The National Creation Fund, which invests in ambitious new works by performing artists and arts organizations from across Canada, officially opened on November 1, 2017, and on June 14, 2018 the NAC announced the first nine projects – including works by English, French and Indigenous artists — to receive a total of $1.4 million
The NAC Dance season included two new co-productions by Canadian choreographers – Some Hope for the Bastards by Frédérick Gravel and Solitudesduo by Daniel Léveillé – and a two-week creation residency and five performances of Love and Other Things: a drama for flower, clay and bone by Associate Dance Artist Tedd Robinson and 10 Gates Dancing
NAC English Theatre Collaborations included THE INVISIBLE –Agents of Ungentlemanly Warfare (Catalyst Theatre, Edmonton), The Pigeon King (Blyth Festival) and The Bridge (2b Theatre Company, Halifax), among many others
Composer Jocelyn Morlock won a 2018 JUNO Award for Classical Composition of the Year for My Name is Amanda Todd, part of the NAC multimedia commission Life Reflected; and Andrew Staniland, composer of Phi, Caelestis (part of the NAC Music-Dance commission ENCOUNT3RS), received a JUNO nomination
The NAC Orchestra season included NAC co-commissions by Alexina Louie and Matthew Whittall; Earworms by Vivian Fung (which was also performed at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto); and Concerto de l’Asile by Walter Boudreau, which was recorded for future release on Montreal-based label Analekta
The NAC Dance season included Dance Me by BJM – Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal; the NAC co-production Some Hope for the Bastards by Frédérick Gravel; radios by Associate Dance Artist Ame Henderson; Concerto by Joshua Beamish; Unrelated by Daina Ashbee; How is Now by Laurie Young; and Telemetry by Shay Kuebler (Radical System Art)
English Theatre featured the world premiere of the NAC commission Sir John A: Acts of a Gentrified Ojibway Rebellion by Drew Hayden Taylor; Up to Low (English Theatre); 887 (Ex Machina, Quebec City); Betroffenheit (Kidd Pivot/Electric Company Theatre, Vancouver, co-produced by NAC Dance); and carried away on the crest of a wave (English Theatre)
Gabriel Dumont’s Wild West Show, La Bibliothèque-interdite, Le dire de Di, Tapage et autres bruits sourds, Fendre les lacs, Ma petite boule d’amour, Traversée, Histoires à plumes et à poils, Comment j’ai appris à parler aux oiseaux, Magie lente, Et si Roméo et Juliette … and Impatience all appeared on the French Theatre season
Zones Théâtrales presented seven Canadian creations, six public readings of unpublished work, and two workshops of works in progress
Violinist Joshua Bell, the actor Manon St-Jules and the NAC Orchestra conducted by Alexander Shelley gave the Canadian premiere of The Man with the Violin, a multimedia co-commission by the NAC and the Kennedy Center (Washington, D.C.)
The revival of Stan Douglas’s groundbreaking work Helen Lawrence, directed by English Theatre Associate Artistic Director Sarah Garton Stanley, and produced by Canadian Stage in collaboration with English Theatre, was performed at UCLA
Nlaka’pamux playwright, actor and director Kevin Loring began his tenure as the first Artistic Director of Indigenous Theatre
Lori Marchand, former Executive Director of Western Canada Theatre and member of the Syilx Nation, was appointed Managing Director, and Algonquin artist and scholar Lindsay Lachance was named Associate Artistic Director
Mairi Brascoupé joined Indigenous Theatre and Music Education as Indigenous Cultural Resident, in partnership with the Canada Council for the Arts
In preparation for Indigenous Theatre’s first season in 2019–2020, Kevin Loring met with Indigenous artists, leaders and arts organizations throughout the land; spoke at the Indigenous Governance Conference, the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres conference, and a fundraising dinner at the NAC; and hosted a panel featuring the national leaders of the Métis, Inuit and Assembly of First Nations
English Theatre presented a sold-out performance of Daughter in the Fourth Stage, produced by QuipTake and Pandemic Theatre (Toronto), and the reprise of Betroffenheit by Electric Company Theatre/Kidd Pivot (co-produced by NAC Dance)
The Dance season included the Face 2 Face series, Opus by contemporary circus company Circa, and Legend Lin Dance Theatre (Taiwan) in its first-ever Canadian appearance
The NAC Orchestra’s WolfGANG Sessions attracted capacity crowds in its fourth season of presenting innovative contemporary work at the Mercury Lounge nightclub
French Theatre’s co-production of Dans la solitude des champs de coton, written by Bernard-Marie Koltès and directed by Brigitte Haentjens, put the audience in bleacher-style seating on either side of the stage
The NAC Orchestra completed the western and northern portions of its Canada 150 Tour, with nine concerts in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Nunavut, Yukon and the Northwest Territories; and also performed in Toronto, Kingston and Montreal
