Browsing: Région

In animated film, where every image and sound is deliberately constructed, music plays a central narrative and aesthetic role, shaping atmosphere, rhythm and emotional perception while reinforcing immersion in the film’s fictional world. Music can operate in different ways within animated film, from recurring musical themes linked to characters and emotions in How to Train Your Dragon to the song-driven storytelling of Disney’s Frozen. Films like The Red Turtle rely on music to shape atmosphere and perception despite minimal dialogue, while Pixar’s Soul places music itself at the centre of the narrative. Particularly fascinating in its use of music is…

Share:

Most classical-music lovers derive pleasure by attending performances of their favourite works. Some dream of making music themselves. They might learn to play an instrument as a sideline in their spare time. Those with the talent and the dedication may well go on to become professional musicians. Then there’s the rare bird, someone like Mandle Cheung, a Hong Kong-born naturalized Canadian, who made a fortune as a tech entrepreneur. He’s also a lifelong music lover, having fallen for classical music after hearing the Saint-Saëns Violin Concerto at the age of 13. He joined his high school’s harmonica band and even…

Share:

What might the end of our human days look like? What might happen if we reach a solar minimum? These are questions posed by composer Cecilia Livingston and librettist Duncan McFarlane’s Parḗlios, a work that sits somewhere between opera, oratorio, dance, and installation. The piece, which premieres on June 12 as part of Opera 5’s Toronto Opera Festival, “imagines a population in an imaginary Britain that is losing the sun.” Will those people end up staring at a semicircular screen, a ceiling of mirrors, artificial mist, and aluminum frames to experience an illusion of the sun? This possibility was suggested…

Share:

Nothing seems to be able to stop Angine de Poitrine’s rise to fame. The Quebec band of the moment—whose song Fabienk reached No. 1 worldwide on Spotify in April 2026—took a while to break through, but this time they’re really off to the races! Contrary to what many fans would like to believe, Khn and Klek—the stage names adopted by the two masked accomplices—are not aliens. They were not born on a planet covered in black or white spots, beyond the boundaries of our solar system. Both hailing from La Baie, these artists—on guitar, vocals and drums—have managed to carve…

Share:

This summer, the International First Peoples’ Festival (IFPF) will mark the 325th anniversary of the signings of the Great Peace of Montreal, which brought an end to a century of warfare between the Iroquois, the French, and their Indigenous allies. It is essential to remember that before 1701, Montreal was a walled settlement with an uncertain future. The Great Peace transformed it into a major hub for trade and commerce in the fur trade, with the cooperation of the First Nations, who were still in full control of their territories at the time. Not only was this a founding event for…

Share:

This summer, Festival de Lanaudière is set to deliver yet another of its signature musical moments. Alongside Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Orchestre Métropolitain, opera lovers can anticipate the Canadian debut of the exceptional soprano Saioa Hernández, who will portray the titular Lady in Verdi’s Macbeth at the Fernand-Lindsay Amphitheatre in Joliette, Que. Originally from Madrid, Hernández has spent most of her career in Europe. Her appearance at Lanaudière may be a local debut, but it represents a reunion of sorts with her stage husband, Canadian baritone Etienne Dupuis who will sing Macbeth. Indeed, the soprano and the baritone had previously joined…

Share:

Ottawa’s summer cultural calendar will once again come alive with the 16th season of the Music and Beyond festival, which runs from July 4–17. Now firmly established as one of North America’s most distinctive classical music and multidisciplinary arts festivals, Music and Beyond continues to redefine what a classical music festival can be by linking music with a wide range of other art forms and cultural disciplines. Presented in venues throughout the Ottawa area, the 2026 edition offers a wide-ranging and ambitious program. As always, audiences can expect internationally celebrated artists, innovative thematic programming, and performances that move fluidly between…

Share:

A new Toronto indie collective unveiled its first production on May 22. Benevolence Opera Project presented an adapted version of Mozart’s Don Giovanni at the east end Redwood Theatre as a benefit for The Redwood, a shelter for women and children fleeing abuse. Chatty recitativo was replaced by a spoken narrative that recast the dramma giocoso as a chess game. The truncation affected character relationships, ironically making them more difficult to decipher. It was left to the singers and their formidable vocal gifts to ignite the drama, which they did with considerable success and in some cases, much more than…

Share:

Montreal – On May 30, A Concert for Kids with Cancer returns for its fifth edition at Valois United Church in Pointe-Claire to raise funds for pediatric oncology at the Montreal Children’s Hospital through the Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation. This concert was founded by 17-year-old violinist and brain cancer survivor Léandre Gaucher. In December 2018, at the age of 10, Léandre was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour and began treatment at the Montreal Children’s Hospital. He underwent surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. During this difficult period, playing the violin provided comfort and strength and became an important part of his…

Share:

Montreal, May 21, 2026 – Each new season of Arion Baroque Orchestra is like a journey back in time, reliving a kaleidoscope of emotions that differ from year to year. For our 2026-2027 season, our programming will take you from fairy tales to the worlds of dreams, nature, and mythology, and introduce you to men and women whose creative lives seem larger than life. Our concerts will present a good number of enticing discoveries, but also some wonderful old favorites that we anticipate you will enjoy with fresh ears, championed by outstanding artists from here and abroad. We are delighted…

Share:
1 2 3 4 5 93