Orchestras Canada

Again this week, we honour the programmers who successfully balance tradition and innovation in their seasonal concerts. Here’s a round-up of interesting-sounding programs from across the country:

December 15, 16 and 17, I Musici de Montreal (under the guest leadership of harpsichordist Joel Thiffault) presents a program of baroque and contemporary repertoire reflective of the season, as part of the orchestra’s series at Ogilvy’s. Among other delights, the program includes “Winter” from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, a recent work by Michael Oesterle, and William Boyce’s Ode for the New Year 1756.

This Friday (December 16), the National Arts Centre Orchestra partners with composer/broadcaster/performer Andrew Craig, the Faith Chorale, and an impressive array of soloists that includes Jackie Richardson to present a Gospel Christmas Celebration.

This Friday night and Saturday afternoon (December 16 and 17), the Orchestre symphonique de Québec (led by Stéphane Laforest) presents La Grande Virée de Noel, featuring Gregory Charles, Marie-Josée Lord, Nicolas Pellerin and les Grands Hurleurs, and seven choirs from the region. The youth-oriented performances take place at the Pavillon de la Jeunesse at ExpoCité, and features not only seasonal carols but also a giant Karaoke and dance party with DJ Adam Doubleyou.

Saturday night (December 17), the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra (led by music director James Sommerville) presents a pair of seasonal programs featuring the internationally-renowned Toronto Mass Choir. There’s a shorter 2 p.m. concert, designed for families, as well as a full-length evening concert intended for an older audience.

December 17, the Lethbridge Symphony presents a traditional Christmas program with a twist: this year’s guest performers include not only the Bridge Bells bell ringing ensemble, but also Lethbridge’s MP (and a former member of the LSO violin section) Jim Hillyer, who will re-join the violin section for the evening. Speaking about the experience, Mr. Hillyer said, “I am looking forward to playing with the symphony once again. Over the years when I performed with the LSO I felt privileged to be able to get an inside seat for some amazing world class performances,” noting Elgar’s Cello Concerto, Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, the Mozart Requiem, and Handel’s Messiah as particular highlights.

December 17 and 18, the Kamloops Symphony (led by Music Director Bruce Dunn) presents a pair of performances encapsulating what it describes as “a celebration of community that provides all the required ingredients for comfort and joy – stories, songs, young performers, warmth and fun!” Featured performers include soprano Carlene Wiebe (a member of the faculty of the Kamloops Symphony Music School), violist Madeleine Haynes (2011 winner of the Kamloops Symphony Award at the Kamloops Festival of the Performing Arts), baritone Aaron Durand, the KSO Chorus, and a number of students from the Kamloops Symphony Music School.

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!

Congratulations to the Orchestre symphonique de Québec, which has recently announced the appointment of Fabien Gabel as its new music director. Maestro Gabel succeeds Yoav Talmi, and will begin his duties with the OSQ in the fall of 2012. A native of France, he is a regular guest conductor with a number of outstanding European orchestras, and has made an award-winning recording with the Orchestre national de France and Marie-Nicole Lemieux. As exciting as this news is for the OSQ, we were also intrigued by the decidedly “social media” approach that the OSQ took to launching the new maestro: first with a “days, hours, minutes” count-down to the announcement on a dedicated microsite, then with a truly beautiful video that introduced us to the new maestro, and finally with a short questionnaire intended to inform Maestro Gabel about his new audience, new orchestra and new community. You can find it all here.

The Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières has announced a five-year contract renewal for its busy Music Director, Jacques Lacombe. Speaking about the contract renewal, Maestro Lacombe said, “I’ve been so welcomed by my hometown orchestra, and have had such a vote of confidence from this wonderful musical family, I consider myself fortunate to continue this relationship. By sharing our talents and our energies, we have created an orchestra that we can all be proud of – and we’ve only just begun our work together!”

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).

The OSQ has recently announced details of its 2011-12 partnership with the Société pour les arts en milieux de santé (SAMS). SAMS, which works to improve the quality of life and reduce the isolation felt by older adults in seniors’ homes and long-term care facilities, has presented almost 1000 concerts for more than 40000 people since it launched in October 2009. Speaking about the concerts, Sophie Galaise, the director general of the OSQ said, “We rejoice in a collaboration that celebrates both the benefits of exposure to music and the many roles that a professional orchestra can play in Quebec.”

Last week, the Orchestre symphonique de Québec (OSQ) announced the terms of a new, six-year agreement with the Association des musiciens et des musiciennes de l’OSQ (AMMOSQ). The new contract – a portion of which is retroactive – covers terms between the two parties until 2015.

