Faculty Member Receives Prestigious Commission
Composer Andrew Staniland, a faculty member in the School of Music, has received a very exciting and prestigious commission from the National Arts Centre. He will be working with choreographer Jean Grand-Maitre of Alberta Ballet to create a 25- to 30-minute ballet for the National Arts Centre Orchestra and NAC Dance. The commission is one of three that result from a unique project called Encount3rs, a joint effort by the National Arts Centre’s orchestra and dance company to celebrate Canada’s sesquicentennial. The project pairs three choreographers – Emily Molnar, Jean Grand-Maître, and Guillaume Côté – with three outstanding Canadian composers – Nicole Lizée, Kevin Lau and Andrew Staniland – to create one-act ballets for Ballet BC, Alberta Ballet, and the National Ballet of Canada. According to the Ottawa Citizen, Cathy Levy, who heads NAC Dance, says “We are often commissioning choreographers, but to do a project with NACO is just fantastic… And there has never been anything this ambitious.” The three new ballets will premiere in Ottawa in April 2017.