Stage Door News
Stage Door News
February 5, 2015 – OTTAWA (Canada) – The National Arts Centre’s Annual Report entitled A World of Performance, which was tabled in Parliament earlier this week, highlights a highly successful year marked by a high level of international activity, notably the NAC Orchestra’s historic three-week China Tour that included eight concerts and 80 education events in Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Chongqing, Fuling, Tianjin, Beijing and Shanghai.
Led by Music Director Pinchas Zukerman, the tour’s final concert at the Shanghai Concert Hall before a sold-out audience brought the audience to its feet in a standing ovation for multiple encores, and an unexpected solo of Brahms’ Lullaby by Zukerman that had the audience singing along in many languages. In an impromptu gathering after the concert, His Excellency Governor General David Johnston addressed the musicians and said, “We are so proud of our Canadian stars here in China … What a wonderful way to establish relationships between people.”
“The NAC’s international presence continues to grow,” said NAC President and CEO Peter Herrndorf. “Whether we’re investing in Canadian artists to help them perform abroad, undertaking international NAC Orchestra tours, or training some of the world’s most exciting young artists, we strive to be a catalyst for performance, education and learning.”
The NAC ended the year with an operating surplus of $173,000. Total box office revenue for all performances was $ 20,769,127, and more than 1.1 million Canadians took part in performances, events and commercial activities at the NAC during the 2013–2014 season.
The 2013-2014 season also marked the most successful year to date for the NAC Foundation led by CEO Jayne Watson, which raised more than $8.9 million from donors, corporate partners and foundations from across the country to support performance, creation and learning. That figure includes $1.3 million to support the China Tour – an extraordinary amount for a Canadian orchestral tour.
The NAC’s international presence grew through many other exciting initiatives:
•English Theatre, led by Artistic Director Jillian Keiley, helped bring Canadian theatre artists to the international stage through its investment in Helen Lawrence, a ground-breaking co-production that opened at Vancouver’s Stanley Theatre, enthralled German audiences at Munich’s renowned Kammerspiele theatre in June before moving to Edinburgh’s historic King’s Theatre in August, and opening at Toronto’s Canadian Stage in the fall;
•French Theatre, led by Artistic Director Brigitte Haentjens, was proud to present the exclusive North American engagement of Cendrillon by Joël Pommerat, a show that has taken Europe by storm since 2011. Working with an exceptional cast of actors from the Théâtre National de Bruxelles, this magnificent production was a sold-out hit, attracting audiences from Ottawa-Gatineau, Montreal, Quebec City, Toronto and New York;
•NAC Dance, led by Executive Producer Cathy Levy, featured 51 performances by 20 companies from around the world, including Akram Khan Company (U.K.) and Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan, as well as co-productions with several Canadian artists;
•The NAC’s highly renowned Summer Music Institute once again attracted some of the most promising young classical musicians from around the globe. Founded by Pinchas Zukerman in 1999, this year’s Young Artists Program participants came from Canada and 15 other countries to train with Zukerman and an international faculty;
•And NAC New Media expanded the NAC’s international reach with NAC-produced podcasts for arts lovers everywhere. In August, Explore the Symphony/L’Univers symphonique hosted by Jean Jacques Van Vlasselaer and NAC Orchestra musician Marjolaine Fournier (bass) surpassed 1 million downloads from music lovers around the world. To date, more than 4.5 million NAC podcasts have been downloaded, with approximately 2,700 podcasts downloaded every day from around the world.
“We are very grateful to our supporters, whose contributions to the National Arts Centre Foundation come to life in the music, theatre and dance that shine on stages across our spectacular country,” said NAC Foundation CEO Jayne Watson.
Over the course of the 2014-2014 season, the NAC engaged with thousands of artists from Canada and around the world in each of its programming streams – Music, English Theatre, French Theatre, Dance and NAC Presents.
Some highlights:
•On October 31, the NAC appointed Alexander Shelley, one of the most talented young conductors in Europe, as Music Director Designate of the NAC Orchestra. Selected after an exhaustive international search, the British conductor will become Music Director in the fall of 2015;
•English Theatre opened its season with an acclaimed new adaptation of Tartuffe by celebrated comedian Andy Jones, who also starred in the production. Set in 1939 Newfoundland and directed by Artistic Director Jillian Keiley, the show generated rave reviews and highlighted the skill of the English Theatre 2013–2014 resident company of 10 actors from across Canada;
•In November, NAC Dance led by Excecutive Producer Cathy Levy presented celebrated British choreographer-dancer Akram Khan with three performances of his award-winning and mesmerizing new full-length solo DESH in the Theatre;
•At the end of November, the NAC Orchestra performed a concert at Toronto’s Roy Thomson Hall that included Symphony No. 10 by Shostakovich and Zukerman performing Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 3. “But my, did the NAC Orchestra play its heart out for this work,” said Robert Harris in his Globe and Mail review. “String sound was powerful and disciplined … the NACO’s wind section played like an all-star team of soloists … Zukerman provided his players with a powerfully focused leadership.”
