Alexander Shelley saying Goodbye to NACO

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Eleven years ago, in 2015, Alexander Shelley was named the youngest-ever music director of the National Arts Centre Orchestra (NACO). He recalls the great anticipation he felt at the prospect of working with “such a classy group of musicians, such a great group of individual talents, and such a sophisticated orchestra. I knew I’d have this double-sided challenge of maintaining the qualities they had developed from years prior, and also exploring new territory.”

When Shelley began his tenure, the orchestra was starting to plan for Canada 150, which, the maestro says, created a challenge “to interrogate the question of national orchestra.” He used that opportunity to undertake new commissions, because “if you’re using the public purse for something, then one of the responsibilities is to take risks that other organizations can’t, necessarily.”

The result amounted to more than 50 new works from Canadian composers. Shelley compares a music director’s timelines to those of prime ministers or presidents. A musical leader needs “to ideally look beyond when you know whether you’re still going to be involved in an organization or not.” This forward-looking approach has led to great success and growth in programming, touring, and recording projects over Shelley’s 11 years with NACO.

The question of what a national orchestra looks like led to many NACO tours, both locally and internationally. In 2017, NACO visited every Canadian province and territory. Currently, they are planning a trip back to Eskasoni First Nation in Nova Scotia on Cape Breton Island where, 10 years ago, they were the first symphony orchestra to perform on a reservation. He explains that NACO performed in a cleared-out hockey arena, and then was treated to a feast and a performance from Eskasoni First Nation artists.

“It was the most beautiful thing,” says Shelley. As part of that visit, NACO explored the work of the late Mi’kmaw poet and elder Rita Joe, in a commission titled I Lost My Talk, as part of a program honouring Canadian women. This year, they will feature Wolastoqiyik tenor and composer Jeremy Dutcher as they return to the East Coast. Community building through orchestra has been a tenet of Shelley’s tenure. “An orchestra is simply a vehicle for expressing something about this shared experience we all go through of navigating life,” he says.

Internationally, Shelley has taken NACO on a major European tour, to Carnegie Hall, to Japan for the orchestra’s first time in 40 years, and Korea for the first time ever. About NACO’s ambassadorial role, Shelley says: “The symphony orchestra is a beautiful thing; it’s this group of people collaborating at the highest level to try and express innermost thoughts and feelings that are deeply human, and they transverse time and culture and language group.”

Shelley has also developed the orchestra’s profile through recordings including Schumann and Brahms symphonies, the works of Clara Schumann and, most recently, Richard Strauss tone poems. “I think of the role of a conductor as primarily being a servant to the composer,” says Shelley. “We’re their advocate on the podium.” He seeks detail and excellence in recording, asking: “So once we’ve reached the 95th percentile, how do we get to 96—how do we get to 97?”

As a conductor and a leader, Shelley prizes preparation, respect, and efficiency in his work. In setting up the music, however, he says he wants “to feel the vitality and the immediacy and the vibrancy of the music,” to create a human connection. He names Herbert von Karajan, Claudio Abbado and Carlos Kleiber as early favourite conductors, and now holds great admiration for conductors such as Valery Gergiev, Gustavo Dudamel, Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Marin Alsop.

Even though Shelley is leaving NACO, he still holds leadership positions at a number of other organizations. He is music director of the Pacific Symphony in Orange County, Calif.; artistic and music director of Artis–Naples in Florida; principal associate conductor of London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; and principal conductor designate of the National Symphony Orchestra Ireland. He does, however, hold Canada as a special place in his heart, especially since his two sons were born here. “I know I’ll carry on coming back,” he says, “but I feel like I’m ending this chapter with a smile on my face and a lot of gratitude in my heart.”