Since it opened in 2017, the National Creation Fund, which is supported entirely by donors to the Creation Campaign, has invested a total of $4.8 million in the development of 30 ambitious new works by artists and arts organizations across the country
NAC Dance, led by Executive Producer Cathy Levy, co-produced Revisor by Kidd Pivot; who we are in the dark by Peggy Baker Dance Projects; Windigo by Lara Kramer; Threshold by Le Patin Libre; and Solo 70 by Fortier Danse-Création
NAC French Theatre, led by Artistic Director Brigitte Haentjens, featured the co-production Le reste vous le connaissez par le cinéma directed by Christian Lapointe, (ESPACE GO and Carte Blanche, supported by the National Creation Fund)
English Theatre’s Investors Series pilot project Calpurnia has been given significant investment through workshops and dramaturgy to prepare the piece for a national or potentially international co-production in 2021
English Theatre, led by Associate Artistic Director Sarah Garton Stanley, workshopped eight scripts with 26 actors during November Reads, English Theatre’s annual new play development week, and writer-in-residence Lisa Codrington had three workshops for her new work Back to Methuselah
Lindsay Lachance, Artistic Associate in Indigenous Theatre, facilitated new play development with four emerging Indigenous playwrights at the University of Alberta’s Dramaturgy Research Conference
The NAC Orchestra’s Carrefour program for diverse, emerging composers hosted Métis composer Ian Cusson (Toronto) and Remy Siu (Vancouver), in collaboration with the Canada Council for the Arts
NAC Orchestra commissions and world premieres included The Forest, a guitar concerto by Howard Shore; the Cello Concerto by Marjan Mozetich; and the chamber work Where There’s a Wall by Ian Cusson, based on poetry by Joy Kogawa
The NAC Orchestra commission and recording Golden Slumbers Kiss Your Eyes by Ana Sokolović won the 2019 JUNO Award for Classical Composition of the Year
The NAC Orchestra season included works by 11 Canadian composers — Walter Boudreau, Zosha Di Castri, John Estacio, Nicole Lizée, Jocelyn Morlock, Marjan Mozetich, Howard Shore, Ana Sokolovíc, Andrew Staniland, Tanya Tagaq and Claude Vivier, as well as new work by performing artists Sylvie Cloutier and Leela Gilday
Repertoire for the Orchestra’s 50th Anniversary European Tour included work by six Canadian composers, and the Orchestra’s Canada Day performance on Parliament Hill included the JUNO Award-winning NAC commission My Name is Amanda Todd by Jocelyn Morlock
The NAC Dance season included six works by Canadian choreographers — who we are in the dark by Peggy Baker (Peggy Baker Dance Projects); Solo 70 by Paul-André Fortier (Fortier Danse-Création); Vespers by James Kudelka (Royal Winnipeg Ballet); To This Day by Emily Molnar (Ballet BC); Revisor by Crystal Pite (Kidd Pivot), and Joni Mitchell’s The Fiddle and the Drum by Jean Grand-Maître (Alberta Ballet)
English Theatre’s entirely Canadian season included Silence by Trina Davies; The Hockey Sweater: The Musical by Emil Sher and Jonathan Monro (supported by the National Creation Fund); The Wedding Party by Kristen Thomson; Angélique by Lorena Gala; The Pigeon King by Severn Thompson; Chasing Champions by Jacob Sampson; Prince Hamlet adapted by Ravi Jain; and Between Breaths by Robert Chafe
New Canadian works in French Theatre’s season included AmericanDream.ca by Claude Guilmain; Dis Merci (Joe Jack et John); Dans le champ amoureux by Catherine Chabot; Petite Sorcière by Pascal Brullemans; Ce qu’on attend de moi by Gilles Poulin-Denis and Philippe Cyr; Marco bleu based on a script by Larry Tremblay; Le Tigre bluede l’Euphrate by Larent Gaudé; Le reste vous le connaissez par le cinéma by Christian Lapointe; L’Homme aux sept femmes by Audrée Wilhelmy; and Hamlet_Director’s Cut adapted by François Blouin and Marc Beaupré, translated by Jean Marc Dalpé
The all-Canadian music series NAC Presents featured 109 performances, and its new Sessions series with the NAC Orchestra commissioned orchestral arrangements for Lynn Miles and Stars
The NAC presented the first North American edition of BIG BANG, a multidisciplinary festival for children and families that included shows by the NAC Orchestra, NAC Presents and French Theatre; partners included the Canada Council for the Arts, Ottawa Tourism, Winterlude and Belgium’s Zonzo Compagnie
