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James Ehnes with his accompanist Andrew Armstrong, Photo: Ben Ealovega

James Ehnes @40

By Kiersten van Vliet on 1 September 2016 Chamber Music, Interviews, Violin

Age may be but a number, but its influence is broad. For celebrated Canadian violinist James Ehnes, turning 40 earlier this year has led to a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to tour his homeland in a series celebrating family, community, and (of course) great music. Though he is no doubt still fielding quips about being over the hill, Ehnes’s bustling performance schedule certainly erases any doubts about him slowing down any time soon. Ehnes, a Brandon, Manitoba native, began playing the violin at the age of 4 and studied with renowned violinist and pedagogue Francis Chaplin at 9. From 1993 to 1997…

Les Funerailles de Joe Beef, Credit: Lemieux Pilon 4D Art

City of Memories in Old Montreal

By Hassan Laghcha on 1 September 2016 Interviews, Multimedia, Visual Arts

Old Montreal is currently the site of an international premiere: the advent of the world’s largest permanent multimedia projection exhibit. Cité-Mémoire (sometimes translated as Memory City) is a series of walking tours featuring 19 animated scenes that bring to life some of the characters who made the city’s history. Recall key moments about Montreal via a free mobile app. La Scena Musicale spoke with two of the architects of this tribute to Montreal’s 375th anniversary. “The original idea was to create an event to celebrate Montreal’s anniversary every May 17,” says Martin Laviolette. The executive director and producer at Montréal…

Photo: Andy Bullock

Music and Sports: Finding the Right Balance for a Happy Child

By Jeanne Hourez on 1 September 2016 Education, Interviews, Violin

Anne-Sophie is nine years old. Behind her natural reserve and sometimes dreamy demeanour lies a determined, enthusiastic child eager to learn new things. Her busy days are divided into school work and her two passions, gymnastics and the violin. Since the age of three she has been doing gymnastics at the Gymnix club at Centre Claude-Robillard, and the sport now takes up 18 hours of her week. In September she will begin a sport studies program to specialize in the discipline. Her mother says, “I was surprised and glad that Anne-Sophie made this decision by herself. A few years ago…

Views of the World Film & Music Festival

By Kiersten van Vliet on 1 September 2016 Film, Interviews

Combining a passion for quality filmmaking and an interest in promoting social and environmental justice, the Views of the Wold Film and Music Festival is without equal. With the intention of becoming an annual event in Montreal, the first edition is shaping up to be an enriching experience for attendees and judges alike. Running from September 22 to 25, the festival includes world premiere screenings, networking, professional development panels, keynote speakers, and a judged competition in three media: film, scripts, and film music. The film jury will have 9 members, music 7, and script 5. Festival Delegate General Michel Zgarka…

Mary Beth Nelson as Betty Parris, Ariana Wehr as Abigail Williams, Emma Grimsley as Ruth Putnam and Molly Jane Hill as Susanna Walcott, Photo: Karli Cade

Witches! Thieves! Cutthroats! At Glimmerglass!

By Charles Geyer on 26 August 2016 Concert Reviews, Interviews, Musical Theatre, Opera

OPERA REVIEWS: The Crucible (August 20); The Thieving Magpie (August 20); Sweeney Todd (August 21); La bohème (August 22, matinee) INTERVIEW: Francesca Zambello Salem Village is stalked by the devil. A servant girl in France faces the gallows for the theft of some tableware. Vengeance is decimating London’s Fleet Street district (while a concomitant new gastronomic craze takes disturbing hold). Oh, and might one mention? – Paris isn’t paying its artists enough! Jealousies, grudges (and strange gravies) simmer. Accusations (and human-sized birds) fly. Cue the orchestra! It’s all the stuff of a glorious and bracing three-days’ visit to the Glimmerglass…

The Witches Dance from The Witches of Venice, Photo: Gary David Gold

Opera Saratoga: Singing at the Springs

By Charles Geyer on 26 July 2016 Concert Reviews, Interviews, Opera

Nestled in the Adirondack foothills near the headstreams of the Hudson River, the City of Saratoga Springs in upstate New York was once the dowager empress of America’s great Victorian-era summer resorts, its fame resting on an abundance of fresh, natural mineral springs bubbling up from faults far below the earth’s surface, and alleged to possess restorative powers. Those magical waters still flow from the city’s protected aquifer today; but in a recreational economy that long ago diversified beyond mineral spas – racetrack, casino, restaurants and contending cultural attractions – one ought not overlook another local font whose output springs…

Jean-Philippe Tremblay. Photo Alain Lefort

Orchestre de la Francophonie at 15

By Jeanne Hourez on 1 June 2016 Arts Industry, Choral, Interviews, Orchestral

The Orchestre de la Francophonie will celebrate its 15th anniversary this summer. The program for the evening, which will take place at la Maison symphonique on August 7th, took some careful consideration. In the end, Artistic Director Jean-Philippe Tremblay chose Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, “Resurrection.” “We chose this extraordinary work after considering what the musicians have been wanting to do for the last few years, although Mahler’s compositions require a very large number of musicians which is not always easy to find,” states Tremblay. “Moving from shadow into light, being very demanding of the musicians, this symphony is rewarding in its…

Rufus Wainwright on Prima Donna

Rufus Wainwright: Prima Donna

By Caroline Rodgers on 1 June 2016 Contemporary, Interviews, Opera, Popular Music, Quebec Music

Better late than never: Rufus Wainwright’s first opera, which premiered in 2009, will at last be performed in Montreal this summer in a concert version as part of the Montreal International Jazz Festival. Born into a family of musicians, Rufus Wainwright was surely destined to follow in the footsteps of his parents, folk singer Kate McGarrigle and singer Loudon Wainwright III. At the age of 13 he was already touring alongside his mother, aunt Anna McGarrigle, and sister Martha, as part of The McGarrigle Sisters and Family, an expanded version of the famous Kate and Anna duo. Nothing in this…

Dina Gilbert Photo: Alain Lefort

Dina Gilbert: A Lively Mind

By Caroline Rodgers on 1 April 2016 Interviews, Orchestral

Time passes quickly. After three busy years as assistant conductor of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Dina Gilbert closes her final mandate next August and is already looking to the future, ready for new challenges. Here she appraises those years, which have taught her so much. A native of Saint-George-de-Beauce, Dina Gilbert is 31 years old. She holds a doctorate in conducting from Université de Montréal, where she studied under Paolo Bellomia and Jean-François Rivest. In 2013, when she was appointed assistant conductor – the first woman ever to get the job – Jean-François Rivest had this to say: “She’s dynamic,…

Yann Martel Photo Emma Love

Yann Martel: The Story Builder

By Caroline Rodgers on 1 April 2016 Interviews, Literature

Yann Martel isn’t the sort of writer who publishes a new novel every year. Six years passed between the publication of Beatrice and Virgil and his latest opus, The High Mountains of Portugal, a novel that includes three tales of faith, love, and loss. The Canadian author, who currently lives in Saskatchewan, replied by e-mail to some of La SCENA’s questions on the life of an author and themes that he holds dear. La SCENA: Faith is something of a marginal theme in literature today. Why is it important to you to put it at the centre of your novels? Yann Martel: Precisely because it is…

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