“We had the challenge of negotiating an agreement that would both preserve the financial stability of the OSQ and recognize the excellence of the orchestra’s 66 musicians,” said Mme Sophie Galaise, the OSQ’s directrice generale. Among the features of the new contract:

• An increase in work weeks, from 33 to 35;
• An additional 2.8 vacation weeks;
• Salary increases of 7.39 % over the 6 years of the contract;
• An 1% increase to the OSQ’s pension contribution;
• Revised pay scales and hours of work.

At the same time, the OSQ also confirmed the terms of a new collective agreement with l’Union des artistes (UDA), scheduled to run from 2011 to 2016, and covering its contractual relationships with the actors, singers, professional choristers and directors who participate in the OSQ’s programming.

In its announcement, the OSQ highlighted the considerable financial progress it has made in recent seasons. Since 2007, the OSQ has eliminated three-quarters of a $1 million accumulated debt.

For more information about the OSQ, please visit osq.org.

While not every season opening can be as spectacular as that of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal’s launch of the new Maison symphonique last week, many Canadian orchestras are launching their 2011-12 seasons with particular flair. Here are a few highlights.

The National Arts Centre Orchestra, led by special guest Peter Oundjian, presented a free outdoor concert of Hope and Remembrance, starting at 8:46 a.m. on Sunday, September 11. The program – which included works by Mozart, Barber, Elgar and Brahms – was designed to “ honour every person affected on that terrible day, including all military and civilian personnel who have displayed great courage over the past decade.”

The Orchestre symphonique de Québec launches its 110th season tonight – 14 September – with a program that features OSQ associate artist Alain Lefèvre and guest conductor Rossen Milanov, in works by Mendelssohn, Rachmaninoff and Dvořák. In honour of the 40th anniversary of the Grand Théâtre de Québec, the opening festivities also include a simultaneous outdoor screening of the concert, plus pre-concert talk, plus a special intermission performance on an outdoor stage by M. Lefèvre of the solo piano version of Andre Mathieu’s Concerto de Québec.

On Saturday, September 17 the Regina Symphony Orchestra kicks off its 2011-12 season with an Opening Night Gala and Concert – an event that combines music and fundraising in grand style. The Gala marks the kick-off of the new RSO Education & Outreach Fund, and the concert features the startlingly gifted teenage piano virtuoso Jan Lisiecki in a program that includes music by Chopin, Brahms and the world premiere of a new work by Regina composer, Matthew McLellan.

Last week, the Orchestre symphonique de Québec announced its 2011-12 season, a season that features the orchestra’s first-ever Associate Artist, Alain Lefèvre, new series formats, new presentation formats, new pricing – and a diverse repertoire, too. As with any major orchestra’s season, there is far too much here to list in detail – but we’ll highlight a few things that struck us.

• The role of Associate Artist Alain Lefèvre: following the lead of such orchestras as the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the OSQ has appointed an associate artist, Alain Lefevre, to play a number of different roles with the orchestra, starting in the 2011-12 season. Over the three years of his contract, he will perform as soloist, play a lead role in the orchestra’s education programs (among other things, visiting secondary schools, and serving as mentor to outstanding young artists in the region), and serving as a creative resource, helping to promote new and existing Canadian work.
• The use of symbols in the brochure to classify each concerts’ intended audiences, ranging from «connaisseurs » through ‘novices », « family » « the curious » and « all ». If you click on « your » symbol on the OSQ’s website, you get a customized calendar of upcoming concerts that meet your needs.

The Orchestre symphonique de Quebec made a number of announcements during its season launch on March 16 – and not all of these announcements pertained to the artistic programming plans for 2011-12, either.

We were particularly taken by the orchestra’s announcement of a Sustainable Development Policy and Plan – something that, to our knowledge, is unique in Canada. In the media release about the new plan, the orchestra has publicly committed itself to the following principals – presented verbatim:

Encourage access to symphonic music so that everyone, no matter what their social or economic or background, can benefit from it;
• Be a participatory organization oriented toward the community in order to take into account the community’s concerns in the way it conducts business;
• Safeguard and promote the cultural heritage to allow future generations to benefit from it on the same level as present generations;
• Foster a healthy, stimulating and welcoming work environment so that work is enjoyable and the atmosphere is always positive;
• Consume in a responsible manner so as to minimize the social and environmental impact of the OSQ’s purchases;
• Be a promoter of sustainable development and heighten the awareness of all parties involved concerning the benefits of such an approach;
• Reduce its ecological footprint in order to minimize its impact on the environment.

The Orchestra acknowledges that respecting the principles of sustainable development is a factor contributing to the success of organizations fostering the full development of everyone’s ability and potential. Already, the OSQ is committed to providing leadership and innovation in sustainable development among its employees, business partners and the general public.

The OSQ worked with Roche ltée, Groupe-conseil on the development of the plan – and we look forward to reporting on its implementation in the months and years to come!