Strings - my/maSCENA

Ali Kian Yazdanfar’s “Gray Zone”: Bringing together contrasting elements

By Benjamin Goron on 10 November 2025 Multimedia, Strings, Visual Arts

Often, chance works in mysterious ways. That’s how a glance at a painting by Ferdos Maleki in a Magog art gallery transported double bassist Ali Kian Yazdanfar to that artist’s studio in San Diego. It is another Maleki painting, Gratitude III, that graces the cover of the bassist’s new album, Sayeh-Roshan, released this month on the Leaf Music label. Like this painting, the album conceals unforgettable encounters and exchanges across its 18 tracks, the fruit of several years of work that has finally materialized. “Several desires are at the origin of the album: to show another side of the double…

New Releases (Dec. 2025)

By La Scena Musicale Team on 10 November 2025 Classical Music, Opera, Orchestral, Strings, Vocal

This section is an advertising supplement. To announce here, contact sales@lascena.org Monica Pearce: December Essential Opera, Maureen Batt (soprano), Erin Bardua (soprano), Danielle Buonaiuto (soprano) Leaf LM2049 Release: Dec. 5, 2025 Essential Opera’s December is a one-act opera for three sopranos and string quartet by Monica Pearce. The work follows Julia and Natasha as they prepare to visit Julia’s parents for the first time together as a couple. Between airport security, last-minute packing and the subtle tension of family introductions, December captures the anticipation, vulnerability and humour that accompany love in its early stages. In Flanders Fields Jan Järvlepp, London…

Contestant Élisabeth Pion

Review | Honens Finals: The Quintets and the Concerti

By Viktor Lazarov on 28 October 2025 Music Competition, Orchestral, Piano, Strings, West

Disclosure: this article was published without the author’s knowledge of final results. Finals I: October 23, 2025 The first finals round of the Honens International Piano Competition featured all three finalists performing Franck, Brahms, and Dvořák piano quintets with the Isidore String Quartet. The New York City-based ensemble are recipients of a 2023 Avery Fisher Career Grant and winners of the 14th Banff International String Quartet Competition in 2022. A seemingly promising match of youth, talent, and ambition with each competing pianist. Yet this pairing conceals a more complicated reality: the Isidore Quartet contributes to each candidate’s evaluation in their final…

Mécénat Musica | 5NextGen Program

By Emma Yee on 28 October 2025 Arts Industry, Classical Music, Dance, Multimedia, Opera, Strings, Visual Arts

Mécénat Musica 5NextGen program has invited founders/artistic/executive directors between the ages of 25 and 39 from Orchestre Agora, ArtCrush, Musique 3 Femmes, HausMusique, and Orchestre Philharmonique & Choeur des Mélomanes (OPCM) to become Ambassadors-in-Residence, working to create an initial $1 million endowment fund in perpetuity for each of their organizations. As cellist and HausMusique Co-Artistic Director Cameron Crozman describes: “Since its inception, the [Mécénat Musica] program has offered an unprecedented opportunity for Quebec-based organizations to encourage their community of visionary donors to support the creation of endowment funds … It starts with education: informing donors that there exists in Quebec…

Mécénat Musica | Crowdfunding Grant Recipients

By Hal Kowalewski on 28 October 2025 Arts Industry, Education, Montreal, Musical Theatre, Opera, Strings, Winds

INFUSION BAROQUE Mécénat Musica’s support of Infusion Baroque culminated in the group’s 2024 album East is East. According to the group’s violinist, Sallynee Amawat, the album is a “dynamic, intercultural collaboration of artists from Western European, Persian and Indian traditions.” Since its inception in 2013, Infusion Baroque has aimed to draw new audiences to early music. Its four members—violinist Amawat, as well as Alexa Raine-Wright (baroque flute and recorder), Andrea Stewart (baroque cello) and Rona Nadler (harpsichord)—prioritize historical accuracy. “Infusion Baroque’s practice has been to champion rare and underheard voices in the field of early music through research and close…

Newswire | Free music lessons with two Montreal Symphony Orchestra cellists

By Newswire on 16 October 2025 Montreal, Newswire, Strings

Montreal Symphony Orchestra cellists Genevieve Guimond and Gary Russell are excited to announce they are accepting new students this January! The Montreal Cello Ensemble offers intensive music training to talented Montreal children, with a focus on breaking financial barriers to ensure access to high-quality music education. Every child admitted into the program receives either a full or partial scholarship that includes instruction, the use of an instrument, and accessories. No prior musical experience is necessary. In fact, almost all of the students we admit have no prior musical training. The application deadline for this unique opportunity is December 20th, 2025.…

Photo: Stuart Lowe

Rising Stars | Mira Kardan – Shean Strings Competition

By Kaitlyn Chan on 4 October 2025 Interviews, Strings

“There is really nothing I love more than spending time with my cello,” says Mira Kardan. The young cellist grew up with two musician parents who, through their dedication to the arts, encouraged Kardan to pave her own path as a musician. With their support and guidance, she has discovered one of her greatest passions in life. Earlier this year, the American cellist competed at the 2025 Shean Strings Competition with a program featuring works by Bach, Ligeti, Debussy, Popper, and Shostakovich. “It was really exciting to prepare a program that was completely diverse, not one work similar to another,”…

Photo: Stuart Lowe

Rising Stars | Daria Schibitcaia – Sylva Gelber

By Kaitlyn Chan on 3 October 2025 Interviews, Strings, Violin

Alongside a 2025 Sylva Gelber Music Foundation award, violinist Daria Schibitcaia also earned herself the Walter Prystawski Prize. The young musician doesn’t take the prize for granted, emphasizing her gratitude and excitement for what she can now pursue with the foundation’s support. “This year feels like a big turning point for me, as I’ll be deciding where in the world I want to pursue my next degree,” Schibitcaia says. The Moldovan-born violinist is currently completing her Artist Diploma at The Glenn Gould School, studying with violinists Barry Shiffman and Erika Raum. Though she began playing violin and piano at the…

The Isidore String Quartet. Photo: Jiyang Chen

Review | Isidore String Quartet Steps on Some Toes at LMMC

By Jan Krejcar on 1 October 2025 Chamber Music, Classical Music, Concert Reviews, Montreal, Strings

The Ladies’ Morning Music Club (LMMC) has a somewhat anachronistic name, betraying its founding more than 100 years ago. It grew out of a need to satisfy Montreal’s thirst for music, and the organization has long shepherded the musical taste of the metropolis by bringing in major solo artists and chamber groups. Their concert series have been particularly important in facilitating this city’s relationship with the string quartet, and the Sunday afternoon performance of the Isidore String Quartet on Sept. 28th in Oscar Peterson Hall was another page in that story. The quartet, returning to Montreal after their success here…

LMMC at 134: A Season of Debuts and Returns

By Wah Keung Chan on 4 September 2025 Chamber Music, Classical Music, Montreal, Piano, Strings

Montreal’s Ladies’ Morning Musical Club (LMMC) is entering its 134th season, and this volunteer-led committee continues to offer Montrealers access to the world’s finest chamber music. Generations of artists have graced its stage; for musicians, an LMMC appearance is an honour. For audiences, it’s Sunday afternoon delight, now for its second season at Oscar Peterson Hall on Concordia’s west end Loyola campus, while its usual venue, McGill’s Pollack Hall is being renovated. This year’s lineup blends legends, fresh voices, and programs designed to surprise as much as satisfy. Here are the LMMC’s five fall offerings. September 7: Alban Gerhardt &…

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