Obituaries

Highlights | New Métis Opera Releases This Fall, Sphere Concert Wows Las Vegas

By Zenith Wolfe on 6 October 2023 Highlights, Montreal, Obituaries, Orchestral

Welcome to La Scena Musicale’s weekly Highlights, a roundup of classical music news from Canada and beyond. With the reveal of a new Métis opera, the impending release of a Canadian actor’s first French album, and the inaugural Sphere concert in Las Vegas, musical innovation is in the air this October! Recent and Upcoming Shows The Canadian Opera Company has opened their 2023-2024 season with Fidelio. It’s the first time the COC has performed this opera in 15 years and they did not disappoint, says critic Denise Lai. Vancouver Bach Choir will unveil their new season (Stir) with works by…

Yannick Nézet-Séguin

Highlights | 2023-2024 concert seasons begin, Nézet-Séguin coaches Bradley Cooper

By Zenith Wolfe on 29 September 2023 Arts Industry, Highlights, Obituaries

Welcome to La Scena Musicale’s weekly Highlights, a roundup of classical music news from Canada and beyond. It’s the time for new music seasons, and that means many inaugural concerts are underway! 2023-2024 Season Updates For their first concert of the 2023-2024 season, Violons du Roy presented La Seine en fête (La Presse) at Palais Montcalm, which was originally on their 2020 schedule but delayed for three years due to the pandemic. The ensemble has since recruited a flute quartet, two oboists, a bassoonist, and a guitarist. Nouvel Ensemble Moderne announced the start of its 35th season with a performance…

Elora Singers conductors Lydia Adams was awarded the Order of Canada

Industry News

By Eva Stone-Barney on 1 September 2023 Arts Industry, Classical Music, Music Competition, Obituaries

Obituaries Pianist and founding member of the Beaux Arts Trio, Menahem Pressler, died on May 6, at the age of 99. Alongside his performing career, he maintained a career as a professor of music at the Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. Austrian pianist Ingrid Haebler died on May 14, 2023, at the age of 96. She was especially known for her interpretation of works by Mozart and Schubert. Montreal-based choral conductor Mary Jane Puiu died on May 16, at the age of 73. In honour of her life, a reprint of her 2010 interview is included in this issue.…

Mary-Jane Puiu (1950 – 2023)

By Wah Keung Chan on 27 May 2023 Choral, Education, Montreal, Obituaries

My first choral conductor Mary-Jane Puiu (b. March 8, 1950) passed away on May 16, 2023 at the age of 73. According to tenor Eduardo Aparicio, “despite battling a long devastating disease, she heroically managed to keep conducting her choir till the last minute of her life.” We pay tribute to Puiu by republishing a profile/interview I conducted of her in La Scena Musicale in 2010 for her 60th birthday. According to the McGill Choral Society’s Facebook page, here are the details of the service on June 12, 2023: An Orthodox service for close friends and family will be held…

Newswire | National Arts Centre Mourns the Loss of Jocelyn Morlock (1969-2023)

By Newswire on 29 March 2023 Classical Music, Newswire, Obituaries

MARCH 28, 2023 – OTTAWA (Canada) – Canada’s National Arts Centre is mourning the loss of Jocelyn Morlock, a remarkably gifted Canadian composer and a bright light for contemporary music in Canada. Her work was celebrated by many, including the National Arts Centre Orchestra, who commissioned her JUNO Award-winning work My Name is Amanda Todd as part of the landmark multimedia commission Life Reflected. My Name is Amanda Todd premiered on May 19, 2016. It was performed at the Luminato Festival Toronto in 2017 and in performance halls across Western Canada during the Orchestra’s Canada 150 Tour. In 2018, it…

Photo: Marc Bourgeois

José Evangelista (1943-2023)

By Adrian Rodriguez on 11 January 2023 Contemporary, Obituaries

Composer José Evangelista passed away on Jan. 10, 2023. As a tribute to him, we republish our interview and article about his legacy from our October 2017 issue bellow. José Evangelista – Composer in Constant Evolution by Adrian Rodriguez, October 10, 2017 José Evangelista is a composer who perfectly represents the cultural diversity and historical background of Canada and Montreal. In the early 1970s Evangelista was, like many Spaniards of his generation, in search of a better quality of life and trying to escape the Spanish dictatorship of Francisco Franco. Coming to Canada,he says, was not a straight line. “It…

Photo : Annette Woloshen

Boris Brott (1944 – 2022)

By Wah Keung Chan on 5 April 2022 Chamber Music, Classical Music, Obituaries, Orchestral

La Scena Musicale is shocked and saddened to learn of Boris Brott’s senseless death by hit and run in Hamilton, Ontario on the morning of April 5, 2022. Boris has been featured in the pages of La Scena Musicale several times. As a tribute, below are some of the featured articles. Boris was also an LSM Ambassador every year, and we thank him for his support. Boris also wrote a tribute to his mother Lotte Brott, which we are publishing in three parts in La Scena Musicale: Part I: Lotte Brott – A Tribute (La Scena Musicale, Feb/Mar 2022) Part II: Lotte…

Photo: Marc Bourgeois

José Evangelista – Composer in Constant Evolution

By Adrian Rodriguez on 10 October 2017 Contemporary, Obituaries

José Evangelista is a composer who perfectly represents the cultural diversity and historical background of Canada and Montreal. In the early 1970s Evangelista was, like many Spaniards of his generation, in search of a better quality of life and trying to escape the Spanish dictatorship of Francisco Franco. Coming to Canada, he says, was not a straight line. “It was like this,” as he mimics a crooked bumpy road. “It was a combination of circumstances because I am an ex-scientist. I have a Masters in nuclear physics. I was given a bursary to go study in Geneva at the European…

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