NAC Orchestra makes 150 rare recordings available online for free

National Arts Centre Orchestra / News Release

June 30, 2009

For immediate release

A gift for Canada Day: National Arts Centre Orchestra makes 150 rare recordings available online for free

NAC Musicbox features podcasts with Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman and others

Ottawa (Canada) ’Äì The National Arts Centre ’Äì to celebrate Canada Day and its 40^th anniversary ’Äì is launching the NAC Musicbox, a first-of-its-kind, online music archive of National Arts Centre Orchestra recordings as part of ArtsAlive.ca, the NAC’Äôs award-winning performing arts educational website.

The NAC Musicbox is an online music collection with a player that allows users to search, create playlists and stream more than 150 select archival performances by the NAC Orchestra from the past 40 years. The website also contains a virtual music exhibit that enriches the music collection with an enticing array of related photos, essays about the historical background, ideas of what to listen for, and educational activities.

Key highlights of the NAC Musicbox are two, six-part podcast series on the history of the NAC Orchestra. Renowned writer-broadcaster and classical music specialist Eric Friesen hosts the English programs while Jean-Jacques Van Vlasselaer, musicologist and longtime music critic for LeDroit newspaper, hosts the French version.

Eric Friesen is joined by special guests and music superstars Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Yefim Bronfman, Angela Hewitt, Jon Kimura Parker, Anton Kuerti, and others. For his part, Jean-Jacques Van Vlasselaer delves deep into the orchestral works drawing from his 40 years of personal experience with the NAC.

ArtsAlive.ca is the National Arts Centre’Äôs performing arts education website targeted at Canadian teachers, students, parents and the general public. The website helps the NAC pursue its strategic goals of strengthening performing arts education across Canada and developing audiences among Canadian youth. The NAC Musicbox could not have been made without the generous support of CBC Radio 2 and is made possible in part through the Culture Online program of Canadian Heritage.