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Mendelssohn Choir – Journey through Bach’s B Minor Mass

By Denise Lai on 3 February 2023 Baroque and Early, Choral, Classical Music

Conductor Jean-Sébastien Vallée programmed his second season at the helm of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir (TMC) under the theme of journeys. On March 18, TMC performs David Lang’s Little Match Girl Passion, inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s famous tale about a poverty-stricken youngster sent out into the cold by her father to sell matches. The journey of this young girl serves as a stark reminder of the problems of hunger and homelessness in our world, where hope and memories meet the harsh reality of the snowy streets. This modern work is strongly inspired by the music of J.S. Bach, and…

Photo: J. Bertrand

Pauline Vaillancourt – Prix Opus Hommage

By Réjean Beaucage on 3 February 2023 Contemporary, Opera

It has been a while since we last heard soprano Pauline Vaillancourt singing in Montreal. In fact, it was back in 2000 when she shared the stage with actor Jean Maheux in L’Enfant des glaces, an “electr’opera” that she designed and staged (music by Zack Settel, libretto by Quevedo and de Nerval). It was the ninth production of Chants Libres, the lyric-creation company of which the singer is artistic director. To get a chance to hear Vaillancourt sing, you’d have to go to Europe, since it is there that she has been working with the Italian composer Maurizio Squillante. She…

Bourgie Hall: First Gesualdo Six Concert on Quebec Soil

By Justin Bernard on 31 January 2023 Baroque and Early, Choral

Bourgie Hall has kick-started the year with a plethora of concerts. Local musicians and ensembles—such as SMAM (Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal) on Feb. 12, Les Violons du Roy on Feb. 24, Nicolas Ellis and Cameron Crozman on March 10, and Orchestre Métropolitain, directed by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, on March 26—and international musicians are front and centre. The Gesualdo Six will make their debut in Quebec. Renowned for their Renaissancerepertoire performances, the United Kingdom-based Gesualdo Six will give a one-of-a-kind concert in Montreal on Feb. 21. Montreal will be the final stop of the singers’North American tour that took them…

Review | Toronto Symphony Orchestra Celebrates Mozart’s Birthday with A Superb Requiem

By Joseph So on 12 January 2023 Choral, Concert Reviews, La Scena Online, Orchestral, Toronto

Jane Archibald, sop., Susan Platts, mezz., Isaiah Bell, ten., Kevin Deas, bbar., Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Michael Francis, cond., Roy Thomson Hall, Jan. 11, 2023. Photos: Jag Gundu January is Mozart Month at the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. To mark the 267th anniversary of the birthday of the great Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Jan 27, 1756 – Dec. 5, 1791), the TSO is giving four performances of his incomparable Requiem Mass. The story behind its genesis is very well known, thanks to the hugely successful 1984 movie Amadeus. Mozart died before the completion of the work, and it was left…

La Scena Tête-à-tête Interview: John Brancy

By Adrian Rodriguez on 26 November 2022 Interviews, Opera

In this Tête à tête segment, Don Adriano interviews American baritone John Brancy for La Scena Musicale during his performance in Montreal with Opera de Montreal’s La Beauté du Monde! On YouTube: Interview with John Brancy: About John Brancy Grammy Award-winning baritone John Brancy is known for his intense musicality and communicative power. Hailed by the New York Times as “a vibrant, resonant presence,” Mr. Brancy is equally at home in staged opera, concert performance, and recital, with a wide-ranging repertoire that includes classical, contemporary world premieres, and musical theater. www.johnbrancy.com MORE Opera de Montreal’s La Beauté du Monde concludes…

Job Posting: Director of the Atelier lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal

By Newswire on 26 November 2022 Employment, Opera

TITLE : Director of the Atelier lyrique LOCATION : Montreal, Quebec DATE LIMITE : 9 janvier 2023 The Company A leading artist residency for Canadian opera singers and pianist opera coaches, the Atelier lyrique is a collaborative professional development springboard at the heart of the Opéra de Montréal. The Atelier lyrique’s mandate is to provide professional internships for emerging Canadian opera artists, combining training and stage experience, with the aim of ensuring a future for the opera world. Unique in Québec, the Atelier lyrique is the only program in Canada to train its artists in both French and English, a…

Gilbert Patenaude (1947 – 2022)

By La Scena Musicale Team on 14 November 2022 Choral, Classical Music, Daily News Roundup, La Scena Online

Laval, November 14, 2022 – The wife and children of Gilbert Patenaude regret to announce his death on November 13, 2022 at the Cité de la santé de Laval. Born in Montreal in the Rosemont district, he grew up in Outremont where he learned music as a soprano with the Clerics of Saint-Viateur, then piano and organ at the Vincent-d’Indy School. He then pursued most of his musical training at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec in Montreal. On the recommendation of Raymond Daveluy, he became the first lay musical director of the Petits Chanteurs du Mont-Royal, a position that…

Photo: Caroline Barbier de Reulle

Review | New Perspectives Through Familiar Sounds: Echo Chamber Ensemble Presents A World Transformed

By Eva Stone-Barney on 7 November 2022 Art Song, Dance, Opera

On October 28 and 29, Toronto audiences had the privilege of seeing performances of Echo Chamber Ensemble’s latest work, “A World Transformed.” The piece is a seamless combination of dance, piano repertoire, spoken narration, and classical vocal music, assembled to tell the story of the murder of Matthew Shepard, who was killed for his sexuality when he was a university student in Laramie, Wyoming in 1998. Programmed by tenor Marcel d’Entremont, and choreographed by William Yong and Laurence Lemieux, A World Transformed featured dancers Evan Webb, Zachary Cardwell, Brayden Cairns, and Johanna Bergfelt; violinist Aaron Schwebel; pianists Dakota Scott-Digout and…

0139 - First Prize winner Karoline Podolak performing at Centre Stage: Ensemble Studio Competition, 2022. Conductor Jacques Lacombe, assistant lighting designer Sarah Mansikka. Photo: Michael Cooper

Review | Canadian Opera Company’s Ensemble Studio Competition Showcases Bright Young Talents

By Denise Lai on 5 November 2022 Concert Reviews, Opera

After a two-year hiatus, COC’s Ensemble Studio Competition made a comeback last night. The competition is the feature event of the COC gala fundraiser Centre Stage, an annual celebration of Canada’s best young opera artists. From a pool of over 100 applicants from across the country, seven finalists—three sopranos, two tenors, one baritone and one bass– were chosen to perform in front of a live audience, accompanied by the full force of the COC orchestra. The competition jury comprised COC General Director Perryn Leech and Director of Artistic Planning Roberto Mauro; renowned Canadian soprano Adrianne Pieczonka; and mezzo J’Nai Bridges,…

Francis Choinière: Thinking Big

By Justin Bernard on 4 November 2022 Orchestral, Vocal

Francis Choinière has an appetite for great musical projects. When we interviewed Choinière in early October, he was in Toronto assisting Maestro Jacques Lacombe for a number of weeks, conducting rehearsals for Georges Bizet’s Carmen, the second production of the Canadian Opera Company (COC) season. “I already had familiarity with Carmen,” he said. “When I was a child, I sang excerpts from Carmen in school. When I became a conductor many years later, I had the opportunity to conduct choirs and get more familiar with Carmen. This is the first time I have worked on such an ambitious production in…

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