The NAC Orchestra partnered with the actor R.H.Thomson and The World Remembers on the world premiere of The World Remembers song cycle, featuring the National German Youth Orchestra (BJO), who also performed Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem with the Orchestra during Remembrance Week
The NAC Orchestra partnered with La Seine Musicale (Paris) and the Point Musical Festival (Gothenburg) to present the multidisciplinary NAC commission Life Reflected during the Orchestra’s 50th Anniversary European Tour
NAC Dance joined a host of international partners to co-produce Xenos, the latest solo work by British choreographer Akram Khan
The Visiting Dance Artist Program, a joint initiative of NAC Dance and the Canada Council for the Arts, hosted choreographer-performers Dana Michel, Justine A. Chambers and Laurie Young
Artistic Director Kevin Loring and Managing Director Lori Marchand announced details of Indigenous Theatre’s first season. It includes 11 productions, an opening festival called Mòshkamo, and will feature and more than 10 Indigenous languages
The Algonquin Advisory Council continued to meet and be consulted, playing a critical role as Indigenous Theatre prepared for its first season
Indigenous Theatre attended a number of events, including the Roobiboo Festival (Edmonton), the Jamais Lu Festival (Montreal) and Arts Day on the Hill (Ottawa), among many others
Human Resources organized a series of talks with Indigenous artists to familiarize staff with Indigenous culture and issues
The NAC’s Variety series presented its first world music festival, Vivafest, in May 2019, in partnership with LulaWorld Music
English Theatre’s season featured the groundbreaking works Silence and Prince Hamlet, both of which featured the inclusion and leadership of Deaf performers
The NAC Orchestra’s new Vanguard Series invited audiences to experience more audacious programming, including Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem, the multimedia NAC commission Life Reflected, and a concert featuring music by Thomas Adès and Stravinsky, among others
The Orchestra’s WolfGANG Sessions attracted capacity crowds in its fifth season of innovative contemporary music at the Mercury Lounge nightclub
The sixth edition of NAC Dance’s Face 2 Face festival featured seven performances by three Indigenous artists from Australia and Canada, in partnership with the Ottawa Dance Directive/Series Dance 10 and La Nouvelle Scène Gilles Desjardins
French Theatre’s season included Ce qu’on attend de moi by Gilles Poulin-Dennis and Philippe Cyr, a work for non-actors that incorporates documentary film, and Mile(s)tones, a work for young audiences about jazz legend Miles Davis
The NAC Orchestra’s 50th Anniversary European Tour included eight concerts and 60 education events in Saffron Walden, London, Paris, Copenhagen, Gothenburg, Utrecht and Stockholm
The Orchestra gave its annual performances at Roy Thomson Hall (Toronto) and the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts (Kingston)
A number of National Creation Fund projects have secured international engagements, including who we are in the dark (Peggy Baker Dance Projects), Mînowin (Dancers of Damelahamid), Revisor (Kidd Pivot), Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha (Volcano Theatre), and The Storyville Mosquito (Kid Koala)
We Keep Coming Back (Self Conscious Theatre), co-created by English Theatre Associate Artistic Director Sarah Garton Stanley and supported by The Collaborations, toured to Arts Depot London (U.K.), the English Theatre Berlin and Factory Theatre (Toronto)
Between Breaths, directed by English Theatre Artistic Director Jillian Keiley and supported by The Collaborations, toured to 12 communities across Newfoundland, and is headed to Halifax, Vancouver, Toronto and Victoria in the fall of 2019
Dance Executive Producer Cathy Levy serves as a member of the Canadian Arts Presenting Association’s new International Market Development Committee, which aims to develop opportunities for Canadian artists
Ana Sokolović won a 2019 JUNO Award for Best Classical Composition for Golden Slumbers Kiss Your Eyes, an NAC commission and recording on Montreal label Analekta
In conjunction with the NAC Orchestra’s concerts during Remembrance Week and the 100th anniversary of the Armistice, the NAC partnered with the Royal Canadian Legion, Veterans Affairs Canada, and The World Remembers to present historical photos of faces from Canada and other First World War nations on the Kipnes Lantern, and featured a display to accompany a “Virtual Poppy” light show on the Parliament buildings
