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| Capacity | 3,673 (1966-2017) 3,415 (2017-present) |
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| Construction | |
| Opened | 1966 (57 years ago) |
| Renovated | 2017-2018 |
The National Arts Centre (NAC) (French : Centre national des Arts) is a performing arts organization in Ottawa, Ontario, along the Rideau Canal. It is based in the eponymous National Arts Centre building. [1] [2]
The NAC was one of several projects launched by the government of Lester B. Pearson to commemorate Canada's 1967 centenary. It opened its doors to the public for the first time on May 31, 1969, at a cost of C$46 million. [3]
In February 2014, the centre unveiled a new logo and slogan, Canada is our stage, in preparation for its fiftieth anniversary in 2019. The former logo had been designed by Montreal graphic designer Ernst Roch and had been in use since the centre's opening. [4]
In October 2015, initial talks about plans to develop an Indigenous theatre were held between NAC leadership, Indigenous performers and community leaders from across Canada with the aim of making Indigenous theatre a core activity of the National Arts Centre. [5] In June 2017, Kevin Loring was hired to be the first artistic director of the NAC Indigenous Theatre department. Lori Marchand was appointed the first managing director of the department soon after. Along with Lindsay Lachance, an artistic associate, the Indigenous Theatre department works to increase the representation of Indigenous peoples through theatre and provide further space and resources for Indigenous actors and playwrights to thrive. To date, over $1 million has been raised to establish the Indigenous Theatre department through a tribute dinner hosted by the NAC in June 2018. [6] The first full season by the Indigenous theatre department commenced in fall 2019. [5]
The National Arts Centre Orchestra is a world-class ensemble of outstanding classical musicians from across Canada and around the world, led by music director, Alexander Shelley. Since its debut in 1969 at the opening of Canada’s National Arts Centre, the Orchestra has been praised for the passion and clarity of its performances, its groundbreaking educational programs, and its leadership in nurturing Canadian creativity.
Kevin Loring is the current director of the Indigenous Theatre. Loring is Nlaka'pamux from Lytton, British Columbia, a small town in the Fraser Canyon and was born November 24, 1974. His first published play, Where The Blood Mixes, won the Governor General's Award for English-language drama in 2009. He is also the Artistic Director of The Savage Society. When asked what Indigenous theatre is, he says that it is “Our stories told and performed through the lens of Indigenous people". [7]
The Indigenous Theatre's first production, co-presented by the NAC English Theatre, was in September 2019 when Muriel Miguel directed Marie Clements' The Unnatural and Accidental Women . The production starred PJ Prudat as Rebecca and Monique Mojica as Aunt Shadie and also featured Yolanda Bonnell, Columpa C. Bobb, and Cheri Maracle. [8] [9]
Notable figures in the Indigenous theatre department include:
One of Canada's most extensive performing arts facilities, the National Arts Centre displays ballets, orchestras, theatre and musical performances. At 107,600 m2 (1,158,000 sq ft), the NAC works with thousands of artists, both emerging and established, from across Canada and around the world and collaborates with dozens of other arts organizations across the country. The NAC operates in the performing arts fields of classical music, English theatre, French theatre, Indigenous theatre, dance, variety, and community programming. The NAC supports programs for young and emerging artists and programs for young audiences and produces resources and study materials for teachers. The NAC is the only multidisciplinary, multilingual performing arts centre in North America and one of the largest in the world.
