The Canadian Opera Company Orchestra Academy returns for a second year on January 12, 2015, this time welcoming five student musicians into the acclaimed COC Orchestra for an intense three-week period that offers them professional insight and experience in their pursuit of a career in an opera orchestra.

Led by COC Music Director Johannes Debus, the COC Orchestra Academy has been developed in collaboration with The Glenn Gould School at the Royal Conservatory of Music and the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music. The five student players who join the Academy this year were selected from a pool of 14 musicians, from GGS and UofT, who auditioned for Debus and members of the COC Orchestra in November 2014: GGS double bassist Malcolm Armstrong, GGS cellist Tess Crowther, UofT violinist Eric Fujita, GGS violinist Brenna Hardy-Kavanagh and GGS violist Laurence Schaufele.

In joining the COC Orchestra Academy, these five student musicians will be mentored by players from the orchestra as well as gain valuable orchestral rehearsal and performance experience. This year’s Academy participants join rehearsals for the COC’s winter production of Wagner’s Die Walküre, an opera that features some of the most powerful music ever conceived. Their Academy experience culminates in two unique performance opportunities: on January 29, as part of the COC’s Free Concert Series in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, members of the Academy perform a program of gems from the chamber music repertoire; and on January 31, Academy musicians perform with the COC Orchestra for opening night of Die Walküre. 

“With the Orchestra Academy, we want to help bridge the gap between educational and professional life. It’s one thing to sit in a rehearsal room alone in a conservatory or school and practice your concerti, but sitting in the orchestra pit or on a concert stage is different,” says COC Music Director Johannes Debus. “This year, they will rehearse Die Walküre with us and perform on opening night. It might be a bit overwhelming at first, but this is good, and they will learn quickly. I’m incredibly thankful to our COC Orchestra members, who will work alongside these talented young players, sharing their expertise with Canada’s next generation of professional orchestra musicians.”

The COC Orchestra Academy is an extra-curricular program that launched in January 2014 as a pilot program with the intention of growing the initiative to include more students and members of the COC Orchestra. There is no official credit attached to the students’ participation. Members of the COC Orchestra participate in the COC Orchestra Academy voluntarily. The inaugural year of the program took in three students who joined rehearsals for the COC’s 2014 productions of Così fan tutte and A Masked Ball. The three musicians also played with the COC Orchestra for the Ensemble Studio performance of Così fan tutte, a special presentation of the mainstage production that featured the singers of the company’s training program for young opera professionals.

Double bassist Malcolm Armstrong, from Ottawa, is a first-year artist diploma student at GGS. He’s been the assistant principal bass of the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra and a guest soloist with the Parkdale United Church Orchestra as well as played with the world-renowned National Youth Orchestra of Canada.

 

 

Cellist Tess Crowther, from Edmonton, is in her fourth year of the performance diploma program at GGS. She’s been principal cellist of the Edmonton Youth Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra and the National Youth Orchestra of Canada. In 2013, Crowther was invited to go to Bangalore, India to play with the Canada-India National Youth Orchestra.

 

 

Violinist Eric Fujita, from Toronto, is currently pursuing a doctor of musical arts at UofT. He was concertmaster of the University of Western Ontario and McGill Symphony orchestras, a violinist in the UWO Early Music Ensemble and concertmaster for opera productions at both institutions. 

 

 

 

Violinist Brenna Hardy-Kavanagh, from Ottawa, is currently in her second year of the artist diploma program at GGS and is a member of the Royal Conservatory Orchestra, the Cadenza Chamber Duo, and the New Generation Chamber Orchestra. She’s also performed with the Art of Time Ensemble, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Belle & Sebastian, and ABBAMANIA. 

 

 

Violist Laurence Schaufele, from Bow Island, Alta., is a second-year artist diploma student at GGS. He’s acted as principal violist of the Royal Conservatory Orchestra and played with many other orchestras in the Greater Toronto Area. Schaufele has played with the Afiara Quartet as part of the Discovery Series at Toronto’s Mazzoleni Hall, and performed in BACHanlia, which kicked off Koerner Hall’s 2012/2013 concert series.

 

 

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On January 29, 2015, from 12 to 1 p.m., the COC’s Free Concert Series presents “Introducing the Academy.” The performance is free and takes place at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts (145 Queen St. W.). Admission is on a first-come, first-served basis, and concertgoers are encouraged to arrive early as late seating is not available.  

Richard Wagner’s Die Walküre is opera at its most epic and returns to the COC for seven performances at the Four Seasons Centre, from January 31 – February 22, 2015.

Top Image: Music Director Johannes Debus and the COC Orchestra. Photo: Michael Cooper © 2009