Canada's National Arts Centre, a 'teaching hospital' for top musicians...
Say the phrase ‘teaching hospital’ and what comes to mind? Earnest young medics in white coats with clipboards, eager to hone their skills… Perhaps, if you’re from a certain generation, the young Dr Carter serving his surgical residency under a scowling and exacting Dr Benton in the hugely popular Chicago-based 1990s TV series ER. What probably won’t leap to mind is music and the arts. And yet a teaching hospital is exactly how those in charge of the National Arts Centre (NAC) in Ottawa, Canada, view their mission.
‘Everything we touch, every production we stage, should encompass personal development,’ says Nelson McDougall, NAC managing director. ‘There aren’t a lot of programmes like ours in the world – not filling those important gaps for young professionals.’ These days, of course, you’d be hard pressed to find an orchestra or opera house without an education and outreach division – and the great majority of arts institutions understand the value of making cultural connections, serving their local community and enriching lives.
But the NAC is different. Here, under the leadership of its president Christopher Deacon, personal development informs all programming, touring and commissioning throughout its integrated theatre, dance and music divisions. And nowhere is the teaching hospital concept better encapsulated than in the NAC Orchestra, launched in 1969, and its Mentorship Program.
NAC Orchestra Mentorship Program... training the next crop of orchestral players
‘I can’t think of a human endeavour that comes anywhere close to being in an orchestra,’ Alexander Shelley, NAC Orchestra music director for the past decade (and son of eminent pianist Howard) tells me. ‘It’s a microcosm of the kind of society we’d like to live in. Everybody is empowered and expected to be the best version of themselves. They each put in 10,000 hours of focused work to become a master of what they do, but now all that work is put to the service of the collective. Across a performance there are tens upon tens of thousands of notes, and when you think that the error rate is a thousandth of a percentage point, we’re talking about the most extraordinary human mechanism.’
It was under Shelley’s direction that the Mentorship Program, free and open to international candidates over the age of 18, was launched in 2022, as a way of addressing gaps in orchestral training provided by specialist music colleges and academies. ‘I remember finding it odd as a student that particularly among string players, where 99.9 per cent of them would likely end up in an orchestra or teaching, that the act of being an orchestral musician was never really taught,’ he explains. Unlike other side-by-side orchestral training schemes run by orchestras for budding professionals around the world, Shelley’s annual three-week programme for around 50 orchestral players is a fully comprehensive package – pairing each player with a professional mentor in the orchestra and providing the opportunity to perform in two NAC concerts as part of the orchestra’s main subscription season.
The National Arts Centre... 'the young musicians are put through their paces'
‘My predecessor was Pinchas Zukerman,’ says Shelley, ‘and he had a very clear idea of sound production. So, I inherited this wonderfully rich and agile orchestra, and it was my job to cultivate that. NACO is such a fabulous ensemble, very disciplined and tight, with superb intonation. So I thought, “Wouldn’t it be wonderful for aspiring orchestral musicians to come here and learn.”’
The young mentees are put through their paces – in key moments of orchestral literature in the first week, and in repertoire to be performed in two public concerts in weeks two and three (in June 2025, Strauss’s Also Sprach Zarathustra and Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, among other works). These final two weeks mimic the ‘unfiltered rhythm’ of the professional orchestra, says Shelley, so ‘the young musicians are expected to perform at the same level as our players. This gives them insight into what will be expected in the profession.’
Throughout the process there are also sectional rehearsals, mock auditions, career talks, masterclasses and guidance for maintaining physical wellness and good mental health, ‘because the psychology of being a member of a group throughout your career can be very challenging,’ explains Shelley.
'In auditions, we look for three magic components... pitch, timing, rhythm'
One person who has observed the programme’s growth from the outset is principal trumpeter Karen Donnelly, who has performed with the NAC Orchestra for 28 years. She stresses that educational activities ‘have always been an important focus for the institution,’ whether playing for its home audience in Ottawa or on tour around Canada and overseas. The Mentorship Program was, however, ‘years in the making, trying to make sure we weren’t replicating something that already existed’.
