In today's NACO Lunch Break, Leah Roseman and Mark Friedman perform a duet by Reinhold Glière, op. 49, No. 7!
Violinist Leah Roseman has been a member of the National Arts Centre Orchestra since 1997. In fact, she grew up in Ottawa, and was inspired by many concerts growing up. She studied for several years with NACO retired member Keiko Hutchenreuther, and then travelled to Montreal for lessons with the well-known violin pedagogue Mauricio Fuks. She completed her B.Mus. at McGill University in Violin Performance with High Distinction, and went on to Indiana University to complete her M.Mus. where she studied with Paul Biss, and baroque violin with Stanley Ritchie. She broadened her studies at many summer music festivals: Orford, Sarasota Music Festival, Encore, Tanglewood, Schleswig-Holstein, and the Soundfest Institute of String Quartets. She was a member of the Carmel Bach Festival Orchestra, the Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, and Les Violons du Roy before joining NACO.
She’s always been active as a chamber music player, and teaching is one of the great joys of her life. In 2020 she started her YouTube channel ViolinLessonOnline as a way of posting videos for her students, and it’s now grown to over 1,000 videos organized into 60 playlists, for players of all levels (and their teachers). She regularly hosts free international violin masterclasses over Zoom to particpants all over the world, and also does presentations on teaching and practicing music.
In 2021 she began a new creative chapter as the producer and host of the podcast and video series “Conversations with Musicians with Leah Roseman”, which features in-depth conversations with a wide range of musicians talking about their lives and careers, with perspectives on overcoming challenges, and finding inspiration and connection through a life so enriched by music. Guests have included James Ehnes, Kerson Leong, Christopher Millard,Lynn Kuo, Carissa Klopoushak, Yosuke Kawasaki, Kirsty Money, Patty Chan, Alexis Chartrand, Aaron Schwebel, Roddy Ellias, Ellen Waterman, Subhadra Vijaykumar, Alicia Svigals, Veronica Thomas, Arna Einarsdóttir, Theo Marks, Eva Slongo, Sophie Lukacs, Kellylee Evans, Megan Jerome, Rachel Mercer, Gina Burgess, Jack Everly, Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser, Hooshyar Khayam, Josh “Socalled” Dolgin and Megan Jerome.
Mark has been a member of the NAC Orchestra since 1984, he played previously with the Atlantic Symphony and the Winnipeg Symphony. A graduate of the University of Toronto, Mark Friedman studied with David Zafer, Otto Armin and Steven Staryk. He was a member of the National Youth Orchestra and has taken solo and chamber music classes at the Banff School of Fine Arts.
Mark enjoys playing chamber music and has been recently performing with the “Silflay String Quartet”.
Since its debut in 1969, the National Arts Centre (NAC) Orchestra has been praised for the passion and clarity of its performances, its visionary educational programs, and its prominent role in nurturing Canadian creativity. Under the leadership of Music Director Alexander Shelley, the NAC Orchestra reflects the fabric and values of Canada, reaching and representing the diverse communities we live in with daring programming, powerful storytelling, inspiring artistry, and innovative partnerships.
Alexander Shelley began his tenure as Music Director in 2015, following Pinchas Zukerman’s 16 seasons at the helm. Principal Associate Conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and former Chief Conductor of the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra (2009–2017), he has been in demand around the world, conducting the Rotterdam Philharmonic, DSO Berlin, Leipzig Gewandhaus, and Stockholm Philharmonic, among others, and maintains a regular relationship with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie and the German National Youth Orchestra.
Each season, the NAC Orchestra features world-class artists such as the newly appointed Artist-in-Residence James Ehnes, Angela Hewitt, Joshua Bell, Xian Zhang, Gabriela Montero, Stewart Goodyear, Jan Lisiecki, and Principal Guest Conductor John Storgårds. As one of the most accessible, inclusive, and collaborative orchestras in the world, the NAC Orchestra uses music as a universal language to communicate the deepest of human emotions and connect people through shared experiences.