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Montreal
Samy Moussa
Photo: Genevieve Caron
Festival International Bach Montréal
Nov. 15-Dec. 7
Festival International Bach Montréal offers a dozen concerts every autumn, many geared toward children, as well as a choral evening. This year, several international artists will revisit the masterpieces of Bach and his successors. On Nov. 15, Les Boréades present a concert based on the story of Acis and Galatea set to music by Handel. Samy Moussa will conduct the orchestra and chorus of Festival International Bach Montréal in Mendelssohn’s Elijah in Quebec City (Nov. 20) and at the opening of the festival in Montreal (Nov. 21). The event closes with Bach’s St John Passion performed by the J.S. Bach Choir of St. Gallen, Switzerland, at Maison symphonique on Dec. 7.
Annie-Claude Deschênes
Photo: Alice Hirsch
M for Montréal
Nov. 19-22
In its 20th year, M for Montreal returns with more than 100 emerging artists from Canada and elsewhere. Forty concerts will be held in 15 iconic venues in Montreal.
Festilumi
Oct. 1-Dec. 31
A new immersive event takes place at Montreal’s Marché Central offering various illuminated environments over a 1.5-kilometre route. An all-ages event, the festival presents 13 thematic areas including magic lanterns, illuminated tunnels, a winter world, Jurassic passage and animal environments—one of which is dedicated to animals as pets. This is the first of this type of light path to be installed on the island, with 20 million LED lights. Open for Halloween, it will then change its colours for the holidays.
Pied Léger
Photo: Marion Desjardins
Quebec City
Festival Kaléidoscopes
Dec. 27-31
Festival Kaléidoscopes offers a program spread over various sites in Old Quebec, highlighting theatre, visual arts, live arts and local cuisine. It explores a panoply of worlds representing Quebec’s cultural vibrancy. The event brings together several of the city’s cultural partners, enlivened by traditional music.
Elsewhere in Quebec
ArtikFest
Feb. 19-21
ArtikFest, produced by FestiVoix, returns for a fourth time to Trois-Rivières. A celebration of electro music and culture, ArtikFest has become the must-see event of the off-season in Mauricie.
Samantha Bitonti
Ottawa-Gatineau
BIG BANG Festival
Feb. 14 & 15
BIG BANG Festival aims to introduce young people to the delights of music with an adventuresome program. Zonzo Compagnie brings the legendary African-American pianist and composer Thelonious Monk back to life. The NAC Orchestra and Platypus Theatre present Music Under a Midnight Moon, a whimsical journey that reveals the beauty of sound in the most unexpected places. The program will be developed more in the next few months.
Gabriela Montero
Photo: Anders Brogaar
Toronto
21C
Jan. 16-May 8
The Royal Conservatory of Music continues its presentations with the 21C Music Festival, dedicated to the most dynamic and audacious artists in the classical music scene. Featured artists include Toronto group The Happenstancers; pianist Gabriela Montero in a concert exploring the migration of Eastern European composers to Los Angeles for work in the film industry; pianist Tony Yike Yang for the Chinese New Year; and an evening with The Glenn Gould School New Music Ensemble.
Hart House U of T New Music Festival
Jan. 16 & 17
Each year, Hart House Theatre welcomes a student festival to its historic property, organized in collaboration with student groups from University of Toronto’s Hart House Theatre. An excellent opportunity for the music groups to interact, collaborate and promote their work and projects.
Elsewhere in Ontario
Niagara Winter Festival of Lights
Nov. 15-Jan. 4
The biggest free light festival in Canada, Niagara’s Winter Festival of Lights is characterized by its millions of light points and installations throughout the tourist regions. To highlight the beauty and majesty of winter and Niagara Falls, the light spectacle Sparkling Winter Lights, produced by the Niagara Falls Illumination Board, depicts movements inspired by the northern winter. A magical winter spectacle evoking powdery snowfalls and aurora borealis on the snowy tundra.
Translation: Karine Poznanski
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