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The Elora Singers Have Got It Covered

By Arthur Kaptainis on 6 November 2020 Choral, Vocal

Twenty-four people in masks. Twenty-five if you count the leader; 29 if you include the string quartet. Unknown location. Sounds mysterious. In fact, Hope & Refuge, a concert by the Elora Singers, will be available online for all to see and hear starting Nov. 14. The title is suited to both our troubled times and a program including Layton’s Letter to Canadians, a tribute to the late NDP leader by Jeff Enns, a member of the bass section. “It is optimistic and hopeful music,” says Mark Vuorinen, artistic director and conductor of the Ontario-based choir. “The piece is a setting of those wonderful words [Layton]…

Festival Bach Montréal: Hear Concerts Anywhere on New Streaming Platform

By Arthur Kaptainis on 6 November 2020 Baroque and Early, Classical Music

The Festival Bach Montréal opens its 2020 proceedings on Nov. 19 in St. Joseph’s Oratory, or in your living room, depending on your point of view. The program gathering four organists and the Schola de l’Oratoire starts at 7:30 p.m., or whenever you like – again, according to taste. The annual celebration of the great J.S. is going online and has built a new digital platform – Québec Baroque or www.quebecbaroque.com – to make it feasible. “Québec Baroque offers you the opportunity to catch up on many of its performances several days after their initial broadcast,” reads an online introduction to…

Francis Colpron, flutist and founder of Les Boréades

Les Boréades: 25 Years of Making Early Music

By Justin Bernard on 6 November 2020 Baroque and Early, Opera

The baroque instrumental ensemble Les Boréades is celebrating the 25th anniversary of its founding by flutist Francis Colpron. But this is a celebration unlike any other. In spite of the continuing restrictions and uncertainties caused by the pandemic, Colpron wants to keep in touch with subscribers and fellow musicians while continuing to perform in concert. Digital technologies are a godsend, and the ensemble’s members are all set to use them. “For the time being, we’re looking closely at any opportunity to perform in front of cameras, so people can share the concert with us on their screens,” says the artistic…

Olivier_Delaire credit : Delphine B. Locas

HEC New: Career Options

By Justin Bernard on 6 November 2020 Classical Music

With all of the uncertainties that young musicians now face in finding work in their field, many have elected to adjust their plans to pursue careers elsewhere, including the field of arts administration. The next step for some is the HEC’s diplôme d’études supérieures spécialisées (DESS) program in arts management. Olivier Delaire enrolled in the master’s program at Montreal’s Hautes Études Commerciales. A tenor by training, Delaire was directed by his school towards Ambiances Ambigües, a cultural enterprise where he works as an administrative assistant. Both the program and its highly qualified teaching personnel have enabled him to understand first…

Le Vivier: A House with Many Rooms

By Justin Bernard on 6 November 2020 Classical Music, Contemporary

Le Vivier is an apt name. It refers both to one of the fathers of contemporary music in Quebec and to a dynamic pool of composers and performers of new music. An earlier article outlined the 2020-2021 season of this group of musicians and ensembles, which notably include Productions SuperMusique, the Quatuor Bozzini and Ensemble Paramirabo. But Le Vivier is also a house with many rooms, offering numerous opportunities for players in this field to affirm their ties. First is the international component, which organizes the annual Cartel which brings together more than 25 broadcasters in North America and Europe.…

Marc Boucher: Innovation in a time of crisis

By Olivier Bergeron on 6 November 2020 Art Song, Classical Music

While most of the musical world has been at a standstill since March, Marc Boucher has not been short of projects. On the musical scene for more than 25 years and with several recordings to his credit, he founded Festival Classica in Saint-Lambert nearly 10 years ago. Hailed by the international press, the festival has quickly become one of Quebec’s staple musical events of the year. Now he is tackling a new project: leconcertbleu.com. This new digital platform, put forward by Festival Classica, will be developed in collaboration with the Quebec digital transformation firm ellicom/LCI LX. “We have been thinking…

Rihab Chaieb: La Carmencita

By Adrian Rodriguez on 6 November 2020 Opera, Vocal

Some people say Rihab Chaieb is just right for Carmen. Others go further and say that the Tunisian-Canadian mezzo-soprano is Carmen. Although the title character of Bizet’s opera has her unfavourable qualities, Chaieb is not troubled by the comparison. “I think Carmen is mindful,” Chaieb says. “Whatever she’s feeling, she’s doing. What you see is what you get. So thanks, that’s a great compliment!” One could hardly imagine a singer better suited to the most famous and alluring female character in opera. Her artistic ability and natural beauty combine with a sultry mezzo voice and the verve of a dynamic personality. Her…

University of Sherbrooke: Versatility and Creativity

By Marie-Claire Fafard-Blais on 6 November 2020 Classical Music

With major renovations to its facilities now complete and following an overhaul of its teaching programs, Université de Sherbrooke’s music school has devised a whole new curriculum grounded in the concepts of versatility and creativity. The school also claims to be innovative by adopting an approach developed at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). Jean-François Desrosby, professor in charge of studies in performance and composition, explains: “We redesigned our program from scratch, first by examining the very foundations on which the pursuit of a musical career rests, then by considering the most suitable means towards that goal. We therefore used what…

Alexandre Da Costa and the OSDL: New Restrictions Are Like a Punch in the Guts

By Hassan Laghcha on 6 November 2020 Classical, Classical Music

At a press conference on Sept. 28, the Orchestre symphonique de Longueuil (OSDL) presented its new season of concerts. Artistic director Alexandre Da Costa was on hand for the announcement. This year’s program, coinciding with its 35th season, hopes to provide some solace through the performance of symphonic music. Seven concerts had been slated for its main venue, the adjunct co-cathedral of Longueuil. One will be devoted to pop songs from Quebec and elsewhere; another feature local icon Mario Pelchat singing his own material and Christmas evergreens. But all hopes for public performances were dashed that day when the provincial…

The New Orford String Quartet

LMMC: See you in December

By Arthur Kaptainis on 6 November 2020 Chamber Music, Classical Music

Hope springs eternal,” Constance Pathy said a few days after Premier François Legault extended the performing-arts shutdown in Quebec to Nov. 23. Having been forced to cancel a concert in November by violinist Blake Pouliot, the president of the Ladies’ Morning Musical Club is looking forward to Dec. 6, when the New Orford String Quartet is booked to appear with two remarkable sidemen: violinist (and violist) James Ehnes and pianist Charles Richard-Hamelin. “I do so hope it comes off,” she said. In an odd way, the program coupling Beethoven’s String Quintet Op. 29 and Chausson’s Concert might be considered a perquisite of…

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