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Montréal, Sunday, February 2, 2025 – Earlier today at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts’ Bourgie Hall, the Conseil québécois de la musique (CQM) held its 28th Opus Awards Gala. Presented in partnership with Power Corporation of Canada, this major annual gathering of Québec’s concert music community celebrated the musical achievements of the 2023–2024 artistic season. The gala’s seasoned team, comprised of master of ceremonies and host Jocelyn Lebeau, executive producer and artistic director Sylvie Raymond, and lighting designer and stage director Cédric Delorme-Bouchard, successfully showcased the 32 winners of this edition. In addition, courtesy of ATMA Classique, the general public was able to enjoy the live webcast of the gala on the CQM’s Facebook page, a production of the LiveToune team under the direction of Benoît Guérin.
To shine a spotlight on the dedicated career of a figure from Québec’s music scene, the CQM hands out the Hommage award each year. This year, Michel Levasseur, the founder and executive and artistic director of the Festival international de musique actuelle de Victoriaville (FIMAV) for the past 40 years, was the recipient of a heartfelt tribute. Moving testimonial videos enhanced this portion of the gala, notably those from the two composers, improvisers and performers, and pillars of musique actuelle, Jean Derome and René Lussier; from Pierre Lapointe, an arts management consultant; and from Mr. Levasseur’s daughter, Jordie Vézina Levasseur. A video capsule produced by Télé-Québec’s La Fabrique Culturelle introduced the public to this humble, rather discreet man who was the driving force behind the FIMAV and saw it through thick and thin. The video shines a light on Mr. Levasseur’s masterful contribution to the promotion and dissemination of the musique actuelle made in Québec, Canada and around the world. This interview is available for viewing at video.telequebec.tv.
A celebration of music, today’s gathering featured several live performances that thrilled the receptive audience. For the gala’s opening, the audience was seduced by guitar ensemble Forestare, comprised of 13 musicians and conductor Pascal Germain-Berardi, which performed the piece Une petite musique de nuit d’été by Québec composer Denis Gougeon. A marked onstage presence at this 28th gala, the ensemble musically ushered the winners on and off the stage throughout the evening. Next, three duos steeped in traditional Québec music took to the stage for a lively performance, harkening back to Québec’s musical roots. We heard the piece Tenant mon frère by Alphonse Morneau (1946) rendered by Cédric Dind-Lavoie and Dâvi Simard; Trois beaux garçons
performed by Nicolas Boulerice and Frédéric Samson; and in closing, Alexis Chartrand and Nicolas Babineau’s take on Isidore Soucy’s Le Cyclone. The evening’s third performance allowed the audience to discover virtuoso guitarists Adam Cicchillitti and Steven Cowan in the third movement, Perpetuum Mobile, of an adaptation for two guitars from the Sonate pour harpe by Germaine Tailleferre (1953). Finally, to close the gala, the musicians of Forestare treated us to the gripping third movement of the Brandburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major BWV 1048 by Johann Sebastian Bach, adapted for guitar ensemble.
“As I reflect on what the winners have accomplished, I imagine their hard work and the obstacles they face in this current difficult climate, and I realize that the honour bestowed by the Opus Awards is wholly deserved,” commented CQM president Françoise Henri. “Dear winners, may these awards give you the pugnacity and boldness needed to proclaim loud and clear: I am an artist, I contribute to my society, and I am, in a word, essential,” she further remarked.
Enhanced awards, providing significant support for the sector
Thanks to its invaluable partners, the CQM handed out nine Opus Awards accompanied by a prize in cash or services. Thus, the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec gave $10,000 to Composer of the Year Marianne Trudel while the Conseil des arts de Montréal awarded an equivalent sum to Roozbeh Tabandeh, winner of the Inclusion and Diversity – Montréal award, for his project Songs of the Drowning. For its part, the Ministère de la Culture et des Communications gave $5,000 to Bon Débarras, recipient of the Production of the Year – Young Audiences award for the project J’m’en viens chez vous! and the Canada Council for the Arts awarded $5,000 to the ensemble collectif9, chosen Performer of the Year. The International Achievement award, accompanied by $5,000 worth of cash and exposure courtesy of CINARS, was awarded to Alain Bédard. For its part, Mundial Montréal gave a $5,000 Mentorship & Seminar package to artists Didem Başar, Patrick Graham and I Musici de Montréal, recipients of the Album of the Year – World Music award, for the album Continuum. Newly part of our award partners this year, Long & McQuade Musical Instruments gave a $5,000 gift card to Hugo Blouin, winner along with his ensemble of the Concert of the Year – Jazz music award, for the Sport National concert. Finally, Télé-Québec’s La Fabrique culturelle has offered to produce a video capsule for composer Roozbeh Tabandeh, who also took home the Discovery of the Year award, in addition to producing the interview for the Hommage award.
The 28th edition of the Conseil québécois de la musique’s Opus Awards Gala presented by Power Corporation was made possible thanks to the Government of Canada, Musicaction and the Canada Council for the Arts, the Government of Québec, the Ministère de la Culture et des Communications and the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, to the Conseil des arts de Montréal, to Long & McQuade Musical Instruments, to CINARS, to Mundial Montréal, to Télé-Québec’s La Fabrique culturelle, to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts’ Bourgie Hall, to ATMA Classique, as well as to our media partners: Le Devoir, La Scena Musicale, la Revue L’Opéra, sortiesJAZZnights and Pan M 360.
Launched in 1996, the Opus Awards bear witness to the effervescence of Québec’s music scene. They highlight the excellence and diversity of concert music in Québec. Through its gala, the Conseil québécois de la musique seeks to honour local musicians, while also transmitting to the general public and music lovers alike the desire to discover, to listen to and to frequent concert music.
