Some legacies are passed down, and others must be claimed. In the 2025/26 season, Edmonton Opera explores what it means to inherit, build, and redefine a legacy through a bold lineup of performances and special events. This season celebrates the voices that shaped the art form, the artists carrying it forward, and the ongoing evolution of opera as the living art form that continues to inspire new generations. “Our 2026/26 season is really about what we inherit, what we keep, and what we redefine,” says Edmonton Opera’s Artistic Director, Joel Ivany. “From celebrating opera’s greatest moments to championing new voices…
Browsing: Canadian Music
(NEW YORK) Monday 10 March, 2025 Intermusica New York is delighted to welcome Canadian pianist Sophia Liu to its roster for worldwide general management. At just 16 years old, Liu is quickly emerging as the most compelling pianist of her generation. Her ‘phenomenal virtuosity’ (Bachtrack), coupled with her ‘poise and authority’ (Boston Musical Intelligencer) and dynamic interpretations have captivated and mesmerised audiences worldwide. Born in Shanghai, Liu was raised in Japan until moving to Montreal at age seven to study with Dang Thai Son. She made her debut with the Cleveland Orchestra and David Robertson in 2023. Throughout the 2024/25 season, Liu appears at festivals and venues…
The Roaring Twenties was an age of dramatic social and economic change, fabulous fashion, and of course, great music. A century onwards, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal celebrated the 1920s with Montreal native Marc-André Hamelin on keys and Rafael Payare conducting in an evening of jazz, swing, and ragtime tunes popularized by the era. What you missed Hamelin’s dapper white jacket stood out in the spotlight as he played Edward Elzear “Zez” Confrey’s Kitten on the Keys solo on a small upright piano to the right of the stage, the program opener. The piece’s jaunty and ragtime feel imitated a cat…
Toronto, ON, Canada, 10 February 2025 – The Azrieli Music, Arts and Culture Centre (AMACC) has opened its international call to composers for the (AMP). For its sixth biennial cycle, AMP is seeking scores and proposals for choir and orchestra with optional soloists. The 2026 call is open from 7 February through 2 May 2025. Created in 2014 by Sharon Azrieli CQ for the Azrieli Foundation, AMP celebrates excellence in music composition by offering the largest prize package of its kind in Canada, making it one of the most substantial composition competitions in the world. “We are looking for composers who exhibit the most…
FEBRUARY 4, 2025, VANCOUVER, B.C. / Traditional territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations – Vancouver Opera announces an exciting and audience-inspired 2025–2026 season with three classic opera productions. The 2025-2026 season begins in October with Verdi’s eternally thrilling Rigoletto, followed by Mozart’s light-hearted Così fan tutte in February 2026. La Bohème, Puccini’s enduring love story, closes the season in blockbuster style with a five-show run in April/May 2026. “For our 66th season, we’re bringing operas by the art form’s greatest composers to the Queen Elizabeth Theatre stage,” said Tom Wright, Vancouver Opera General Director. “These…

Approaching 25 years of legacy A tall, energetic, and confident head of luscious white hair makes its way through rows of student performers comprising the McGill Symphony Orchestra (MGSO). With exacting standards, Maestro Alexis Hauser’s baton cuts through the air like decisive strokes of a sharp sabre. Yet, his generously open, music-loving heart, sincere communication and infectious good humour fill orchestra players and audience members with a sense of assurance and comfort. A beloved presence at the helm of the MGSO for nearly 25 years, Maestro Hauser recalls his encounters with conducting greatness during his youthful student days in Vienna,…

Although few traces remain of Montreal’s Roaring Twenties era, the city was once renowned as an oasis of pleasure and transgression—where cabarets, illegal gambling and prostitution drew crowds in search of daring theatrical presentations and clandestine parties. This cultural and social ferment shaped the city’s nocturnal imagination, an era that La Nef intends to bring back to life with its concert Montréal la magnifique. Presented on April 2 under the direction of singer-songwriter and accordionist Steve Normandin, the show will bring together the talents of Guillaume Bourque (clarinet), Serge Lavoie (guitar), Clinton Ryder (double bass) and Catherine Meunier (percussion). “Sin…

MONTREAL Destinées March 22 at 7:30 p.m. – Maison symphonique The Chœur St-Laurent, directed by Philippe Bourque, in collaboration with the Chœur de l’Université de Montréal, presents William Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast, a monumental work for baritone, choir and orchestra. The program will be completed by Edward Elgar’s The Music Makers, performed by contralto Rose Naggar-Tremblay. www.choeur.qc.ca Edelweiss March 29 at 3 p.m. – Maison symphonique Ensemble ArtChoral, conducted by Matthias Maute, presents a springtime concert featuring some of the most beautiful works celebrating spring: Richard Rodgers’s Edelweiss; excerpts from Georges Bizet’s opera Carmen; Edward Elgar’s Lux Aeterna; and Léo Delibes’s…

QUEBEC Arion Orchestre Baroque arionbaroque.com At the heart of Montreal’s musical life for over forty years, Arion Orchestre Baroque is a pioneer in Quebec and Canada in the world of early music on period instruments. Under the artistic direction of conductor and bassoonist Mathieu Lussier since 2019, Arion presents a concert series featuring internationally renowned guest conductors and soloists. The clarity and freshness of Arion’s interpretations of Baroque and Classical works are underpinned by a discography of over thirty critically acclaimed and award-winning titles. Committed to the creation and dissemination of youth and educational projects, and a partner of renowned…

The theme of this 12th edition of the Montreal International New Musics Festival is “Music and Images.” Its program of 18 concerts will reopen a debate which has occupied the minds of composers even before the invention of cinema and which, in an increasingly digitized age, is becoming more and more relevant. Today, there seems to be no limit to the potential for interaction between sound and image. This ranges from cinema and video animation, to digital music, as well as all that music itself contributes to visual mediums. We met with SMCQ Artistic Director Simon Bertrand to discuss this…