Nacocast: Classical Music Podcast With Sean Rice

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 conducti

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.

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]

Nick shares his impressions of the First World War through his own family memories, interspersed with some of the popular music of the time. The Regimental March of the PPCLI is performed by the Central Band of the Canadian Armed Forces. Musical Excerpts: Regimental March - Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry Roses of Picardy - Wood-Weatherly Keep the Home Fires Burning - Novello Keep Right on to the End of the Road - Harry Lauder The Parable of the Old Man and the Young - Wilfred Owen

In this final NACOcast episode of the season, Nick talks to NAC Orchestra Music Director Designate Alexander Shelley about the two programmes he is conducting next season. [Music excerpt: Carlo Maria Giulini - Chicago Symphony Orchestra - Stravinsky - The Firebird (Suite, 1919 version), Finale - Angel SFO-36039] See you in September!

Guest host Frank Dans, Interim Artistic Administrator for the NAC Orchestra, interviews Jon Kimura Parker for the "Parker Plays Mendelssohn" concerts from February 5-6, 2014. Inspired by his sunny sojourn in Italy (and a brief infatuation with a young pianist), Mendelssohn composed an equally unclouded piano concerto, brimming with free-flowing lyrical lines and opportunities for displays of virtuosity by NAC Orchestra favourite Jon Kimura Parker. Schumann presented his Fourth Symphony to his beloved wife on her 22nd birthday, saying it contained her portrait in a melody he called the “Clara” theme. Listen for it, woven like a shimmering thread throughout the work. To begin the concert, re-enter Canadian composer R. Murray Schafer’s evocative musical landscape.

Guest host Eric Friesen, writer and broadcaster, presents his pre-concert chat entitled, "Schumann’s Fourth Symphony: From Darkness to Light”.

The four apprentices in the NAC Orchestra's Institute for Orchestral Studies — violinist Sunny Shi, violist Kayleigh Miller, cellist Zhou Fang and bassist Nate Martin, plus former apprentice Emily Westell — were the guests for the pre-concert talk of November 14. The young musicians spoke about their experiences in the IOS, NACO's tour of China, and they performed movements from Mozart's “Divertimento" and Vivian Fung’s “Pizzicato".

In this episode, guest host Eric Friesen, writer and broadcaster, presents his pre-concert chat entitled, "Fate Lurks, but Tunes Triumph”.

Guest host Paul Wells, political editor of Maclean's magazine, presents a program entitled, "Brahms Between Yesterday and Tomorrow."