Latest news with #AlexanderShelley
Hamilton Spectator
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Hamilton Spectator
National Arts Centre Orchestra's tour to Korea and Japan serves up Beethoven, Oscar Peterson, and some cultural diplomacy
TOKYO - The daily operation of an orchestra typically runs like clockwork — every minute is meticulously scheduled, rehearsals are tightly run, and the search for precision is constant. What better way to test the strength of this refined apparatus than to take it out on the road, and bring it to an audience that may be very familiar with the music, but not with the musicians? The National Arts Centre Orchestra is at the tail end of an 11-day tour to South Korea and Japan that included stops in Busan, Gumi, Seoul, Tokyo, and Tsu, wrapping up with a performance in Osaka on Saturday. Some 2,500 patrons showed up to their performance at the Seoul Arts Center. Approximately 60 world-class musicians are on this trip, and at the centre of this musical gyre is conductor Alexander Shelley. Squeezing in time in-between rehearsals to meet in the lobby of a Tokyo hotel, Shelley laughed when asked if he had time to explore the city. Shelley described the trip as a mission of cultural diplomacy as much as one that brings the orchestra to new audiences. ' The most exciting part of it for me is not demonstrating how special — even when it's true — the country of origin is that we are representing, but in fact how much the things that we're all looking to experience and articulate are shared,' he said. This was the orchestra's first appearance in Seoul, and its first time back in Japan in 40 years. An international orchestra tour is a mighty expensive endeavour. The tour came with a budget of approximately $2 million, funded in part by philanthropic donations, said Annabelle Cloutier, strategy, governance and public affairs executive at the National Arts Centre. It mobilized more than 110 artists and musicians, and engaged over 16 regional partners across 47 unique community events. It took three years to meticulously plan for this titanic trip field, accounting for the more than 50,000 cubic metres of cargo that made the trip over. These metrics might seem like a high price tag even for the long string of concerts presented. But this tour also coincided with a few diplomatic projects. The concert in Seoul, for example, closed out the Korea-Canada Year of Cultural Exchanges ─ a joint effort to commemorate 60 years of diplomatic relations. Likewise, the Japan leg of the tour featured quite a few engagements with the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo, wherein the embassy's Oscar Peterson Theatre serves as the venue for the ongoing centennial celebration of the legendary Canadian jazz pianist. Shelley said tours like these help to establish cultural common ground. ' I don't think I could do my job unless I believed at the most profound level that the human experience is constant across time and across culture. A Korean woman born 300 years ago would've had a very different experience of life to me growing up in London in the ''80s. But I think that the underlying motivations and experiences would've been identical: hope and fear, ambition and love, loss and melancholy.' The contrast between hope and fear is one that Shelley particularly savours in Beethoven's Fifth symphony, which made several appearances in programs along this tour. As he notes regularly, it is the first symphony that starts in a dark minor key and ends in a more hopeful major. Shelley makes the case that Canada's national orchestra performing the German composer's work to Korean and Japanese audiences does more to strengthen the ties that bind than emphasize the differences that divide. 'If we do it right, this man who lived in Germany a long time ago, whose life is completely different from ours, tapped into something that we can all recognize. When we connect with each other properly, we recognize this deep current that courses through human history. And that for me is what real cultural diplomacy is about.' The tour included compositions by Canadians including Kelly-Marie Murphy, Keiko Devaux, and Oscar Peterson, while among the standout homegrown performers are the emerging British Columbia pianist Jaeden Izik-Dzurko and established violinist Adrian Anantawan from Ontario. Shelley will leave his role as music director with NACO at the end of the 2025/26 season. After more than 10 years on the podium, he will become Music and Artistic Director of Pacific Symphony in California. Shelley's words of advice for his eventual successor are to urge them to contemplate the question: 'Why an orchestra? What role does it serve?' Michael Zarathus-Cook is a Toronto-based freelance writer, the chief editor of 'Cannopy Magazine,' and a medical student at the University of Toronto. The National Arts Centre sponsored his trip to South Korea and Japan. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 6.
