Jeunesses Musicales Canada turns 75

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Jeunesses Musicales Canada’s 2024-25 season will be filled with celebrations to mark their 75th anniversary. Each season they present over 650 concerts and more than 630 workshops given by over 120 artists in some 200 venues in Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes.

“We want to consolidate our approach to exploring not just European classical music, but music from all over the world—China, Japan, the Middle East, Africa, etc.,” JMC’s executive and artistic director Danièle LeBlanc says. “We want to strengthen our young people’s desire to listen to the music of the world. We want to strengthen our young people’s desire to discover the richness of these musical traditions dating back thousands of years.” She dwells on the development of their residency program, which enables young artists to explore their potential, deepen their curiosity and discover repertoire that is new to them.

As part of this program, the artist in residence, young Innu soprano Elisabeth St-Gelais, is presenting three concerts in Salle Joseph-Rouleau: on Sept. 12, works by Tchaikovsky and Dvořák; Oct. 10, New Music and Indigenous Poetry; and Nov. 14, a German Romantic Evening. The program of festivities also includes an Evening of Recognition on Sept. 21 at Salle Gilles-Lefebvre in Orford, presented by the Wicha Music Foundation in partnership with Orford Musique, to highlight the contributions of the presidents and administrators of JMC and the JM Canada Foundation, also celebrating its 40th anniversary.

Sept. 27 in Salle Joseph-Rouleau will also see the finals, and unveiling, of the new Peter Mendell Prize, in collaboration with the Canadian Music Competition.

AND IN 2025…

On the program for 2025 is the concert Francœur: cordes, querelles et cour du roi, on Feb. 6. This is a musical look at the life of François Francœur with Marie Nadeau-Tremblay on baroque violin, Tristan Best on viola and Kerry Bursey on lute and voice. On Feb. 27, the Empreintes concert features the Made In Trio, made up of clarinetist David Dias da Silva, flutist Rute Fernandes and pianist Sinforosa Petralia. On March 13, Tommy Dupuis presents a varied repertoire inspired by Africa, the Balkans and South America with La guitare aux mille sonorités: de Bach à aujourd’hui. On April 6 at Salle Pierre-Mercure, Opéra-bonbon: l’aventure gourmande d’Hansel et Gretel, plays in partnership with Orchestre classique de Montréal.

As part of school outings, a Fred Solo concert is being offered free of charge to 1,000 students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Solo and his trumpets will be at Salle Joseph-Rouleau on Feb. 9 at 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. LeBlanc is calling for regular choral music programs to be introduced in primary and secondary schools. She stresses the benefits this would have, not only for the development of young people’s artistic skills, but also for the intellectual and social skills that are at the heart of the school curriculum. “It’s our great hobbyhorse,” she says.