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Mixing old and new repertoires has always been part of La Nef. Their 2024-25 season is another dazzling demonstration of this, with four concerts equally inspired by the exploration and meeting of cultures. Claire Gignac, co-founder of La Nef, offers a preview of the key elements of the season.
To open, flutist Vincent Lauzer and percussionist Ziya Tabassian present an exceptional musical fusion project entitled Pulsations. On the evening of Oct. 9, medieval, baroque, jazz, Persian and Japanese music will freely inspire the two musicians.
“Vincent is one of the members of our artistic committee, so I approached him first to see if he had a project in La Nef’s DNA, which is absolutely the case here,” explains Gignac. For Ziya Tabassian, this is a major return to La Nef. “He joined us in the 2000s on the Musiques des montagnes project, so it’s been a long time. We got on really well even then.”
La Nef enjoys engaging in a wide range of partnerships. When these go well, they develop into professional and sometimes even personal friendships. That said, there are almost always new musicians in the team, says Gignac , delighted. “We discover what people are doing in their personal work as musicians, creators, composers or arrangers. That’s how we develop longer-term relationships.”
Seán Daghler is one of those people. Over the years, he has produced a number of sea-shanty projects including Sea Songs and Shanties, Baratin d’marins and Red Sky at Night, in both French and English. His new show on the bill is “Chants de victoires,” on Nov. 29. “The proposal came from researchers at the Université du Québec à Rimouski who are interested in the maritime heritage of the St. Lawrence,” says Gignac.“ They contacted Seán to gauge his interest in setting to music unpublished texts written at the time of the shipwrecks, including that of the Walker fleet (in 1711), a failed attempt by the English to conquer the St. Lawrence. In this project, there was a desire to get scientists and artists to work together. I found that exciting. The team will be the same as for Baratins d’marin, with the notable addition of Michel Bordeleau, a member of Les 4 Charbonniers. Although it won’t be a storytelling concert, there will certainly be some shipwreck stories told.”
La Nef’s mandate is also to offer concerts that are accessible to the entire Montreal population. “Last year, we introduced inclusive pricing. It was a very successful trial. It allows people who are interested but have less financial means — especially in a period of inflation — to decide how much they want to pay for their ticket. Maybe it gives some people a better chance of discovering our shows.”
Translation by Gianmarco Segato.
This page is also available in / Cette page est également disponible en:
Francais (French)
