The National Arts Centre Orchestra has, from its conception, had a mandate beyond Ottawa, a mandate to serve all Canadians from coast to coast to coast. The key national stages for the NAC Orchestra have been broadcasting, recording and touring, to which has now been added a significant presence on the internet. As part of the national mandate the NAC Orchestra has always been committed to nurturing and presenting great Canadian performers. We hear from Angela Hewitt, Jon Kimura Parker and...

The return of the NAC Orchestra to stability and health coincides with the arrival of a superstar violinist/conductor, and a man with a huge vision for expansion and education. Pinchas Zukerman pushes the organization to a larger greatness and a new CEO, Peter Herrendorf, and Board Chair David Leighton, help Pinchas achieve his dreams. The players, the audience, and a wave of young performers, composers and conductors all benefit. We’ll hear the singular voice and personality Pinchas...

Through much of the 1990’s, the NAC Orchestra was led by the baroque and classical specialist from England, Trevor Pinnock. This was a time of continued financial challenges for the NAC, but Trevor Pinnock was not only a superb musician, but a man of great character and helped heal the ravages of the late 1980’s. The NAC Orchestra also shows its flexibility as gifted and colourful Principal Guest Conductor Franz Paul Decker leads them into the territory of Richard Strauss, Paul Hindemith,...

After 13 years under Bernardi, the NAC Orchestra’s new leader was another Italian: Franco Mannino. Where Bernardi had been all northern Italy - cold blue light, Mannino was all southern Italy - red hot light. Listen to the smiles that come into the voices of those who remember Mannino. Then a darkness descends on the NAC as financial woes threaten the orchestra and its ambitious programs, and the orchestra goes on strike. The young Polish Israel conductor, Gabriel Chmura, succeeds...

The National Arts Centre Orchestra was born in the cultural euphoria of the 1960’s, an off shoot of a bold Centennial Year project for our nation’s capital. Not only did Ottawa get its first arts centre complex, it acquired a world class orchestra almost instantly. Meet the bold and visionary men who created the NAC and the orchestra. Hear from Music Director Mario Bernardi and from players and music lovers alike who remember those early days, and hear excerpts from the orchestra’s audio...

Karina Canellakis is the newly appointed Chief Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra in Amsterdam, beginning in the 19/20 season. Winner of the 2016 Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award, Karina is internationally acclaimed for her emotionally charged performances, technical command and interpretive depth. She made her European conducting debut in 2015 with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe in Graz, Austria, replacing the late Nikolaus Harnoncourt, returning the following...

“Every time a child passed through the station, the child wanted to stop, and every time, the adult with them pulled them along on their way.” Sean Rice interviews author Kathy Stinson, illustrator Dušan Petričić and composer Anne Dudley who all had a hand in creating the music performed by the NAC Orchestra’s telling of The Man With The Violin in December 2017. The book and the music were inspired by the real-life story of world-renown violinist Joshua Bell and the National Post’s experiment...

Natasha Gauthier of Artsfile.ca interviews pianist Alice Sara Ott and conductor Eivind Gullberg Jensen who performed the Grieg Piano Concerto together with the NAC Orchestra, at the NAC, in January 2018. Join them as they talk about personal firsts, world travels, and the whirlwind life of a musician.

Sean Rice, second clarinetist of the NAC Orchestra, interviews the five apprentices who participated in the NAC's annual Institute for Orchestral Studies in the fall of 2017. They were: Alexander Volkov, violin Gabrielle Bouchard, violin Alisa Klebanov, viola Grace Sommer, cello Talia Hatcher, double bass The Institute for Orchestral Studies (IOS) is an apprenticeship program designed to prepare highly talented young musicians towards successful orchestral careers. It was...

Portuguese conductor Joana Carneiro, a well-travelled artist, talks with Sean Rice about her first time with the Pina Bausch dance company and with the NAC Orchestra, all in the same week in September 2017.

Sean Rice interviewed the NAC Orchestra’s principal oboe Chip Hamann about his new album, a two-disc album that was released in June 2017. It was the first classical recording at the Isabel Bader Centre in Kingston. What a fantastic and incredible hall to record! The double-cd set is called Canadian Works for Oboe and Piano, a collaboration with Ottawa pianist Fred Lacroix. It all started with John Burge’s Sonata Breve No. 4 for oboe and piano, composed in 2012. Fred Lacroix was also...

Robert Chafe is a 2010 Governor General Award recipient for his play, Afterimage. His extensive body of work also includes such plays as Place of First Light, Charismatic Death Scenes, Belly Up, Emptygirl, Oil and Water, Butler's Marsh, and Tempting Providence. Butler's Marsh and Tempting Providence also earned Robert a 2004 Governor General Award nomination. Robert is Artistic Director for the company, Artistic Fraud, based in St. John's, and he collaborates quite frequently with our head...

