Newswire | Stella Musica Festival: Cultural Crossroads, from Spain to The Balkans

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Montreal, Monday May 1, 2023. For an 8th edition, the Stella Musica Festival, under the artistic leadership of its founder Katarzyna Musiał, is back in order to promote women in music. The three events scheduled as part of the festival will take place from Wednesday, May 31 to Friday, June 2.

Its unique formula includes an intimate concert, a round table and a Grand Concert. The festival presents artists of exceptional talent, offering an innovative programming highlighting various cultural traditions, from Spain to the Balkans as well as the music of Indigenous peoples. During this 8th edition, the public will hear Innu soprano Élisabeth St-Gelais, accompanied at the piano by Louise Pelletier, pianist and composer Beverley McKiver, the duo Tarniriik, the Oktopus ensemble as well as the group Fuego Flamenco.

Opening the festival, an intimate concert followed by a round table on the theme “Building bridges between indigenous artists

and non-indigenous audience” will be held on Wednesday, May 31 at 7 p.m., at Kin Experience. The panelists will be innu soprano Élisabeth St-Gelais as well as composer and member of Lac Seul First Nation in Treaty Three Beverley McKiver.

The festival’s main event, the Grand Concert will take place on Friday, June 2, at 7:30 p.m. at Le Gesù. The duo Tarniriik (or “Two Souls”) features two remarkable young Inuit throat singers, Samantha Kigutaq-Metcalf and Cailyn Degrandpre. Hailing from Ottawa, they transmit with passion the beauties of Inuit culture. Soprano Lucie St-Martin will then perform a work by Luigi Nono titled Djamila Boupacha. Next, the group Fuego Flamenco will offer an outstanding programme combining flamenco and Latin American music. To conclude, the award-winning ensemble Oktopus will perform alongside guest singer Janna Kate.

PROGRAMMING

Wednesday, May 31, 2023 – 7 p.m.: Intimate concert and round table Kin Expérience (397A, Sainte-Catherine Street West)

Intimate concert. Innu soprano Élisabeth St-Gelais accompagnied by pianist Louise Pelletier will perform the aria “Nmakaan’jik”, from the opera Kikzootadwak by indigenous composer Barbara Assiginaak, from the Odawa First Nation, as well as other fascinating Pianist and composer Beverley McKiver, from the Lac Seul First Nation, will perform excerpts from her Canadian Floral Emblems suite. The public will also hear a young winner of the Canadian Music Competition.
Round Table. Discussion on the theme “Building bridges between indigenous artists and non-indigenous audience”, with two indigenous musicians, Élisabeth St-Gelais and Beverley McKiver.

Friday, June 2, 2023 – 7:30 p.m.: Grand Concert Théâtre Le Gesú (1200, de Bleury Street)

The duo from Ottawa Tarniriik, comprising musicians Samantha Kigutaq-Metcalf and Cailyn Degrandpre, introduce Montrealers to traditional Inuit throat singing;
The Montreal group Fuego Flamenco features three musicians each master of their art: Katarzyna Musiał (piano, dance), Hanser Santos Gómez (percussion, voice) and Hugo Larenas (guitar). These outstanding musicians offer a programme that uniquely combines flamenco with Latin-American music. For this concert, they will perform works by Spanish, Cuban, Venezuelan and Brazilian composers, enriched with vibrant flamenco dance elements;
The Canadian ensemble Oktopus, which was awarded numerous distinctions, including a JUNO nomination and the “Instrumental Group of the Year” award during the Canadian Folk Music Awards in 2022, features eight virtuoso musicians who will seduce the public with their unique approach that skilfully combines classical, klezmer and traditional Quebec music with a touch of jazz and Balkan rhythms. Their captivating interpretations, at once melancholic and profound, their skillfully crafted improvisations and arrangements as well as their frank camaraderie create unforgettable experiences for the They will also perform a piece by Ilse Weber, multi-instrumentalist, composer, poet and Jewish writer who worked in the infirmary of the Theresienstadt concentration camp, as well as other works by Vanessa Marcoux and Alicia Svigals;
Up-and-coming soprano Lucie St-Martin, member of the Atelier lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal, will perform