The National Arts Centre is home to the National Arts Centre Orchestra, considered one of the world's leading classical-size orchestras. Alexander Shelley, a conductor, pianist, cellist and teacher, has been the orchestra's music director since 2015. Jean Roberts was the artistic director of the English theatre (1975-77), followed by John Wood (1977-84). Andis Celms was a theatre producer (1984-97), and Marti Maraden served as artistic director of English theatre from 1997 to 2005. Peter Hinton succeeded Maraden in November 2005, followed by Jillian Keiley in 2012. The current artistic director of English Theatre is Nina Lee Aquino; [10] the artistic director of French Theatre is Mani Soleymanlou (who succeeded Brigitte Haentjens in 2021) [11] ; Caroline Ohrt is the executive producer of dance (succeeding Cathy Levy in 2023) [12] ; Heather Moore is producer and executive director of the Scene Festivals; Heather Gibson is producer of NAC Presents. The National Arts Centre produces nine podcasts [13] in both official languages. They cover French and English theatre and classical and contemporary Canadian music. The NAC has since created an Indigenous Theatre discipline. On June 15, 2017, Kevin Loring was announced as the first Artistic Director of Indigenous Theatre.
Kurt Waldele was executive chef for two decades until his death in 2009. His successor Michael Blackie, was responsible for creating "Celebrity Chefs of Canada," which ran in both 2011 and 2012. In late 2012, Michael left the NAC to develop his own business in Ottawa, located on the city's west end and called NeXT. In 2013, John Morris was promoted to the position of executive chef. John Morris worked under chefs David Garcelon, Michael Blackie and Steven Gugelmeier. Kenton Leier was appointed as Executive Chef, effective July 26, 2017. [14]
The National Arts Centre is a co-producer of the Canada Dance Festival and co-founder of the Magnetic North Theatre Festival, which it operates in partnership with the Canadian Theatre Festival Society. The Magnetic North Theatre Festival is an annual event first held in Ottawa in 2003 and is held every in other Canadian cities in alternating years. The festival offers not only productions and performances for the theatre-going public, but offers workshops and seminars aimed at theatre students and professionals.
In 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, the NAC created the series Undisrupted for CBC Gem, which featured four Canadian performers or composers of classical or opera music creating a short film set to a new original composition. [15]
The National Arts Centre Orchestra is a Canadian orchestra based in Ottawa, Ontario led by music director Alexander Shelley. The NAC Orchestra's primary concert venue is Southam Hall at the National Arts Centre. Since its inception, the Orchestra has commissioned more than 90 works, mostly from Canadian composers. The NAC Orchestra has made over 50 commercially released recordings. The Orchestra has visited more than 125 cities in Canada and more than 130 cities internationally in its 51-year history, including a coast-to-coast Canadian tour in 1999 and again in 2017. In May 2019, the NAC Orchestra completed a major European tour, performing and delivering education events in five countries.
As the Canadian province with the largest population, Ontario has a particularly prominent role in Canadian music. The provincial capital city of Toronto, Canada's largest municipality, is home to much of the English Canadian music industry and many individual musicians, and the most popular destination for musicians from other parts of Canada, besides French-Canadian musicians, looking to advance their careers. Toronto also supports Canadian music as the centre of English language media in Canada. Hamilton, Ottawa, Kingston and Guelph have also been important centres for Canadian music.
Opera Lyra Ottawa (OLO) was a non-profit professional opera company based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1984 by Canadian soprano Diana Gilchrist after the demise of the National Arts Centre's annual summer opera productions. The company performed fully staged and concert version operas in their original language with French and English surtitles at the National Arts Centre as well as running outreach and young artist programs.
Ottawa Chamberfest is a music festival held by the Ottawa Chamber Music Society, also known as Chamberfest, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. This year, their 30th Anniversary edition will be held between July 25 and August 8, 2024.
Julian Armour, is a Canadian cellist and artistic director. Armour is married to violist Guylaine Lemaire. He is the son of the philosopher Leslie Armour.
Marie Clements is a Canadian Métis playwright, performer, director, producer and screenwriter. She was the founding artistic director of Urban Ink Productions, and is currently co-artistic director of Red Diva Projects, and director of her new film company Working Pajama Lab Entertainment. Clements lives on Galiano Island, British Columbia. As a writer she has worked in a variety of media including theatre, performance, film, multi-media, radio and television.
