NACOcast: Classical music podcast with Sean Rice

NAC Orchestra Music Director Alexander Shelley talks with uOttawa Professor and Clara Schumann expert Julie Pedneault-Deslauriers about the Orchestra's recording project focusing on Clara Schumann, Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms. The first release, recorded live in Southam Hall at the NAC, can be purchased online.

In this episode of the NACOcast NAC Orchestra violinist Carissa Klopoushak interviews two founding violinists, Karoly Sziladi and Elaine Klimasko. They are joined by long time orchestra champion Evelyn Greenberg who was also the original harpsichordist and pianist of the orchestra. Together they share many wonderful memories, from first auditions to fifty years of touring and performing across Canada and the world. This episode of the NACOcast will transport you to the very beginning of this beloved orchestral family. Additional Resources: NACO at 50: Karoly Szilady's journey full of musical memories NACO on Tour: On the road with the happy warrior Elaine Klimasko Musical memories: Evelyn Greenberg connects NACO and uOttawa The NAC celebrates our 50th anniversary all year long

An advocate for Canadian music, Principal Cellist Rachel Mercer speaks with Sean Rice about her activities in and beyond the National Arts Centre Orchestra, including recording, commissioning and playing world premieres. Recorded prior to Rachel's Casual Friday debut with NACO and Alexander Shelley of the world premiere of Canadian pianist and composer Stewart Goodyear's Cello Concerto.

In this archival episode of the NACOcast host Sean Rice, NAC Orchestra's 2nd clarinetist, speaks with conductor Peter Oundjian weeks before his retirement as Music Director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 2018. They discuss Bruckner's Eighth Symphony and Peter shares memories from his student days at The Juilliard School, his first encounter with Pinchas Zukerman and performing with the National Arts Centre Orchestra.

In this episode of the NACOcast host Sean Rice (Second clarinet, NAC Orchestra) speaks with Remy Siu Carrefour Composer (2017-2019) about his early interest in film as well as his multi-disciplinary studies at Simon Fraser Univeristy that sparked his love for artist collaboration. In 2015 in collaboration with Western Front, Remy fused his many interests to create Foxconn Frequency (no.2) — for one visibly Chinese performer. Today his work continues to span chamber music, dance, theatre, installations, and audio-visual work. During his residency with the Canada Council for the Arts and the National Arts Centre's Carrefour Composer program, Remy composed New Notations, a work for two X-box controllers and machine, which will premiere in 2020.

Sean Rice, NAC Orchestra 2nd clarinet, talks with Toronto-based Carrefour* Composer Ian Cusson. They talk about R. Murray Schaffer, Bulgarian women's choirs, and unrelated studies at the University of Toronto before delving into his chosen career. During Ian's two year Carrefour residency with the NAC Orchestra from 2017-2019, he was commissioned for two works which received premieres at that National Gallery of Canada and in Southam Hall: Where There's a Wall for mezzo-soprano and sextet, which featured poetry by acclaimed Japanese-Canadian poet, Joy Kogawa, and Le Loup de Lafontaine, an orchestral suite based on a story from his home town. During this time, he was also jointly commissioned by the NAC Orchestra and the Canadian Opera Company for Dodo, mon tout petit, an aria for soprano and orchestra, which will be included as part of Harry Somers and Mavor Moore's opera, Louis Riel. An Associate Composer of the Canadian Music Centre, Ian is currently the Composer-in-Residence for the Canadian Opera Company. * The Carrefour Composer Program is made possible by the Canada Council for the Arts.

Journalist and author Paul Wells has a fascinating conversation with composer Howard Shore about his passion for music making and acclaimed career as a composer for film, television and opera. Mr. Shore was at the National Arts Centre for the world premiere of his work The Forest: Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra which was commissioned by NAC Music Director Alexander Shelley with with Miloš Karadaglić playing the guitar.

In this archival episode from 2016, NACOcast host Sean Rice connects with composer and pianist Timo Andres whose works were performed by members of the NAC Orchestra as part the WolfGANG Sessions. During their conversation Andres discusses the inspiration and structure of his compositions Early to Rise and Safe Travels and describes himself as a very harmonic composer who is obsessed with compositional craft. Philip Glass selected Timo Andres as the recipient of The City of Toronto Glenn Gould Protégé Prize in 2016 and calls Andres as “a brilliant compositional mind with a wonderful sense of interpretation of music.”

