Appointments
Daniele Rustioni. Photo: Jonathan Tichler
The Metropolitan Opera announced the appointment of Daniele Rustioni to the position of principal guest conductor for a three-year term, becoming only the third principal guest conductor in Met history, beginning with the 2025–26 season. In his new position, Rustioni will conduct a minimum of two operas per season. In coming seasons, Rustioni will conduct a new production of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra, as well as revivals of Giordano’s Andrea Chénier, Mozart’s Don Giovanni, and Puccini’s La bohème.
Isolde Lagacé. Photo: Pierre-Étienne Bergeron
Isolde Lagacé, C.M. has been appointed a Member of the Order of Canada by Mary Simon, Governor General of Canada. Lagacé is renowned on the Quebec music scene for promoting and presenting music throughout the province and abroad. As executive and artistic director of Arte Musica and Bourgie Hall, she contributed to this institution’s development and international renown as one of the country’s leading music venues.
Awards
Liona Boyd. Photo: Don Dixon
Canada’s Walk of Fame has announced that Liona Boyd, internationally celebrated classical guitarist, composer, and five-time Juno Award winner, is among the first round of inductees to be honoured in 2025 under its Arts & Entertainment category. This milestone coincides with the 50th anniversary of Boyd’s debut album, released in 1974.
Suzie LeBlanc. Photo: Mark Mushet
Renowned Canadian soprano (and LSM Nov. 2024 cover artist) Suzie LeBlanc was awarded France’s prestigious Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters (Chevalière de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres) by the ambassador of France to Canada, Michel Miraillet, during a private ceremony in Vancouver on Nov. 27. LeBlanc is being recognized for her outstanding contributions to the world of music, her deep ties with France and dedication to fostering cultural and linguistic connections between the two countries.
Élisabeth St-Gelais, Élisabeth Pion & Cameron Crozman. Photo: Robert Etcheverry
Montreal’s Father Lindsay Foundation announced cellist Cameron Crozman as the recipient of the sixth edition of the Fernand Lindsay Career Grant. Worth $50,000, the grant was presented to Crozman on Dec. 11 when two other scholarships were awarded. Pianist Élisabeth Pion was awarded the $15,000 Pierre-Mantha Scholarship while soprano Elisabeth St-Gelais received the $10,000 Fernand-Lindsay Scholarship.
Alice Ping Yee Ho. Photo: Bo Huang
The Canada Council for the Arts has announced Alice Ping Yee Ho as the latest winner of the $7,500 Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music for her composition, Femme de Glace. The competition, which is intended for professional composers and sound creators from Canada, is designed to encourage the creation of new chamber music.
Michel Levasseur. Photo: Martin Morissette
The Conseil québécois de la musique has unveiled the winner of its Prix Hommage presented at the Prix Opus Gala on Feb. 2. Michel Levasseur is being honoured for his 40 years as general and artistic director of the Festival international de musique actuelle de Victoriaville (FIMAV). Throughout his years, Levasseur has championed experimental and improvisational music from Quebec and Canada via FIMAV’s unique programming of indoor concerts, experimental films and sound installations in public spaces and exhibitions.
Competitions
Natasha Henry. Photo: Tam Photography
At its Gala Talent event on Nov. 20, Opéra de Montréal awarded two prizes: mezzo-soprano Tessa Fackelmann won the $10,000 Grand Jury Prize while soprano Natasha Henry was awarded the $5,000 Stingray Star Award. The event is a public showcase for finalists chosen from across Canada who are vying for positions in the company’s young-artist training program, the Atelier lyrique.
After an intensive week of masterclasses, workshops, and rehearsals, Edmonton Opera announced winners of the 3rd Annual Rumbold Vocal Prize following a live, judged concert on Nov. 8. The $12,000 first-place winner was mezzo-soprano Tessa Fackelmann; the $8,000 second prize went to soprano Elizabeth Polese; shared third prize of $5,000 each to tenor Angelo Moretti and bass-baritone Alex Halliday. A $1,000 prize went to University of Alberta student Maria Pottle.
