NACO, Jan. 9: Debut Series begins with pianist Alexander Seredenko

NAC Orchestra’s 2009 Debut Series of recitals and “Exploration of the Concerto” begins on Jan. 9 with pianist Alexander Seredenko

Ottawa, Canada – The National Arts Centre Orchestra’s Debut Series, which gives talented rising star musicians the opportunity to perform in recital at the NAC, will begin a new season on Friday, January 9 with pianist Alexander Seredenko. The series of one-hour recitals takes place at noon in the NAC Salon. On this opening concert, Alexander Seredenko will perform Prokofiev’s Sonata No 2 in D minor and Liszt’s Sonata in B minor.

Admission is $3, with proceeds going to fund the NACO Bursary.

Each Debut Series noon-hour recital is connected to a Musically Speaking “Exploration of the Concerto” pre-concert talk the evening of the same day. Prior to the National Arts Centre Orchestra concert at 8 p.m., the young instrumentalist and his mentor will discuss and demonstrate the concerto to be performed on that program. On January 9 at 7 p.m. in the Salon, pianist Alexander Seredenko and his teacher teacher James Anagnoson, the Dean of the Glenn Gould School at the Royal Conservatory of Music, will explore elements of the Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 3 to be performed with the NAC Orchestra by pianist Jonathan Biss. Admission to the Pre-Concert Talk hosted by Paul Lefebvre is free.

Alexander Seredenko became a scholarship student at the Young Artists Performers Academy at the Royal Conservatory of Music, where he completed his ARCT diploma at the age of fourteen. He is currently pursuing his studies at The Glenn Gould School in Toronto where he is a full scholarship student of James Anagnoson. Alexander has won top prizes in National and International Piano music competitions. In March 2008 he became the first Canadian ever to receive the First Prize at the Thirteenth Hamamatsu International Piano Academy Competition in Japan. Most recently he won the Tom Thomas Concerto Competition at The Glenn Gould School and as a result will perform the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto with Maestro Peter Oundjian and the Royal Conservatory Orchestra at the Toronto Centre for the Arts in February of 2009. Alexander made his CBC radio debut in 2001 after winning the Canada wide network competition Up and Coming.

The NAC Debut Series continues with the following recitals and Musically Speaking Pre-Concert “Explorations of the Concerto”:

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12

Shanshan Yao, violin

Jean Desmarais, piano

Michel Dozois, host

Salon at 12 noon: Noonhour recital

Salon at 7 p.m.: Exploration of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto with violin teacher William van der Sloot (Mount Royal College Conservatory).

FRIDAY, MAY 15

Yina Tong, cello

Jean Desmarais, piano

Paul Lefebvre, host

Salon at 12 noon: Noonhour recital

Salon at 7 p.m.: Exploration of Herbert’s Cello Concerto No. 2 with cello teacher John Kadz (Mount Royal College Conservatory).

FRIDAY, JUNE 19

Jonathan Estabrooks, baritone

Jean Desmarais, piano

Paul Lefebvre, host

Salon at 12 noon: Noonhour recital

Salon at 7 p.m.: Exploration of the Choral Masterpiece: Brahms Requiem with star soprano-teacher Benita Valente with soprano Maghan Stewart and baritone Jonathan Estabrooks.

Violinist Arabella Steinbacher performs in Montreal on Feb 2

GERMAN VIOLINIST ARABELLA STEINBACHER

With pianist Robert Kulek

Recital at Place des Arts - Théâtre Maisonneuve

Presented by The Pro Musica Society

Monday, February 2, 2009 at 7:30pm

Place des Arts - Théâtre Maisonneuve

(260, blvd. de Maisonneuve West, Montréal)

Program

Schnitkke: Violin Sonata No. 1

Beethoven: Sonata No. 8 in G major

Bach: Chaconne from Partita No. 2 in D minor
Ravel: Violin Sonata

Tickets: $40 | $35 | $20 students

Available at the Place des Arts Box Office: 514.842.2112

or visit www.promusica.qc.ca/emerald.html

Photo by Robert Vano. Available in high-resolution from Christina Jensen PR.