Host Sean Rice speaks with conductor Elim Chan who made her NAC main series debut in the 18-19 season. A past fellow in the NAC Orchestra's Conductor's Program, the Hong Kong-born musician has made her mark on the classical music circuit with her thoughtful and dynamic performances, imbued with energy and imagination. Elim and Sean discuss the experiences that shaped her journey into the world of conducting, their shared love of Mendelssohn and the newly commissioned Cello Concerto by Canadian composer Marjan Mozetich.

Sean Rice, NAC Orchestra's 2nd clarinetist, chats with Canadian violinist Blake Pouliot. At age fourteen Blake attended the NAC's Young Artist Program and credits that experience for inspiring him to pursue a career in music. Sean and Blake discuss the pressures of music competitions, his relationship with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and Blake's passion for French composers. Pouliot's debut album for Analekta Records featuring works by Debussy and Ravel received a 2019 JUNO nomination for Best Classical Album.

In this episode of the NACOcast Sean Rice speaks with NAC Music Director Alexander Shelley. On the occasion of its 50th Anniversary, the National Arts Centre Orchestra will embark on a European tour in May 2019. CROSSINGS: the NAC Orchestra 50th Anniversary European Tour will feature concerts and collaborative community outreach events in 7 cities and 5 countries: London, Paris, Utrecht, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Gothenburg and Saffron Walden. On this tour, Alexander Shelley and the NAC Orchestra will break new ground for the orchestral experience with an unprecedented representation of Canadian art, artists and stories. “Crossings is emblematic of what is at the heart of this tour….We are crossing expectations, generations and distances and as we engage with new and diverse audiences, artists and young people to experience music and to make music together.”-Alexander Shelley, NAC Music Director.

Sean Rice, NAC Orchestra's 2nd clarinetist, chats with JUNO Award-winning composer Vivian Fung on the occasion of NACO's performance of her composition, Earworms. Discover when Sean and Vivian first met, what Vivian has been up to in her career and family life, and her inspiration for Earworms, which was commissioned by the NAC and premiered in Southam Hall, with Alexander Shelley, in March 2018. “Earworms… musically depicts our diverted attention spans and multi-tasking lives.”

The NAC Orchestra's Concertmaster Yosuke Kawasaki and Associate Concertmaster Jessica Linnebach speak with second clarinetist Sean Rice about their lives together, and their collaboration in the NACO's February 2019 performance of Jocelyn Morlock's Cobalt which just happens to be taking place on Valentine's Day. The work is written for violin duet supported by orchestra – perfect for this married couple! Tune in for good stories and a few laughs. Jocelyn Morlock's Cobalt was composed in 2009, and was a NAC Orchestra and CBC co-commission. Premiered on April 30th, 2009 in Southam Hall in Ottawa, as part of the NAC's BC Scene, it featured violin soloists Jonathan Crow and Karl Stobbe, with the NAC Orchestra conducted by Alain Trudel.

December marks the start of the application process for the NAC's annual Young Artist Program (Y.A.P). To highlight this wonderful training program, Charles ‘Chip' Hamann, Principal Oboe, NAC Orchestra and YAP faculty member guest hosts this episode of the NACOcast. Chip speaks with members of the 2018 YAP Wind Program about their experience being immersed in music playing, masterclasses and networking with exceptional like-minded young artists.

Kelly Rice, Director of Development and Lars Lih, Musicologist from McGill's Schulich School of Music visited the NAC in January 2018 to hear John Storgårds conduct the NAC Orchestra and violinist Guy Braunstein perform two iconic works: Shostakovich's 1st Violin Concerto and Rachmaninoff's 3rd Symphony. Both composers were Russian, but had different experiences of Russia in the 20th century. Kelly gets Lars to tell us about the contrast between the two composers and how they were perceived in their time. Was Rachmaninoff a propagandist? Did Shostakovich take the wrong path? Ask yourself that next time you listen to these great works.

