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Louise Pitre. Photo: Trish Lindstrom

Louise Pitre: Canada’s First Lady of Musical Theatre in Her Most Perfect Role

By Emma Yee on 10 November 2025 Interviews, Montreal, Musical Theatre, Toronto

Louise Pitre—Canada’s First Lady of musical theatre—has made audiences fall in love with her for decades. Best known for originating the role of Donna Sheridan in Mamma Mia! on Broadway, Pitre will star as the titular Kimberly Akimbo in Montreal (Nov. 23–Dec. 21) and Toronto (Jan. 15–Feb. 8) this winter. Pitre’s first big show was the 1989 Toronto production of Les Misérables in which she played Fantine. “It was the only show my parents came to the opening. I didn’t have to explain the story,” says Pitre. She went on to perform the role in Montreal, and then, Paris. For…

The Tallis Scholars: Timeless Voices

By Heather Weinreb on 10 November 2025 Baroque and Early, Choral, Interviews

Thomas Tallis, Josquin des Prez, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina—these are just a few of the composers whom the Tallis Scholars have brought to an international stage throughout their storied history. “We’ve made [the performance of Renaissance vocal works] a major international activity,” says founding conductor Peter Phillips. “We started in Oxford. We then went to London, and from there, we branched out.” Since its founding in 1973, the Tallis Scholars have given over 2,500 concerts in over 16 countries and released more than 60 albums on their own label, Gimmel Records. The ensemble also boasts an impressive list of accolades,…

Michael Francis. Photo: Marco Borggreve/The Florida Orchestra

Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s Messiah: Conductor Michael Francis on the Greatest Work of Art

By Denise Lai on 10 November 2025 Baroque and Early, Choral, Classical Music, Interviews, Orchestral, Toronto, Vocal

For the past 90 years, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Toronto Mendelssohn Choir have performed Handel’s Messiah together. Like the Nutcracker ballet, Messiah is an annual tradition that brings festive joy to every holiday season. TSO’s 2025 version will be conducted by Michael Francis, music director of the Florida Orchestra and the Mainly Mozart Festival in San Diego, as well as chief conductor of Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz. This is the British maestro’s fourth time working with the TSO. Most recently, in 2023, Francis conducted the TSO and TMC in Mozart’s Requiem. “I thought Jean-Sébastien Vallée trained the chorus so brilliantly…

Photos: SKP—Celebration Issue (@skpbeijing)

Jakub Józef Orliński: A Countertenor for Modern Times

By Justin Bernard on 10 November 2025 Baroque and Early, Contemporary, Interviews, Musique populaire, Opera

Jakub Józef Orliński is only 34 years old, but his media presence and aura have already launched him to the rank of one of the most recognizable personalities of the baroque music scene. Like many young artists, he started off quietly, without knowing where this life would lead him. In 2015, after already experiencing success singing roles in Poland and Germany, he began studies at Juilliard, New York’s prestigious music school, and became a finalist at the Metropolitan Opera auditions. And yet it was a unique event, on a July afternoon during a heatwave in 2017, that would put him…

Noëls éternels: Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal Goes on the Road

By Adrian Rodriguez on 10 November 2025 Baroque and Early, Choral, Classical Music, Interviews, Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec City, Vocal

by Adrian Rodriguez; based on an interview by Justin Bernard A festive spirit is once again blowing through Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal (SMAM). After several years without touring, SMAM is hitting the road again. Five cities, five collaborations and one common thread: creating a genuine connection between professionals, the next generation and the public. “In every city we visit, a local choir joins us. In Ottawa, it’s Christ Church Cathedral Choir conducted by Andrew McAnerney; in Chicoutimi, the Ecce Novum and Conservatoire du Saguenay choirs; in Trois-Rivières, L’Orphéon; and in Quebec City, the Le Chœur de l’Université Laval,”…

Mécénat Musica | Perspectives on Philanthropy

By L. I. Liganor on 28 October 2025 Arts Industry, Interviews

When we experience art—whether in the form of the performing arts, literature or the visual arts—we become immersed in the moment. We don’t usually think about what makes our enjoyment possible. At the heart of it is the artist’s vision, creativity and hard work. Often what fuels the art and the artist is the care and support of others. This support can be offered in a myriad of ways, but at its core are donations from benefactors. In its 2025 World Giving Report, Charities Aid Foundation Canada notes that 84 per cent of Canadians did some type of charitable behaviour…

Mécénat Musica | 9e Musique@17h

By La Scena Musicale Team on 28 October 2025 Classical Music, Interviews, Montreal

by Kaitlyn Chan & Justin Bernard HausMusique “[Our] goal with the 9e Musique@17h HausMusique series [presented at the new performing arts space on the Montreal Eaton Centre’s iconic Art Deco ninth floor 9e Grande Salle], is to feature programs with thoughtful combinations of repertoire and unique musical collaborations, keeping the duration to one hour in length,” says cellist and Co-Artistic Director Cameron Crozman. The HausMusique series features well-known and complex works performed at the landmark Art Deco heritage venue. In the concert of the 9e Musique@17h HausMusique series, Beethoven’s symphonies will be heard for the first time at Le 9e…

Dr. Sharon Azrieli: Mécénat Musica Donor-In-Residence

By Wah Keung Chan on 28 October 2025 Arts Industry, Interviews

The Mécénat Musica Donors-in-Residence program helps recruit philanthropists who are interested in keeping culture healthy for generations to come. Sharon Azrieli’s collaborative efforts have resulted more than 50 plus Mécénat Musica donors contributing to 23 cultural organizations from 2016 to 2025, particularly voice funds. “I remember biking through the woods and it hit me that I was going to be a singer.” Soprano Sharon Azrieli’s passion has always been music, particularly singing, something that has guided her since her student days in New York. Back then, to fund voice lessons, Azrieli drew on her entrepreneurial side and sold her handmade…

Mécénat Musica | Prix Découverte Winners

By Kaitlyn Chan on 28 October 2025 Classical Music, Interviews

The Mécénat Musica Prix Découverte offers $25,000 over five years, or $5,000 annually, to Quebec artists. This Mécénat Musica Artist Award is an initiative of the donors of Mécénat Musica and Concerts noncerto. Roozbeh Tabandeh Iranian-Canadian Roozbeh Tabandeh is an interdisciplinary artist: a conductor, violinist, Iranian santur player and architect. Tabandeh’s compositions, which converge Western Eurological art music and Iranian national music, are performed and recorded by ensembles around the world. This past year, he received the Prix Opus in “Inclusion and Diversity” for his interdisciplinary piece, Songs of the Drowning. With a master’s degree in architecture, Tabandeh is particularly…

Mécénat Musica | Prix Goyer Winners

By Kaitlyn Chan on 28 October 2025 Classical Music, Interviews

Kristin Hoff Mezzo-soprano Kristin Hoff is co-founding artistic and general director of Musique 3 Femmes, a Montreal opera company dedicated to creating, developing and producing new opera written by female and non-binary composers and librettists. Hoff is also executive director of Mini-Concerts Santé of Ensemble ArtChoral, a project that delivers music for social and mental health to disadvantaged neighbourhoods. Recent winner of the 2025-2028 Mécénat Musica Prix Goyer, Hoff says the award allows her to deepen the impact of her two major co-founded projects. “After years of quiet dedication to building opportunities for singers, composers, librettists, and directors, this recognition…

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