Category: Popular Music

Browsing: Popular Music

Sylvain Bergeron. Photo: Guillaume D. Cyr

La Nef presents Per violino e liuto and Long Way Home

By Arnaud G. Veydarier on 1 October 2022 Baroque and Early, Canadian Music, Folk, Violin, World Music

After two years of pandemic, La Nef is taking to the sea again this fall with a very eclectic program, between world and early music. Their 2022-23 season opens in October with Per violino e liuto, an intimate evening of baroque and popular repertoire from the 17th century, followed in November with a program inspired by Nordic and Middle Eastern musical traditions. For violin and lute Presented on Oct. 16 at the Maison de la culture Maisonneuve, Per violino e liuto will feature two of the city’s finest baroque music performers, multi-instrumentalist Sylvain Bergeron and rising violin star Marie Nadeau-Tremblay.…

Newswire | The BBCM Foundation unveils the line-up for the Black & Blue Festival 2022

By Newswire on 16 August 2022 Multimedia, Newswire, Popular Music, Technology

Montreal, August 16, 2022 – The 31st edition of the internationally acclaimed “BLACK & BLUE” LGBTQ+ Festival will be held during the weekend of Canadian Thanksgiving and American Columbus Day, from October 6 to 10. “After the postponement of the 2020 and 2021 editions due to the health constraints imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the conditions are now in place for the return of Black & Blue this year with great enthusiasm, because we will present the main event of the Festival in a truly unique spectacular venue for us, with a very innovative concept”, indicated the President of the…

CD Review | Je me souviens (Musicor Québécor Média, 2022)

By Justin Bernard on 26 July 2022 CD and Book Reviews, Classical Music, Popular Music

Je me souviens Orchestre symphonique de Longueuil; Alexandre Da Costa, violin, conductor Musicor Québécor Média, 2022 The new album by the Orchestre sympho- nique de Longueuil (OSDL), conducted by Alexandre Da Costa, sets out to celebrate those small musical pleasures we enjoyed before the pandemic. It’s also a way of reminding us how well the orchestra served audiences during COVID via its series of socially distanced concerts entitled Balcons symphoniques, launched on April 14, 2020. Well, it’s all that you could desire. Listeners will discover or rediscover the music of these unusual concerts: French—especially Québécois songs—as well as anglophone hits…

Samora la Perdida and Christine Carmela; photo: Julieta Cervantes

Killing It….at New York City’s Soho Rep

By Charles Geyer on 15 June 2022 Indigenous, Musical Theatre, Popular Music, Theatre

REVIEW: Of Notes on Killing Seven Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Board Members, at New York City’s Soho Rep, 45 Walker Street; running through Sunday, June 19 (viewed here June 8). “The Great Wheel of Puerto Rican confusion spins on!” So declaims one of the characters in playwright Mara Vélez Meléndez’s capaciously titled new theater piece, Notes on Killing Seven Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Board Members, now playing at the Soho Rep. It’s a tag line that aptly summarizes the dizzying action and ambitious collision of themes that Meléndez sets in motion for this provocative hour-and-three-quarters of theatrical razzle…

Banner image from the website of Jan Lisiecki, one of the Royal Conservatory concert performers

Newswire | Royal Conservatory of Music Announces 2022-23 Concert Season

By Newswire on 7 June 2022 Chamber Music, Classical Music, Newswire, Orchestral, Piano, Popular Music, Strings

Dr. Peter Simon, Michael and Sonja Koerner President & CEO of The Royal Conservatory of Music, Mervon Mehta, Executive Director of Performing Arts, and James Anagnoson, Dean of The Glenn Gould School, revealed today the details of the 14th concert season since the opening of Koerner Hall in 2009. Two Gala Concerts Jan Lisiecki with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra in October “Rhapsody and the Blues” with Jens Lindemann, Jon Kimura Parker, and the Yamaha All Star Big Band in February Special event to Commemorate Truth and Reconciliation Day featuring Tomson Highway, Rebecca Cuddy, Sarain Fox, and more Jazz series pays homage…