Sean Rice, second clarinetist of the NAC Orchestra, and Jessica Holmes, Postdoctoral Scholar of Musicology, University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) met in September 2018, in the middle of the 2018 Festival Focus which saw the NAC Orchestra perform all nine of Beethoven's symphonies. Jessica, formerly a cello performance student, has spent the last few years focusing on music history, and her specialty is now Music and Disability, with a unique expertise in music and deafness. Very appropriate for a Beethoven festival, and for the current times. Jessica is working on a book tentatively titled Music and the Margins of Sense. Find out more in this fascinating podcast conversation!

Sean Rice talks with NACO Principal Pops conductor Jack Everly about his perspectives on music and upcoming NAC Orchestra Pops concerts. Find out some interesting details about Maestro Everly's career path (“one thing leads to the next”) and discover some of the wonderful artists with whom he's had the pleasure to work.

Sean Rice, NAC Orchestra's 2nd clarinetist, and NAC Music Director Alexander Shelley complete their three-episode series on Beethoven's nine symphonies for the 2018 Beethoven Focus Festival. The seventh symphony's funeral march starts off the conversation. The 1813 premiere of the work featured an encore of the funeral march. What made it so significant? The eighth symphony was “much better” in Beethoven's opinion than the seventh. The harmonic architecture of its first movement is rather unusual for the day, while the next two movements are very classical. The short, quick and witty fourth movement harks back to the first movement. But the ninth… The ninth symphony is of a scale that he had never before undertaken. Sean Rice and Alexander Shelley discuss this marvelous work beginning by its last movement, and lay out the political climate in Vienna at the time, making a connection between the ninth and Beethoven's influences. “Be embraced, you millions: this kiss is for the whole world”.

Sean Rice and Alexander Shelley continue their three-episode series about the Beethoven Symphonies on the occasion of the NAC Orchestra's Festival Focus 2018. Symphonies 4, 5 and 6 were running in Beethoven's head concurrently. He was a master of making a huge work out of just a scrap of a musical idea. These three symphonies are excellent examples of this methodology. Symphonies 5 and 6, forming in his mind before the fourth, were premiered on December 22, 1808. Discover how that evening unravelled, and hear Sean and Alexander rave about Beethoven's accomplishments and contributions to the world.

Sean Rice, 2nd clarinetist of the NAC Orchestra, and Alexander Shelley, NAC Music Director, discuss Ludwig van Beethoven's first three symphonies, putting them in context with Mozart's and Haydn's large volume of works. Why are Beethoven's symphonies so significant and important? The 2018 Festival Focus is the perfect opportunity for this discussion. The first symphony is deeply rooted in classical form, quite heavily influenced by Haydn's teachings and Mozart's works, with four movements mirroring the expected model and a few extra instruments. The chosen key structure is quite unique and signals Beethoven's intention of veering off the standard course. The second symphony, written in the spa town of Heilegenstadt, came at the cathartic moment when Beethoven was showing signs of losing his hearing. The third symphony, “Eroica”, dedicated to Napoleon Bonaparte, was an important statement about the common man. Beethoven composed from the last movement to the first, outlining the journey towards a celebration of humanity. Sean and Alexander unravel some historic and musical stories within each of these symphonies, as we begin an exploration of the development of Beethoven through his nine symphonies.

Karina Canellakis is the newly appointed Chief Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra in Amsterdam, beginning in the 19/20 season. Winner of the 2016 Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award, Karina is internationally acclaimed for her emotionally charged performances, technical command and interpretive depth. She made her European conducting debut in 2015 with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe in Graz, Austria, replacing the late Nikolaus Harnoncourt, returning the following June to conduct Concentus Musicus Wien in four symphonies of a Beethoven Cycle. She first made headlines in 2014 filling in at the last-minute for Jaap van Zweden in Shostakovich Symphony No. 8 with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, where she held the position of Assistant Conductor for two seasons.

“Every time a child passed through the station, the child wanted to stop, and every time, the adult with them pulled them along on their way.” Sean Rice interviews author Kathy Stinson, illustrator Dušan Petričić and composer Anne Dudley who all had a hand in creating the music performed by the NAC Orchestra’s telling of The Man With The Violin in December 2017. The book and the music were inspired by the real-life story of world-renown violinist Joshua Bell and the National Post's experiment on a January morning in Washington’s subway station.nn The Man with the Violin: Suite for Violin and Orchestra is a co-commission with the National Arts Centre Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra. The work was premiered at the Kennedy Center, Washington D.C. in February 2017.

