RCCO Ottawa Centre
CRCO Section d'Ottawa

PO Box 2270 Station D
Ottawa ON K1P 5W4
CENTRE EVENTS
2021-2022 SEASON

Events will be posted as soon as I receive the information.

COVID-19 virus and the RCCO - Ottawa Centre

Please check each event listing to see the COVID protocols in place for that event. We will follow the advice of Ottawa's Medical Officer and follow the procedures required by the various venues. We will try to have any protocols posted a week in advance.

Greetings for the 2021-2022 Season!

Your committee of Donald Russell, Ian Guenette and Sondra Goldsmith Proctor look forward to greeting you in person. It has been a long, arduous span of time where some have felt isolated and others have been able and expected to keep working through the unexpected, constantly changing requirements. Let us look forward to remembering the collegiality and friendships in person.

Ian Guenette, Donald Russell and Sondra Goldsmith Proctor



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Café RCCO

Learn from the Master Teacher Thomas Annand

Sunday September 19, 2021
2:00 PM
On Line - Zoom
Register at events (@) rcco-ottawa (dot) ca

When was the last time that you had the opportunity to sit in a master class with an artist teacher helping you to approach music with fresh thinking? With new approaches, we are able to learn music thoughtfully and with an uplifted spirit.

Join us at the Cafe RCCO. We have an opportunity to be guided by the Master Teacher Thomas Annand. He will be demonstrating his approach to learning by using “Wenn wir in höchstein Nöten sein”, BWV 641 from the Orgelbüchlein. Tom says that BWV 641 is an augmented chorale prelude in the French style with a simple accompaniment. This is the perfect point of entry for learning about making beautiful ornamentation not only in Bach but also in Couperin and Clerambault.

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In addition, we will also be encouraged how to learn and perfect a piece of music in an efficient and thorough way.

Thomas Annand studied with Graham Steed and Marie-Claire Alain. He has also attended Masterclasses with Harald Vogel, Lionel Rogg, Guy Bovet, Jean Ferrard, Louis Robilliard and Bernard Lagacé.

This session is for students, teachers, players, and all who are interested in the process of approaching music. If you have difficulty finding the chorale prelude, please contact Sondra Goldsmith Proctor. We hope that every person attending will take time to play the chorale prelude in advance of the session.

Please register for this session. Register at events (@) rcco-ottawa (dot) ca. You will receive a link for the session on Saturday, September 18.



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Café RCCO

TALK ABOUT YOUR (IN)FAMOUS TEACHERS

Sunday October 24, 2021
2:00 pm
On Line - Zoom
Register at events (@) rcco-ottawa (dot) ca

Have you thought about your early organ instructors recently? How did they lead you into the study of the organ? What were the words that helped you have confidence in practicing with both hands and feet? Do you remember the first time that you could enjoy the coordination of your hands and feet - or, one hand and two feet?

In your music schooling did you study with a special teacher who was encouraging even when you were discouraged? How did the teacher gain your trust so you would keep returning for lessons? Were their favorite phrases that you remember to this day that support you as you are learning new music or re-learning beloved music?

Have you taken the opportunity to attend master classes with teachers/artists who enjoy opening the door to the mysteries of interpretation or registration? What was their method of encouraging students? Is it the panache of the teacher or the quiet security of their approach that they can be helpful in finding different approaches to a difficult passage. Did the most simple passage open doors for articulation improvement?

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Do you have a couple of stories to 'tell on your teachers' that are charming or funny or enlightening in how they engage with students and the music?

Have you had the opportunity to study with some of the honored members of our profession? Who are they? What were they like? Do you have stories to share?

On Sunday, October 24, at 2:00 pm gather with us as we share our stories and as we check in on each other. How are you doing in this time of Covid-19? What is most concerning to you in October of 2021 about your playing, your choir, or anything else that is troubling? We all will listen carefully and try to share helpful solutions.

Personally, I have found this period of the pandemic more difficult than before. The emotional ups and downs as we prepare for an in-person event only to be told twenty-four hours before that it must become virtual or seven days before to be told to combine three separate events into one virtual event. We are working to engage our parishes, our choirs, the students that are stumbling and ourselves as we work to stay positive.

