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Story by Joseph Mathieu

Photos by Shawn Peters for Ottawa Symphony and Josh Hotz

For budding classical musicians, playing with professionals can make a big difference.

That’s why the �Ӱ�ԭ�� Music Department and the  have partnered to allow students to train and perform alongside experienced musicians.

For budding classical musicians, playing with professionals can make a big difference.

That’s why the �Ӱ�ԭ�� Music Department and the  have partnered to allow students to train and perform alongside experienced musicians.

The official collaborative agreement, which begins in fall 2021, will give students experience with intimate chamber ensemble and larger orchestra settings. Students will hone technical skills and gain performance experience with professional musicians in the �Ӱ�ԭ�� Dominion-Chalmers Centre (CDCC).

“CDCC literally sets the stage for this new collaboration between �Ӱ�ԭ�� Music and the OSO,” says Alexis Luko, assistant director of �Ӱ�ԭ�� Music.

The OSO has called the CDCC its performance home since 2019, shortly after �Ӱ�ԭ�� acquired the building. The hope was that the placement would lead to learning and professional performance opportunities for music students in many different ways.

Students can develop playing and performance skills in classical music as part of their Bachelor of Music program in the School for Studies in Art and Culture. They will have the opportunity to work and perform with an Ensemble in Residence, train in the �Ӱ�ԭ��-OSO Student Chamber Ensemble, and perform in the �Ӱ�ԭ��-OSO concert series.

Luko expects to see other partnerships—as well as informal and improvised collaborations—spring up between established and emerging musicians, and the community at large.

“This collaboration offers �Ӱ�ԭ�� students the opportunity to have a real presence in the community,” she says. “It’s a great way for our musicians to be recognized as contributing to the cultural fabric of Ottawa.”

Professional Wind Players Will Start Mentoring

The OSO, which turns 55 this year, can host between 60 and 90 musicians on stage. Of its 48 core musicians, five experienced wind players will be available to mentor and teach �Ӱ�ԭ�� students.

The �Ӱ�ԭ��-OSO Ensemble in Residence members will include clarinetist Shauna Barker, oboist Susan Morris, bassoonist Ben Glossop​, flutist Lara Deutsch and French horn player Olivier Brisson.

�Ӱ�ԭ�� Dominion-Chalmers Centre

For Deutsch, who trained at McGill University and has been with the OSO since September 2018, playing at CDCC makes her feel closer to the crowd.

“I really enjoy that we have more opportunities during and after concerts to chat and connect with our audience members.”

Connecting with young players is just as important. Deutsch relishes the challenge of instruction, of finding ways to address the individual issues from student to student.

“I know that this experience will be as much of a learning experience for me as it will be for the students,” says Deutsch.

It is, in essence, an artistic exchange across generations. Getting feedback from mentors in real-world settings is something all musicians should get to experience.

“It reminds me of a life-changing opportunity I had at McGill,” says Glossop, who has played bassoon with the OSO for 23 years.

All members of the wind quintet in the �Ӱ�ԭ��-OSO Ensemble in Residence have been invited to serve as performance instructors in the �Ӱ�ԭ�� Music program. One will serve as the director of the �Ӱ�ԭ��-OSO Student Chamber Ensemble, which will play in a new Sunday concert series alongside the quintet, as long as it safe to do so.

To launch the partnership, members of the �Ӱ�ԭ��-OSO Ensemble in Residence recorded a series of small concerts, from duets to trios, at CDCC in September.

The concerts, which are being premiered in the OSO’s initiative with Rogers tv Ottawa, entitled, Eine kleine Distanced Musik, will air on Rogers tv this fall and winter. The first concert will be broadcast on Nov. 20, 2020, featuring Butler Morris playing Three Dialogues for Oboe and Piano by Robert Fleming, a composer who previously taught at �Ӱ�ԭ�� in the 1970s. These performances will also be aired subsequently online in the OSO’s  series over the coming months.

Connected to the City

CDCC is a space for rehearsing and instruction, for study and concentration, but also for the joy and levity that inevitably comes with performance. It’s an objectively beautiful performance hall that offers amazing acoustics.

“This is a fantastic example of the university and community collaborative programming that CDCC aims to continuously foster.”

CDCC Director Mara Brown

The partnership represents a deepening of connections with the Ottawa community, one of the OSO’s biggest goals and a response to �Ӱ�ԭ��’s Strategic Integrated Plan, which calls for the university to “Serve Ottawa.”

The OSO regularly recruits more musicians as positions become available. Up to five �Ӱ�ԭ�� Bachelor of Music students that audition and are accepted into the OSO will have their chairs in the orchestra sponsored by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FASS) and the CDCC, thanks to Brown and FASS Dean Pauline Rankin.

“In turn, it offers a highly-respected Ottawa arts institution access to the next generation of musical talent.”

FASS Dean Pauline Rankin

The win-win partnership also benefits Ottawa audiences with more classical music and diverse program offerings. Local music lovers can even play their own part.

Ottawa resident Fred Weihs had followed the re-development and new programming of CDCC with great interest before deciding to donate to the cause.

“Not only does CDCC preserve one of the most beloved concert venues in the city, it is providing space and promoting partnerships among Ottawa music organizations.”