Marti Kathleen Maraden was a Canadian actor and director. Born in El Centro, California, she immigrated to Canada in 1968, and became a leading actor at the Stratford Festival in the 1970s.
The Magnetic North Theatre Festival was an annual festival celebrating theatre and related performing arts in Canada operated by the Canadian Theatre Festival Society in partnership with the National Arts Centre. The festival was held Ottawa every two years, with it being held in other Canadian cities in the alternating years. Other cities that have hosted the festival include Edmonton, St. John's and Vancouver. The festival offered not only productions and performances for the theatre-going public, but also workshops and seminars aimed at theatre students and theatre professionals.
Alexander Gordon Shelley is an Echo Music Prize-winning English conductor. He is currently music director of the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, as well as principal associate conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Artistic and Music Director Designate of Artis—Naples and the Naples Philharmonic. Shelley was the unanimous winner of the 2005 Leeds Conductors Competition. From 2009 to 2017 he was chief conductor of the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra. He was also artistic director of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen's Echo and Deutscher Gründerpreis winning "Zukunftslabor". He is recipient of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Jonathan Estabrooks is a Canadian baritone, record producer, filmmaker and graduate of the Juilliard School. He is active in the Canadian and American opera, concert and musical theatre worlds and on YouTube. He was executive producer and creator of Artists for the Arts, a charity single and music video in support of Americans for the Arts in their efforts to save the National Endowment for the Arts
The Segal Centre for Performing Arts, formerly the Saidye Bronfman Centre for the Arts, is a theatre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located at 5170 chemin de la Côte-Sainte-Catherine, in the borough of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce.
Music and Beyond is a Canadian summer music festival, featuring classical music in its varying formations as well as a spectrum of art forms and cultural disciplines. Music and Beyond is also a not-for-profit organization with charitable status. First held in 2010, it has since become an annual event, taking place at local venues in Ottawa, Ontario. The 2018 festival took take place from July 4–17.
Jillian Keiley is a Canadian theater director.
Kevin Loring is a Canadian playwright and actor. As a playwright, he won the Governor General's Award for English-language drama, the Herman Voaden Playwriting Competition and the Jessie Richardson Award for Outstanding Original Script, and was nominated for the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play, for Where the Blood Mixes in 2009. His 2019 play, Thanks for Giving, was short-listed for the Governor General's Award for Drama. In June 2021 Kevin Loring received an honorary doctorate from the University of Ottawa's Faculty of Arts.
Yvette Nolan (Algonquin) (1961) is a Canadian playwright, director, actor, and educator based out of Saskatchewan, Canada. She was born in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. She has contributed significantly to the creation and performance of Indigenous theatre in Canada.
Monique Mojica is a playwright, director, & actor based out of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She was born in New York City, but came to Canada as founding member of Native Earth Performing Arts.
Donna Feore is a Canadian choreographer and theatre director, most noted for her work with the National Arts Centre and the Stratford Festival.
The Unnatural and Accidental Women is a play by Metis playwright Marie Clements about the disappearance of multiple Indigenous women from the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver whose deaths of extremely high blood-alcohol levels were all caused by one man, Gilbert Paul Jordan.
The National Arts Centre (NAC) is a Canadian centre for the performing arts located in Ottawa, Ontario, along the Rideau Canal. It is operated by the eponymous performing arts organisation National Arts Centre. The National Arts Centre was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 2006.
Muriel Miguel is a Native American director, choreographer, playwright, actor and educator. She is of Kuna and Rappahannock ancestry and was born and grew up in Brooklyn, New York. In 1976, Miguel founded the Spiderwoman Theater with her sisters, Gloria Miguel and Lisa Mayo. The Spiderwoman Theater was the first Native American women's theater troupe to gain international recognition, and remains the longest continuous running Native American female performance group. Miguel has directed nearly all of the Spiderwoman Theater's shows since their debut in 1976, and currently serves as its artistic director.
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