•In December, French Theatre presented Ta douleur, a Sibyllines production directed by French Theatre Artistic Director Brigitte Haentjens that was created without a text, in close partnership with dancer-actors Anne Le Beau and Francis Ducharme;
•NAC Presents in partnership with BMO Financial Group, led by Producer Simone Deneau, featured 63 performances that showcased Canadian icons and the icons of tomorrow from across the country, including Sarah McLachlan (Vancouver), Oliver Jones (Montreal) Tanya Tagaq (Northwest Territories) Ginette Reno (Montreal) and Buck 65 (Halifax). Other memorable performances included Robert Charlebois, Joel Plaskett with the NAC Orchestra and Royal Wood, who has credited the series with furthering his career. “I’m now performing around the world, in part because of the respect there is internationally for the NAC,” he said. “If you’ve headlined there, you can stand tall.” The National Arts Centre Foundation is grateful to The Slaight Family Foundation for their support of emerging artists;
•English Theatre’s holiday production of The Sound of Music featuring the resident acting ensemble set all-time records for attendance for NAC-programmed performances, surpassing the previous record set by the 2001 presentation of The Nutcracker by The National Ballet of Canada;
•The NAC helps address the music education gap in Canadian public schools through its Music Alive Program, which last year sent local and visiting teaching musicians to mostly rural and remote schools in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Nunavut. For the first time, the teaching unit in the prairie provinces was based on a Canadian composer — R. Murray Schafer. Called Listen up, Canada!, it incorporates the sounds of nature, and proved extremely popular with teachers, students and the teaching musicians;
•The NAC’s Music Alive Program: Nunavut, which works with local school boards and territorial governments to send local and visiting teaching musicians to Igloolik, Iqaluit, Kugluktut, Pangnirtung and Rankin Inlet, expanded to Baker Lake and Cape Dorset. The program, which inspires children and youth through the arts, enriches communities through music-making, builds leadership capacity among educators and musicians, and celebrates local culture and artists, has touched over 5,000 northern Canadians.
•From April 30 to May 3, French Theatre presented Michel Tremblay’s masterpiece Albertine, en cinq temps, directed by Lorraine Pintal and featuring six outstanding actresses — Monique Miller, Lise Castonguay, Marie Tifo, Eva Daigle, Émilie Bibeau and Lorraine Côté. Originally created at the NAC in 1984 by then French Theatre Artistic Director André Brassard, the new production by Théâtre du Nouveau Monde (Montreal) and Théâtre Trident (Quebec City) was a tremendous hit;
•From April 22 to 24, English Theatre gathered indigenous artists from across the country at The Banff Centre for The Summit, a three-day conversation about the breadth and scope of indigenous work on Canadian soil. Co-curated by English Theatre Associate Artistic Director Sarah Garton Stanley and playwright Yvette Nolan, The Summit was attended by a number of representatives from cultural institutions, including the Indigenous Performing Arts Alliance, The Banff Centre, Luminato Festival, the Making Treaty 7 Cultural Society, One Yellow Rabbit, Australia Council for the Arts and the Canada Council for the Arts. The ideas that emerged from The Summit will shape a two-week long gathering of indigenous artists that will take place in 2015 on Manitoulin Island, known as The Study;
•A catalyst of creation, NAC Dance supports new works and nurturing the careers of Canadian dance artists from across the country. In June, the NAC co-produced Canada Dance Festival, bringing together more than 200 of the country’s finest dance artists for a six-day festival. And during the 2013-2014 season, Dance contributed to the creation of a number of works which toured or premiered in Canada, including by Wen Wei Wang (Vancouver), Helen Husak (Calgary), Michael Greyeyes (Saskatoon), Robin Poitras (Regina), Paul‑André Fortier, Daniele Desnoyers and Anne Plamondon (Montreal) and Yvon Soglo (Gatineau).
ABOUT THE NAC
The National Arts Centre collaborates with artists and arts organizations across Canada to help create a national stage for the performing arts, and acts as a catalyst for performance, creation and learning across the country. A home for Canada’s most creative artists, the NAC strives to be artistically adventurous in each of its programming streams – the NAC Orchestra, English Theatre, French Theatre and Dance, as well as the Scene festivals and NAC Presents, which showcase established and emerging Canadian artists. The organization is at the forefront of youth and educational activities, offering artist training, programs for children and youth, and resources for teachers in communities across Canada. The NAC is also a pioneer in new media, using technology to teach students and young artists around the globe, by creating top-rated podcasts, and providing a wide range of NAC Orchestra concerts on demand. The NAC is the only bilingual, multidisciplinary performing arts centre in Canada, and one of the largest in the world.
Photo: Interior of Southam Hall, National Arts Centre.
2015-02-05
Ottawa: NAC Annual Report details a highly successful year