Eric Friesen presents the NAC Orchestra
13 episodes - English - Latest episode: almost 5 years ago -How did the NAC Orchestra become the world class organization it is today? Veteran broadcaster Eric Friesen chronicles the unfolding drama of the NAC Orchestra from its earliest days in 1969 to the present time. With his charming personality and a host of probing questions, he interviews conductors, orchestral musicians, guest artists and administrators about the Orchestra’s beginnings, the challenges it faced, the tours it made all over Canada and to many foreign lands, and the kind of individuals it took to mold the Orchestra into what it is today.
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Episodes
In With the New: a Golden Age of creativity
October 04, 2019 18:58 - 45 minutes - 41.5 MBWith a revived commitment to commissioning and performing new music and particularly new Canadian music the NAC Orchestra is more creatively active than ever. All the forces are working in harmony - from the board, the senior administration, the creative leaders, and all who sail with the NAC- understand their mission of being Canada’s Stage, of being a truly national artistic institution, and what it takes to make it so, and to make it of value to the entire country.
Beyond Ottawa: Touring, Recording, Broadcasting, Digital Engagement
October 03, 2019 20:58 - 39 minutes - 36.2 MBNAC Administrators and music lovers answer the question "Why is it important to have a national orchestra?" The NAC recognizes people are listening to music outside of the concert hall and away from the radio. And it is by touring, educating, recording and connecting with Canadians that the NAC orchestra and its artists will fulfill its mandate of being truly national.
The players speak: Backstage with the NAC Orchestra musicians
October 02, 2019 18:28 - 43 minutes - 40 MBEric speaks with the players themselves about this decade of transition, the 5th decade of the NAC Orchestra. Musicians share what brought them to Ottawa and why they continue to stay. This orchestra is special, not just for the quality of its performances night after night, year after year, decade after decade, but that quality is built on something quite unusual in an orchestra - a positive culture - a sense of family that isn’t in every orchestra, that’s for sure.
The fifth decade: A new musical vision for the orchestra
October 01, 2019 19:18 - 45 minutes - 42.1 MBThe fifth decade of the NAC Orchestra would see Pinchas Zukerman finish up his 16 year tenure as Music Director and give way to a new leader, Alexander Shelley. The Pinchas legacy continues to be evident in the sound of the NAC Orchestra and now in this new era, Alexander Shelly has begun to imprint his vision, his style and his approach to programming on the orchestra.
The 2009 NAC Award Winners: Up Close and Personal
July 09, 2009 15:00 - 1 hour - 59.2 MBMeet the second group of three Canadian composers given the prestigious NAC Awards: Peter Paul Kaprowski, Anna Sokolovic and John Estacio. Two are immigrants to Canada from Eastern Europe and the third a first generation Portuguese Canadian. They have just begun a 3-year residency with the National Arts Centre Orchestra and will each contribute at least 3 major works in collaboration with Music Director Pinchas Zukerman and the NAC Music team. Here we are looking to the present and the future...
The Post War Years: Canadian Composers Come of Age
July 07, 2009 14:56 - 1 hour - 65.9 MBAs World War 2 ended, there was a great flowering in contemporary music making in Canada. For the first time, men and women declared themselves professional composers. Listen to the stories, the voices and the music of these magnificent pioneers: John Weinzweig, Harry Somers, Violet Archer, Oskar Morawetz, Srul Irving Glick, Malcolm Forsyth and many others in English Canada; Claude Champagne, Pierre Mercure, Clermont Pépin and André Prévost in Quebec. With performances from the archives of th...
The Post War Years: Canadian Composers Come of Age
July 07, 2009 14:56 - 1 hour - 65.9 MBAs World War 2 ended, there was a great flowering in contemporary music making in Canada. For the first time, men and women declared themselves professional composers. Listen to the stories, the voices and the music of these magnificent pioneers: John Weinzweig, Harry Somers, Violet Archer, Oskar Morawetz, Srul Irving Glick, Malcolm Forsyth and many others in English Canada; Claude Champagne, Pierre Mercure, Clermont Pépin and André Prévost in Quebec. With performances from the archives of th...
Beyond Ottawa: NACO and the World!
July 06, 2009 10:00 - 1 hour - 91.8 MBThe NAC Orchestra has from its very early years been known outside the boundaries of Canada. In its third year of life, it made a triumphant debut in New York City. From there touring to Asia, Europe, the rest of the US and South America have won it friends and admirers. Recordings have also been part of the NAC Orchestra’s international reputation, as have great virtuosos who have come to play at the NAC and then gone away again, singing the orchestra’s praises. We hear from Itzhak Perlma...
Beyond Ottawa: The National Mandate of NACO
July 05, 2009 09:00 - 1 hour - 89.8 MBThe 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 Golden Years with Pinchas Zukerman
July 04, 2009 08:00 - 56 minutes - 78 MBThe 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 Zuker...
The Pinnock Years and a Memorable Principal Guest Conductor
July 03, 2009 07:00 - 57 minutes - 78.4 MBThrough 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, Je...
The Eighties: Mannino and Chmura
July 02, 2009 06:00 - 57 minutes - 79.2 MBAfter 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 Mannino...
An Orchestra is born: The Bernardi Years
July 01, 2009 05:00 - 1 hour - 82.5 MBThe 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 a...