Gabriel Dumont’s Wild West Show, an ambitious multilingual theatre work by a diverse group of Canadian playwrights, premiered at the NAC and toured to Montreal, Winnipeg and Saskatoon
English Theatre toured its production of Tartuffe, adapted by Newfoundland actor, writer and comedian Andy Jones and directed by Jillian Keiley, to five communities in Newfoundland – St. John’s, Stephenville, Corner Brook, Grand Falls-Windsor and Gander
The NAC launched NAC Presents Across Canada, a collaboration with 10 music organizations to produce concerts by Canadian musicians in Whitehorse, Vancouver, Calgary, Regina, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal, Halifax, Charlottetown and St. John’s
The NAC Dance co-production Betroffenheit by Crystal Pite and Jonathon Young toured internationally, and a number of Dance co-productions, including Some Hope for the Bastards by Frédérick Gravel and Solitudes duo by Daniel Léveillé, toured nationally and internationally
English Theatre’s new model for touring, which involves sharing a production’s original direction and design with a new local cast, resulted in a new production of English Theatre’s 2016 Twelfth Night – directed by Jillian Keiley and imagined by Old Trout Puppet Workshop – at Theatre Calgary
Three productions supported through The Collaborations – huff (Native Earth Performing Arts), Century Song (Volcano Theatre) and Daughter (QuipTake) – were selected to be part of the 2018 Edinburgh Fringe
The Kipnes Lantern, which was first lit on New Year’s Eve 2017, projected digital imagery created by Moment Factory (Montreal) of the major artistic initiatives of the NAC and 12 partner arts organizations across Canada; and marked a number of national celebrations, such as projecting artwork by Métis artist Christi Belcourt on National Indigenous Peoples Day
A/R_V, a national research laboratory that explored the potential of live arts in the digital world and that launched during Zones Théâtrales, was developed by Théâtre du Trillium in association with Zones Théâtrales and the National Film Board of Canada
NAC Dance produced seven podcasts with Canadian and international artists – three in French and four in English
Montreal label Analekta released two recordings of the NAC Orchestra conducted by Alexander Shelley in 2017–2018: the music from ENCOUNT3RS, and New Worlds, which includes the NAC commission Golden slumbers kiss your eyes by Ana Sokolović
The NAC Orchestra completed the northern and western portions of its nation-wide Canada 150 Tour which included the NAC commissions Life Reflected (Zosha Di Castri, Jocelyn Morlock, Nicole Lizée, John Estacio), Snow Falling Eventually (Daniel Janke) and Ama Anaana (Sylvia Cloutier and Leela Gilday, arranged by Christopher Mayo)
French Theatre led the creation of Gabriel Dumont’s Wild West Show, an ambitious multilingual theatre work that brought together some of the most gifted artists in English, French, Indigenous and Métis theatre from various parts of the country
English Theatre toured its production of Tartuffe, adapted by Newfoundland actor, writer and comedian Andy Jones, and directed by Jillian Keiley, to five communities in Newfoundland
English Theatre’s Newfoundland tour of Tartuffe included 20 education and outreach events, and 54 individual workshops led by artists in the company
The western and northern portion of the Canada 150 Tour included more than 130 education and community events that reached more than 6,000 students, educators, community leaders and local artists in 11 communities
The Music Alive Program visited communities in Alberta (16), Saskatchewan (21), Manitoba (8) and Nunavut (10), and Atlantic Canada (12)
For the fourth straight year, the NAC welcomed two Chinese arts administrators for a three-month residency as part of the Canada-China Arts Administration Cultural Residency
The new NAC Dance Visiting Artist Program, a joint initiative of the Canada Council for the Arts, hosted Dana Michel (Montreal) as its first artist-in-residence in May and June 2018
The NAC Production team welcomed 36 students from John Abbott College (Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec), and eight students from the National Theatre School of Canada (Montreal) for mentoring
NAC New Media connected instructors with students in Kitimat, B.C.(in partnership with Blues in the Schools and Bluesfest), and acclaimed duo Twin Flames with students on the North Spirit Lake First Nation in Northern Ontario (in partnership with Taking IT Global)
Thanks to the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, Zones Théâtrales welcomed 16 young artists from across Canada