Supported by the Azrieli Foundation, the Canadian Music Competition (CMC) returns this year with a formula allowing more autonomy for regional chapters (registration dates, related activities, costs). A total of 120 finalists will be invited to the national final July 2-7 at Bishop’s University in Sherbrooke, QC, held in conjunction with a Gathering with the Stars event. The main prize is a professional engagement for winners of the national final, selected by a jury of five judges, who will perform with an orchestra in their region of origin. To find out the registration deadline for your chapter visit. www.cmcnational.com
Young Artists
Emma Pennell
The Canadian Opera Company has announced the five singers who will join its Ensemble Studio young-artist program for the 2025-26 season. Soprano Emma Pennell, mezzo-soprano Ariana Maubach, tenor Angelo Moretti, baritone Ben Wallace, and bass-baritone Nicholas Murphy will join the company alongside two returning Ensemble Studio members entering their second year of the program, soprano Emily Rocha and bass Duncan Stenhouse.
News
Alain Nonat
We are sad to announce the passing of tenor Alain Nonat on Dec. 31, 2024, at the age of 82. Nonat was a good friend of Canadian singers and La Scena Musicale. Born in France, Nonat’s military service and vocal training took him throughout France, Switzerland, Germany and the U.S.A., where he studied with tenor Ernst Haefliger among others, but it was in Canada that he found his second home. He founded Théâtre Lyrichorégra 20 in 1976, an organization unique in the world, to which he devoted over 48 years as volunteer general and artistic director.Jeunes Ambassadeurs Lyriques (JAL) was created in 1994 to offer singers auditions in Canada in front of a jury of opera directors from Canada and mid-size European companies (the people who hire), with prizes that include engagements with those companies. Many of the artists supported by Théâtre Lyrichorégra 20 continue to shine on the stages of the world’s greatest opera houses including, notably, mezzo-sopranos Julie Boulianne and Michèle Losier, as well as baritone Etienne Dupuis.
Raphael Payare. Photo: Gerard Collett
Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and its music director, Rafael Payare, has launched El Sistema OSM, building on their existing program La musique aux enfants which was created in 2016 to offer music instructions to students aged four to 16 in underprivileged schools in Montreal North. El Sistema OSM will enable students to learn, in a group setting, to play an orchestral instrument, four times a week, three hours per day, after school hours. Presently, with 69 students, the program hopes to expand to 600 over the next five years. Payare himself started in El Sistema (which is celebrating 50 years in 2025) in Venezuela at age 14 as a trumpeter and credits his career as a conductor to this experience.
On Jan. 21, Orchestre métropolitain announced the cancellation of two concerts, Fatal Attraction on March 13-14 and Latin Fiesta on May 16. In a press release OM cited “rising production costs, inflation influencing the public’s cultural habits, and stagnating government subsidies.” In an interview with La Presse, Fabienne Voisin, the orchestra’s general director, admitted concerts which are not directed by OM’s Artistic Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin have more difficulty in reaching their sales targets. Fatal Attraction was supposed to be conducted by Nicolas Ellis and Latin Fiesta by Joana Carneiro. Perhaps ironically, both programs were of a decidedly popular vein, featuring music from Bizet’s Carmen and Bernstein’s West Side Story.
On Jan. 23, Opéra de Québec announced the resignation of Jean-François Lapointe, its general and artistic director. The decision was made “following differences of vision with the board of directors (and) will take effect on Jan. 31, 2025.” In an interview with Le Devoir, Lapointe stated that in anticipation of losing a portion of their funding, he proposed the company reduce performances of last fall’s Le comte Ory from four to two. Chairman Philippe-Edwin Bélanger explained in the same article that his board “had long discussions on Jean-François’s proposal, but (they preferred) to find a solution to remobilize the public and keep the four performances of (their) productions, because the fixed costs of a production are very high.” Grégoire Legendre, director of OdeQ from 1994 to 2020, has agreed to take on an interim role to ensure continuity.
Mario Allard
Barely two weeks into the new year, the sudden and tragic death of saxophonist Mario Allard shook the Quebec musical community. The Montrealer made a name for himself as part of the Afrobeat co-operative Papagroove; more recently, he was also a member of Jazzlab Orchestra and of Alain Bédard’s Auguste Quartet. Allard had released two self-produced albums under his name: 2007’s Mario Allard Quintet and 2017’s Diaporama. The whole team at La Scena Musicale wishes to extend its condolences to his family and friends.
