NAC Orchestra Mentorship Program — Course / Training

The NAC Orchestra Mentorship Program brings emerging and early-career musicians to Ottawa for three weeks each June to rehearse and perform beside the National Arts Centre Orchestra. Each instrumental and library participant is paired with an NAC Orchestra member who mentors them through every sectional, rehearsal and concert of the three weeks.

The program takes conductors, instrumentalists, music librarians and orchestra personnel managers, so it covers the jobs backstage as well as the ones on stage. Conducting participants are mentored by Music Director Alexander Shelley, and the personnel management participant works with the orchestra’s personnel team.

Around the concerts sit masterclasses with guest artists, panels on orchestral careers and seminars on life inside a major symphony orchestra. Participation is tuition-free and candidates may apply from anywhere in the world.

Benefits & funding

Tuition-free participation in the full three-week program in Ottawa (8–25 June in the 2026 edition).
An honorarium for every participant.
Free accommodation and a meal allowance for the duration of the program.
A travel subsidy covering a share of total travel costs.
One-on-one mentoring from an NAC Orchestra member across all sectionals, rehearsals and concerts; conducting participants are mentored by Music Director Alexander Shelley.
Two concert programs with the orchestra, each with five to six rehearsals and two public performances.
Masterclasses with guest artists, career panels, and guest faculty sessions on body mapping, mental skills, workplace dynamics and Indigenous perspectives.

Eligibility

Instrumentalists and conductors aged 18 or over who are completing a performance degree and are on the audition circuit, or who are in the early stages of an orchestral career.
Conducting candidates need a broad knowledge of orchestral repertoire.
Librarian and orchestra personnel manager candidates may be from anywhere in the world, aged 18 or over, with some experience in or understanding of those roles.
No nationality or residency requirement is published; the 2025 cohort came from Canada, the United States and several countries in Asia and Europe.
Instruments invited in the 2026 edition: violin, viola, cello, double bass, harp, flute and piccolo, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, French horn, trombone, percussion and timpani. Bass trombone and tuba were not invited that year.
No upper age limit, gender requirement or minimum years of experience is published.

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Age requirement
≥ 18 yrs

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Application process

1
Applications open in the autumn for the following June — the early-bird fee window runs to 15 November — and are submitted through the NAC Orchestra’s Acceptd portal.
2
Instrumentalists record all of the audition material published for their instrument, solo repertoire and orchestral excerpts, as one continuous video in the specified order, uploaded to YouTube as unlisted or public, with no speaking on the recording.
3
Conducting candidates instead submit their best conducting video of a live rehearsal or performance recorded in the past 12 months, plus a repertoire list and a statement of philosophy.
4
Every candidate also submits a CV, a copy of a diploma or a transcript of marks, and two character references.
5
Send the application form and fee before the January deadline — 11:59 p.m. EST on 26 January in the 2026 cycle. The fee is $50 early-bird until 15 November and $70 after.
6
Auditions are reviewed anonymously by a jury; the NAC contacts every applicant with a result by mid-March, and the program runs for three weeks in June.

Program timeline

Early-bird application fee window closes for the 2026 edition.
Nov 15, 2025
Application deadline, 11:59 p.m. EST.
Jan 26, 2026
2026-03
All applicants receive their result by mid-March.
Program begins in Ottawa.
Jun 8, 2026
Program ends.
Jun 25, 2026
Autumn 2026
Applications expected to open for the 2027 edition.