Orchestras Canada

Again this December, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra has hit the road for a four-concert Holiday Express Tour, led by resident conductor Richard Lee. The orchestra performed holiday favourites in Steinbach and Beausejour last week, led by resident conductor Richard Lee and featuring soprano Ashley Klassen. This week, guest conductor Yuri Klaz and a quartet of soloists will join the orchestra and a number of specially-prepared local choirs in highlights from Handel’s Messiah. (We imagine the logistical complexities of this, and offer a quiet salute to all those who have made it possible!)

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

We’ve got a pair of recommendations this week.

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.

October 11 to 14, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra presents its third annual Indigenous Festival, exploring new and old music traditions from China, Mexico and North America.

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.

For the sixth year in a row, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra (and its music director, Alexander Mickelthwate) will perform its Up Close and Orchestral concerts in seven different schools, reaching five public school divisions.

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.

The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra has announced a new partnership with the city’s Seven Oaks School Division to launch Manitoba’s first­-ever Sistema-­inspired program. The program – slated to start in October – will include an intensive, free, three­-hour daily program, at which members of the WSO will teach. Their efforts are supported by staff provided by the school division. Speaking about the new program, teacher Kristjanna Oleson (who will be leading the program at Elwick Community School) said, “Our goal is to expose students to musical communities in Winnipeg, to expand their borders and to enrich their lives with meaningful relationships.”

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

Earlier this month, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra held its annual general meeting, where board chair Dorothy Dobbie proudly announced that the WSO not only achieved an excess of revenues over expenses of $119,000 for the season, but also eliminated its accumulated deficit.

“Our music director Alexander Mickelthwate, and executive director Trudy Schroeder, along with all their staff and all the musicians of the WSO, have worked tirelessly to achieve this year’s excellent results,” says the WSO Board President and Chair Dorothy Dobbie. “I thank all of the members of the board who gave generously of their time, talents and treasure to preserve and protect the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. They have made excellent progress in our fundraising and friend-raising efforts, both, and their thoughtful guidance has been an inspiration to me.”

Artistic highlights included the 20th annual WSO New Music Festival, curated by Music Director Alexander Mickelthwate and Composer-in-Residence Vincent Ho, and the orchestra’s first performance in Ottawa in almost 35 years as part of the Prairie Scene Festival in May at the National Arts Centre.

“The development of a healthy, artistically vibrant, fully engaged and financially stable orchestra is a complex process, and there is not one easy answer for rebuilding and growth,” says WSO Executive Director Trudy Schroeder. “They say that it takes a village to raise a child, and the same concept holds true for the diverse kinds of support needed to sustain and nurture a robustly healthy symphony orchestra in our community.”

ADMINISTRATIVE / ADMINISTRATIFS

Edmonton Opera
Director, Fund Development
Application deadline/Date limite: June 15 juin 2011

Orchestra Toronto
Executive Director
Application deadline/Date limite: June 30 juin 2011

Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra
Education Projects Coordinator
Application deadline/Date limite: June 10 juin 2011

AUDITIONS

Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra
Principal Percussion (National)
Application Deadline/Date limite : May 20 mai 2011

Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra
Assistant Principal Cello (National)
Application Deadline/Date limite : May 22 mai 2011

Last week, the Winnipeg Foundation ran a “Ninety Hour Challenge”, in which donors were challenged to make special gifts to the endowment funds of favourite organizations with funds stewarded by the Foundation. Funds donated were then matched by the Winnipeg Foundation. We were delighted to read (on Facebook, where else?) that the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra added almost $15,000 to its endowment fund during the donation blitz. As the WSO noted on the social media site: “We have the most wonderful supporters and we are so grateful for each and every one of you, whether you’ve made a gift or have come to a concert. THANK YOU!”