Other major artistic projects on the Kipnes Lantern included the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards and the Indigenous Theatre programming announcement, among many others
Significant livestreams via the NAC’s YouTube and Facebook platforms included the NAC Orchestra’s 50th Anniversary European Tour launch; the Indigenous Theatre programming announcement; and Music Monday
NAC podcast highlights included interviews with NAC Presents Executive Producer Heather Gibson and Dene singer-songwriter Leela Gilday; Julien Morissette and theatre artist Robert Lepage; and NAC Dance Executive Producer Cathy Levy with choreographer Peggy Baker
The NAC Orchestra released the CD The Bounds of Our Dreams featuring Walter Boudreau’s work about Claude Gauvreau, played by Alain Lefèvre, on Analekta in September 2018
English Theatre was a lead collaborator on the Festival of Live Digital Arts at the Isabel Bader Centre in Kingston, which included a performance by Choir! Choir! Choir! that played simultaneously and interactively in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver
NAC Presents hosted a successful mentorship program that focused on Queer and Indigenous artists at the Regina Folk Festival
The NAC partnered with the Coalition for Music Education to present a concert and livestream for the 15th annual Music Monday
More than 8,000 students from across Canada attended the 47th annual MusicFest Canada Nationals
Teaching artists from the Music Alive Program visited nine communities in Nunavut, 12 communities in Alberta, 18 communities in Saskatchewan and six communities in Manitoba
Co-curators Sarah Garton Stanley and Chantal Bilodeau assembled institutional leaders and climate change artists and visionaries from across Canada, the U.S., the U.K. and Australia for The Cycle, a two-year project that reimagines the environmental footprint of Canadian theatre, in collaboration with the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, the Canada Council for the Arts and the Stratford Festival
Teaching artists undertook 125 events in 16 communities, including Apiksiktuaqn, a day of music and theatre workshops for students from across Cape Breton on the Eskasoni First Nation, produced in partnership with NAC Indigenous Theatre, Symphony Nova Scotia, the Canada Council for the Arts, and eight local partners,
Music Alive Program partners included the P.E.I. Symphony, Mi’kmaq Confederacy of P.E.I., Music Nova Scotia and the Eskasoni Band Council (Nova Scotia), Soundbone Traditional Arts Foundation (Newfoundland), and People of the Dawn Indigenous Friendship Centre
(St. George’s, Newfoundland)
The 21st edition of the Young Artists Program led by Artistic Director Pinchas Zukerman provided three weeks of training to 66 students from Canada and around the world, as well as the resident Ulysees Quartet
A number of Young Artists Program students and alumni won prizes and recognition in 2018 and 2019: the Ulysses Quartet won the Grand Prix at the 2019 Vietnam International Music Competition for Violin & Chamber Music; Hannah Craig and Angela Ryu were named in the CBC’s “30 hot Canadian classical musicians under 30”; Maïthéna Girault was a finalist in the Concours Prix d’Europe and won the Prix Québecor; Carter Johnson won the OSM Manulife competition; Timothy Chooi won the Stiftung Niedersachsen’s Joseph Joachim Violin Competition, and second prize at Brussels’ Queen Elisabeth Violin Competition; and Bryan Cheng won first prize at the Hellam International Young Artists Competition
The Institute for Orchestral Studies welcomed 10 string apprentices who rehearsed and performed with the NAC Orchestra, received private lessons from Orchestra musicians, and took part in chamber ensemble rehearsals and mock auditions
The 50th Anniversary European Tour included masterclasses and coaching with young artists in each of the seven cities visited
Music Director Alexander Shelley worked with students at Memorial University (St. John’s), NAC Orchestra musicians connected with students at Manhattan School of Music, and NAC Conductor Emeritus Pinchas Zukerman taught a violin masterclass with the Royal Danish Academy of Music, all from the NAC’s Hexagon Studio
The NAC Orchestra’s 50th Anniversary European Tour included ConneXXions 2019, which linked violinist Esther Abrami, the Brent District School Band (London, U.K.) and OrKidstra (Ottawa)