Natasha Gauthier of Artsfile.ca interviews pianist Alice Sara Ott and conductor Eivind Gullberg Jensen who performed the Grieg Piano Concerto together with the NAC Orchestra, at the NAC, in January 2018. Join them as they talk about personal firsts, world travels, and the whirlwind life of a musician.

Sean Rice, second clarinetist of the NAC Orchestra, interviews the five apprentices who participated in the NAC's annual Institute for Orchestral Studies in the fall of 2017. They were: Alexander Volkov, violin Gabrielle Bouchard, violin Alisa Klebanov, viola Grace Sommer, cello Talia Hatcher, double bass The Institute for Orchestral Studies (IOS) is an apprenticeship program designed to prepare highly talented young musicians towards successful orchestral careers. It was established in 2006 under the guidance of former Music Director Pinchas Zukerman, and is funded by the National Arts Centre Foundation through the National Youth and Education Trust. Apprentices take a seat in regular NAC Orchestra rehearsals and performances, and get private lessons, coaching and mentorship throughout their apprenticeship.

Portuguese conductor Joana Carneiro, a well-travelled artist, talks with Sean Rice about her first time with the Pina Bausch dance company and with the NAC Orchestra, all in the same week in September 2017.

Sean Rice interviewed the NAC Orchestra's principal oboe Chip Hamann about his new album, a two-disc album that was released in June 2017. It was the first classical recording at the Isabel Bader Centre in Kingston. What a fantastic and incredible hall to record! The double-cd set is called Canadian Works for Oboe and Piano, a collaboration with Ottawa pianist Fred Lacroix. It all started with John Burge's Sonata Breve No. 4 for oboe and piano, composed in 2012. Fred Lacroix was also rather instrumental in the creation of this recording. Chip outlines several ideas that contributed to his CD which is available on the Canadian Music Centre's website. … Sean Rice a interviewé Chip Hamann, hautbois solo de l'Orchestre du CAN, au sujet de son nouvel album, un album à deux disques qui a été publié en juin 2017. Ce fut le premier enregistrement de musique classique au centre Isabel Bader à Kingston. Quelle salle fantastique et incroyable pour un tel enregistrement! L'ensemble s'intitule Canadian Works for Oboe and Piano, et est une collaboration avec le pianist d'Ottawa Frédéric Lacroix. Le tout a commencé avec la Sonate Breve no 4 pour hautbois et piano de John Burge, composée en 2012. Frédéric Lacroix à eglaement joué un rôle important dans la création de cet enregistrement. Chip souligne plusieurs idées qui ont contribué à son CD, œuvre disponible sur le site web du Centre de musique canadienne.

Robert Chafe is a 2010 Governor General Award recipient for his play, Afterimage. His extensive body of work also includes such plays as Place of First Light, Charismatic Death Scenes, Belly Up, Emptygirl, Oil and Water, Butler's Marsh, and Tempting Providence. Butler's Marsh and Tempting Providence also earned Robert a 2004 Governor General Award nomination. Robert is Artistic Director for the company, Artistic Fraud, based in St. John's, and he collaborates quite frequently with our head of English Theatre here at the NAC, fellow Newfoundlander, Jillian Keiley. We are incredibly fortunate that Robert is able to join us today to talk about his work, Heirloom. The NAC Orchestra and Shallaway Youth Choir performed "Heirloom" by Larysa Kuzmenko and Robert Chafe (based on Brahms Intermezzo, Op. 118, No. 2) on April 27, 2017.

Principal Bassist, Joel Quarrington, joins us to talk about his brand new solo album, Schubert: An die Musik, that he recorded with Canadian pianist, David Jalbert. We discuss his love of the music that he recorded and his album release at this year's Double Bass Convention in Ithaca, NY.

