AUDITIONS

Bryan Croft, who has served as general manager of the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra for the last eight years, is moving on. In February, Bryan will begin work as managing director of the Toronto-based Artists’ Health Centre Foundation – and will also be stepping down from the Orchestras Canada board. We wish Bryan all the best in his new position.

The RSO’s new program is entitled The Piapot Project, and it’s a multi-faceted effort to engage students at the Payepot School in making, understanding and hearing music, in close partnership with Piapot First Nation Chief Jeremy Fourhourns and the Band Council. The program includes weekly classes in music history, theory and performance, led by the RSO’s concertmaster, Eduard Minevich, and Ramses Calderon; regular trips to RSO concerts, at which the students can go backstage and meet musicians; and concerts by RSO musicians at Payepot School throughout the year. As well, 2012 marks the first year of a new Piapot Festival – a free one-day event featuring Regina Symphony Orchestra musicians, the “Amadeus Youth Orchestra” from Regina, and young musicians and dancers from other First Nations communities. In addition, the festival will offer storytelling, visual art displays, a Hip Hop workshop, face painting, and a kids’ area. At the end of the festival, all artists and musicians will band together to deliver an enormous, awe-inspiring collective performance.

The Regina Symphony Orchestra intends to use the Piapot Project as a model for music education programs at other First Nations schools in Saskatchewan. The Education and Outreach program initiatives also include over 40 concerts in Regina schools, a rural Saskatchewan education and concert program, and a “Build the Band” program at Campbell Collegiate.

Meanwhile, the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra has just launched a new partnership with the LINKages Society of Alberta in a new project that will connect more than 400 Calgary junior and senior high school students with senior citizens through the shared experience of music.

According to the CPO’s media release, “LINKages promotes friendships and understanding between generations by pairing isolated seniors with teenagers in thoughtful programs that encourage intergenerational communication. These meaningful activities provide companionship and entertainment for both seniors and students alike while also instilling the values of volunteering in young people.”

Through this partnership, the CPO and LINKages will present ten performances by a pair of CPO musicians, with each presentation held at a different seniors’ residence or activity centre throughout the city. Each program will be attended by the seniors of the venue and group of students from the participating junior or senior high school.

“LINKages Society is excited about the partnership with the CPO,” says Debra Armstrong, that group’s Executive Director. “Young people are still developing their musical appreciation and exposing them to these opportunities opens dialogue to the historical significance of the times; from songs of the War, to the songs of protest during the 60’s, to present pop culture icons. What a treat for all ages!”

The Regina Symphony Orchestra has announced a career transition for its long-time and well-loved concertmaster Eduard Minevich. After 13 years with the orchestra (as well as 10, 11 and 6 years each as concertmaster with the KW Symphony, Orchestra London and the Leningrad Concert Orchestra respectively), Minevich will step down as RSO concertmaster at the end of the 2011-12 season – but he will stay on with the organization, leading its new Piapot project (through which he’s teaching violin to young students, arranging music and performing as soloist at the Piapot First Nation) and exploring opportunities to expand the RSO’s education programs into more communities in future seasons.

Congratulations to Toronto artist manager Ann Summers Dossena, who has been awarded the Manager of the Year Award at the annual Awards Ceremony and Luncheon of NAPAMA – the North American Association of Performing Arts Managers and Agents – and APAP – the Association of Performing Arts Presenters. The presentation was made by Robert Baird, Toronto artist manager and president of NAPAMA, at the Hilton New York. From her 1958 start in New York, through her years in Rome (1968-1977) to her Toronto base since 1977, Ann Summers Dossena has been a tireless advocate for the arts for more than five decades.

The Peterborough Symphony Orchestra, Market Hall, and the Kawartha Youth Orchestra have named conductor Dina Gilbert as RBC Emerging Artist for 2012, under a newly created emerging artist apprenticeship program. Ms Gilbert holds a doctorate in orchestral conducting from the Université de Montréal. The program is a collaboration between three community arts partners, Market Hall, the Kawartha Youth Orchestra and Peterborough Symphony Orchestra. Working under the guidance of PSO and KYO music director Michael Newnham, Ms Gilbert will receive an intensive period of mentoring and gain insight into the role played by a conductor and music director of community and youth orchestras.

Before the holidays, the Regina Symphony Orchestra entered its Twitter page (@ReginaSymphony) into the socialfresh.com ‘Top 10 Twitter Brands of 2011’ promotion. This promotion saw over 150 entries and although the RSO didn’t make it into the top 10, they were chosen as one of the 24 finalists alongside such notable brands as Starbucks, Pepsi and Blackberry Help!

The South Saskatchewan Youth Orchestra finished its 2010-2011 season with a concert at Knox-Metropolitan Church in Regina on June 13, 2011. An enthusiastic crowd of 400 was in attendance to hear works by Bruch and Beethoven. A highlight of the evening was Bruch’s Violin concerto in G-minor performed by SSYO concerto competition winner Jessica Ramsay.

The 2011-2012 season will mark the 35th year of the SSYO, and the 24th season for Artistic Director and Conductor, Alan Denike. A total of 63 young musicians will be playing in the orchestra this year. As an indication of the high standard the group has reached, they will be performing with the Regina Symphony Orchestra again this year. String players with the SSYO will take part in the Saskatchewan Orchestra Association Honour Orchestra, and the SSYO has also been invited to return to the annual youth orchestra workshop in Banff, along with the musicians of the Calgary and Edmonton Youth Orchestras.

For more information on the SSYO, please visit their website at ssyo.ca.

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.

The Board of Directors of Mississauga’s Living Arts Centre has announced the appointment of Ron Lenyk as Chief Executive Officer of the Centre effective September 1, 2011. A former publisher of the Mississauga News, Mr. Lenyk succeeds Gerry Townsend in the role.

The Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières has announced the appointment of lawyer Jean-Éric Guindon (from the firm Bélanger Sauvé) to the role of Board Secretary with the orchestra. He succeeds Mme Suzanne Michaud in the role.

Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal
OSM Standard Life Competition Coordinator / Coordonnateur du Concours OSM Standard Life
Application Deadline / Date Limite: August 5 août 2011

AUDITIONS

Regina Symphony Orchestra
Assistant Principal Trumpet
Assistant Principal Viola
Assistant Principal Bassoon
Utility & Per Service positions, all sections
Application Deadline / Date Limite: August 28 août 2011