{"id":55232,"date":"2019-04-04T12:25:27","date_gmt":"2019-04-04T16:25:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=55232"},"modified":"2025-10-17T16:40:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T20:40:07","slug":"classical-music-new-era","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/classical-music-new-era\/","title":{"rendered":"A New Era for Classical Music"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n A New Era for Classical Music\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

Dominion-Chalmers United Church was built as a sacred space for worship in 1912-1914, but on April 1 the sanctuary echoed with a new kind of exaltation thanks to a budding partnership between Carleton University and the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra<\/a> (OSO).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The OSO\u2019s first-ever performance in the newly renovated Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre<\/a> drew more than 700 patrons and multiple standing ovations for three dynamic works performed under the masterful hand of OSO music director and maestro Alain Trudel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before the concert began, Trudel welcomed the enthusiastic crowd and thanked Carleton staff, faculty, its board of governors and donors for helping to secure the future of symphony in Ottawa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
OSO music director and maestro Alain Trudel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re very happy to be in this space,\u201d he said. \u201cTonight you\u2019re going to hear music that is meaningful but is also made by, and for, our community.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cI have to say a very special thank you to Carleton University for inviting us to play here, but also to make it possible<\/em> for us to play. You can see that the stage has been extended, but also extended again.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The crescent stage, which was expanded by more than six feet, has an extra four-foot portable extension to accommodate the full orchestra. Trudel said everyone at the OSO, from the board of directors on down to the players, are excited about their new relationship with Carleton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJust being here was instrumental, was key, in the Ottawa symphony\u2019s future,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s very important for us to have a home. We are humbled by this opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Symphony Partnership Will Spark Experiential Learning<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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Carleton acquired Dominion-Chalmers United Church in 2018 with help from a $2-million donation<\/a> from the Crabtree Foundation<\/a>, the largest single gift in the foundation\u2019s history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The partnership between Carleton and the Ottawa Symphony \u2014 based in the newly christened Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre \u2014 will offer new experiential learning and development opportunities for Carleton students by way of internships, placements and hands-on experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These could include artistic and performance collaborations; philanthropy and non-profit leadership; curatorial studies; marketing and communications; digital humanities; and arts management and production opportunities \u2014 drawing on both the many disciplines of the university\u2019s curricula and symphony operations and management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre itself will provide much-needed space for the university\u2019s growing music program and its Faculty of Arts and Sciences<\/a> (FASS), but will also continue to serve as a community, cultural and artistic space for the broader Ottawa area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The centre hosts more than 70 concerts and music festivals every year, and will continue to host religious services for the church\u2019s congregation.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Dominion-Chalmers the Start of a New Era for Carleton<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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Carleton President Benoit-Antoine Bacon<\/a>, who also offered a few words prior to the April 1 performance, said the acquisition of the historical church not only facilitates this kind of innovative new partnership but also marks a new era for the university.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cThe Dominion-Chalmers Centre truly embodies Carleton\u2019s place in our community, Carleton\u2019s place in our city,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s located right here, in the downtown core, and literally brings us back to our roots. We were founded not far from here in 1942.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Carleton
Carleton President Benoit-Antoine Bacon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s our utmost privilege to host the orchestra on our beautifully renovated stage this evening. Working together will further enhance arts, culture and learning in the city, enriching both its cultural fabric and the lives of all citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bacon took the opportunity to welcome Mara Brown<\/a> as the newly hired first director of the Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre. Brown most recently worked as the senior operations manager for Toronto\u2019s Tafelmusic Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir<\/a>, an organization connected to Trinity-St. Paul\u2019s<\/a> \u2014 a United Church that\u2019s also a social justice and arts centre.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cMara Brown\u2019s unique background in education, arts management and capital renovations makes her an excellent choice to lead the transformation of Dominion-Chalmers into a vibrant arts, performance and learning centre,\u201d FASS Dean Pauline Rankin said in a release.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cI am absolutely delighted to welcome Mara to Ottawa and the Carleton community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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A Celebration of Music<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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While official speeches were necessary to mark the auspicious occasion, they were brief, so not to detract from the evening\u2019s celebration of music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As musicians began tuning on stage in preparation for their performance, a hum of anticipation grew among patrons enjoying wine and cheese in Woodside Hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the speeches concluded, lights dimmed, casting a golden glow on the orchestra from the sanctuary\u2019s rust and orange walls. Then the opening notes of Canadian composer Alexina Louie\u2019s Songs of Paradise<\/em> filled the air, floating upwards to the domed ceiling and then descending like dew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Carleton
FASS Dean Pauline Rankin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The composition, which mixes Asian and Western musical influences, is, according to the evening\u2019s program, an \u201cexpression of the mysteries and wonders of nature and art,\u201d and pleased an audience anxious for the buds and birdsong of spring after winter\u2019s endurance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The crescent stage, which projects deep into the seating area, seemed to erase the line between performer and audience creating a profoundly intimate viewing and listening experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following Songs of Paradise<\/em>, Trudel welcomed guest soloist and Ottawa native Kerson Leong to the stage for a performance of Sergei Prokofiev\u2019s Violin Concerto No. 2<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leong, a renowned young violin virtuoso and currently artist-in-residence with the Orchestre M\u00e9tropolitain de Montreal, brought passion and flourish to the stage, his bow arm at times a blur, especially in the movement\u2019s breathless, exhilarating finale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Kerson Leong. Photo by Shawn Peters.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After a brief intermission, during which the orchestra plumped up to about 100 players, the audience settled in for the pi\u00e8ce de r\u00e9sistance<\/em>, a performance of Gustav Mahler\u2019s Symphony No. 5<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The stirring composition is, according to the program, an exploration of humankind\u2019s two great opposites \u2014 tragedy and joy. It unfolds in five movements over three parts, beginning with solo trumpet and funeral march and winding through unpredictable tempo changes and complex passages, both spare and robust, before accelerating to the rousing finale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the night\u2019s performance was any indication of what\u2019s to come, classical music lovers in Ottawa have much to look forward to.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Dominion-Chalmers United Church was built as a sacred space for worship in 1912-1914, but on April 1 the sanctuary echoed with a new kind of exaltation thanks to a budding partnership between Carleton University and the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra (OSO). The OSO\u2019s first-ever performance in the newly renovated Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre drew more than 700 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":410,"featured_media":55238,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_story_type":[28],"cu_story_tag":[1920],"class_list":["post-55232","cu_story","type-cu_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","cu_story_type-community-partnerships","cu_story_tag-faculty-of-arts-and-social-sciences"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/55232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cu_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/410"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/55232\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97904,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/55232\/revisions\/97904"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_story_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_type?post=55232"},{"taxonomy":"cu_story_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_tag?post=55232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}