Nothing seemed to add up on my first encounter with Magdalena Kozena’s trawl through four sets of folk songs orchestrated by Bela Bartok, Luciano Berio, Maurice Ravel and the Spaniard Xavier Montsalvatge.
Place des Arts This season’s Place des Arts program includes a concert by Italian singer Gigi D’Alessio on Oct. 6 at Théâtre Maisonneuve. On Oct. 8, Iranian pop singer/songwriter Shahram Shabpareh presents The Last Tango at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier. On Nov. 12, the same venue welcomes Iranian artist Alireza Ghorbani, successor to Mohammad Reza Shajarian, the great master of classical Persian singing. Don’t miss the TEMPÉO Danse et Musique festival, on the Esplanade, from Sept. 14-16 and 21-23. Hosted by Philippe Fehmiu, it will consist of six festive evenings of dance, offering an introduction to different dance styles. The Bollywood music…
O Sun O Moon Bruce Cockburn, vocals and guitar True North Records, 2023 O Sun O Moon marks Bruce Cockburn’s 37th album, an incredible feat for any musician. While some of the songs on this new release serve as a reminder of why Cockburn is considered among Canadian folk-music greats, others suggest he is aiming for quantity over quality. The guitar in O Sun O Moon is naturally where his writing shines most. Cockburn turns even the simplest chord progressions and rhythms into wonderfully transfixing experiences, most noticeable in Haiku – Instrumental. He pairs his distinct lyricism with varied vocal…
Over the last two decades, Shawna Caspi has grown from a local performer to an internationally touring folk musician with five albums and two award nominations. Now, the Ottawa-born singer-songwriter is coming home. She’s performing an acoustic version of her latest album, 2021’s Hurricane Coming, at Westboro Masonic Hall in Ottawa on Mar. 19. She’s accompanied by harmony singer and backup guitarist Sarah Hiltz, with an opening act from Renfrew County’s Khloe B. Caspi’s journey began in early 2000s Ottawa at renowned folk music venue Rasputin’s Folk Cafe. A dedicated singer and guitarist since her high school years, Caspi found…
Medicine is an important element of composer Andrew Balfour’s creative pursuits. “People think of music as a refuge, but music can also be a powerful entry point to healing,” he says. The notion of healing is one close to the Cree composer’s heart. His work is characterized by the combination of polyphony and Indigenous themes related to history and identity. He skilfully pokes holes in the Eurocentric narrative of classical music even as he uses its foundations to explore serious issues. Such a creative instinct has painful roots. As an infant, Balfour was taken away from his Cree mother as…
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.…
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…
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…
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…
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…