Praise for Arabella Steinbacher:

“If this stunning recital is anything to go by, Arabella Steinbacher has a remarkable future ahead of her.” – The Strad

“Doubtless a single violin performance recently has been as moving and exceptional as the concert debut of the Munich violinist Arabella Steinbacher. Of her essence: natural and with placid contemplation, distinguished and musically aesthetic, both elegant and rich in tone, while intelligently interpreted.” – Stuttgarter Zeitung

Montreal, Canada—Munich-based, twenty-six-year-old violinist Arabella Steinbacher – “The Fräulein Wunder” (Regensburger Zeitung) – will perform a recital with pianist Robert Kulek as part of the Pro Musica Society’s Emerald Series. The performance will take place in Salle Maisonneuve at Place des Arts (260 blvd. de Maisonneuve West, Montréal) on February 2, 2009 at 7:30 pm. Ms. Steinbacher’s program will include Schnitkke’s Violin Sonata No. 1, Beethoven’s Violin Sonata No. 8 in G major, Bach’s Chaconne from Partita No. 2 in D minor, and Ravel’s Violin Sonata. The performance follows the recent North American release of Ms. Steinbacher’s newest album, “Sonatas by Fauré, Poulenc and Ravel” with Robert Kulek, on ORFEO International. (Review copies of the disc are now available from Christina Jensen PR.)

Since her extraordinary and unexpected debut in Paris in March 2004, when she stepped in on short notice for an ailing colleague and performed the Beethoven Violin Concerto with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France under Sir Neville Marriner, German violinist Arabella Steinbacher has become a fast-rising star on the international concert scene. Ms. Steinbacher’s New York recital debut in June 2006 was called “a particular highlight of the month” by The Strad magazine. The New York Times wrote, “Balanced lyricism and fire ….among her assets are a finely polished technique and a beautifully varied palette of timbres.”

In November 2007, Ms. Steinbacher made her debut as soloist with a major American orchestra, performing the Sibelius Violin Concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Christoph von Dohnányi. The Chicago Tribune reported, “From her magical entry over hushed orchestral strings to the biting swagger she brought to the dancing finale, it was evident that her feeling for this music runs as deep as her technical command. The central Adagio came off especially beautifully, Steinbacher conveying its brooding melancholy with a rich vibrato, impeccable intonation and a remarkable breadth of phrasing. The sound she drew from her 1716 "Booth" Stradivari stood out from the orchestra: limitless tonal depth swaddled in velvet. Let's have her back, and soon.”

In 2007, Ms. Steinbacher received an ECHO-Klassik Award (considered to be the German equivalent of the Grammy Awards) for Young Artist of the Year for her album, Violino Latino, a collection of a Spanish and South-American works performed with pianist Peter von Wienhardt on ORFEO. In addition, her recording of Shostakovich’s Violin Concertos No. 1 and No. 2, also on ORFEO, was named among the October 2007 “Les Chocs du Mois” in Le Monde de la Musique. She received the German Record Critics Award in 2005 for her ORFEO recording of Milhaud’s rarely-heard Violin Concertos No. 1 and No. 2, and Concertino de Printemps; and again in 2006 for her Shostakovich disc. Ms. Steinbacher recently signed an exclusive recording contract with PentaTone Classics, and will release her first disc with that label in spring 2009.

More about Arabella Steinbacher: Highlights of Ms. Steinbacher’s 2007-2008 season included debuts with the NHK Symphony Orchestra under Sir Neville Marriner (broadcast live on national television and radio), the Vienna Symphony Orchestra under Fabio Luisi, the Orchestre National de Belgique under Walter Weller, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande under Marek Janowski, and the Orchestra Nacionales de Espana under Mark Albrecht. She also toured with Vladimir Ashkenazy and the European Youth Orchestra, performing in cities including Bucharest, Vienna, Liverpool and Bratislava. On July 12, 2008, Ms. Steinbacher opened the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival in Germany, performing with the NDR-Sinfonieorchester led by Christoph von Dohnányi. The concert was broadcast live on national television and radio.

Highlights of Ms. Steinbacher’s 2008-2009 season, include her debut with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, a debut with the Philharmonia Orchestra under Charles Dutoit, her official subscription series debut with the NDR-Sinfonieorchester under Christoph von Dohnányi, and her debut with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields under Sir Neville Marriner. In addition, she will perform at the Maggio Musicale in Florence, and in December 2008 will make her recital debut at the Theatre de Champs Elysee. Ms. Steinbacher will also appear with the WDR Symphony Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Sydney Symphony, Prague Symphony Orchestra, and the National Orchestra of Belgium. She will perform during the Beethoven Easter Festival in Prague, and tour with Kammerphilharmonie Bremen. In May 2009, she will perform four concerts with the Netherlands Philharmonic at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and then tour Spain with that orchestra. In June, she will perform Sofia Gubaidulina's Offertorium with the Orchestre de l'Opéra de Paris at Salle Pleyel in Paris under Christoph von Dohnányi; also in June she will make her debut at the BBC Proms performing with the Bamberg Symphony under Jonathan Nott; in October, she will perform at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra under Riccardo Chailly, following a tour of Asia. Future highlights include an appearance with the Bayerischer Rundfunk Orchester with Sir Colin Davis and a tour of Germany with the Philharmonia Orchestra under Lorin Maazel during the 2009-2010 season.

