Bourgie Hall: Eclecticism Galore and Tributes to Boot

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Two words come to mind upon perusal of the winter season of concerts at Bourgie Hall: eclecticism and tributes.

The venue’s artistic director, Olivier Godin, and general manager, Caroline Louis, are offering many spoils in this first stretch of the new year. “We have a host of international names on the program,” says Godin, “and a strong contingent of prominent Canadian performers as well. I can’t tell you how much both of us are looking forward to seeing our audiences in attendance again in the next few months.”

Of the many offerings, here are a few important dates of which to take note

Missy Mazzoli (Photo by Marylene Mey)

Avec l’Ukraine ! (Feb. 17) is an evening dedicated to rarely-heard songs of composers from that country, performed by fellow nationals baritone Ihor Mostovoi and pianist Serhiy Salov. Rounding out the concert will be the world première of Letters from the Frontline by Evan Mack, the lyrics drawn from poems written by Ukrainian soldiers in battle zones.

More original music is in store on Feb. 28, all penned by composer and keyboardist Missy Mazzoli. She will play 10 or so of her works in tandem with Jennifer Koh on electric violin.

On March 6, Lluís Claret, a cellist hailing from the small Principality of Andorra, will mark his debut at Bourgie Hall. Accompanied by native Québécois pianist Sandra Murray, Claret will perform five pieces by Pablo Casals and sonatas by Debussy and Théodore Dubois, coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the year the latter died.

Igor Mostovoi (Photo by Ilya Dubsolo)

Voice will be front and centre on March 15 at the recital of tenor Cyrille Dubois. He has chosen a program of pieces by Gabriel Fauré, another composer whose death also occurred in 1924. Heard recently in a rendition of Berlioz’s L’Enfance du Christ with the OSM, Dubois will have pianist Tristan Raës in tow for his evening of melodies from the French Belle Époque. A host of vocal works from other composers are also on the program, some by Fauré’s contemporaries like Benjamin Godard, Camille Saint-Saëns, Ernest Chausson, Henri Duparc and Claude Debussy, others by his students Florent Schmitt, Jean Roger-Ducasse, Maurice Ravel and Nadia Boulanger.

On March 19, there will be a very special tribute event honouring two of Canada’s and Quebec’s past conductors: Raffi Arminian and Agnes Grossman. Whereas the former directed the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony for many years and enjoyed a five-year tenure at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal, the latter was best known for her direction of the Orchestre Métropolitain in its early years. Both the conservatory and the OM will provide musicians for the concert, some of whom were led by these figures. Works by Robert Schumann, Franz Schubert and Alban Berg will be heard on that occasion. Jean-Marie Zeitouni will take to the rostrum, with appearances by guest soloists sopranos Aline Kutan and Kimy McLaren, pianist André Laplante and a string quartet featuring members of the OM.

Translation by Marc Chénard