NACOcast: A Classical Music Podcast

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NAC Orchestra 50th Anniversary European Tour May 10, 2019

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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.

Vivian Fung Feb 05, 2019

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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.”

Yosuke Kawasaki and Jessica Linnebach Jan 07, 2019

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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.

Charles Hamann speaks with the students of the 2018 Young Artists Program Dec 05, 2018

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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.

Shostakovich’s Violin Concert No1 and Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No3 Nov 16, 2018

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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.

Jessica Holmes Oct 31, 2018

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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!

Doo Wop Project and Jack Everly Oct 15, 2018

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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.

Beethoven's Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Symphonies Oct 02, 2018

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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”.

Beethoven's Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Symphonies Sep 19, 2018

Show notes

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.

Beethoven's First Three Symphonies Sep 11, 2018

Show notes

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.

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