The NAC’s Annual Public Meeting, which took place in Peter Herrndorf Place on February 28, was livestreamed to Canadians
The NAC’s Kipnes Lantern and digital screens increased awareness of NAC programming
Through a partnership with Facebook Canada, the NAC shared stories and video about NAC productions and initiatives to a wider online audience
Consultations on best practices for digital arts learning continued as the NAC laid the groundwork for its next Strategic Plan
The Architectural Rejuvenation Project is now complete (since March 2018)
An estimated 4,000 people attended Adàwàning: Indigenous Women’s Art Market in December
Public Spaces continued its popular series Movement in Meditation, Toddler Tuesdays and Seniors Pop-Up Painting, and increased its presence during the summer with initiatives such as Family Mornings, Yoga on the Terrace, Thai Chi, weekly Powwow Workouts, and free tours of the NAC’s visual art collection
Public Spaces partnered on events with a broad range of partners, including Maclean’s Magazine, CBC Ottawa, the Ottawa Public Library, the Ottawa International Writers Festival, Multicultural Arts for Schools and Communties, OrKidstra, Arzoo Dance Theatre and SouthAsianFest 2019, among many others
Upgrades to the Azrieli Studio were made in the summer of 2019, completing Production Renewal upgrades to all performance halls
In addition to theatrical, electrical and audio-visual upgrades, the project replaced the original 50-year-old electrical substation, providing a new, reliable electrical supply to the Azrieli Studio
Work included additional sound isolation throughout the performance halls, new production facilities in Southam Hall and the Babs Asper Theatre, upgrading back-of-house audio-visual systems, and integrating the Architectural Rejuvenation and Production Renewal audio-visual systems
Having met the original mandate to restore the NAC’s performance venues to international standards, the Project will be officially completed by the end of the 2019 calendar year
In September 2018, the NAC revealed its new Orchestra Shell — designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects, Fisher Dachs Associates, Threshold Acoustics and Engineering Harmonics, and manufactured by Wenger & JR Clancy — which has dramatically improved the acoustics in Southam Hall
Artist and audience response to the Orchestra Shell has been overwhelmingly positive, and the Shell has generated favourable coverage in both traditional and industry media
NAC Presents featured 24 Francophone artists, including Martin Léon, Safia Nolin, Philippe Brach, Alexandra Strélinksi, Joseph Edgar and Céleste Lévis
NAC Dance’s season included Fortier Danse-Création, Le Patin Libre, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal, and the choreographer Jean Grand-Maître
The NAC Orchestra featured the composer Walter Boudreau, conductor Stéphane Denève, pianist and composer Alain Lefèvre, soprano Nathalie Paulin and Ensemble Contemporain de Montréal
Forty per cent of the guest artists appearing in the Family Adventures with the NAC Orchestra and KinderNACO series are Francophone
French Theatre programmed two Francophone works from outside Quebec by Théâtre La Tangente (Toronto) and Théâtre populaire d’Acadie
The NAC developed a partnership with the Carrefour international de théâtre festival to tour Joël Pommerat’s Pinocchio to the NAC and Quebec City
The National Creation Fund has invested in the development of new projects by Sylvain Émard, Marie Brassard, Le Patin Libre, Théâtre Humain and STO Union, and by Denis Marleau, whose work has appeared at the Festival TransAmériques
NAC President and CEO Christopher Deacon signed the renewal of the five-year agreement for the development of arts and culture in Francophone minority communities, a framework that also includes the Canada Council for the Arts, Radio-Canada, the National Film Board of Canada, Telefilm Canada and the Fédération culturelle canadienne française
NAC Archives and Exhibitions curated the exhibit 50/50: Celebrating 50 Years of Official Languages at the National Arts Centre in conjunction with a two-day symposium on the Official Languages Act, and the NAC’s 50th anniversary
Representatives from the Department of Canadian Heritage, the Canada Council for the Arts and the NAC met to negotiate a new Memorandum of Understanding to fund the 2021, 2023 and 2025 editions of Zones Théâtrales
