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After giving up a stable career as a music teacher, Véronique Lussier decided to follow a new passion, conducting. She pursued a doctorate at the Université de Montréal under the tutelage of Jean-François Rivest and Paolo Bellomia. In her ambitious thesis, she conceived the Orchestre philharmonique du Québec’s Projet Ambassadeur (2015-20, formerly OSDL), combining classical and popular music concerts with multimedia elements. In collaboration with Développement des publics de la musique au Québec, this project contributed to the democratization of classical music and spotlighted many emerging artists.
This winter, Lussier will conduct two major projects. At St. Joseph’s Oratory on March 1, she will take part in La grande accélération, Tim Brady’s 12th symphony, as part of the Festival des Nouvelles Musiques de la SMCQ. “It’s a crazy project,” she explains of La grande accélération. “This work brings together 100 electric guitars, six percussionists (Sixtrum), two symphony orchestras (the Orchestre symphonique des jeunes de la Montérégie and the West Island Youth Orchestra) and six conductors, for an immersive 45-minute work.” She adds that the musicians will be placed in different areas of the Oratory, offering a unique and enveloping sound experience for the audience.
On April 6, Lussier will conduct Opéra-bonbon: L’aventure gourmande d’Hansel et Gretel, a co-production of Jeunesses Musicales Canada and the Orchestre classique de Montréal (OCM). The Opéra-bonbon concert is a 45-minute children’s show featuring soprano Andréanne-Brisson Paquin, mezzo-soprano Charlotte Gagnon, Guillaume Rodrigue as narrator/singer and Xavier Rousseau on piano. The libretto was adapted by tenor Pascal Blanchet. Sung and narrated in French, the concert is inspired by the iconic story of Hansel and Gretel. The adaptation will include excerpts from composer Engelbert Humperdinck’s opera of the same name, enriched by interpolations of pieces by Beethoven, Handel, Mozart and Bizet.
“This is my second collaboration with the OCM,” says Lussier. “We invite parents and grandparents to bring their children and introduce them to classical music in a fun way. Taras Kulish (OCM director) and I believe that an introduction to classical music can have a remarkable impact on their mental and emotional development.” Overall, the concert serves as an initiation to opera, to orchestral instruments and to the conductor’s role. “We want to show young people, in a playful way, how voices and instruments interact,” Lussier notes, so there are interactive moments with children in the audience.
Tim Brady’s La grande accélération: Symphonie no 12, Festival Montréal/Nouvelles Musiques, March 1. www.smcq.qc.ca
Opéra bonbon: l’aventure gourmande d’Hansel et Gretel, Orchestre classique de Montréal, April 6. www.orchestre.ca
This page is also available in / Cette page est également disponible en:
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