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TOM BATEMAN TIMES & TRANSCRIPT
The New Brunswick Youth Orchestra will commission an original song and launch a school outreach program in 2017 as part of Canada’s 150th birthday celebrations.
The composition will be recorded by the orchestra, accompanied by a soloist and choir, on Canada Day and the NBYO will premiere the work during a public performance in Moncton on July 2. The orchestra will then embark on a tour of eastern Canada.
The composer and soloist will be announced in the new year.
On Friday, the federal government announced $270,000 in funding towards the $400,000, year-long project. The funds come from the $210-million Canada 150 fund, established to “support the 150th anniversary vision and promote the direct involvement of Canadians.”
“We’ll also be doing fundraising to support a substantial part of this Canada 150 celebration,” said NBYO president and CEO Ken MacLeod on Friday.
NBYO music director and conductor Antonio Delgado said the project will be a highlight of his career.
“This is huge ... I can’t describe it,” he said. “I’m humbled to be working with these artists.”
In the fall of 2017, a chamber orchestra comprised of NBYO and Sistema NB members will visit schools across the province. Sistema is an orchestral music education program offered to participating students free of charge.
“We think we’ll be able to engage large numbers – 15,000 to 20,000 young people just through the school outreach program,”MacLeod said.
The July performance will be captured by virtual reality, with 360-degree components of the performances also in the works.
“It’s a very ambitious project for the NBYO – it’s one of the largest single projects we’ve done in our history so there’s a lot of moving parts and a lot of requirements,”MacLeod said.
The NBYO will also commission literary and visual artworks as part of the project. These will include a book that features the original composition and its writing process, and the creation of the artwork. The book will become a part of the outreach program presented to schools.
The winners of the commissioned projects will be formally announced Jan.14.
The non-profit NBYO is the largest youth music program in Canada, with an annual budget of about $3 million.
Metro Moncton MP Ginette Petit-pas Taylor, on hand for Friday’s funding announcement, said more Canada 150 grants for the region are possible.
“I do follow up with the Minister (of Canadian Heritage, Mélanie Joly) to make sure we are going to get our piece of the pie,”she said.“We have a lot to show off in this province and so often we shortchange ourselves because we just don’t promote what we have.”
