Back at it! Performances resume with chamber concert series at The Gladstone
To maintain and continue bringing people together through music, and to engage its musicians, the Ottawa Pops Orchestra, in partnership with The Gladstone Theatre, is thrilled to offer a series of 6 weekly 30-45 minute virtual musical showcases. Small chamber ensembles made up of our orchestra members and community guests will be featured online starting November 27th, 2020.
Crowds gather in close quarters at the concession counter; a group of teenagers arrives dressed to the nines for what is to be their first outing at the opera; the lights of the lobby blink ushering the guests to their sets; indistinct chattering can be heard as friends greet each other, while an elderly couple riffles through program notes. An announcement is made and the lights dim as a musician walks on the stage. It does not seem so long ago that we could meet by the hundreds, sometimes by the thousands in a concert hall. The live performance landscape is changing and we must adapt and face those challenges head on.
As the situation continues to evolve, it is still uncertain when it will be safe to return to regular orchestral programming on the mainstage. It became clear rather quickly that alternative options to in-person performances would require exploring. Leveraging digital platforms as a transitory performance space, all the while exploring different methods to share music which can foster engagement, further accessibility, and ensure continued activity, became an obvious solution while further guidance is pending on live productions.
In march we launched a short series of Music Matinees which features noontime performances from the homes of our musicians. After further consideration and great discussion, we are happy to announce a new partnership with Ottawa’s busiest Indie Theatre venue, The Gladstone Theatre. This partnership will allow us to present a chamber music series weekly up until the new year!
Concerts will include selections of classical chamber works, jazz, musical theatre, film music, holiday classics; and will feature OPO musicians as well as performing guests from the Ottawa music community. These 30-45 minute concerts will appear on the Ottawa Pops Orchestra’s Facebook page, premiering at 7pm every Friday evening, with the exception of our Holiday Classics concert which will be presented at 7pm on December 24th. Every concert will be filmed at The Gladstone Theatre, our presenting partner, and we are incredibly grateful to use the space for this virtual concert series!
The Gladstone is a 230-seat rental theatre in Ottawa’s Little Italy! Dozens of local theatre companies produce work at the theatre, which is frequented by over 25,000 patrons annually.
910 Gladstone has been a venue for professional theatre in Ottawa since 1982. In 2008, the revitalized theatre opened, re-branded as The Gladstone, with the vision to bring accessible, thought-provoking and above all entertaining professional theatre to Ottawa audiences. In 2016, a newly formed volunteer steering committee held a community consultation and distributed an online survey on the subject of the future of The Gladstone. Results were highly encouraging! In November 2016, The Gladstone Theatre Inc. was incorporated as a not-for-profit.
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