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Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal’s (SMAM’s) commitment to music-making is matched by a similar care for the environment. This is manifested in their attention to all the little actions—from encouraging its audience to take public transportation to serving vegetarian and locally sourced meals to its staff—that allow it to reduce its ecological footprint.
“We are now looking at our environmental impact,” explains Artistic Director Andrew McAnerney, “whether it’s the food we’re serving to our subscribers at receptions, the amount of paper and resources we are consuming, bringing people by train rather than airplane, and using local talent whenever possible. These are the practical ways in which we are minimizing our environmental impact through our music-making.”
Our environment consists of more than just the resources we consume. For SMAM, sustainable development means they are attuned to the needs of the community and are constantly seeking creative ways to unify music with their environmental concerns. In their Policy on Sustainable Development, developed in 2022, the organization states its goal is to “integrate environmental challenges into artistic programming and offer the public an experience focused on contemplation and reflection.” SMAM’s first concert series inspired by their increased attention to sustainable development was 2023’s Des astres et des cieux, a program of Renaissance vocal music performed under spatial projections at Montreal’s Rio Tinto Alcan Planetarium. “This was about creating a dialogue between art and nature, and about transporting music out of its conventional framework by reminding us all of the fundamental link we have with the universe,” says General Director Jonathan Nemtanu.
Des astres et des cieux at the Montreal Rio Tinto Alcan Planetarium.
In 2024, SMAM celebrated Earth Day with Ode à la Terre (Ode to the Earth), a concert consisting of both Renaissance and contemporary vocal works whose lyrics consisted of nature-oriented poetry. More recently, SMAM has collaborated with CARI St-Laurent, a Montreal-based community organization that provides services to immigrants, as well as MIFI (Quebec’s Ministry of Immigration, Francization and Integration) to invite newly arrived immigrants to their concerts. Nemtanu is touched by the opportunity to allow people in complex situations to experience the poetry and wonder of a SMAM concert. “It means a lot to us to offer tickets to these people who have a particular need for it—to give them the luxury of getting their minds off their situations for a short time,” he says.
SMAM is scheduled to present Héritages polyphoniques (Polyphonic Legacies) at Bourgie Hall on Nov. 17 and Signé Josquin (By Josquin) at Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours on Jan. 22. Full details at www.smamontreal.ca
This page is also available in / Cette page est également disponible en:
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