Maestro Alexander Shelley shares his thoughts on the National Arts Centre Orchestra's 2017-18 opening festival of music, Ideas of North - featuring an array of Scandinavian composers and performers, including many of Sibelius' symphonies and tone poems. Principal Guest Conductor, John Storgårds, will perform Kaiji Saariaho's Violin Concerto and Guest Conductor Hannu Lintu joins Maestros Shelley and Storgårds on the podium for the series of concerts.

In this bilingual panel discussion on Creation and Collaboration that preceded the world premiere of ENCOUNT3RS (April 20-22, 2017), animator Catherine Clark speaks with the six Canadian artists involved in this historic NAC dance-music commission celebrating Canada 150. Following a discussion between Executive Producer of Dance Cathy Levy and Music Director Alexander Shelley in 2015, choreographer Jean Grand-Maître (Alberta Ballet) and composer Andrew Staniland; choreographer Emily Molnar (Ballet BC) and composer Nicole Lizée; and choreographer Guillaume Côté (The National Ballet of Canada) and composer Kevin Lau were invited to create three new one-act ballets and three original orchestral scores to be performed by the NAC Orchestra under Alexander's baton. The outcome was an extraordinary dance and music triple bill. The panel conversation centred on the genesis and creative process for each collaboration; the choreographer-composer relationship; the ground-breaking nature of this project; the impact this rare opportunity had on the creators and performers; the role art plays in helping us better understand the world we live in and in bringing us closer together; and the legacy of ENCOUNT3RS. In closing, the artists praised the NAC for commissioning a project of such magnitude and for its unrelenting urge to see it through.

Sean Rice and Alexander Shelley talk about the "Soul Stirring Music" coming up in the 2017-2018 season of the NAC Orchestra. "I am full of anticipation for the NAC Orchestra season ahead and the glorious music that awaits us. We will host some of the finest performers in the world - artists like Itzhak Perlman, Emanuel Ax, Lang Lang, Angela Hewitt, Stephen Hough, Pinchas Zukerman and John Storgards." - Alexander Shelley

In celebration of Beethoven and Schumann – two highly expressive and innovative composers, the NAC Orchestra created an eclectic evening of music, dance and art called Classical Collisions. Fine art inspired graffiti artists while classical music mixed with DJ scratching - and everybody danced. Artist Anita Kunz, who was commissioned to create the illustration of Beethoven and Schumann in a fraternal kiss loved the concept. “It's a lovely, warm idea of brotherhood between these two great composers.” For Music Director Alexander Shelley it was an opportunity to welcome a diverse community of artists to collaborate and create. "It's absolutely appropriate that we should have other improvisers in the building showing what they do with these themes." explained Shelley. Classical Collisions was a 21st century interpretation of the free spirited romantic era. And it was a party I'm sure both Beethoven and Schumann would have loved.

November 16 & 17 was the world-premiere of Peter Paul Koprowski's Concertante for Double Bass, Strings and Percussion, written for and performed by the NAC Orchestra's own world-class, mega-talented principal double bass Joel Quarrington. Sean talks with Joel about his roots, his training and his career as a double bass player. Excerpts of Peter Paul Koprowski's Concertante for Double Bass, Strings and Percussion from the NAC Orchestra concert in Southam Hall on November 17, 2016.

Did you know the Canadian Brass shares founding members with the National Arts Centre Orchestra!? Join Sean Rice in a conversation about the history and future of Canadian Brass with founding member Chuck Daellenbach and newest member Caleb Hudson. Chuck shares stories like filling in with the NAC Orchestra, getting to Carnegie Hall by way of children's concerts, and Caleb talks about possibly the most difficult audition in history. Musical excerpts are from their spectacular concerts with the NAC Orchestra from November 3-5, 2016.

The death knell for classical music has been ringing for decades. Yet many say the music is not only alive, it's kicking! Join us for a fascinating, up-close-and-personal conversation with two highly original voices – Alexander Shelley, Music Director of the NAC Orchestra, and Andrew Potter, Editor of the Ottawa Citizen. With special guest Nadia Sirota ,violist and host of WQXR's Q2 Music Meet the Composer podcast.

