Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra to tour China for first time this fall

OTTAWA – For the first time in its 43-year history, Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra is planning a tour of China.

The NAC says renowned music director Pinchas Zukerman will lead 70 orchestra musicians and perform as a soloist on the trip from Oct. 4 to Oct. 20.

They’ll stop in seven cities, including Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Chongqing, Fuling, Tianjin, Beijing, and Shanghai.

On the docket are nine major concerts, more than 80 education and outreach activities, and five international broadband videoconference events linking young musicians in Canada and China.

The tour will showcase works by Canadian composers John Estacio and Alexina Louie and coincide with the annual general meeting of the Canada China Business Council in Beijing.

“At the National Arts Centre, we see our role as promoting Canadian artists to the world, building bridges of international co-operation and understanding between countries,” Peter A. Herrndorf, president and CEO of the NAC, said in a statement Monday.

“Through presenting new Canadian orchestral music, and our pioneering work in technology and education, this tour promises to deepen the ties that bind Canada and China.”

Those ties will continue in the fall of 2014, when the NAC will host China’s National Centre for the Performing Arts Orchestra for a concert in Southam Hall.