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.

The festival is a typically intrepid NMF mix, marrying outstanding local and Canadian artists with distinguished international visitors. Here’s a quick rundown:

Local stars: the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, led by Alexander Mickelthwate; the Canadian Mennonite University Chorus; Prairie Voices; WSO principal violist Daniel Scholz (featured in Giya Kancheli’s Styx); Groundswell Ensemble; and composers Vincent Ho, Jim Hiscott, Gordon Fitzell, Michael Matthews, Diana Macintosh, and Jesse Plessis (a student at Brandon University who recently won the Canadian Music Centre’s Emerging Composer award).

Canadian guests: cellist Shauna Rolston (performing a new concerto by Vincent Ho for carbon fibre cello and orchestra), dance troupe La La La Human Steps, composers Alexina Louie and Tim Hecker.

International visitors: violinist Jennifer Koh, composers Kaija Saariaho, Daniel Bjarnason, Nico Muhly, Valgeir Sigurdsson, Gavin Bryars, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Atli Heimir Sveinsson

Venues: Centennial Concert Hall, Westminster United Church, Winnipeg Art Gallery

In line with Glenn Buhr’s long ago comment that “the New Music Festival is better than Christmas: it lasts longer, and it’s way cheaper”, Festival passes are a distinct bargain: $99 (regular) $89 (senior) $59 (student). For more information please visit newmusicfestival.ca.

AUDITIONS

These performances are presented in partnership with the Steinbach Arts Council, Sunrise School Division, Virden Community Arts Council, and Southern Manitoba Concert Series.

AUDITIONS

Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra
Section Second Violin
Assistant Principal Cello
Second Bassoon
Application deadline/Date limite : February 1 février 2012

Saskatoon Symphony
Section Violin (3 positions)
Section Viola (2 positions)
Section Bass (1 year replacement)
Application deadline/Date limite : December 2 décembre 2011

Kindred Spirits Orchestra
Associate Principal Bassoon (pro bono)
Application deadline/Date limite : January 31 janvier 2012

ADMINISTRATIVE / ADMINISTRATIF

Toronto Symphony Orchestra
Assistant Artistic Administrator
Application deadline/Date limite : November 15 novembre 2011

The first item is a report on the education programs of eight Canadian orchestras – the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, National Arts Centre Orchestra, Orchestra London, Ottawa Symphony Orchestra, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. The evaluation was undertaken by Measured Outcome, an organization that undertakes collaborative, web-based research on the impact of charitable programs, and the process gave voice to the experiences of students, teachers and orchestral musicians involved in the programs.

Key learnings?
99% of participating adults and students found the programs valuable;
96% plan to return in a subsequent year;
61% of young people get their first (and only!) exposure to symphonic performance through a school visit, compared with 24% who attend with family and 15% who attend with friends;
Only 62% of the participating teachers make use of the Study Guide material provided, and of those, only 17% (or 10.5% of the total number of participating teachers) make use of the podcasts provided;
Teachers, students and performers consistently report that rowdy behavior by certain attendees detracts from the overall experience;
There are a number of opportunities to strengthen these already-valued programs.

The report was the subject of Orchestras Canada’s first webinar for the 2011-12 season, an event that brought together over 20 representatives from member orchestras from Victoria to Halifax. We are committed to continuing the discussion with our member orchestras, with the goal of strengthening their programming and their opportunities for collaboration.

You can view the report here.

Our second recommendation? A major new research report on arts engagement, commissioned by the Ontario Arts Council, and undertaken by Alan S. Brown of Wolf Brown and Ipsos-Reid. The report builds on Brown’s existing body of work on arts engagement, and traces the connection between an individual’s “personal artistic practice” (be it listening to music on the radio, selecting CDs to purchase or tracks to download, taking music lessons, interpreting the work of others while performing as a soloist or in an ensemble, or creating new works of music) and their attendance at live performances. There are some particularly compelling findings about the levels of cultural participation of Ontarians from diverse cultural groups.

And we can’t resist leaving you with this inspiring statement:

“Overall, 95% of all respondents are interested in doing more arts activities than they presently do.”

You can find the report here.

The festival includes a free performance at the Forks, a wonderfully diverse youth night at the Pantages Playhouse Theatre, and A Night of Song and Dance at the Centennial Concert Hall, presented as part of the orchestra’s Masterworks series. Guests at this latter event include Camerata Nova, vocalist Cory Campbell, pipa player Wu Man, Odette Heyn-Projects and Bolero Dance Theatre – and the program will be conducted by WSO music director Alexander Mickelthwate. For more information about the festival, please visit www.wso.ca.

The program introduces students in grades 9-12 to orchestral music in a unique, up close and personal way and also features the winner of the WSO’s annual Student Soloist Competition. This year, flautist Jaena Kim will join the orchestra to perform the final section of Doppler’s Fantasie Pastorale Hongroise Op.26.

Voluntary students will have the opportunity to make their “WSO debut” as either the guest conductor during Bizet’s Toreador March from Carmen or as the “anvil pounding” guest artist during Verdi’s Anvil Chorus.

Participating students will also enjoy – free of charge – the WSO’s first Soundbytes concert of the 2011-12 season on November 26: Rock Owes the Classics. A leading Canadian rock historian, John Einarson, will take the audience on a guided tour of classical music chosen by renowned rock groups like the Beatles, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Procol Harum and more.

For more information about the WSO’s plans, please visit cbc.ca.