Latest news with #NationalArtsCentre
Hamilton Spectator
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Hamilton Spectator
South River soprano receives national award
Emma Pennell's talent is gaining national attention. The soprano singer from South River has been named the 2025 recipient of the RBC Emerging Artist National Award, presented in partnership with the National Arts Centre. Pennell will receive the award at the Governor General's Performing Arts Awards Show on June 14 in Ottawa. Pennell emphasized in release, 'For many emerging artists, especially those from underrepresented communities, awards like this can be the difference between possibility and reality.' 'They help launch careers, yes, but they also signal to the world that these voices matter,' Pennell added. Pennell's family tree has its roots with the Mi'kmaw of Ktaqmkuk, the Indigenous peoples of Newfoundland. Raised in South River, Pennell discovered opera through the home's battery powered radio. Once enrolled in Cambrian College's music program in Sudbury, Pennell had the opportunity to hear live opera for the first time, during a student talent showcase. That moment changed Pennell's life. 'I showed up thinking someone's going to hand me a guitar and we're going to do some four-chord song jams,' said Pennell. 'But no. They do a student showcase, and my now-dear friend gets up and sings an opera aria. I'd never heard someone sing like that and it blew me away. You can't hide in the opera; you take up space which deeply resonated with me. That day, it was like a lightbulb went off.' At Cambrian, Pennell began formal vocal training and quickly made an impression. Pennell then went to Western University to complete her music degree while minoring in Indigenous studies. After Western, Pennell studies at The Glenn Gould School at The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. Pennell has performed at the Banff Centre, is currently workshopping Indians on Vacation with the Indigenous-led collective EQ and is preparing for a featured performance with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. The RBC Emerging Artist Award will come with a $25,000 prize to support their career development. 'This RBC Emerging Artist Award will have a transformative impact on my career,' Pennell said. 'This will help fund audition travel, vocal coaching, help refining my craft, and other essential professional development as I transition from a young artist into a full-time professional.' Pennell added, 'It will also support the creation of future projects that centre Indigenous narratives in opera, ensuring that my work remains rooted in community as it grows in scale and ambition.' David Briggs is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of BayToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
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.
Hamilton Spectator
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Hamilton Spectator
Indigenous opera singer Emma Pennell wins $25K emerging artist award
Indigenous soprano Emma Pennell has won a $25,000 emerging artist award. The 27-year-old opera singer will receive the RBC Emerging Artist Award during weekend celebrations for the 2025 Governor General's Performing Arts Awards. Pennell was chosen by a committee of artistic leaders at the National Arts Centre. Daphne Burt, senior manager of artistic planning for the NAC Orchestra, nominated Pennell, describing them as a star on the rise. Pennell says the award is a life-changing amount that would help cover the expensive costs of opera auditions, which often involve travel and stage attire. Pennell will receive the award at a special event on June 14th, part of the weekend of celebrations for the Governor General's Performing Arts Awards. 'Not many people who come from places that I come from have these opportunities and so I owe it to all the Indigenous people that I've met along the way,' said Pennell, who has Ktaqmkuk Mi'kmaq roots and is from the village of South River in rural Northern Ontario. 'Our voices, our art, our performances and our bodies belong on these stages just like everybody else. I actually have no idea how the National Arts Centre found me, but they did! It's just amazing.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 4, 2025.
Winnipeg Free Press
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Indigenous opera singer Emma Pennell wins $25K emerging artist award
Indigenous soprano Emma Pennell has won a $25,000 emerging artist award. The 27-year-old opera singer will receive the RBC Emerging Artist Award during weekend celebrations for the 2025 Governor General's Performing Arts Awards. Pennell was chosen by a committee of artistic leaders at the National Arts Centre. Daphne Burt, senior manager of artistic planning for the NAC Orchestra, nominated Pennell, describing them as a star on the rise. Pennell says the award is a life-changing amount that would help cover the expensive costs of opera auditions, which often involve travel and stage attire. Pennell will receive the award at a special event on June 14th, part of the weekend of celebrations for the Governor General's Performing Arts Awards. 'Not many people who come from places that I come from have these opportunities and so I owe it to all the Indigenous people that I've met along the way,' said Pennell, who has Ktaqmkuk Mi'kmaq roots and is from the village of South River in rural Northern Ontario. 'Our voices, our art, our performances and our bodies belong on these stages just like everybody else. I actually have no idea how the National Arts Centre found me, but they did! It's just amazing.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 4, 2025.