The Music Alive Program was active in 12 Atlantic Canadian communities, in partnership with Symphony New Brunswick (Saint John), the Mi’kmaq Confederacy of PEI and the PEI Symphony (Charlottetown), Music Nova Scotia (Halifax), the Ross Creek Centre for the Arts (Canning, NS), Soundbone Traditional Arts Foundation (Ladle Cove, NL), People of the Dawn Indigenous Friendship Centre (St. George’s, NL) and the St. John’s Native Friendship Centre (St. John’s, NL)
The 20th edition of the Young Artists Program led by Artistic Director Pinchas Zukerman provided three weeks of training to 65 students from Canada and around the world
Five young musicians participated in the NAC’s Institute for Orchestral Studies
The Canada 150 Tour included residencies with the University of Manitoba, the Calgary Youth Orchestra, the University of Calgary; masterclasses at the University of Saskatchewan, the University of Victoria and the Victoria School of Music; and Alexander Shelley coaching the Saskatoon Youth Orchestra
The NAC Orchestra’s Carrefour program for diverse, emerging composers, in partnership with the Canada Council for the Arts, hosted Métis composer Ian Cusson (Toronto) and Remy Siu (Vancouver) for residencies in the spring of 2018
The NAC’s Kipnes Lantern and digital screens throughout the building brought awareness of NAC programming and initiatives through imagery and video
Through a partnership with Facebook Canada, the NAC shared digital stories and video content about NAC productions and initiatives to a wider online audience
Consultations on best practices for online learning is ongoing as the NAC moves to expand its digital engagement in 2018–2019
The Architectural Rejuvenation of the NAC, which was completed on time, won a number of awards, including an Ottawa Urban Design Award
The fully renovated Fourth Stage, with new production equipment, backstage amenities, bar and gender-neutral washrooms, re-opened in October 2017
The second level of the NAC’s new Gail & David O’Brien Atrium, including the Alan & Roula Rossy Pavillion, the Janice & Earle O’Born Room, the Julia Foster Gallery and the Lantern Room, opened in October 2017
The NAC opened the Canada Room, an expanded event space in March 2018, and Equator Coffee Roasters in the NAC atrium opened in April 2018
The Public Spaces team hosted a number of recurring free events, including Movement in Meditation, Toddler Tuesdays and Seniors Pop-Up Painting
Public Spaces partnered on two political speaker series – “In Conversation with Paul Wells” in partnership with Maclean’s magazine and CPAC, and “Before the Bell” by the Sixth Estate
Dozens of events took place throughout the year in partnership with a wide range of community organizations, including the Ottawa Swing Society, the Ottawa Art Gallery and Capital Pride
Extensive upgrades to Southam Hall, the Babs Asper Theatre and the Azrieli Studio took place on a tight schedule in the summer of 2018, and were completed in time for the 2018–2019 season
Upgrades were made to theatrical and technical infrastructure, such as theatre lighting and audio-visual equipment; reducing sound and light transfer between performance halls and foyers (work that began in 2017); upgrades to the NAC’s system for the hearing impaired; and electrical/mechanical work
Project oversight and governance is provided by the Capital Planning Committee of the NAC Board of Trustees, as well as the Architectural Rejuvenation and Production Renewal Steering Committee
Southam Hall’s new Orchestra Shell, designed by Canadian architecture firm Diamond Schmitt Architects, Fisher Dachs Associates, Theatre Acoustics and Engineering Harmonics, and manufactured by Wenger & JR Clancy, was installed and completed in the summer of 2018, resulting in significantly improved acoustics and a fresher appearance. Threshold Acoustics and Crossey Engineering also worked on the overall project, which was overseen by PCL Constructors
French Theatre showcased Groupe de la Veillée, Sibyllines, Théâtre français de Toronto, members of Les Poids Plumes, Théâtre Jésus, Shakespeare et Caroline, Théâtre Bouches Décousues, Voyageurs Immobiles, Le Petit Théâtre de Sherbrooke, Les Filles électriques, Des mots d’la dynamite, DynamO Théâtre and L’eau du bain
Francophone companies and artists in the NAC Dance season included BJM – Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal, Frédérick Gravel and Daniel Léveillé Danse
NAC Presents featured 22 Francophone artists, including Matt Holubowski, Avec pas d’casque and Amylie
The NAC Orchestra season included Quebec conductor Bernard Labadie and La Chapelle de Québec, pianists Louis Lortie and Alain Lefèvre, and composer Walter Boudreau
The Orchestra’s bilingual Family Adventures series is conducted by Principal Family and Youth Conductor Alain Trudel
The western and northern leg of the Orchestra’s Canada 150 Tour included French school performances in Winnipeg, Edmonton and Iqaluit
The NAC co-produced the seventh edition of Zones Théâtrales, presenting seven Francophone productions from British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick
The Carrefour international de théâtre (Quebec City) presented five performances of Dans la solitude des champs de coton, an NAC French Theatre co-production directed by Brigitte Haentjens, and two performances of Gabriel Dumont’s Wild West Show, an ambitious multi-lingual creation led by French Theatre
French Theatre co-produced and partnered with Nouveau Théâtre Expérimental, Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui, Théâtre Cercle Molière, La Troupe du Jour and Sibyllines, and collaborated with Les Filles électriques
The National Creation Fund invested in Eve 2050 (Van Grimde Corps Secrets, Montreal), Le reste vous le connaissez par le cinéma (Carte Blanche, Quebec City) and Unikkaaqtuat (The 7 Fingers, Montreal; Artcirq, Igloolik; and Taqqut Productions, Iqaluit)
French Theatre contributes to the Prix Marcus, given by the Fondation pour l’avancement du théâtre francophone au Canada
French Theatre and Zones Théâtrales partner with ATFC, Réseau Ontario, RADARTS, Réseau des grands espaces, and Réseau Scènes for Les Passeurs de sens, and Zones Théâtrales is part of the Table nationale sur la diffusion franco-canadienne
Brigitte Haentjens, who co-chairs the Conseil québécois du Théâtre, took part in a live interview in Montreal as part of the Rencontres d’écrivains series by the Centre de recherche interuniversitaire sur la littérature et la culture québécoises, and gave a workshop organized by the Union des artistes and the Conseil Québécois du théâtre
French Theatre partnered with the Librairie du soleil bookstore to offer books about Gabriel Dumont, Louis Riel and Métis identity at the premiere of Gabriel Dumont’s Wild West Show
French Theatre partnered with the annual Salon du livre de l’Outaouais book fair to present a staged reading from Brigitte Haentjens’ novel Un jour je te dirai tout
French Theatre welcomed the local theatre community to the NAC on World Theatre Day
The NAC’s Francophone Committee is studying best practices of bilingual workplaces and helping staff and the public feel welcome in the language of their choice
Approximately $1.4 million from the National Creation Fund was invested in nine ambitious new works from across Canada; the funds originated from the NAC Foundation’s Creation Campaign that raised more than $25 million from donors across Canada
A tribute dinner for Peter Herrndorf on March 1 raised more than $1.1 million (net) for NAC Indigenous Theatre
An anonymous couple gave a leadership gift to Indigenous Theatre, joining BMO Financial Group and Frank and Debbi Sobey to support the new discipline, and bringing total fundraising for Indigenous Theatre to more than $2 million
The NAC Gala, presented by Rogers, raised $780,000 (net) in support of the National Youth and Education Trust, which benefits arts education programs across Canada, such as the Music Alive Program
The NAC’s Food and Beverage department dramatically increased the number of events it hosts, including weddings, conferences and meetings from a wide range of clients, thanks to the NAC’s new catering spaces – the Lantern Room, the Janice & Earle O’Born Room and the Canada Room, which can hold up to 1,500 people
The NAC integrated the Canopy Labs platform (analytics, sales and marketing) with Ticketmaster (NAC Box Office) and the NAC Foundation’s “Raiser’s Edge” platform, allowing the NAC to send automatic post-purchase and post-event emails and reminder emails to patrons who have not completed a purchase online
The NAC hired Visitor Experience hosts to welcome the public, answer questions and assist with wayfinding
All staff are now trained on the NAC’s Five Core Values – Be Considerate, Be Knowledgeable, Be Welcoming, Be Sincere and Go Above and Beyond – and a new program recognizes and rewards NAC colleagues who demonstrate those values in action
NAC Presents launched a Create-Your-Own subscription that allows patrons to purchase three or more shows at a discount and receive subscriber benefits
The NAC Orchestra made all concerts available for its Create-Your-Own subscriptions
NAC Marketing revamped the pricing model to provide escalating discounts for patrons purchasing larger packages
NAC Presents launched Fridays at the Fourth, a new series in the early evening that showcases emerging Canadian artists
The NAC Orchestra’s Casual Fridays, which pair a concert with food, wine and friends, and the WolfGANG Sessions featuring new music at the Mercury Lounge nightclub, continued to attract large audiences
The NAC expanded its Drinks in the Hall initiative as a result of positive feedback from patrons
2017–2018 saw an 11.9 % increase in Facebook followers, a 10% increase in Twitter followers, and a 51% increase in Instagram followers, with the NAC’s total social media following currently sitting at 133,145
The NAC marked International Dance Day with a video of Shay Kuebler and Danny Nielsen dancing on the NAC’s Susan Glass & Arni Thorsteinson Staircase that attracted more than 4,000 views within days