Come to listen and learn, perhaps, share in the teaching, and share in working together to recreate the fellowship and support of the Ottawa Centre. Each of us is important in this endeavor!

SGP



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MASTERCLASS - GERMAN BAROQUE

Craig Humber

CANCELLED

Unfortunately, due to a covid testing mixup, Craig will not be in Ottawa until Saturday evening so regretfully, the masterclass has to be cancelled.

Craig will be playing in our Pro Organo series on November 8.



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In Person Event

ZOOM Café RCCO

OUR JOURNEYS TO HOPE

Sunday January 9, 2022
Time: 2:00 pm
ZOOM event
Register at events (@) rcco-ottawa (dot) ca

We had hoped that we could meet in person in January, but Covid had other ideas. Our January meeting will again be hosted on ZOOM. Zoom is our friend. We will continue to use this forum until it is safe to gather.

Let us gather to share thoughts, photos and music of our musical lives. How are you participating? Do you have a photo or a poem or a short piece of music that would support your colleagues during this time? This Café RCCO is a time of sharing and support for all of us. Please submit your contribution to events@rcco-ottawa.ca this week to participate in the first Café RCCO of 2022.

Please register for this session. Register at events (@) rcco-ottawa (dot) ca. You will receive a link for the session within 24 hours of the event.



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OUR QUESTIONS FOR THE EXAMINER
HIS WISDOM FOR US!

Led by Peter Nikiforuk

Sunday February 13, 2022
Time: 2:00 pm
ZOOM event
Register at events (@) rcco-ottawa (dot) ca

We are please welcome Peter Nikiforuk, the RCCO national president and an experienced examiner, who will lead our discussion on the RCCO examinations. How recently have you looked at the requirements for the exams? Do you know the repertoire for each level?

Spend time going through all the material on the RCCO website regarding examinations. The repertoire is stunning and appropriate for each level. The ear training is so valuable for all of us to review.

What are your musical goals for 2022? What have you decided to 'polish' in your musical skills?

We learn from the first day of life until our last day. Have you set goals for this year, and, perhaps 2023? We have the opportunity of engaging our brains and bodies for all of our life. How will you participate?

To participate in Café RCCO on Sunday, February 13 at 2:00 pm with Peter Nikiforuk, please register at events (@) rcco-ottawa (dot) ca. You will receive a link for the session within 24 hours of the event. This event will be a virtual presentation.



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FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT

New Date
Sunday March 27, 2022
Time: 4:00 pm
Location: First Baptist Church

Please note: You will need to be triple vaccinated to enter.
Masking and distancing are also required.

We are invited to a special service at First Baptist Church led by Rev. John Perkin with Aella providing the choral music in anthems by Susan Labarr, Joan Szymko and Kim Andre Arnessan. Shawn Potter, our host, will provide the organ service music. During the season of Lent and the changing of seasons at that time of the spring equinox, the theme will focus on darkness to light, struggle to hope.

We thank Shawn, Aella and the minister, Rev John Perkin for preparing this service for us. This is a great opportunity to meet in person for a service from Darkness to Light which is so appropriate these days.

Invite your friends to join you for this special service.

Although the province has loosened covid restrictions, this event will require proof of 3 vaccinations for the safety of all. Masking and social distancing are also required.

Free parking is available under city hall for the month of March.



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Improve your playing with Improvisation Techniques

(Note: The topic has been changed due to technical difficulties.)
The original zoom with Tom Annand will be rescheduled soon.

Sunday April 24, 2022
Time: 2:00 pm
ZOOM event
Register at events (@) rcco-ottawa (dot) ca

In the last year or two, several impressive and significant online resources have become available that focus on developing improvisation skills. Experience demonstrates that improving improvisation skills has a positive benefit on all aspects of organ performance. This Café RCCO will present three of these (from Seitze de Vries, Christiane Michel-Ostertun, and John Mortensen). They are free (or almost free) and cover the development of improvisation skills from beginner to very advanced levels. There will be time for discussion.

This will be a Zoom event. Please register at events (@) rcco-ottawa (dot) ca. You will receive a link for the session within 24 hours of the event.


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THE GREAT BACH MARATHON

Woodroffe United Church
207 Woodroffe Ave
Saturday May 7, 2022
Time: 1:30 - 6:00 pm

Save the date and stay tuned for the next installment of the Great Bach Marathon.