Vanguards of the New York indie classical scene, composer Nico Muhly and violist Nadia Sirota embody the meaning of "classical reincarnated" in an electrifying concert. Nadia Sirota joins Alexander Shelley in the Canadian premiere of Nico Muhly's Electrifying Viola Concerto. This much anticipated work was commissioned by an international consortium of orchestras and organisations made up of Orquesta Nacionales de España, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Festival of Saint Denis and National Arts Centre Orchestra. Nadia Sirota's debut album, First Things First (New Amsterdam Records), was a New York Times 2009 record of the year, and she can also be heard on albums by Grizzly Bear, yMusic (a new music ensemble who commission Sufjan Stevens, Son Lux, and other young American composers),Jonsi, the National, Ratatat, Doveman, My Brightest Diamond, and Arcade Fire's Grammy-winning The Suburbs.

Nick talks to Alexander Shelley about his plan to perform, over the next several seasons, the works of one of his favourite composers, Richard Strauss. The orchestra begins next week with performances of Don Juan and Death and Transfiguration.

Sean Rice is back with another special “all-Canadian WolfGANG” edition of the NACOcast! This time, Sean interviews Canadian composer Andrew Staniland in advance of the world premiere of the NAC-commissioned arrangement of his work The Beauty of Reason for bass clarinet and harp. The rest of the program features music by composers from the Great White North including Marjan Mozetich and Vivian Fung, whose music is inspired by music from other parts of the world, as well as music from Elizabeth Raum and Montrealer Samy Moussa. You'll be amazed by the talent in this country.

Looking at the lighter side of the classics, with selections from Mozart, Rossini and others. Elisabeth Schwarzkopf appears for the first time on the same playbill as Spike Jones.

WolfGANG is back! He's got a new bowtie, and he's ready to get his groove on. Come to the Mercury Lounge to hear works by the great Philip Glass, Montrealer Analia Llugdar, and Bryce Dessner (you might know him from The National). This music is sure to take the chill out of the air. Presented with Mercury Lounge, in partnership with the Arboretum Festival, The WolfGANG Sessions push classical music out of its comfort zone. The music mixes contemporary and indie classical with exciting collaborations between NAC Orchestra musicians, video projection artists and DJs. Get ready to hear “classical music” at Mercury Lounge in a whole new way. It's music with a wild side. Philip Glass: String Quartet No. 5 Analia Lludgar: Luz for violin and cello Johannes Maria Staud: Black Moon for bass clarinet Bryce Dessner: Aheym for string quartet

Nick asks: What does it take to play in an orchestral trumpet section? NACO trumpeters Karen Donnelly and Steven Van Gulik explain.

Canadian voices. Nick takes a look at three iconic Canadian singers from the past: Lois Marshall, Leopold Simoneau and James Milligan, all of whom deserve a place in the pantheon of vocal art. CANADIAN-VOICES.pdf

Nick, Carissa Klopoushak and Sean Rice discuss the music of this frequently under-appreciated composer, as the NAC Orchestra prepares a performance of Bruckner's Ninth Symphony.

Nick presents some of his favourite pieces of music inspired by the English countryside. Music by Vaughan-Williams, Britten, Stanford and others, including a performance by Pinchas Zukerman of The Lark Ascending.

Eric Friesen presents "Orchestral Schmorgesborg", a preconcert talk about the February 19 - 20, 2015 NAC Orchestra Concert "Søndergård Conducts Sibelius". Major works by Sibelius and Beethoven anchor this concert: Thomas Søndergård's interpretation of Sibelius's symphonic masterpiece will enthrall you with its Nordic grandeur; and Beethoven's high-spirited Second, though composed at a time of deep despair over his increasing deafness, already foreshadows the energy and originality we think of as quintessential Beethoven. Argentinian pianist Ingrid Fliter (“a remarkable talent” ~ Chicago Classical Review) joins the NAC Orchestra as soloist in Haydn's jaunty D Major Concerto.

