The Canadian Opera Company today added the orchestra to its multi-faceted efforts to connect budding musicians with professional possibilities by launching the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra Academy.
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Its first iteration, a pilot project, is a modest but significant step.
Starting today, Glenn Gould Professional School cello student Ashton Lim and Rebanks Fellowship oboe student Alessandro Rauli join University of Toronto Master’s violin student Rebecca MacLeod in COC Orchestra rehearsals for its upcoming winter productions.
Early on in his time in Toronto, COC music director Johannes Debus agreed to conduct the Royal Conservatory of Music Orchestra, and has since become a repeat guest. This sparked conversations with the Conservatory and UofT’s Faculty of Music, located only a few metres to the south, down Philosophers’ Walk, that led to the Academy.
Each student is being individually mentored by a member of the COC Orchestra. There are three students this year, with the hope that the number will expand in coming years.
According to a press release issued today, a committee made up of performers and teachers from the COC, the University and the Conservatory chose from 10 finalist auditions held before Christmas
“What we’re creating with the COC Orchestra Academy is an opportunity to pass on the wealth of experience that the members of the COC Orchestra possess to the next generation of musicians coming up through the ranks,” stated Debus in the press release. “The students selected for the launch of the program represent some promising talent and I’m very interested to see how they will blend in with our players and the perspective they’ll gain on the world of the orchestra pit.”
As James Anagnoson, dean of the Glenn Gould School at the Royal Conservatory of Music, added, “There is no substitute for one-on-one mentorship with leading artists, and the COC Orchestra Academy experience will provide this in the most professional of settings.”
The Academy is being treated as an extra-curricular activity by both educational institutions, which means there won’t be academic credits at the end of school term.
However, “the chance to take part in rehearsals, observing performances both from the pit and from the audience perspective, and the chance to talk to professional players and watch them in action adds up to a very full and rich experience for our students,” stated Jeff Reynolds of the Faculty of Music. “We value it as excellent outreach, offering a real-life experience impossible to duplicate any other way.”
Unlike a concert orchestra, which prepares a set interpretation for each concert, an opera orchestra needs to maintain flexibility in timing and dynamics to mirror everything that is happening on stage. It demands a different level of attentiveness to the conductor as well as listening to other players in the orchestra pit.
John Terauds
- Classical Music 101: What Does A Conductor Do? - June 17, 2019
- Classical Music 101 | What Does Period Instrument Mean? - May 6, 2019
- CLASSICAL MUSIC 101 | What Does It Mean To Be In Tune? - April 23, 2019