CD Review | Shanties! Live: La Nef & Chor Leoni (Leaf music, 2022)

By Justin Bernard on 4 June 2022 CD and Book Reviews, Folk, Vocal

Shanties! Live: La Nef & Chor Leoni La Nef, Chor Leoni, vocal ensembles; Seán Dagher and Erik Lichte, artisticc directors Leaf music, 2022 Canada’s motto A mari usque ad mare (From Sea to Sea) would suit this recent Leaf Music release to a T. On Feb. 22, 2020, Vancouver’s Chor Leoni and Montreal’s La Nef joined forces at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts in B.C for a concert of sea shanties, arranged for the occasion by one of the event’s artistic directors, Seán Dagher. Shanties! Live recaptures the magic of that evening. La Nef is well versed in…

Portrait of conductor Rafael Payare (image courtesy of OSM)

Newswire | OSM Unveils Its 2022-23 Season

By Newswire on 31 May 2022 Classical Music, Newswire, Orchestral, Popular Music

Montreal, May 31, 2022 — The Orchestre symphonique de Montréal is thrilled to announce its 89th-season programming, marking the first season under the OSM’s new Music Director Rafael Payare. The accent is on dynamic programming imbued with a spirit of togetherness and focused on OSM core values, which the Maestro fully embraces: the importance of community, the mission of education and the value of artistic creation. Highlights will include 4 world premieres, 17 concerts for young audiences, and a spotlight on choral singing to emphasize connectedness. In total, musicians will give over 100 concerts at the Maison symphonique and at Bourgie Hall, joined by some 50 guest soloists and conductors. “I am touched by the kindness and…

CD Review: Baratin d’marins (Socan, 2022)

By Justin Bernard on 31 March 2022 CD and Book Reviews, Folk

Baratin d’marins Seán Dagher, conductor, arranger; Pierre-Alexandre Saint-Yves, Alexander Kehler, Amanda Keesmaat, Kate Bevan-Baker, Éric Breton, Jean-François Daignault, Claire Gignac. Socan, 2022 For its new album, La Nef has put together a repertoire of folksongs dedicated to seafarers. When one considers the numerous ship-related metaphors designating its past projects, it should not be that surprising to see yet another one appear in this offering. The Baratin d’marins, roughly translated as “seaman’s twaddle,” comprises a selection of songs dealing with the hardships of seamen from the north of France and Quebec who are confronted by the harshness of the elements and…

Amanda Keesmaat, violoncelle; Pierre-Alexandre Saint-Yves, flûtes, chalumeaux, cornemuse, voix; Patrick Graham, percussions; Seán Dagher, direction musicale, cistre, voix; Alex Kehler, violon, nyckelharpa.

La Nef: Styles and fields come together

By Justin Bernard on 12 January 2022 Baroque and Early, Contemporary, Folk, Interviews, Multimedia, World Music

La Nef is continuing its 30th anniversary celebrations under the general and artistic leadership of Claire Gignac. Though La Nef will present many concerts featuring various musical styles this season, it is currently being noted for its disc production at the start of a new year. On February 5, a concert will take the form of an album presentation, featuring Long Way Home by Andrew Wells-Oberegger, composer and multi-instrumentalist. Six musicians will join him at Montreal’s Maison de la culture Ahuntsic in the Concerts au bout du monde series. On March 10, another production will be led by Artistic Codirector…

Photo: Michel Pineault

La Nef: 30th anniversary

By Justin Bernard on 2 November 2021 Baroque and Early, Folk, Interviews

No fewer than three events are on the horizon between now and February. The musicians of La Nef will first present a concert on Nov. 11, another on Dec. 14 and, finally, a new album, which is due early in the new year. This is how the 30th-anniversary celebrations of this cultural organization unfold. In an interview, La Nef artistic director and co-founder Sylvain Bergeron shared some of his most vivid memories of the adventure: “Our first trips took us to Spain in the days of Jeanne la Folle, to the Cathars of southern France and even to the Middle…