The Conseil québécois de la musique is a non-profit organization that acts as the voice of the professional music community and that contributes to the promotion of living forms of music steeped in tradition, research and creation. For over 35 years, its role has been pivotal in building a strong, supportive music community within the very society whose heart it animates and stirs.
Prize-winners
28th Gala des Prix Opus | Season 2023-2024
Concerts
Concert of the year – Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque music
Aci, Galatea e Polifemo, Arion Orchestre Baroque, Francesco Corti, guest conductor, Kateryna Kasper, soprano, Margherita Maria Sala, contralto, Lisandro Abadie, bass, January 12 to 14, 2024
Concert of the year – Classical, Romantic and Post-Romantic music
Aida season finale, Orchestre Métropolitain, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor, Angel Blue, Sarah Dufresne, sopranos, Matthew Cairns, SeokJong Baek, tenors, Ambrogio Maestri, baritone, Alexandros Stavrakakis, Morris Robinson, basses, Choeur Métropolitain, Festival de Lanaudière, August 4, 2024
Concert of the year – Modern and contemporary music
Two, Molinari Quartet, February 16, 2024
Concert of the Year – Contemporary and electroacoustic music
Monnomest, Ensemble SuperMusique, Joane Hétu, conductor, Vergil Sharkya, conductor, Productions SuperMusique, co-production Groupe Le Vivier, November 23, 2023
Concert of the Year – Jazz Music
This award is accompanied by a $5,000 gift card from Long & McQuade Musical Instruments.
Sport national, Hugo Blouin, September 28, 2023
Concert of the Year – World Music
Continuum, Didem Başar, kanun, Patrick Graham, percussion, Etienne Lafrance, double bass, Quatuor Andara, Centre des musiciens du monde, February 13, 2024
Concert of the year – Traditional music from Quebec
ARCHIVES, Cédric Dind-Lavoie, multi-instrumentalist, Alexis Chartrand and/or Dâvi Simard, violins, November 15 and 19, December 10 and 16, 2023
Concert of the year – Répertoires multiples
Leningrad Symphony, Orchestre Métropolitain, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor, Maria Dueñas, violin, November 18, 2023
Concert of the year – Ancient, classical, romantic, modern and postmodern impulses
Fabula femina, Cordâme, August 10, 2024
Creation of the year
Spassiba Yuli, for 2 cellos and strings, Denis Gougeon, Yuli’s legacy: Stéphane Tétreault and Bryan Cheng, I Musici de Montréal, April 25, 2024
Production of the Year – Young Audience
This prize is accompanied by $5,000 from the Ministère de la Culture et des Communications.
J’m’en viens chez vous, Bon Débarras, February 11, 2024
Albums
Album of the year – Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque music
Calcutta 1789: At the crossroads of Europe and India, Christopher Palameta, Notturna, ATMA Classique
Album of the year – Classical, Romantic, Post-Romantic music
16 Histoires de guitares – Vol. III, David Jacques, ATMA Classique
Album of the year – Modern, contemporary music
Confluence, David Therrien Brongo, Ravello Records
Album of the Year – Contemporary and Electroacoustic Music
Limaçon, Léa Boudreau, empreintes DIGITALes
Album of the Year – Jazz
Marianne Trudel-Time Poem: La joie de l’éphémère, Trio Marianne Trudel, Productions
Marianne Trudel, Independent
Album of the Year – World Music
This prize is accompanied by a $5,000 Mundial Montréal Mentoring & Conference package offered by Mundial Montréal.
Continuum, Didem Başar, Patrick Graham, Jean-François Rivest, I Musici de Montréal, Centre des musiciens du monde
Album of the Year – Quebec Traditional Music
Layon, Nicolas Pellerin and Les Grands Hurleurs, La Compagnie du Nord
Album of the Year – Ancient, classical, romantic, modern and postmodern impulses
Cendres, Vanessa Marcoux, Indépendant
Written
Article of the year
“Du son vers la forme, le sens… l’Autre… : pensée spectrale et art engagé dans les œuvres mixtes de Serge Provost”, Jimmie LeBlanc, Circuit, musiques contemporaines, May 1, 2024
Special Awards
Opus Montréal Prize – Inclusion and Diversity
This prize is accompanied by $10,000 from the Conseil des arts de Montréal.
Roozbeh Tabandeh, Ensemble Paramirabo and Chants Libres, Songs of the Drowning, August 24
August 2024
Prix Opus Québec
Festival Québec Jazz en Juin, June 20 to 30, 2024
Prix Opus Régions
Festival Ripon trad, September 14 to 17, 2023
Composer of the Year
This prize is accompanied by $10,000 from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec.
Marianne Trudel
Discovery of the Year
This prize is accompanied by the production of a video capsule offered by Télé-Québec’s La Fabrique culturelle.
Roozbeh Tabandeh, composer
Multidisciplinary Broadcaster of the Year
Salle Pauline-Julien
Specialized Broadcaster of the Year
Domaine Forget de Charlevoix
Artistic Director of the Year
Thibault Bertin-Maghit, collectif9
Musical event of the year
Basileus, Temps fort, 40th Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville, Forestare, Sixtrum Percussion, Ensemble Horizon, Growlers Choir, Pascal Germain-Berardi, May 16, 2024
Performer of the Year
This award is accompanied by $5,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts.
collective9
International Outreach
This prize is accompanied by a $5,000 cash & visibility package offered by CINARS.
Alain Béd
Tribute Award
This award is accompanied by the production of a video capsule offered by Télé-Québec’s La Fabrique culturelle.
Michel Levasseur
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