Music Competition - my/maSCENA

Dmitry Sitkovetsky

By Gregory Finney on 5 April 2019 Music Competition, Violin

Judging an international music competition is no easy task. One of the lucky ones charged with this responsibility at this year’s CMIM is violinist Dmitry Sitkovetsky. Known for transcriptions that have been performed and recorded the world over, this experienced performer and conductor has served as music director of the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra since 2003. His discography includes most of the standard violin concertos, including works by Prokofiev, Bartók and Shostakovich. He has conducted many orchestras around the world. “I had an invitation from Christiane LeBlanc to come to the last violin competition in 2016,” says Sitkovetsky when asked how…

Photo: Warner Classics

Ayana Tsuji: Violin CMIM 2016

By Gregory Finney on 5 April 2019 Music Competition, Violin

Violinist Ayana Tsuji won the Concours musical international de Montréal (CMIM) in 2016 and hasn’t looked back. A musician from a very young age, she was introduced to music by her father. “I started the violin when I was 3 years old because my father plays violin too. He (also) started the violin at age 3, so I used his very small violin.” She says her father was a strict teacher, but she is grateful for his influence on her love of music and her playing. Tsuji learned of the competition through the Internet and was immediately interested. She applied by…

Festival Classica – Something for Everyone

By Marie-Claire Fafard-Blais on 3 April 2019 Art Song, Classical Music, Music Competition, Vocal

From Berlioz to the Bee Gees: This is the guiding theme of the 2019 edition of Festival Classica. Set in Montérégie, specifically Saint-Lambert, it welcomed 65,000 festival-goers last year and hopes to reach similar heights with its ninth edition. “The idea to put together a festival came to me in 2008, while I was an invited soloist for the 25th anniversary of Versailles’s Centre de musique baroque,” recounts general and artistic director Marc Boucher. “In Versailles, there are several concert halls: the Trianon, the Opéra, the Queen’s Theatre, the Royal Chapel, etc. I saw people walk out of one concert,…

Gilbert Patenaude, Man of Music – Opus Tribute Award

By Dominic Trudel on 3 April 2019 Arts Industry, Choral, Music Competition

Last February, the Opus Tribute Award from the Conseil québécois de la musique (CQM) went to Gilbert Patenaude in recognition of a long career. He is known for his commitment to choral singing, particularly as the director, for 38 years, of Les Petits Chanteurs du Mont-Royal. It is with dedication and rigour that he has taken on a demanding pedagogical and musical load that includes, in addition to teaching, more than 80 annual performances, religious services and other events. His achievements with young singers include no fewer than 23 international tours and a dozen recordings. He has trained more than…

Hyun Jae Lim, courtesy of Youtube

CMIM 2019 Violin – Predictions

By La Scena Musicale Team on 1 April 2019 Music Competition, Violin

By Wah Keung Chan and Alexandre Da Costa To help navigate the 2019 edition of the Concours musical international de Montréal (CMIM), La Scena listened to 23 of the 24 participants to arrive at our prediction of the winners. French-Russian violinist Fedor Rudin withdrew after his appointment as concertmaster of the Vienna State Opera and Vienna Philharmonic and we were not informed of his replacement during the evaluation process. The 24 violinists include highly decorated winners of recent international competitions. In our listening of publicly available audio and video, many from previous competition performances, the technical prowess of all participants…

CMIM: The Human Factor A Conversation with Christiane LeBlanc

By Benjamin Goron on 1 April 2019 Music Competition, Violin

From its beginnings in 2002, the Concours musical international de Montréal (CMIM) has proven its mettle. With some daring and much intelligence, it has set itself apart from others in its field by projecting a more human image and extending its outreach in the community. Like all competitions, it adheres to its own set of rules, one of these being its alternating annual focus on piano, voice and violin. Yet it includes some non-competitive events in its program, for the sake of added colour. CMIM artistic and managing director Christiane LeBlanc is very much responsible for broadening the event’s scope.…

Alexandre Da Costa lors de la remise du Stradivarius, accompagné de Martine Cardinal, Maryse Levasseur et Guy Deveault. Photo : J. Lemay

The instrument and the musician. Reflections and advice from Alexandre Da Costa

By Hassan Laghcha on 1 April 2019 Arts Industry, Music Competition, Violin

“Playing a Stradivarius is fascinating for a musician, can inspire peer appreciation, attract media interest, and stimulate conversation in classical-music circles,” says violinist Alexandre Da Costa. “But do not give too much importance to the instrument. It is only a tool. Most important is the quality of the performance of the instrumentalist, his artistic sensibility.” The Canadian virtuoso is well placed to support these remarks. Da Costa has been playing Stradivarius instruments for almost 20 years and recognizes, of course, the luck he has had and still has: the loan until 2027of a 1701 Devault Stradivarius offered by Maryse and…

Photo: L. Labat

Alexandre Da Costa: “A musical competition award is not an Olympic medal”

By Hassan Laghcha on 1 April 2019 Music Competition, Violin

“An post-war and Soviet-era formula has often been used to train young musicians during musical competitions: train musicians as if they were Olympic athletes, ignoring that musicians are above all artists.” Violinist and conductor Alexandre Da Costa does not mince words when it comes to highlighting the shortfalls of international competitions. Da Costa believes that these competitions are heavily centred on technical performance, eclipsing artistic and human dimensions. These generally shape the awarded musicians’ international career. “Most winners of these international competitions play at a high technical level,” said Da Costa, winner of many national and international awards, including the…

Patrick Kearney

Montreal Classical Guitar: Festival and Competition

By Arnaud G. Veydarier on 1 April 2019 Arts Industry, Music Competition

From May 24 to 26, the 17th edition of the Montreal Classical Guitar Festival and Competition (FCIGCM) will surely be a must-see celebration for fans of this instrument, and many others as well. Aside from the performances, there will be educational activities, various talks and several instrument makers on hand. The brainchild of Patrick Kearney, a music teacher and classical guitarist, the FCIGCM has now earned its spot on the international circuit of classical guitar competitions. When asked about the motivations leading him to undertake this endeavour in 2002, Kearney says that classical guitarists back then had to leave to…

Collage New Music Announces Collage Composers Colloquium (CCC) Contest Winners!

By Newswire on 18 March 2019 Arts Industry, Education, Music Competition, Newswire

CCC Performance Event Will Feature Works of Winners on March 31st, 2019, From 4:00PM – 7:00PM at Longy School of Music of Bard College in Cambridge, MA Guest Composers Richard Festinger and Paul Brust to Present Talks March 18, 2019 – Boston, MA – Collage New Music, Boston’s most revered new music group just announced the composition winners of its Collage Composers Colloquium. To be eligible, the applicants had to be currently enrolled in a composition program in a Boston-area college or university, a recent graduate from a composition program from a college or university, or a current high school…

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