Alain Trudel
Conductor & trombonist
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Plans for the reformed ensemble's initial round of activities were announced Tuesday
September 28, 2009, 12:00 am
Robert Everett-Green
>
> Last updated on Friday, Sep. 18, 2009 03:23AM EDT
>
> Members of the defunct CBC Radio Orchestra tuned up again this
> week, for their first public appearances together as the
> National Broadcast Orchestra. Plans for the reformed ensemble's
> initial round of activities were announced Tuesday at the NBO's
> home base, the University of Vancouver's Chan Centre.
>
> The orchestra's first gig will be a concert Wednesday night on
> Saltspring Island, where support for an ensemble to succeed the
> CBC's last radio orchestra was strong from the day the CBC
> cancelled funding, according to NBO music director Alain Trudel.
> The NBO is also shooting high-definition performance videos this
> week, to be used online as promotional materials for a gala
> fundraising concert on Jan. 8.
>
> “The first rehearsal was really unbelievable,” said
> Trudel, who conducted the CBC orchestra's final concert last
> fall and was reunited with the players on Monday. “The
> orchestra hadn't played together for a year, and it felt like it
> was only yesterday.”
>
> Trudel, who led the drive to reform the orchestra with Montreal
> venture capitalist Philippe Labelle, said that the NBO will
> focus on multimedia studio work, with perhaps three or four
> public concerts a year. He added that one of the NBO's main
> partners so far is the CBC, which will broadcast the Jan. 8
> show, and which has commissioned a major new work for the
> orchestra by Canadian composer Michael Oesterle.
>
> The NBO will also distribute its multimedia recordings through
> its own website and on YouTube. Trudel said that the NBO's
> webcasting format will favour short, interactive studio segments
> over full-length concert broadcasts.
>
> “We're going to turn it over as fast as we can, in an
> efficient and artistic way, so that people can see what's
> happening,” Trudel said. The primary focus will be on
> Canadian talent, including performers and composers, he said.
> About half of the music played will be Canadian.
>
> “As our country flourishes with talent, we need to have an
> orchestra that focuses on bringing those talented and creative
> Canadian artists to a worldwide audience,” Trudel said.
> National touring is also a priority, though before the NBO shows
> up in Winnipeg or Halifax it will have to secure around
> $1-million in annual funding.
>
> A year ago, Trudel and Labelle (who described the orchestra as
> “a citizens' initiative”) thought they could have
> the NBO up and running by the spring of 2009. The recession has
> slowed the pace, and the NBO is still working on getting
> recognition by the Canada Revenue Agency as a not-for-profit,
> charitable institution.
>
> “People keep telling me we couldn't pick a worse time to
> do this,” Trudel said. “I keep saying,
> ‘It's not easy, but it's essential.'” The NBO's
> Jan. 8 concert will include the premiere of Oesterle's The
> Sparrow's Legend ; two pieces for trumpet and orchestra by
> Trudel and Allan Gilliland (played with Canadian trumpeter Jens
> Lindemann); Prokofiev's Classical Symphony (a partial basis for
> Oesterle's piece); and Beethoven's recently restored Piano
> Concerto No. 0 , orchestrated and performed by Anton Kuerti.
>
> The National Broadcast Orchestra plays Wednesday at 8 p.m. at
> the ArtSpring Theatre in Ganges, Saltspring Island, B.C.
>
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