Auditions for the scheme, she tells me, are conducted by each section of the orchestra according to instrument type, and are done blind via video recording to avoid bias. What qualities are she and her colleagues looking for? ‘The level is incredibly high,’ she informs me. ‘Obviously, we need to hear the magic three components: pitch, timing and rhythm. But we also think about sound, as the orchestra has quite a refined and agile approach, and a warmer brass timbre than perhaps other bigger and louder ensembles.’
The National Arts Centre... learning from mentors
That each mentee has an individual mentor means that feedback can be given consistently and in real time during rehearsals, and this is key to ensuring that mentees quickly match the standard of the professional players. Advice encompasses everything from practical guidance about posture to more refined questions of sound production and blending. ‘When the mentees come to us, they’re already very good players,’ says Donnelly, ‘but the one major difference between me and them is the number of years I’ve been performing with the orchestra. They might come with a lot of nervous energy, and we show them how to manage that stress. Experience counts for a lot.’
A exciting summer festival feel
It’s worth noting, too, that the experience of mentoring young and enthusiastic players can be just as important for the hardened professionals. ‘They’re full of energy, so excited and open,’ says Donnelly, ‘and their enthusiasm energises me!’
It’s a sentiment echoed by NACO concertmaster Yosuke Kawasaki, who has performed with the orchestra since 2008. The ensemble, he observes, is comprised of around 65 players, so welcoming mentees for a three-week period of unbroken rehearsal is the perfect opportunity to perform large-scale repertoire. ‘It’s really a win-win situation,’ he says. ‘We want to play larger works, so it’s great to know that there are designated weeks when this can happen – and it’s giving the mentees such a great experience at the same time. We’ve invited certain players, who have been a good fit with the orchestra, to return for the scheme the following year, and I hope this can be the start of a deeper relationship. It really feels like an exciting summer festival – just held at home!’
How do you train a conductor? It's all in the arms...
In the spirit of a wider teaching hospital, the Mentorship scheme encompasses more than instrumental training, too. Alongside apprenticeship strands for music librarians and orchestral personnel managers, one of its most exciting components is the provision for budding conductors – two candidates on the verge of professional careers, who join Shelley and the rest of the mentees during the three weeks. This happens alongside a newly launched resident conductor position, and opportunities for assistant conductors throughout the season.
More than any other position in the orchestra, the conductor is the most mysteriously charismatic – relying less on technique than on personality, aura and the ability to convey his or her interpretation of the music in a way that galvanises the ensemble. Is it possible, then, to teach the art of conducting?
‘Arms are so important,’ counters Shelley. ‘As a conductor you can get away with being a great musician and not having a particularly clear baton technique – some of the people I admire deeply fall into that category. But I still think it’s important to encourage the mentees to develop a command of their arms. Our conscious brain is very slow, and yet our subconscious has processing powers beyond comprehension. So, the key is to shift those conscious skills to the subconscious – as all musicians must do when practising a piece – but it’s a controlled subconscious. We can actually change our instinctive behaviours – in any area – through training and mental control.’
Winning an orchestral role... there's a tiny difference between success and failure
As for the other – arguably more important – aspect of charisma and inspiration, Shelley advises his mentees to avoid trying to be ‘liked’. ‘If you’re honest about your relationship with the score, then it shouldn’t be about you,’ he says.
With such sage advice, it’s little wonder that the Mentorship Program has already chalked up numerous successes – measured in the best way possible, by the number of participants who have gone on to win an orchestral position. ‘Every year, someone in the trumpet section has won a job after, or even during, the programme,’ says Donnelly. Indeed, two members of the NACO itself are former mentees – winning their roles after a blind audition. And in the end, what better endorsement? ‘Winning an orchestral role is like winning an Olympic medal,’ says Donnelly seriously. ‘The difference between success and failure is probably a thousandth of a per cent, so any small thing that can give you an edge is worthwhile.’
