Québec musiques parallèles 2024
For its fourth edition, Québec musiques parallèles presents 17 events in 7 cities and towns along the St. Lawrence River and beyond; some 40 Quebec, Canadian and international artists travel the length and breadth of Quebec to meet fans of exploratory music and sound art. Concerts and sound installations follow one another from Rimouski to Gatineau, via Saint John (NB), Chicoutimi, Jonquière, Quebec and Montreal. Oct. 2-25. www.quebecmusiquesparalleles.ca
Violons du Roy: HUGH CUTTING, BACH
Named BBC New Generation Artist in 2022 and the first countertenor to win London’s prestigious Kathleen Ferrier Prize, the young Englishman Hugh Cutting already benefits from invaluable collaborations with conductors such as William Christie, Philippe Herreweghe and notably Bernard Labadie, with whom he recently made his Carnegie Hall debut. He reunites with the founding conductor of Les Violons du Roy to celebrate the orchestra’s 40th anniversary with two of Bach’s most beautiful cantatas for solo voice.
Quebec City: Salle Raoul-Jobin, Oct. 10m and Oct. 12. Montreal: Salle Bourgie, Oct. 11. www.violonsduroy.com
Grand organ Festival / CIOC
The Grand Festival d’orgue d’octobre will present more than a dozen activities at venues across the metropolis, including concerts by renowned organists Olivier Latry, Bernard Foccroulle and Isabelle Demers, educational workshops, guided tours and master classes. The Gala Concert on Oct. 27 will feature the three CIOC prize winners at Lachine’s Saints-Anges Church.
This autumn, the Canadian International Organ Competition will welcome 11 talented young organists from seven different countries to the organ capital, where they will perform in churches renowned for their instruments, for the chance to win prizes totalling more than $100,000. Oct. 13-27. www.ciocm.org
Bourgie Hall: Louis Lortie & Fauré
Marking the centenary of Gabriel Fauré’s death and the 150th anniversary of Reynaldo Hahn’s birth, Bourgie Hall Artist-in-Residence Louis Lortie and the members of the prestigious Modigliani Quartet perform landmark works by these two towering figures of French Romantic music. Oct. 16-17.
www.sallebourgie.ca
Akousma 20
In its 20th edition, the Akousma Festival continues its exploration of all forms of digital music, reflecting the concerns of today’s composers and the growing diversity of their interventions in a musical world of increasingly disparate practices. Akousma 20 will feature an array of artists, including Li, Westbrook, Warnecke, Dall’Ara-Majek, Schorpp, Janelle, Jean, Ristic, Vaggione, Roux, Turner, Kantonen, Berger, Racine, Alary and Ledesma.
The Électrochoc concert series, directed by composition professors Martin Bédard and Louis Dufort, features “dialogue concerts” showcasing the many facets of electroacoustic music and the talent of composition students at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal. Oct. 16-18. www.akousma.ca
Violons du Roy: GAUVIN, LEMIEUX, DIVIN HANDEL
Karina Gauvin and Marie-Nicole Lemieux occupy a special place in our musical life in general, and at Les Violons du Roy in particular! Since the very beginning of their respective careers, they have both been among the guest artists preferred by the public and musicians of Les Violons du Roy. What an opportunity to bring them together with our musicians and Jonathan Cohen to mark our 40th anniversary in an exceptional way!
Oct. 23 (Quebec City: Salle Raoul-Jobin), 25 (Kingston), 27 (Toronto), 30 (Ottawa), March 21 (Montreal: Maison symphonique). www.violonsduroy.com
Musica Camerata
One of Canada’s premier chamber-music ensembles, Musica Camerata has been treating Montreal’s audiences for 55 years. Performing in the 2024-25 year are musicians Elie Boissinot, Marc Djokic, Victor Fournelle, Leo Grinhauz, Luis Grinhauz, Berta Rosenohl, and Bruno Tobon. This anniversary season continues with an evening of Joaquin Turina’s Piano Quartet, Op. 67 and Gabriel Fauré’s Piano Quartet No. 1, Op. 15. Nov. 2. www.cameratamontreal.com
OPÉRA DE QUÉBEC: ROSSINI’S Le comte Ory
Rossini’s penultimate opera Le comte Ory is presented for the first time by the Opéra de Québec. Composed to the French libretto by Eugène Scribe and Charles-Gaspard Delestre-Poirson, the comic opera is set during the Crusades. Director Jean-Romain Vesperini creates a slightly offbeat, romantic universe. Conductor Laurent Campellone leads a French and Canadian cast, OdeQ chorus and the OSQ.
