Contemporary - my/maSCENA

Photo: Tam Photography

Noémie Raymond-Friset: Beyond the Printed Score

By Madeline Boldt on 31 January 2025 Classical, Classical Music, Contemporary, Montreal, Piano, Strings

To cellist Noémie Raymond-Friset, music is just as much about heart as it is about technique. For her, the cello is a means of forging profound connections—with collaborators, audiences, and even communities worlds away. Born to music-loving parents who filled her early life with the sounds of Bach suites, Raymond-Friset picked up the violin at the age of four. But it was the cello that resonated with her three years later. “I found my instrument,” she recalls. “Something about the tone, the sound, and the register really spoke to me.” In her early career, mentors like violinist superstars Midori and…

Montreal New Musics Festival: A fascinating Tower of Babel

By Justin Bernard on 31 January 2025 Canadian Music, Contemporary, Interviews

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…

Michael Bridge (accordion) with Esprit Orchestra. Photo: Karen Reeves

Review | Accordion Virtuoso Michael Bridge Opens Esprit Orchestra Season

By John Gilks on 29 November 2024 Concert Reviews, Contemporary, Toronto

Esprit Orchestra, conducted by Alex Pauk, presented three works at Toronto’s Koerner Hall on Nov. 24th. The first was Gabriella Smith’s f(x)=sin^2x-i/x. This follows the shape of the function dynamically for x=0 to x=2; so there’s a smallish crescendo, a quieter passage and then a big finish. The first part, using extended strings, winds and percussion, sounds rather like a train accelerating (to its doom?). The piece then goes much quieter and more melodic before the final build up with an almost Brahmsian quality in the brass leading to a very loud, cacophonic finish. Then silence! Bent Sørensen’s It is…

Katia Makdissi-Warren. Photo: Damian Siqueiros

Chants libres & Oktoecho : Première of Sainte Marine

By Justin Bernard on 10 October 2024 Contemporary, Interviews, Opera

Ancient stories, attributed to lesser-known figures, are sometimes strikingly modern. This is the case of St. Marina, known as Marina the Monk, a woman who devoted her life to God despite her life’s tribulations and the prejudice she endured. After her mother’s death, Marina’s father decided to disguise her as a boy and take her to the Qannoubine Monastery in Lebanon, reserved for men. There, she became known as “Brother Marin,” and her sex was only discovered by the community after her death. Her life was deeply marked by a false accusation of rape involving the daughter of an innkeeper.…

Photo : Annie Éthier

New & contemporary music

By Arnaud G. Veydarier on 30 August 2024 Contemporary

Winners of two OPUS awards at their 2024 gala, the Stick&Bow duo will open Le Vivier’s new season on Sept. 6, along with All the Madmen. Presented at Montreal’s Sainte-Hilda church, this concert will see the music of Beethoven, David Bowie and Nina Simone mingled with a reflection on the madness sometimes associated with great artists. The evening will conclude with the world première of Roman Candle (2024) by composer Jason Noble. On Sept. 28, the Sanctuaire du Saint-Sacrement will host an immersive concert dedicated to Austrian composer Klaus Lang. Soprano Natacha Demers and organist and composer Olivier St-Pierre will…