Orchestras Canada

Congratulations to the young winners of the 28th annual Concours de l’Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivieres : grand prize winner, flutist Ariane Brisson, and second place winners, clarinettist Éric Abramovitz and percussionist Charles-Alexis Côté (the latter also awarded the People’s Choice award).

Congratulations are also due to eight young classical or jazz musicians who will be taking part in “My First NAC”, a free concert in the Studio of the National Arts Centre on May 29. They’ve all been touched by one or more of the NAC’s artist training programs (from the Manhattan on the Rideau masterclasses, ‘Musically Speaking’ pre-show chats and concerts, Family Adventures with the NAC Orchestra, the Summer Music Institute Young Artists Program, to the Debut Series), and each will be awarded a $1,000 Astral Artist Prize. The young performers are Matthew Chalmers, jazz vibraphone/drums; Timothy Chooi, violin; Lara Deutsch, flute; Aidan Ferguson, mezzo-soprano; Emilie Grimes, viola; Alexander Malikov, piano; Simon Millerd, jazz trumpet; and Dan Reynolds, jazz piano.

Orchestra Toronto has announced the winner of the 2012 Marta Hidy Prize: fifteen-year-old cellist Daniel Hass of Toronto. The prize is named for the Canadian violinist Marta Hidy, whose legacy as a solo artist, orchestral and chamber musician, conductor, teacher and music professor it honours. Daniel is a student of David Hetherington, and is principal cellist of both the Royal Conservatory of Music’s Academy Chamber Orchestra and the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra.

The National Youth Orchestra of Canada has announced its Composer-in-Residence for 2012 : James O’Callaghan. Mr. O’Callaghan, who was also selected for the Canadian League of Composers/Canadian Music Centre’s inaugural Composer Mentoring Project in 2011, will compose an original work for the NYOC’s 2013 North American tour.

After an emotional series of farewell concerts, the Windsor Symphony Orchestra has named departing Music Director John Morris Russell as its Conductor Laureate, the first time in the orchestra’s 65-year history when that title has been awarded. Speaking about the appointment, Maestro Russell said “I am deeply honoured to receive this title and look forward with joy and affection to many years of great music making to come.”

It’s been a busy couple of weeks since we last reported on season launches – and we’re pleased to catch up on the latest:

The Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières, under music director Jacques Lacombe, presents a nine-concert program (plus gala fundraising concert) during its 35th anniversary season. Highlights include the premiere of a new work by André Gagnon and Michel Tremblay, based on letters from Gabrielle Roy to her mother, and performed by Marie-Nicole Lemieux with the orchestra.

I Musici de Montréal released details of its first full season under the leadership of artistic director and principal conductor Jean-Marie Zeitouni – 37 concerts in venues ranging from the Maison symphonique to the Salle Bourgie, featuring emerging Canadian talent, long-time artistic partners, and first-time artistic collaboration with Les Violons du Roy and the choir of the Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal.

The Orchestre symphonique de Montréal has launched its 2012-13 season – its fifth under Music Director Kent Nagano – and highlights include not only large-scale projects (opening the season with Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 and closing it with Honegger’s Joan of Arc at the Stake), but also the debut of a new chamber choir (under the leadership of Andrew Megill), twelve Montreal premieres and three world premieres, including a new Haydn-inspired work by DJ Champion.

The Greater Toronto Philharmonic Orchestra has launched its 2012-13 season, a five-concert program that, consistent with the GTPO’s policy, is led by an array of guest conductors, each of whom brings a slightly different flavour to their chosen program.

The Victoria Symphony celebrates Music Director Tania Miller’s 10th season with the orchestra with a “blockbuster array of repertoire and stars”, including performances by James Ehnes and Chantal Kreviazuk, Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, Bartok’s Miraculous Mandarin, and a New Music Festival featuring the music of John Cage.

AUDITIONS

Toronto Symphony Orchestra
Substitute/Extra Violins
Application deadline/Date limite : May 1 mai 2012

Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières
Principal Percussion / Percussion solo
Section Violin I / Violon I de section
Application deadline/Date limite : May 12 mai 2012

Congratulations to Éric Abramovitz (clarinet), Ariane Brisson (flute), and Charles-Alexis Côté (percussion), finalists in the recent young performers competition held by the Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières. The final round will be held in May, at the time of the orchestra’s gala performance of Carmina Burana.

The Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra is delighted to announce that Mélanie Léonard, its Resident Conductor for the past three seasons, has been appointed to the position of Associate Conductor. Her new title will take effect this September, at the commencement of the 2012/2013 Season. As stated in the CPO’s media release, “Ms. Léonard’s impassioned love of music, her charming stage presence, and her rapport with musicians and audiences have become her signature style.”

Every once in a while, the media releases that flood into our inbox at Orchestra News start to form into a pattern. And so it is this week, with reminders of major concerts in Trois-Rivières and Montréal: post-romantic repertoire is alive and well in La Belle Province!

Sunday, March 18, the Orchestre Métropolitain (led by music director Yannick Nezet-Seguin) performs both the adagio from Mahler’s Symphony No. 10 and—rather remarkably–the Montréal premiere of Alexander Zemlinsky’s Lyric Symphony (1923) at the Maison symphonique. The latter work features soprano Angela Meade and baritone Brett Polegato.

March 17, the Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières (led by its music director, Jacques Lacombe) presents a performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 9 – a work the orchestra describes as an “expression of love for life, complete with reflections on mortality, heroism, the necessity of fighting against tyranny, and the thirst for freedom.” The concert also marks the conclusion of the OSTR’s work with thirty-four students at Shawinigan’s école Immaculée-Conception, who have been working since January with the orchestra. Each student has been twinned with an orchestra member, the class has had a number of visits from orchestra musicians and staff, and they also attended a rehearsal of the Mahler symphony in Montreal.

This weekend, l’Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières holds its 28th annual young performers competition, this year focusing on winds and percussion. The elimination round features thirteen young instrumentalists (flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, trombone and percussion), all vying for a fine array of scholarships and performing opportunities. The jury for the competition is chaired by OSTR music director Jacques Lacombe, and includes Chantal Bélisle, Paul Fortin and Jean Letarte.
For more information, please visit ostr.ca.

On Saturday, 28 January, the Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières – led by Music Director Jacques Lacombe – will give the first-ever Canadian performance of Kurt Weill’s Symphony No. 1, on a program of music by Weill, Hetu, and Gershwin, featuring the singer Fabiola Toupin. Intriguingly, the program is sponsored by the Kurt Weill Foundation, and it will also include a photo-montage by Janet Lacombe.

You can learn more about the program via a short video clip hosted by Maestro Lacombe here.

We’ve recently posted reader reviews of 2 recent book of potential interest to administrators and board members of Canadian orchestras on the OC blog – Jim Collins’s Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos and Luck – Why Some Thrive Despite Them All and Michael M. Kaiser’s Leading Roles – 50 Questions Every Arts Board Should Ask. Our hearty thanks to reviewers Thérèse Boutin of the Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières (Collins); Natalie Williams Calhoun of the PEI Symphony Orchestra (Collins); Paul Inksetter of the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra (Kaiser); and Catherine Molina of the Guelph Symphony Orchestra (Kaiser) for their work! You can check out their reviews here.

The Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières has announced its 28th annual young performers competition, in 2012 devoted to winds and percussion. Applications are due February 13, and the short-listed competitors will be invited to Trois-Rivières for the finals March 9-11. There’s a distinguished panel of judges, led by OSTR music director Jacques Lacombe, and significant prizes (including the opportunity to perform with the orchestra at its May concert). For more information, please visit ostr.ca.

The Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières has recently launched a new education program, in partnership with the Commission scolaire de l’Énergie, and – in particular – the teachers and students at Immaculée-Conception in Shawinigan. Through the program, 30 grades 5 and 6 students will be twinned with orchestra members over a period of two and a half months, and they’ll participate in a series of activities (including sessions with members of the orchestra’s management and production teams) that will culminate in attendance at rehearsals and a concert by the orchestra. Some of the sessions will be “live” at the school, and others will take place via intranet. It’s hoped that this pilot project can be repeated in one or more of the three school districts in the orchestra’s catchment area – whether they’re urban or rural, French or English.