The PROGRAM of the Bach Marathon may be downloaded here.

The Great Bach Marathon returns on Saturday, May 7, beginning at 1:30 p.m. at Woodroffe United Church. The program begins with the OrgelkidsCan Orgelkit in pieces at the front of the church. Students will be led by Joshua Zentner-Barrett to construct the organ so that Rachel Laurin may play the compositions she wrote especially for the Létourneau instrument. It will be a joyful beginning of gathering together for the first time in two years.

We will have the pleasure of hearing young students playing their early pieces by Bach. The RCCO prizewinners from the Ottawa Piano Festival will perform. Members of the RCCO will perform music that speaks to them and to all of us.

Hearing live music prepared by energetic performers - both inexperienced and experienced - will fill our hearts with joy. The event will help us look forward to what will be as we reopen music making to the world.

This event is a Benefit for the RCCO Scholarships for Beginning Organ Students. We are helping to preserve the joy of learning and performing for all students - all of us as we continue to learn each day.

Come when you can; leave when you must.

COVID REGULATIONS
  • Masks are required
  • All people age 12 and up are required to have at least 2 doses of an approved vaccine
  • Ages 5-13 are required to have at least one dose of an approved vaccine
  • Physical distancing is encouraged

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ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

St Paul's Presbyterian Church
971 Woodroffe (just North of the Queesnway)
Monday June 6, 2022
7:30 pm
COVID Protocol: Please wear masks
We are in a larger room to facilitate physical distancing

This is your centre. The executive values the feedback received from members. Come out and voice your opinions on what you would like to have your Centre do.

The Annual General Meeting of the Ottawa Centre is our opportunity to conduct the necessary business of the College but also to celebrate the year past and look forward to the coming year. All members are encouraged to attend and participate in decision making and to hear reports of the various convenors and national council representatives. We will also present the Member of the Year award.

The RCCO Ottawa Centre is delighted to announce that this year’s Member of the Year is Thomas Annand. Thomas has served on the Executive of the Centre and was president from 2009 to 2011. He has given numerous workshops for the Ottawa Centre over the years on the music of Bach as well as baroque performance styles. We seldom hear the NAC Flentrop organ, however, at the National Convention in Ottawa in 2003, there was a wonderful programme with the Capital BrassWorks which he founded. Thomas will receive this honour at this AGM. We appreciate the dedication and support that Tom has given to this Centre.

Tom Annand studied with Graham Steed, John Grew and Marie-Claire Alain. He was music director at St Andrew’s Church, Ottawa for 29 years and gave about 200 noon-hour recitals there. He has been a soloist with the National Arts Centre Orchestra and Les Violons du Roy, touring extensively with both. He founded and conducted Capital BrassWorks with which he recorded two albums, and has been the keyboard player in Gruppetto Baroque and Triptych Piano Trio. He was the harpsichordist, organist and guest conductor of Thirteen Strings for twenty seasons. He has performed as a soloist at the Carmel Bach Festival, Vancouver Baroque Festival and Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival. He presented all the major harpsichord works of Bach in a series of seven concerts in 2004. His Christmas anthems are published by the RCCO and he has composed hundreds of descants as well as choral music and organ works. He is a Fellow of the RCCO.

All members are encouraged to attend and participate in decision-making of your Centre and to hear reports of the various convenors and National Council representatives. There is plenty of parking and the room is air-conditioned.


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Student Recital

Virtual recital
Friday June 10 at 7:15 pm
Viewable until to August 31
Program and Biographies

ACCESS CONCERT

The Ottawa Centre of the RCCO is delighted to post their annual student recital which will be held virtually again this year. We appreciate the co-operation of various churches who allowed the students in to practise and record their pieces. Some of the pieces were recorded for classes in the recent Kiwanis Music Festival. Thanks to Shawn Potter for assembling the various video files into a comprehensive video playlist for your enjoyment.

The Students playing in this recital in order of appearance are: Rebecca Lee, Yi Zhou, Patrick Yang, Aurora Xu, Aleesha Katary, Samuel Lee.

Here is the program and student biographies for the recital. The video link will remain until Aug 31, 2022.


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This page was last updated on: Tuesday, 19-Jul-2022 16:35:36 EDT