Principal Bassist, Joel Quarrington, joins us to talk about his brand new solo album, Schubert: An die Musik, that he recorded with Canadian pianist, David Jalbert. We discuss his love of the music that he recorded and his album release at this year's Double Bass Convention in Ithaca, NY.

Maestro Alexander Shelley shares his thoughts on the National Arts Centre Orchestra's 2017-18 opening festival of music, Ideas of North - featuring an array of Scandinavian composers and performers, including many of Sibelius' symphonies and tone poems. Principal Guest Conductor, John Storgårds, will perform Kaiji Saariaho's Violin Concerto and Guest Conductor Hannu Lintu joins Maestros Shelley and Storgårds on the podium for the series of concerts.

In this bilingual panel discussion on Creation and Collaboration that preceded the world premiere of ENCOUNT3RS (April 20-22, 2017), animator Catherine Clark speaks with the six Canadian artists involved in this historic NAC dance-music commission celebrating Canada 150. Following a discussion between Executive Producer of Dance Cathy Levy and Music Director Alexander Shelley in 2015, choreographer Jean Grand-Maître (Alberta Ballet) and composer Andrew Staniland; choreographer Emily Molnar...

Sean Rice and Alexander Shelley talk about the "Soul Stirring Music" coming up in the 2017-2018 season of the NAC Orchestra. "I am full of anticipation for the NAC Orchestra season ahead and the glorious music that awaits us. We will host some of the finest performers in the world - artists like Itzhak Perlman, Emanuel Ax, Lang Lang, Angela Hewitt, Stephen Hough, Pinchas Zukerman and John Storgards." - Alexander Shelley

In celebration of Beethoven and Schumann – two highly expressive and innovative composers, the NAC Orchestra created an eclectic evening of music, dance and art called Classical Collisions. Fine art inspired graffiti artists while classical music mixed with DJ scratching - and everybody danced. Artist Anita Kunz, who was commissioned to create the illustration of Beethoven and Schumann in a fraternal kiss loved the concept. “It’s a lovely, warm idea of brotherhood between these two great...

November 16 & 17 was the world-premiere of Peter Paul Koprowski's Concertante for Double Bass, Strings and Percussion, written for and performed by the NAC Orchestra’s own world-class, mega-talented principal double bass Joel Quarrington. Sean talks with Joel about his roots, his training and his career as a double bass player. Excerpts of Peter Paul Koprowski's Concertante for Double Bass, Strings and Percussion from the NAC Orchestra concert in Southam Hall on November 17, 2016.

Did you know the Canadian Brass shares founding members with the National Arts Centre Orchestra!? Join Sean Rice in a conversation about the history and future of Canadian Brass with founding member Chuck Daellenbach and newest member Caleb Hudson. Chuck shares stories like filling in with the NAC Orchestra, getting to Carnegie Hall by way of children's concerts, and Caleb talks about possibly the most difficult audition in history. Musical excerpts are from their spectacular concerts with...

The death knell for classical music has been ringing for decades. Yet many say the music is not only alive, it’s kicking! Join us for a fascinating, up-close-and-personal conversation with two highly original voices – Alexander Shelley, Music Director of the NAC Orchestra, and Andrew Potter, Editor of the Ottawa Citizen. With special guest Nadia Sirota ,violist and host of WQXR's Q2 Music Meet the Composer podcast.

Vanguards of the New York indie classical scene, composer Nico Muhly and violist Nadia Sirota embody the meaning of "classical reincarnated" in an electrifying concert. Nadia Sirota joins Alexander Shelley in the Canadian premiere of Nico Muhly’s Electrifying Viola Concerto. This much anticipated work was commissioned by an international consortium of orchestras and organisations made up of Orquesta Nacionales de España, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Festival of Saint Denis and National Arts...

Nick talks to Alexander Shelley about his plan to perform, over the next several seasons, the works of one of his favourite composers, Richard Strauss. The orchestra begins next week with performances of Don Juan and Death and Transfiguration.

What better way to celebrate Canadian music than in January? This Session features music by a stellar line-up of composers from the Great White North, including Andrew Staniland and Samy Moussa. You’ll be amazed by the talent in this country. Don’t forget your toque.

Looking at the lighter side of the classics, with selections from Mozart, Rossini and others. Elisabeth Schwarzkopf appears for the first time on the same playbill as Spike Jones.

Tickets can be purchased online at the mercurylounge.com.