Arabella Steinbacher’s diverse repertoire includes more than twenty concertos for violin. In addition to all of the major concertos of the Classical and Romantic period, she also performs those of Barber, Berg, Glazunov, Khatchaturian, Milhaud, Prokofiev, Schnittke, Shostakovich, Stravinsky, Szymanowski, and Hartmann.

Born in Munich in 1981 to a German father and a Japanese mother, Arabella Steinbacher began studying the violin at the age of three. Her mother is a professionally trained singer who came to Germany from Japan to study music, and her father was the first Solorepetitor in the Bayerische Staatsoper, from 1960 to 1972. At nine, she became the youngest violin student of Ana Chumachenko at the Munich Academy of Music. She received further musical inspiration and guidance from Ivry Gitlis, whom she still meets regularly in Paris. In 2001, she won the sponsorship prize of the Free State of Bavaria and in the same year she was awarded a scholarship by the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation. From Anne-Sophie Mutter, who personally supports her, Ms. Steinbacher received a bow from the master luthier Benoit Rolland. Ms. Steinbacher currently plays the Guarneri Del Gesu known as the ‘Jarnovich’(c. 1741) which is on extended loan from Jonathan P Moulds. She is managed by Tanja Dorn at IMG Artists. For more information, please visit www.arabella-steinbacher.com or www.imgartists.com.

News Release - Measha Brueggergosman at Stratford Summer Music, August 7-10, 2008

Stratford, Ont… John A. Miller, Artistic Producer of Stratford Summer Music, has announced that renowned Canadian soprano and Deutsche Grammophon recording artist Measha Brueggergosman returns to Stratford Summer Music to perform four recitals accompanied by German collaborative pianist Justus Zeyen from August 7 – 10, 2008 at St. Andrew’s Church, 25 St. Andrew Street, Stratford. Repertoire for the recitals will be drawn from the works of Benjamin Britten, Arnold Schoenberg, Francis Poulenc, William Bolcom and Erik Satie.

In 2005 Ms. Brueggergosman made her Stratford Summer Music debut, performing four exclusive concerts as well as a joint appearance with Detroit’s Brazeal Dennard Chorale in the festival’s closing night gala.

Award-winning soprano Measha Brueggergosman is in great demand as an opera and concert artist. Originally from Fredericton, New Brunswick, she has performed with some of the world’s most prestigious symphony orchestras and in many of the world’s renowned concert halls. In April the Canadian soprano made her Mozart opera debut as Elettra in Opera Atelier’s production of Idomeneo; critics and the public were unanimous in their praise for her work in this sold-out production. Her other operatic roles have included Madame Lidoine in Poulene’s The Dialogues of the Carmelites for the Vancouver Opera; Juno in Aeneas in Karthago at the Staatsoper Stuttgart and both Liu in Turnadot and Sister Rose in Dead Man Walking for the Cincinnati Opera.

Measha, as she is fondly known by her fans, signed an exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon and released her debut recording Surprise with the label in North America in autumn 2007; she is also featured on the label’s recording of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 recorded by The Cleveland Orchestra, conducted by music director Franz Wesler-Möst. She has two recordings with CBC Records: So Much to Tell which includes works by Copland, Barber and Gershwin, and Extase which features music by Massenet and Berlioz.

Brueggergosman’s Stratford Summer Music recitals will be performed at 11:15 a.m. on August 7, 8 and 9 and at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, August 10. Tickets are $35 and are available on line at www.stratfordsummermusic.ca or by calling the box office at 1-800-567-1600. Stratford Summer Music runs from July 21 to August 17, 2008.

For complete concert information log on to the website or call 519-271-2101.

NACO, May 12: Grammy winning violinist James Ehnes performs in recital

Ottawa, Canada – Canadian violinist James Ehnes (pronounced ENN-is), who has won both a Grammy Award and his fifth Juno Award this year, returns to the National Arts Centre’s Southam Hall to perform in recital on Monday, May 12 at 20:00 as part of the Bombardier Great Performers Series. His recital partner is pianist Andrew Armstrong.

Ehnes and Armstrong will perform Leclair’s Sonata in D major, Brahms’ Sonata No. 1 in G major, Bartók’s Rhapsody No. 2 for Violin and Piano, and R. Strauss’s Sonata in E-flat major.

