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Browsing: 150/375

Louis Riel, UBC dress 2010, Photo: Evan Kreider

Deciphering Harry Somers’ Opera Louis Riel

By Réa Beaumont on 1 April 2017 150/375, Canadian Music, La Scena Spotlight, Opera

Louis Riel is one of the most important Canadian operas ever written. It was inspired by the life of controversial Métis hero Louis Riel (1844-1885) and events surrounding Canadian Confederation in 1867 that became defining moments in the country’s history. With a libretto by Canadian playwright Mavor Moore in collaboration with Jacques Languirand and music by Harry Somers, Louis Riel was premiered in Toronto by the Canadian Opera Company for Canada’s centennial celebrations and performed soon after at Montreal’s Expo ’67. Louis Riel is being programmed this year by the COC as a co-production with the National Arts Centre to…

Photo: Musée McCord

Cultural Rendez-Vous: Rendez-vous at the Museum

By Olivier Gentil on 1 April 2017 150/375, La Scena Spotlight, Multimedia, Visual Arts

It wasn’t easy to pick only a few of this season’s several visual arts exhibits. The exhibitions announced for the spring are all equally promising, ranging from nanotechnology and fashion to hockey. Here are some that you shouldn’t miss! Chagall: Colour and Music Rooted in the idea of “total art” — a perfect union between music and painting — that was so dear to famous artist Marc Chagall, this exhibit perfectly showcases the importance of colour and rhythm that is central to his works. Via decors, costumes, and paintings, this exhibit ingeniously succeeds in highlighting the importance of music in…

Canada 150/Montreal 375: Highlights

By Hassan Laghcha on 1 April 2017 150/375, Canadian Music, Orchestral, Quebec Music, Scena Arts

La Scena Musicale will present key moments from celebrations that take place as part of Canada’s 150th and Montreal’s 375th anniversaries. It will illustrate the rich diversity of artistic and cultural expression, as well as the creative energy that goes into all the hard work in different fields across the country through various Montreal, Quebecois, and Canadian art scenes. Alain Trudel: Birth made especially for Canada’s 150th The Ottawa Symphony Orchestra presents conductor Alain Trudel’s latest work, Birth: Sesquie for Canada’s 150th (April 3, Southam Hall at the NAC). This piece, which commemorates Canadians of all cultures and origins, was…

La Balade pour la Paix, Photo: Claude Cormier et associés

La Balade pour la paix, an Open-Air Museum at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts

By Olivier Gentil on 1 April 2017 150/375, Interviews, Visual Arts

The museum walks forth “I believe that everyone, whether they want to or not, will find their own Treasure there.” — Malraux We might well hear the – probably ill-founded – criticism that museums are too hermetic, but the project the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts intends to launch in partnership with the McCord for the city’s 375th anniversary festivities seems like a legitimate attempt to break down conventional boundaries. Entitled La Balade pour la paix: An Open-Air Museum, the exhibition will celebrate the ideals of openness and humanism that have moulded the history of Montreal and Canada, while also…

Gabrielle Roy Saint-Henri 1945, Photo: BAnQ Vieux-Montréal, fonds Conrad Poirier

Cultural Rendez-Vous: Montreal Literary Events to Mark

By Rebecca Anne Clark on 1 April 2017 150/375, La Scena Spotlight, Literature

Promenade littéraire with the BAnQ Saturdays at 1:30 PM, Various neighbourhoods In collaboration with Tours Kaléidoscope, the Bibliothèque et Archives national du Québec offers guided walking tours of the neighbourhoods that inspired some of Montreal’s most iconic literature. May 27, the BAnQ’s own environs and Carré Saint-Louis take the spotlight, while June 3 is dedicated to Saint-Henri, the backdrop to Gabrielle Roy’s The Tin Flute, and June 10 explores the setting of Michel Tremblay’s Plateau Mont-Royal Chronicles. While the tours are free, reservations are required, as places are limited. www.banq.qc.ca Blue Metropolis Festival April 24 to 30 Is reading a…