French Theatre Artistic Director Brigitte Haentjens and Managing Director Robert Gagné participated in national consultation days on Quebec theatre in Montreal, with the support of the Conseil Québécois du theatre
NAC Presents collaborated with l’Association des professionels de la chanson et de la musique to offer workshops to Francophone artists and professionals from all over Canada at the NAC on the occasion of the 2019 Gala Trille Or
NAC Presents partnered with Réseau Ontario on a discussion about increasing diversity in programming by Francophone presenters in Ontario
French Theatre and Salon du livre de l’Outaouais co-presented James Hyndman’s Oceans, a reading-performance piece with James Hyndman and Evelyne de la Chenelière at Salle Jean-Desprez in Gatineau
French Theatre co-presented Le Cheval de bleu, directed by Milena Buziak, with Théâtre de la Vieille 17 at La Nouvelle Scène Gilles Desjardins
French Theatre joined Théâtre Action, La Nouvelle Scène Gilles Desjardins, l’Association des théâtres francophones du Canada and the local French-language theatre community to celebrate World Theatre Day
A group of French-language ambassadors from all parts of the NAC met throughout the year to discuss best practices to encourage the use of French in the workplace
In its second year of operation, the National Creation Fund, which is supported entirely by generous donations to the Creation Campaign, has invested $2,830,000 in 14 compelling Canadian-led productions, including The Mahabharata by Toronto’s Why Not Theatre, and The Invisible – Agents of Ungentlemanly Warfare by Edmonton’s Catalyst Theatre
The inaugural season of Indigenous Theatre is made possible through the support of many generous individuals and organizations from across the country, including Season Sponsor BMO Financial Group and Major Partner The W. Garfield Weston Foundation
The Music Alive Program in Atlantic Canada, in partnership with the Canada Council for the Arts, is made possible through support from Fred and Elizabeth Fountain, The Crabtree Foundation, and The John and Judy Bragg Family Foundation
The NAC Orchestra 50th Anniversary European Tour was made possible through the leadership support from Tour Champions Janice and Earle O’Born, Major Partners Margaret Fountain, C.M., DFA(h) and David Fountain, C.M., Education Partner Dasha Shenkman, OBE, Hon RCM,
and Supporting Partner Elinor Gill Ratcliffe, C.M., O.N.L., LL.D. (hc)
The NAC Gala raised more than $780,000 (net) for the National Youth and Education Trust, which supports the NAC’s education programs across Canada
The NAC’s Food and Beverage team has dramatically increased its catering, taking advantage of the NAC’s five catering spaces to host banquets, weddings, conferences, business meetings and more
NAC Marketing has retained the services of Orkestra/Ressac, a Montreal-Gatineau agency that specializes in digital strategy, as the agency of record for the NAC
The NAC has introduced marketing automation through behavior-based triggered email campaigns
The NAC is partnering with the non-profit technology consultant JCA to select a CRM system, which will analyze the NAC’s systems and processes and make recommendations regarding the most suitable CRM platforms
The NAC is currently using Zendesk for tracking, prioritizing, and solving visitor feedback
The NAC has entered into an agreement with Lineate to streamline every aspect of the customer journey from acquisition to retention and engagement
The Choose-Your-Own package was at the forefront of the 2019–2020 subscription campaign which launched in March 2019, offering patrons the easiest, most flexible way to subscribe to the NAC
The NAC’s 50th Anniversary Open House invited the public to explore backstage, participate in performing arts workshops on stage, and enjoy performances by Canadian artists in the NAC’s Public Spaces
NAC Block Parties, a series of pre-show events, enhanced concertgoers’ experience through immersive entertainment, music, activities and décor in the NAC’s Public Spaces
Casual Fridays with the NAC Orchestra offered pre-concert tapas and live music, as well as recorded interviews and close-up shots of the musicians on screens in Southam Hall
The NAC’s social media continues to grow, with a 7% increase in Facebook and Twitter followers, and a 49% increase in Instagram followers, with the NAC’s total social media following currently at 162,069
Indigenous Theatre’s programming launch attracted more than 1,000 unique views of the livestream video on YouTube and Facebook