Violinist James Ehnes is widely considered one of classical music’s brightest talents. He has performed in over 20 countries on five continents with many of the world’s most renowned orchestras and conductors. He first performed at the NAC in recital on the NAC Debut Series in 1993 at age 16 and a few months later made his NAC Orchestra debut at the CBC Young Performers Competition which he won. He has returned a number of times since, most recently performing on both violin and viola with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra this past November. He will return to the National Arts Centre Orchestra next season to perform the Korngold Violin Concerto, his recording of which (along with concertos by Barber and Walton) earned him his recent Grammy and Juno Awards. The recording joins an already impressive and internationally multi-award winning discography of over 20 recordings featuring repertoire ranging from Bach violin sonatas to John Adams’s Road Movies. His 250^th Mozart anniversary double-disc of the composer’s complete works for violin and orchestra won the 2007 Juno.

Born in Brandon, Manitoba in 1976, James Ehnes began violin studies at the age of four, and at nine became a protégé of Canadian violinist Francis Chaplin. He continued his studies with Sally Thomas at The Juilliard School, winning the Peter Mennin Prize for Outstanding Achievement and Leadership in Music upon his graduation in 1997. In 2007 he became the youngest person ever elected as a Fellow to the Royal Society of Canada. James Ehnes plays the “Ex Marsick” Stradivarius of 1715 and gratefully acknowledges its extended loan from the Fulton Collection.

Pianist Andrew Armstrong has been praised by critics for his passionate expression and dazzling technique, delighting audiences around the world. He has performed solo recitals and appeared with orchestras in Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the United States, including performances at Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, and Warsaw’s National Philharmonic. Having performed over 35 concertos, Armstrong has impressed his international audiences with a large repertoire ranging from Bach to Babbit and beyond. In 1996, he was named Gilmore Young Artist, and at the 1993 Van Cliburn Competition, where he was the youngest pianist entered, he received the Jury Discretionary Award.

Tickets for this Bombardier Great Performers recital on Monday, May 12 at 20:00 are on sale now at $19.00, $29.00, $39.00, $45.00, $49.00, and $59.00 with box seats at $69.00 (GST and Facility Fee included) at the NAC Box Office (Monday to Saturday from 10:00 to 21:00), and through Ticketmaster (with surcharges) at 613-755-1111. Ticketmaster may also be accessed through the NAC’s website at www.nac-cna.ca. Subscriptions are also still available by calling the Subscription Office at 613-947-7000, ext. 620.

Half-price tickets for students in all sections of the hall are on sale in person at the NAC Box Office upon presentation of a valid student ID card. Same-day Live Rush tickets (subject to availability) for full-time students (aged 13 to 29) are $10 at the NAC Box Office between 14:00 and 18:00 on the day of performance only, upon presentation of a valid Live Rush card.

Groups of 10 and more save 15% to 20% off the regular price of tickets to NAC Music, Theatre and Dance performances. To reserve your seats call 613-947-7000 ext. 384 or email grp@nac-cna.ca.

NAC, Jan. 8: Frederica von Stade and Samuel Ramey together in recital

National Arts Centre Orchestra / News Release

December 19, 2007

For immediate release

Vocal legends Frederica von Stade and Samuel Ramey together in recital with pianist Jake Heggie on the Bombardier Great Performers series on January 8

Ottawa , Canada – Two illustrious singing stars – Frederica von Stade and Samuel Ramey – join forces for a glorious duo-recital on Tuesday, January 8 at 20:00 as part of the Bombardier Great Performers Series. The radiant mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade is beloved for her warmth and intimate rapport with audiences, and the resonant bass of Samuel Ramey has given voice to villains and devils, prophets and emperors. With pianist Jake Heggie, their program ranges from classic French art-songs to the classiest hits of Broadway, and includes Berlioz, Offenbach, Copland, Gershwin and Hammerstein, among others.

Recognized as one of the most beloved musical figures of our time, Frederica von Stade has enriched the world of classical music for three decades with her appearances in opera, concert, and recital. Her return to the NAC stage marks her first appearance here since a series of performances between 1977 and 1981 including the acclaimed production of Massenet's Cendrillon for the NAC's Festival Canada in 1979. That same year she recorded Italian Opera Arias with the NAC Orchestra and Mario Bernardi. The mezzo-soprano is well known to audiences around the world through her numerous featured appearances on television including several PBS specials and Live from Lincoln Center telecasts. She has made over sixty recordings with every major label, including complete operas, aria albums, symphonic works, solo recital programs, and popular crossover albums. Her recordings have garnered six Grammy nominations, two Grand Prix du Disc awards, the Deutsche Schallplattenpreis, Italy's Premio della Critica Discografica, and "Best of the Year" citations by Stereo Review and by Opera News which wrote "Everything von Stade touched turned to gold."

