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The National Arts Centre Orchestra’s celebrated music director will hold his last concert with the capital ensemble in July before heading to California.
Alexander Shelley’s farewell show comes towards the end of NAC’s 2025-2026 season, with his contract set to end Aug. 31, 2026.
Shelley is also music director designate for the 2025-2026 season of the Pacific Symphony in Costa Mesa, Calif., and is set to fully take the reins of the Orange County orchestra in the 2026-27 season.
Shelley joined the Ottawa orchestra in September 2015 at age 35, becoming the youngest music director in NAC Orchestra’s history.
He’s credited with strengthening its reputation through major tours of Canada, Europe and to New York’s Carnegie Hall, as well as livestreams and critically acclaimed recordings.
Over the next two months, Shelley will lead tours to Korea and Japan, marking the orchestra’s debut in Korea and its return to Japan for the first time in four decades.
In a statement Wednesday, NAC president and CEO Christopher Deacon said Shelley has left an indelible mark on the orchestra and artists he has inspired.
Shelley said his time in Canada “has enriched me more than I can express,” and is proud to say his two sons were born in Ottawa.
“They are Canadians. My wife Zoe and I could not be prouder of this fact or more grateful to this country for the lifelong friendships we have forged, for the memories it has gifted us, for the unshakable generosity of spirit shown to us, and for over a decade of unforgettable cultural and musical adventures,” Shelley said.
Born in London to concert pianists, Shelley studied cello and conducting in Germany and shot to fame when he was unanimously awarded first prize at the 2005 Leeds Conductors’ Competition. He went on to become the youngest-ever chief conductor of Germany’s Nürnberger Symphoniker, from 2009 to 2017.
Since 2015, Shelley also served as associate conductor of London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and in 2023 was appointed artistic and music director of Artis−Naples in Florida for the Naples Philharmonic.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 14, 2025.
Cassandra Szklarski, The Canadian Press
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