Oct, 26, 29, 31 & Nov. 2m. Grand Théâtre de Québec.
www.operadequebec.com
Koerner Hall
Tania Miller guest conducts the Royal Conservatory Orchestra in their season-opening concert. The RCO is made up of instrumental students in the undergraduate and graduate programs of The Glenn Gould School. Their Oct. 10 program includes Berlioz’s Roman Carnival overture, Sibelius’s Symphony No. 1 in E minor and Brahms’s Violin Concerto in D major played by GGS graduate Isabella Perron, Grand Prize winner of The Robert W. and G. Ann Corcoran Concerto Competition. Oct. 10, 8 p.m. Koerner Hall. www.rcmusic.com
Canadian Opera Company
The Canadian Opera Company’s 2024-25 season continues with a new staging of Gounod’s Faust by British director Amy Lane in a co-production with Sweden’s Malmö Opera. Cast includes Chinese tenor Long Long in the title role, Chinese soprano Guanqun Yu as Marguerite, American bass-baritone Kyle Ketelsen as Méphistophélès and Polish baritone Szymon Mechliński as Valentin. Former COC Ensemble members Alex Hetherington (Siebel) and Ariane Cossette (Marguerite on Nov. 2) are also featured. Conducted by COC Music Director Johannes Debus. Oct. 11, 13, 16, 18, 24, 26, Nov. 2. Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. www.coc.ca
Toronto Symphony Orchestra
Former TSO Music Director Jukka-Pekka Saraste returns to lead Mozart’s Requiem with a host of internationally-renowned soloists: Australian soprano Siobhan Stagg, Scottish mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill, Canadian tenor Frédéric Antoun and American bass-baritone Dashon Burton. Choral duties are taken by the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir in a program that also includes Brahms’s Symphony No. 3. Oct. 9, 10, 12.
Renowned Italian conductor Gianandrea Noseda makes a welcome return to the TSO in a program that opens with a rare opportunity to hear the work of Italian 20th-century composer Goffredo Petrassi in his 1951 Concerto for Orchestra No. 2. Canadian violinist Timothy Chooi plays Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 and the concert concludes with Rachmaninoff’s epic Symphony No. 2. Oct. 24, 26, 27.
Roy Thomson Hall. www.tso.ca
Tafelmusik
After almost a decade, French violinist Amandine Beyer returns in a program of French Baroque music including Rameau’s suite of dances for the Paris Opera and Lalande’s Symphonie pour le souper du roi which was often heard tableside at the request of King Louis XIV. A concert that evokes the opulence and grandeur of a lavish feast beneath the stunning ceilings of Versailles!
Oct. 18, 19, 20. Jeanne Lamon Hall, Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre. www.tafelmusik.org
Opera Atelier
Canada’s leading Baroque opera company presents Handel’s Acis and Galatea, based on Ovid’s tale of the water nymph Galatea and her doomed love for the Arcadian shepherd Acis. The cast includes French tenor Antonin Rondepierre as Acis, Canadian soprano Meghan Lindsay as Galatea, Madagascar-born tenor Blaise Rantoanina as Damon, and American bass-baritone Douglas Williams as Polyphemus.
Oct. 24, 26, 27. Elgin Theatre. www.operaatelier.com
Music Toronto
Established in 2000, and one of the world’s leading chamber ensembles, Quartetto di Cremona brings a program to Toronto that includes Italian 20th-century composer Gian Francesco Malipiero’s String Quartet No. 2, Stornelli e Ballate; Ravel’s String Quartet in F major and Schumann’s String Quartet No. 1, Op. 41/1.
Oct. 24. Jane Mallett Theatre, St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts. www.musictorontoconcerts.com
Toronto Operetta Theatre
Canada’s most established company dedicated to operetta opens its season with Sigmund Romberg’s The Student Prince, starring tenor Jacob Abrahamse in the titular role, with soprano Brooke Mitchell as Kathie. Kate Carver conducts from the piano.
Nov. 1, 2, 3. Jane Mallett Theatre, St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts. www.torontooperetta.com
