29, 2012 – and we are now looking for volunteers to serve on the programming committee.

The Programming Committee will not only advise on potential content for the meeting, but also make decisions on:

• Resource allocation, within a budget framework approved by the OC board; and
• The meeting agenda, incorporating OC’s Annual General Meeting, learning opportunities, peer discussion, and social and artistic activities.

Committee members are expected to use their personal contacts and knowledge to assist in securing speakers for the meeting.The committee will work in close consultation with the Executive Director, and will have the support of the OC staff team. The committee’s work will be coordinated with that of a logistics team, responsible for securing meeting space, accommodations, simultaneous interpretation etcetera. To facilitate grant proposals and marketing for the meeting, the committee is to have completed its mandate by February 1, 2012.

While the event is being hosted by the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, we very much hope that the final program will reflect the richness and diversity of the region’s orchestras – from chamber orchestras to regional professional orchestras. Accordingly, we particularly invite people from Montréal-area orchestras to step forward!

If you would like to nominate yourself – or you know someone that you would like to nominate – we’d welcome your interest. Please send an email to OC Executive Director Katherine Carleton, and let her know that you are interested in serving.

Orchestras Canada has announced the dates and location of our 2012 national orchestras meetings. The meetings will run from 12 noon on May 27 to 12 noon on May 29, and will be hosted by the Orchestre symphonique de Montreal. We are currently recruiting for program and logistics committees, and if you are interested in assisting, we’d love to hear from you! Please contact OC Executive Director Katherine Carleton – by email at katherine@oc.ca – to learn more.

The Sudbury Symphony has just announced the appointment of Erika Nielsen as its new principal cellist and teacher at the SSO School of Music. She’s a graduate of both Queen’s & the Glenn Gould School, and she’s performed with chamber ensembles, orchestras AND Kanye West!

The Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal has announced that Marie-Josée Desrochers has accepted the role of Director, Strategic Planning and International Affairs. In this newly created position, she will lead the OSM’s artistic department and will oversee artistic planning, partnership development at the local and international levels, recording and distribution contracts, and the development of the OSM’s strategy for international outreach. Most recently, she has headed the orchestra’s marketing and public relations department. In light of Ms Desrocher’s new role, Claudine Ferragut willtake over as Director of Marketing for the orchestra, and a search is now underway for a Director of Public Relations.

Amir Ali Alibhai, who has for the last 3 years led the Vancouver Alliance for Arts and Culture, has announced that he will be leaving that position to take up a consulting role with the new Aga Khan Museum in Toronto.

Congratulations to Toronto arts consultant and long-time cultural manager Jane Marsland, who has been awarded the Rita Davies and Margo Bindhardt Cultural Leadership Award at the 2011 Toronto Arts Foundation awards.

Earlier this week, Martha Durdin, Chair of the Ontario Arts Council (OAC) announced the appointment of Peter Caldwell as Director and CEO of the Ontario Arts Council. He succeeds John Brotman who is retiring after ten years at the council’s helm. Speaking about the appointment, Ms. Durdin said, “Peter impressed us with his personal experience as an artist, his firm understanding of the arts community and the leadership skills that he brought to the remarkable transformations at OCAD University over the past several years. He takes over an organization that has not only thrived in the last decade but which, under John’s guidance, reflects the growth and diversity of Ontario’s arts community.” A career-long arts manager, Mr. Caldwell served as Vice President, Finance & Administration at OCAD University (formerly Ontario College of Art & Design) from 1994 to April 2011. He begins his new role at the OAC in February 2012.