Browsing: Classical Music

Bar and coat check are closed. Keep a safe distance. Gatherings are forbidden. Face coverings are required when moving about. Then, for old times’ sake: Please turn off electronic devices. There were plenty of reminders Wednesday night in Bourgie Hall that we are living in strange times. Also a reminder of why concertgoing will survive: the New Orford String Quartet. All of the players were masked, including violist Douglas McNabney, who was sitting in for Eric Nowlin, the stateside member of this fine foursome. Also recognizable despite their disguises were violinists Jonathan Crow and Andrew Wan and cellist Brian Manker.…

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Like other presenters, the Société de musique contemporaine du Québec (SMCQ) has had to adjust to the new realities surrounding concert life. In addition to obeying physical-distancing rules on stage and in the hall, SMCQ had doubts about the launch of its season, which takes place in Salle Pierre-Mercure on Sept. 27. In accordance with health guidelines, the orchestra’s size on stage and during rehearsals has been cut down to a maximum of 12 musicians. The concert begins with two works by Galina Ustvolskaya, Dona Nobis Pacem (1971) and Dies Irae (1973). Although Ustvolskaya supported official Soviet art, she composed…

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Russia Today reports that Anna Netrebko has been hospitalized with pneumonia caused by COVID-19.  The Russian soprano is presumed to have caught the coronavirus at Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, where she was participating in a production of Verdi’s Don Carlo. The final performance on Sept. 10 was cancelled after the bass Ildar Abdrazakov, playing Philip II, tested positive.  Netrebko, 48, has put a brave face on the situation in Instagram posts, asserting that she expects to “be fine.” She also defended her decision to continue working. “I had two choices,” she wrote. “Stay at home and be afraid of getting…

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The team at ATMA Classique is thrilled to be partnering with Bourgie Hall at the Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal this fall to launch a new series of four chamber music concerts, presented on stage and streamed live! Each concert features an artist or ensemble featured as part of our line-up of Fall 2020 recordings. Bourgie Hall is located in the former Erskine and American Church, a heritage building designed in 1894 in the Roman Revival style. Designated a historic place of national interest in 1998, this brilliantly transformed building boasts outstanding acoustics and exceptional sightlines, including 20 historical stained-glass windows…

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Toronto – The Canadian Opera Company is gearing up for a reimagined fall season of physically distanced programming, called Opera Everywhere. This new slate of digital and in-person events includes live concerts, interactive learning opportunities, and deep dives into opera’s past and future, all designed with community-building in mind. “As we look beyond our traditional programming, we envision a new cultural reality where opera is everywhere and the stage is for everyone,” says COC General Director Alexander Neef. “This fall, we are deepening our commitment to the communities around us and providing traditionally underrepresented artists with priority access to our…

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If you’re a music lover with a computer, or even just a smart phone, the chances are that you have spent some serious time online over the past few months. La Scena Musicale staffers offer some of their picks, with a stress on the offbeat and out-of-the-way. Consult the LSM website to make linking easier. Eva Stone-Barney Juilliard Boléro Many schools, choirs, and orchestras have created virtual performance videos, but none have stuck with me the way this one did. There is something about the interdisciplinary, intergenerational collaboration and the reimagination of Ravel’s score that I find profoundly joyful and refreshing. www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqzkn-jX-JU…

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“One hundred percent positive” is how Isolde Lagacé, general and artistic director of Bourgie Hall, describes the reaction of the performers she contacted with offers of something they had not experienced for months – work. One hundred percent astounding is not a bad way to describe the surprise announcement by this Sherbrooke Street concert facility that it will be presenting 39 concerts between Sept. 16 (the New Orford Quartet) and Nov. 18 (the second of a pair of appearances by mezzo-soprano Stéphanie Pothier and the Quatuor Molinari). Yes, those dates are in 2020. COVID-19 be damned. “Musicians want to perform,” Lagacé…

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OTTAWA, September 17, 2020 — Eight young performing arts students will receive grants this year from The Hnatyshyn Foundation, supporting their studies for the 2020–21 academic year. This brings the amount invested in post-secondary grants for performing artists to more than $1.1 million since the Foundation began programming in 2005. The awards include seven $10,000 grants for Developing Artists, and one $15,000 fellowship for a Young Conductor, presented in partnership with the Schulich School of Music at McGill University in Montreal.  Announcing the winners in Ottawa today, Gerda Hnatyshyn, C.C., President of The Hnatyshyn Foundation, said, “The Hnatyshyn Foundation is pleased…

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Timeline 2020 As the pandemic still rages, it’s been tough sledding for the arts. Performing arts in particular have been hard hit and the outlook remains uncertain. Just look at the summer season just past, when festivals were obliged to lock down along with the rest of society. Yet, some events found an alternative in the Worldwide Web. Both Montreal’s main jazz festival and the alternative Suoni per il Popolo livestreamed shows last June featuring small combos playing on camera but with no audience on hand. As things started to reopen, two dedicated jazz clubs, the Dièse onze and the…

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In spite of the health crisis, Le Vivier has no plans to cease operations. After a summer consisting of several outdoor activities, the producers specializing in new music have an ambitious fall season planned, punctuated by anniversaries and celebrations. The opening event of Sept. 12, for instance, isn’t simply a concert but a full afternoon including a double bill and roundtable. Additionally, over the next few months, Le Vivier will present anniversary concerts in celebration of 40 years of Production SuperMusique (PSM), 20 years of the Quatuor Bozzini, and 10 years of the Ensemble Paramirabo. We were able to gather…

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