Winnipeg Free Press
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
National Arts Centre Orchestra's tour to Korea and Japan serves up Beethoven, Oscar Peterson, and some cultural diplomacy
TOKYO – The daily operation of an orchestra typically runs like clockwork — every minute is meticulously scheduled, rehearsals are tightly run, and the search for precision is constant. What better way to test the strength of this refined apparatus than to take it out on the road, and bring it to an audience that may be very familiar with the music, but not with the musicians? The National Arts Centre Orchestra is at the tail end of an 11-day tour to South Korea and Japan that included stops in Busan, Gumi, Seoul, Tokyo, and Tsu, wrapping up with a performance in Osaka on Saturday. Some 2,500 patrons showed up to their performance at the Seoul Arts Center. Approximately 60 world-class musicians are on this trip, and at the centre of this musical gyre is conductor Alexander Shelley. Squeezing in time in-between rehearsals to meet in the lobby of a Tokyo hotel, Shelley laughed when asked if he had time to explore the city. Shelley described the trip as a mission of cultural diplomacy as much as one that brings the orchestra to new audiences. ' The most exciting part of it for me is not demonstrating how special — even when it's true — the country of origin is that we are representing, but in fact how much the things that we're all looking to experience and articulate are shared,' he said. This was the orchestra's first appearance in Seoul, and its first time back in Japan in 40 years. An international orchestra tour is a mighty expensive endeavour. The tour came with a budget of approximately $2 million, funded in part by philanthropic donations, said Annabelle Cloutier, strategy, governance and public affairs executive at the National Arts Centre. It mobilized more than 110 artists and musicians, and engaged over 16 regional partners across 47 unique community events. It took three years to meticulously plan for this titanic trip field, accounting for the more than 50,000 cubic metres of cargo that made the trip over. These metrics might seem like a high price tag even for the long string of concerts presented. But this tour also coincided with a few diplomatic projects. The concert in Seoul, for example, closed out the Korea-Canada Year of Cultural Exchanges ─ a joint effort to commemorate 60 years of diplomatic relations. Likewise, the Japan leg of the tour featured quite a few engagements with the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo, wherein the embassy's Oscar Peterson Theatre serves as the venue for the ongoing centennial celebration of the legendary Canadian jazz pianist. Shelley said tours like these help to establish cultural common ground. ' I don't think I could do my job unless I believed at the most profound level that the human experience is constant across time and across culture. A Korean woman born 300 years ago would've had a very different experience of life to me growing up in London in the ''80s. But I think that the underlying motivations and experiences would've been identical: hope and fear, ambition and love, loss and melancholy.' The contrast between hope and fear is one that Shelley particularly savours in Beethoven's Fifth symphony, which made several appearances in programs along this tour. As he notes regularly, it is the first symphony that starts in a dark minor key and ends in a more hopeful major. Shelley makes the case that Canada's national orchestra performing the German composer's work to Korean and Japanese audiences does more to strengthen the ties that bind than emphasize the differences that divide. 'If we do it right, this man who lived in Germany a long time ago, whose life is completely different from ours, tapped into something that we can all recognize. When we connect with each other properly, we recognize this deep current that courses through human history. And that for me is what real cultural diplomacy is about.' The tour included compositions by Canadians including Kelly-Marie Murphy, Keiko Devaux, and Oscar Peterson, while among the standout homegrown performers are the emerging British Columbia pianist Jaeden Izik-Dzurko and established violinist Adrian Anantawan from Ontario. Shelley will leave his role as music director with NACO at the end of the 2025/26 season. After more than 10 years on the podium, he will become Music and Artistic Director of Pacific Symphony in California. Shelley's words of advice for his eventual successor are to urge them to contemplate the question: 'Why an orchestra? What role does it serve?' Michael Zarathus-Cook is a Toronto-based freelance writer, the chief editor of 'Cannopy Magazine,' and a medical student at the University of Toronto. The National Arts Centre sponsored his trip to South Korea and Japan. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 6.
Ottawa Citizen
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Ottawa Citizen
Alexander Shelley on quitting while it's good, and why that's harder than it sounds
Article content The National Arts Centre has announced the departure of Alexander Shelley, the much-loved music director of the NAC Orchestra, after more than a decade in the position. Article content The 45-year-old maestro will leave Ottawa in July 2026, and head for California to lead the Pacific Symphony in Los Angeles. Article content In this lightly edited interview, Shelley reflected on his time in Ottawa, a chapter of his life that saw several significant milestones, including the births of his two sons and the commissioning of more than 50 new orchestral works. Article content Article content Article content A: We're going to be ending the relationship on a great high, which is what you want. We're in the middle of an amazing recording cycle. We've got this tour (to South Korea and Japan) coming up. We have amazing guests coming this season, like Joshua Bell, Hilary Hahn, Lang Lang and Gabriela Montero and just the list goes on and on. Augustine Hadelich. They are some of the finest artists in the world, with whom we've built deep and meaningful relationships over the last decade. I think this season rivals any of the great orchestras in the world. Article content A: Yes, of course. Part of our soul as a family, and for me personally, will always be here. For my wife and our children who are Canadians, who were born here, this is much more than a job. This is a very important chapter in our lives as a family. Article content Article content A: This orchestra, the administration and the audience are a family, too. When you're making music at the level that we are, it's a forging of deep relationships with the musicians. It's not just a job where you turn up and do a thing. And we've been through a lot. We went through the whole pandemic together, the convoy. When you think about it, there have been enormous social shifts between 2015 and 2025. Article content Article content A: This orchestra is a national gem in the excellence that it represents. I feel that I have been part of a line of musical directors here who have understood that it's incumbent on us to continue that growth of excellence. This is one of the elite ensembles of the world. I believe that through the work on stage, through the hiring, and the growth of the organization, we can continue to to have that upward trajectory. Article content A: I remember when I took this job I was thinking deeply about the role of a national organization, and I (realized) the role of a national organization is to to lean into the risks that other organizations that have different models of funding and support can't lean into as easily.
