GETTING TUNED IN
NAC Orchestra set for livestream
Conductor Alexander Shelley and the members of the National Arts Centre Orchestra were anticipating the downbeat three weeks ago.
But just a day before their season-opening concert was scheduled to take place, Ontario imposed modified Stage 2 restrictions that shut down performing arts centres entirely, along with bars, gyms, cinemas and indoor restaurant dining, in hopes of curbing the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
At first, it looked like a bust for the 2020-21 orchestra season, but after some diligent lobbying by the arts industry, the decree was amended to allow for livestreaming and rehearsals on a venue's stage, provided no spectators are in attendance.
No spectators? No problem. The plan all along was to broadcast the opening concert from an empty Southam Hall, so it was a simple matter to reschedule it for Oct. 31. (You can watch the free livestream on the NAC's website, nac-cna.ca, starting promptly at 8 p.m. Saturday.)
Of course, months of careful research had already gone into bringing the musicians (and staff ) back to the stage safely, in accordance with public health guidelines and best practices internationally.
According to Shelley, there were wind-flow tests on the woodwind and brass instruments to determine the direction of airborne particles. A Plexiglas barrier was configured. The doors to the hall will remain open to let the air flow, and the ventilation system is programmed to refresh the air three times an hour.
The British-born conductor, who is 41, spent the first few months of the pandemic with his wife, Zoe, and two-year-old Ottawa-born son, Sasha, at their London home.
The family returned to Ottawa in late summer and spent two weeks quarantined in their downtown condo before getting down to the business of “rebuilding” the orchestra, as Shelley puts it.
He began by convening each section separately to get the musicians used to being two metres apart and wearing masks, if possible.
“I wanted to give the opportunity to our players and myself, too, to rebuild the parts of the orchestra in this new setup because the footprint of the orchestra is considerably larger than it ever has been before,” Shelley said. “We're fortunate that Southam Hall has a very, very big stage, but listening from the front of the ensemble to the back is a huge distance.
“So I brought in each of the sections. I had the first violins alone for an hour, then the second violins, then the violas, the cellos, the double basses, the woodwinds, the brass and so forth. Each of the sections has had an opportunity to hear their own sound in the hall, to feel what it's like to be physically spaced, and then we started to put the sections together.”
As for the music that will be featured in NACO's first fullorchestra concert of the pandemic, Shelley has assembled a diverse program that not only offers a tone of hope and respite but also reflects the conversation on racial inequality that was sparked by this summer's police killing of an unarmed Black man, George Floyd, in the United States.
“The voices of traditionally and historically under-represented communities will be front and centre,” Shelley said, pointing to works by African-American composers on the program, including Lyric For Strings by the late George Walker, the first Black composer to win a Pulitzer Prize for music, and Jessie Montgomery's bright and optimistic Starburst.
“COVID wiped the slate clean for us,” he said of the season. “There have been these profound winds of change going through our society, creating a need to refresh and look at what's represented through art and culture, and how it's represented.”
Equally important is showcasing Canadian culture, in terms of both composers and featured soloists. The Oct. 31 program will include Canadian composers Jacque Hétu (Concerto for Guitar and Strings) and Juno winner Jocelyn Morlock. Her piece, Solace, will feature NACO soloists Yosuke Kawasaki on violin and Rachel Mercer on cello.
Due to travel restrictions on international soloists, another key aspect of the season is the inclusion of young Canadian soloists such as Christ Habib, the Canadian-Lebanese classical guitarist from Gatineau, who is featured in the Hétu concerto.
Also in the spotlight is the young Toronto-based soprano Jonelle Sills, who will sing Samuel Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915, and provide the narration in Carlos Simon's evocative Portrait of a Queen, about the transatlantic journey of an African queen into slavery in North America.
The theme of the opening concert is inspired by the title of Morlock's composition: Solace.
“So much has happened,” Shelley said. “People have died and people's lives have been turned upside down. This music is cathartic and it is kind and warm. We begin and end on that note, and in the middle we reach a peak, showing the future can be bright, great and hopeful.”
What's more, with the extra rehearsal time, the orchestra is in top form, ready to get back to bringing people together through music.
“I have to say, after months of it not happening, there is something profoundly human about the experience of communing with people through music, playing it live,” Shelley said. “It is so special and it is so important. We will always cherish it and find ways to make it happen.”
So much has happened. People have died and people's lives have been turned upside down. This music is cathartic and it is kind and warm.