Samuel Ramey reigns as the foremost interpreter of bass and bass-baritone operatic and concert repertoire, commanding with astounding versatility an impressive breadth of repertoire that encompasses virtually every musical style. Samuel Ramey holds the distinction of being the most recorded bass in history. His more than eighty recordings include complete operas, recordings of arias, symphonic works, solo recital programs, and popular crossover albums on every major label, garnering nearly every major award including three Grammy Awards. His exposure on television and video is no less impressive, with video recordings of the Metropolitan Opera's Carmen, Bluebeard's Castle, Semiramide, Nabucco, and the compilation "The Met Celebrates Verdi;" San Francisco Opera's Mefistofele; The Rake's Progress from the Glyndebourne Festival.

As a pianist, Jake Heggie has often accompanied Frederica von Stade in recital, as well as such singers as Dawn Upshaw, Kristin Clayton, Susan Graham, Lorraine Hunt-Lieberson, Paul Groves, Thomas Hampson and Bo Skovhus. He is also the renowned composer of the acclaimed operas Dead Man Walking (libretto by Terrence McNally), The End of the Affair (libretto by Heather McDonald, Leonard Foglia and Jake Heggie), the lyric drama To Hell and Back (libretto by Gene Scheer), and the musical scene At the Statue of Venus (libretto by Terrence McNally). The recipient of a 2005-06 Guggenheim Fellowship, he has composed more than 200 songs, as well as concerti, orchestral works and chamber music. (Jake Heggie replaces pianist Warren Jones.)

COMPLETE RECITAL PROGRAMME:

Frederica von Stade

AMBROISE THOMAS: Mignon : Frederick's Gavotte

AMBROISE THOMAS: Mignon : Connais tu le Pays

JACQUES OFFENBACH: The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein:Ah, que j'aime les militaires

Samuel Ramey

BERLIOZ: La damnation de Faust: Devant la maison

CHARLES GOUNOD: Faust : Vous qui faites l'endormie

ARRIGO BOITO: Mefistofele : Ecco il mondo

Frederica von Stade and Samuel Ramey

AARON COPLAND:

Why do they shut me out of Heaven? (FVS)

The Dodger (SR)

Little Horses (FVS)

At The River (SR)

I Bought Me A Cat (FVS/SR)

Frederica von Stade and Samuel Ramey

GEORGE GERSHWIN:

Do it again (FVS)

They All Laughed (SR)

How Long Has This Been Going On? (FVS)

Embraceable You (SR)

By Strauss (FVS)

Just Another Rumba (SR)

Let's Call the Whole Thing Off (FVS/SR)

Frederica von Stade and Samuel Ramey

COLE PORTER: Don't Fence Me In (SR)

OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN : I'm Just a Girl Who Can't Say No (FVS)

OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN: People Will Say We're In Love (FVS/SR)

STEPHEN SONDHEIM: Send In the Clowns (FVS)

FREDERICK LOEWE: They Call the Wind Maria (SR)

IRVING BERLIN: An Old-Fashioned Wedding (FVS/SR)

Tickets for this Bombardier Great Performers recital on Tuesday, January 8 at 20:00 are on sale now at $19.00, $29.00, $39.00, $45.00, $49.00, and $59.00 with box seats at $69.00 (GST and Facility Fee included) at the NAC Box Office (Monday to Saturday from 10:00 to 21:00), and through Ticketmaster (with surcharges) at 613-755-1111. Ticketmaster may also be accessed through the NAC's website at www.nac-cna.ca. Subscriptions are also still available by calling the Subscription Office at 613-947-7000, ext. 620.

Half-price tickets for students in all sections of the hall are on sale in person at the NAC Box Office upon presentation of a valid student ID card. Same-day Live Rush tickets (subject to availability) for full-time students (aged 13 to 29) are $10 at the NAC Box Office between 14:00 and 18:00 on the day of performance only, upon presentation of a valid Live Rush card.

Groups of 10 and more save 15% to 20% off the regular price of tickets to NAC Music, Theatre and Dance performances. To reserve your seats call 613-947-7000 ext. 384 or email grp@nac-cna.ca.

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Jane Morris

Communications Officer/Agente de communication

National Arts Centre Orchestra/Orchestre du Centre national des Arts

Telephone/Téléphone: 613-947-7000 x 335

Fax: 613-996-2828

www.nac-cna.ca

www.artsalive.ca