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Now sharing duties as programmers for Salle Bourgie, Olivier Godin and Caroline Louis are going about it in something of a four-handed way, their predecessor Isolde Lagacé having assumed this task on her own until her retirement last year.
A new feature for the upcoming season is the Outstanding Pianists series that will spotlight both established names and rising stars. “Our program is equally divided between Canadian and Québécois artists,” Godin notes. Scheduled in the months to come are: Isata Kanneh-Mason (Oct. 10); Christian Blackshaw (Nov. 2)—fresh from recording the complete cycle of Mozart sonatas; Vikingur Ólafsson (Jan. 24); Igor Levit (March 11); André Laplante (April 27); and Bruce Liu (May 14).
The season opener, on Sept. 27, showcases the Dover Quartet in a program of works by Haydn, Shostakovitch and Florence Price, the latter a forgotten African-American composer now enjoying renewed interest in this age of diversity. “It is important to do this, I think,” says Godin. “It’s part and parcel of all cultural organizations’ mission to have works of great value from neglected figures performed. There are so many of them around in the world who merit public attention, and we gladly do our part to present their music.”
Godin firmly believes in the value of concert recitals in Montreal, and Salle Bourgie could not be a more suitable venue for this purpose—a point he explains with the following example: “Starting this fall, we are undertaking the first of several seasons devoted to the complete works for voice by Franz Schubert. Of the singers we are really looking forward to welcoming are the African-American bass-baritone Davóne Tines, accompanied by John Bitoy (Oct. 15); the Canadian baritone Gordon Bintner in tandem with pianist Michael McMahon (Nov. 10); and the youthful, dynamic and captivating American tenor Jack Swanson, who will perform a broad range of works backed by pianist John Arida (Dec. 8).
“All told, Salle Bourgie is an immersive space,” Godin says—“a place to meditate in if you will, for music both sacred and profane. The stained glass windows around the hall are conducive to that—the effect of daylight shining through them is simply arresting—but there are also the pristine acoustics of the room that used to be church at one time before it fell into disuse, until it was refurbished for its current purpose. The voice is particularly well served, but so are chamber ensembles ranging from contemporary to ancient music.”
Translation by Marc Chénard
True to years past, the program includes a sprinkling of jazz concerts and world music, some linked to exhibits at the adjacent Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. The complete 2023-24 Bourgie Hall concert program is readily accessible online at sallebourgie.ca.
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