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The Carrefour mondial de l’accordéon de Montmagny is back as usual for the September Labour Day weekend. Celebrating the heritage of homegrown and international folkloric music at a cultural and generational crossroads, this will be the festival’s 33rd edition.
New Artistic Direction
Travelling accordionist Steve Normandin is taking over as artistic director of Carrefour after the departure of its founder, Raynald Ouellet, who was named Maître des traditions vivantes in 2020. Normandin highlights the importance of this rendezvous of accordionists from all walks of life as an opportunity to discover the vast world hidden in the instrument’s different folds. “My professional career as an accordionist bears the imprint of the Carrefour,” he says. “I owe a lot to this event, especially the ability to sharpen my curiosity and awaken me to accordions from all over the world. That’s the great power of the Carrefour.”
Varied Program
Mostly limited last year, the festival’s international segment returns this year with a panoply of guests from different corners of Europe—from Ireland (David Munnelly) in Northwestern Europe, France (Sylvie Pullès) in Western Europe to Central Europe (Jakob Steinkellner from Austria and Nikodem Sobek from Poland). The Italian accordionist Riccardo Tesi, who contributed to the revival of the diatonic in Europe, returns to the Carrefour after a 20-year absence.
On the Quebec side, traditional musicians include Mario Veillette, the Deux duo, Réjean Simard, Sébastien Dionne, Sabin Jacques and La Déferlance (with accordionists Marie-Desneiges Hamel and Mathieu Baillargeon). Among the world music artists and various provincial and Canadian artists are the Gzhel duo, Loïc Primeau-Vinetti, accordionist-singers Sonia Painchaud and Bernard Cimon, Jeremy Rusu (Manitoba/Ontario), Roger Lanteigne (New Brunswick)—and a good 20 other artists.
In addition to the concert hall and city park performances, the festival will inaugurate new programs that showcase the talent of invited artists. Picnics will be organized near the Marais, a beautiful walking trail with wooden pavilions where people are invited to listen to artists perform without microphones, in the proximity of nature.
In downtown Montmagny, Accordéons sur le perron will use the natural decor of two typical houses as a local scene. We are also fortunate to unveil the fully restored and expanded Migration Centre, whose newly provided pavilion will be the venue for the Dance Vigil and the grand final concert, Trad des Grands soirs, on Sunday.
To close the festival, the not-to-be-missed Yves Lambert will do the rounds at night to perform his new show.
Translation by Zenith Wolfe
From Sept. 2-4 at Montmagny.
Tickets and program available as of June 7.
www.accordeonmontmagny.com
This page is also available in / Cette page est également disponible en:
Francais (French)