CTV News
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Alexander Shelley to step down as NAC Orchestra music director
Music Director of the National Arts Centre Orchestra Alexander Shelley looks on during the unveiling of upgrades to the NAC's Southam Hall in Ottawa on Thursday, Sept. 6, 2018 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
National Arts Centre reveals diverse lineup for 2025-26 season
There is always something new and creative to discover at the National Arts Centre, whether it's an edgy modern-dance show or a surprising take on an orchestral classic. With four stages under its hexagonal roof and a skilled team of specialized artistic programmers in charge of six different genres of performing arts, the NAC's schedule gets filled with gems well in advance. The 2025-26 calendar is no exception. Between September 2025 and spring of 2026, dozens of concerts, theatrical productions and dance events will be shoehorned into the building, including no fewer than nine world premieres. One show calls for a skateboard ramp at centre stage, while another is described as a Macbeth-meets-biker mashup. The season will also mark a farewell for maestro Alexander Shelley, who has been leading the NAC Orchestra for more than a decade — and whose two young sons were born in Ottawa. Shelley has designed a final season that will include a big opera production of Puccini's Tosca, an all-Canadian edition of the Great Performers series, a seasonal presentation of Handel with an all-Canadian cast of vocalists, four world premieres and more. Two more world premieres occur during the English theatre season, both directed by the department's artistic producer, Nina Lee Aquino. The first, scheduled for January 2026, is co-produced by Toronto's Soulpepper Theatre and written by Natasha Mumba, a graduate of Ottawa's Canterbury arts high school and now based in Toronto. Entitled Copperbelt, it's the story of a Zambian-born woman who's made a life for herself in Toronto, but is compelled to return to her homeland when her estranged father falls ill. The second Aquino-directed world premiere is cicadas, created by David Yee and Chris Thornborrow. Commissioned by the NAC, it's an eco-thriller set in Toronto in 2035. The English theatre season also features a family play described as a live theatrical cinema experience starring Canadian DJ Kid Koala, who performs live on piano and turntables every night of the Dec. 3-13 run. The tale of a small-town mosquito trying to make it big in music also uses puppeteers, miniature sets, a string trio and cameras to tell its story. Another six shows will be presented by the Indigenous theatre department under the artistic leadership of Kevin Loring. They range from the inter-tribal collaboration that drives Nigamon Tunai to the world premiere of Tomson Highway's latest, Rose, to an allegorical circus piece from New Zealand, Te Tangi a Te Tūī. Rounding out the theatre offerings is French theatre with a season programmed by Mani Soleymanlou. The centrepiece is a version of Macbeth, created with Quebec theatre master Robert Lepage, that sets the Shakespearienne tragedy in Quebec in the 1990s and populates it with members of a motorcycle gang. Speaking of Shakespeare and Lepage, the dynamic duo will resurface as part of the dance season spearheaded by NAC Dance executive producer Caroline Ohrt. In February, Lepage, the famed stage director, joins forces with renowned Canadian choreographer Guillaume Côté in tackling Hamlet. Their reimagination is titled The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Also on the dance program are big productions by Royal Winnipeg Ballet, the National Ballet of Canada and Dance Theatre of Harlem, plus a piece by Danish choreographer Mette Ingvartsen that will see the theatre stage become a skatepark to show off Ingvartsen's explorations of the power and energy of skateboarding. A crew of Ottawa skaters will accompany the professional dancers. As for Popular Music and Variety, the department headed by Heather Gibson has unveiled a preliminary list of concerts confirmed between October and March 2026. Highlights include jazzfest fave Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, the Soweto Gospel Choir, a Choir! Choir! Choir! singalong, a Classic Albums Live take on Michael Jackson's Thriller and a date with the Israeli-born British chef Yotam Assaf Ottolenghi. More concerts will be announced during the season. Finally, two popular festivals are also returning. The biennial Zones Théâtrales, which showcases Francophone theatre from across Canada, celebrates its 11th edition in September, while the family-friendly Big Bang festival returns in February 2026. Existing season subscribers get first chance at tickets, with the window to renew subscriptions starting May 16. New subscriptions and individual tickets will go on sale June 12. For more information, go online to or call 1-844-985-2787. Want to stay in the know about what's happening in Ottawa? Sign up for the Ottawa Citizen's arts and life newsletter — Ottawa, Out of Office — our weekly guide to eating, listening, reading, watching, playing, hanging, learning and living well in the capital. Volunteers at the National Gallery worry about opportunities vanishing Four Ottawa restaurants crack 2025 Canada's 100 Best list