Nick speaks with Alexander Shelley, Music Director, about the 2015/2016 NAC Orchestra Season. Alexander Shelley was appointed Music Director-designate of Canada's National Arts Centre Orchestra in October 2013 and will take up the position of Music Director in September 2015. In 2015 he enters his seventh year as Chief Conductor of the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra where he has transformed the orchestra's playing, education work and touring activities which have included tours to Italy, Belgium, China and a re-invitation to the Musikverein in Vienna. In January 2015 Shelley was named Principal Associate Conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with whom he will curate and perform a series of concerts at Cadogan Hall each season. Born in the UK in 1979, Alexander first gained widespread attention when he was unanimously awarded first prize at the 2005 Leeds Conductors Competition and was described as "the most exciting and gifted young conductor to have taken this highly prestigious award. His conducting technique is immaculate, everything crystal clear and a tool to his inborn musicality." Since then he has been in demand from orchestras around the world including the Philharmonia, City of Birmingham Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Stockholm Philharmonic, Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, DSO Berlin, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Simon Bolivar, Seattle and Houston Symphony Orchestras. Further afield Alexander is a regular guest with the top Asian and Australasian orchestras. Recent press has singled him out as "a musician of considerable gifts and extraordinarily impressive interpretative qualities" (Strauss, Elgar and Sibelius in London), a conductor with "exceptional artistic authority" (Brahms with DSO Berlin) and described his Verdi Requiem in Salzburg as an "original, intelligent, thoroughly convincing and well-crafted interpretation". Alexander's operatic engagements have included The Merry Widow and Gounod's Romeo and Juliet for Royal Danish Opera; La Bohème for Opera Lyra at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, Iolanta with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Cosi fan tutte in Montpellier and a new production of The Marriage of Figaro for Opera North in 2015. Alongside his regular appearances in London, Ottawa and Nuremberg, the 2014/15 season and beyond includes return visits to, among others, the DSO Berlin, Gothenburg Symphony, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Melbourne Symphony and NDR Radio Philharmonic as well as his debuts with Camerata Salzburg, Czech Philharmonic, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Orchestre Philharmonique de Luxembourg and Oslo Philharmonic. His first recording for Deutsche Grammophon, an album with Daniel Hope and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, was released in September 2014. In Germany Alexander enjoys a close relationship with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, with whom he performs regularly both in subscriptions in Bremen, and around Germany, and in October 2013 he took the orchestra on tour to Italy with a signature programme of Strauss, Wagner and Brahms. He is artistic director of their Zukunftslabor project - an award-winning series which aims to build a lasting relationship between the orchestra and a new generation of concert-goers through grass-roots engagement and which uses music as a source for social cohesion and integration. The son of professional musicians, inspiring future generations of musicians and audiences has always been central to Alexander's work. In Spring 2014 he conducted an extended tour of Germany with the Bundesjugendorchester and Bundesjugendballett which included a collaborative concert at the Baden-Baden Easter Festival with Sir Simon Rattle and members of the Berliner Philharmoniker. In 2001, during his cello and conducting studies in Dusseldorf, he founded the Schumann Camerata with whom he created "440Hz", an innovative concert series involving prominent German television, stage and musical personalities, conceived by him as a major initiative to attract young adults to the concert hall. https://nac-cna.ca/en/orchestra/reincarnated

In this Special Edition of the NACOcast, guest host Sean Rice interviews Ryan Lott (Son Lux) for the February 14, 2015 WolfGANG show at the Mercury lounge.

Elisabeth Schwarzkopf: A retrospective view. Nick traces the career of one of his favourite singers, born a hundred years ago, in works by Mozart, Schubert, Strauss and others.

The NACOcast's perennial holiday favourite is back! Curl up by the fireplace with a mug of hot chocolate and enjoy Christopher Millard's thirty minute guided tour of Handel's Messiah. Read more about Handel at https://c.nac.ca/1wCrwox and listen to entire pieces for free at https://nacmusicbox.ca

Nick's guest this week is conductor, Michael Francis, in town to conduct the NAC Orchestra. Michael will be leading the National Youth Orchestra of Canada next summer. NYOC director Barbara Smith joins the conversation.

As a prelude to the NAC Orchestra's UK Tour -- a tour of commemoration and remembrance -- Nick speaks with renowned historian Margaret MacMillan about Canada and its role in the First World War. Prof MacMillan, is an historian and professor at the University of Oxford, where she is Warden of St Antony's College. She is former provost of Trinity College, professor of history at the University of Toronto and Ryerson University. A leading expert on history and international relations, MacMillan is a frequent commentator in the media. [wikipedia.org]