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Welcome to the October 2022 national issue of La Scena Musicale, our annual Rising Stars special that kicks off the first of five national issues in our six-issue 27th season (2022-23) of publishing.
The 27th season continues the all-colour, all-glossy format the magazine adopted in November 2017. With our separate English and French editions, we reinforce our position as the largest bilingual arts media in Canada. We may also publish special issues during the year for our paying subscribers. And we will continue our personalized serenades and our online virtual concerts for Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day.
October Issue
Inside, we profile 12 promising musicians (pp. 28-33) who have won recent competitions, along with our annual Competition Guide (p. 26). Our covers highlight contemporary music in Canada. Our French cover spotlights the Azrieli Music Prizes Gala concert on Oct. 20. Montreal’s Orchestre Métropolitain under Alexandre Bloch performs works by Aharon Harlap, Iman Habibi and Rita Ueda. Justin Bernard interviews all three composers.
Our English cover celebrates the 40 years of Toronto’s Esprit Orchestra, Canada’s only full-size orchestra devoted to contemporary music. Eva Stone-Barney meets its married co-founders, Alex Pauk and Alexina Louie.
Continuing the contemporary music theme, we welcome home Canadian composer Adam Vincent Clarke who is touring a chamber program inspired by the folklore of Canada and Bulgaria.
Ensemble Caprice’s Matthias Maute will don his composer hat again, writing an original prologue to complete Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. We also talk to Jordi Savall, who will embark on a tour of Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto. Our Jazz editor Marc Chénard interviews alto saxophonist Charles McPherson.
During the pandemic, many musicians took to producing music videos from home. Flutist Mika Putterman and composer Aleks Schürmer will release a series of eight videos. We look behind the scenes.
Our French edition also features: Opéra bouffe du Québec, which will produce its 20th unique French operetta; the artistry of André Pappathomas; the Trio Fibonacci; and tenor Marc Hervieux, who shares his ambition for the Quebec Conservatory of Music and Dramatic Arts.
Our events calendar and our Fall Festival Guide list both live and digital concerts, in keeping with the state of the arts in the fall of 2022. As always, we offer reviews of interesting recordings.
COVID update
Since the summer, COVID restrictions have almost all been lifted and we have pretty much returned to normalcy. We at La Scena Musicale, recommend you be prudent by continuing to wear masks when out in public spaces and to take the next booster vaccine.
25th Anniversary Celebration
In the coming year, we hope to finally celebrate the 25th anniversary of La Scena Musicale, albeit a year late due to COVID uncertainties.
I’m glad to announce that we are partnering with the new opera company operaLAB to present a performance of Puccini’s Tosca starring soprano Chantal Dionne along with Montreal-based professional singers and a 10-piece chamber ensemble. As we go to press, we are planning the Gala for April 23, 2023, but we still need to confirm the venue.
OperaLAB, dedicated to giving performance opportunities to singers 35+, is the brainchild of pianist Louise-Andrée Baril, who has appeared in some of our virtual concerts in duo with Dionne.
Would you like to celebrate our anniversary by joining our fundraising Gala committee? Let us know, and also share with us your favourite memories of La Scena Musicale. If you are interested in helping, please contact us at [email protected].
Subscription and Donation Drive
With changing consumer habits in media consumption, La Scena has evolved while also maintaining our core mission to promote music and the arts. Our print magazine will continue to provide quality curated articles and interviews in both English and French, while our website will focus on news and events.
In 2022, we aim for more content, and we have introduced a new column, Highlights, on our website to curate interesting feature articles and interviews. We also plan to publish more national issues, but the frequent increases in prices of magazine paper is a cause for concern. We hope you will consider supporting our magazine through a donation and/or join our fundraising committee by contacting us at [email protected].
Another way to support the magazine is through the LSM Boutique at mySCENA.org, which includes tickets to the Opera de Montreal and other partners. We recently received a donation of a three-year-old Yamaha Baby Grand GC1 which we are selling (see ad in the classified section on p. 46).
La Scena is also hiring: through Emploi-Quebec we can hire a full-time administrative assistant (calendar and subscriptions) and a full-time writer. Please send your resume and cover letter to [email protected].
Because of the pandemic, we changed from street distribution to home delivery. To make sure you continue to receive the magazine at home, please become a subscriber or give a subscription to someone special. It makes an ideal gift for parents or an artist.
As always, La Scena Musicale maintains a vigorous presence on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The website offers new resources almost daily. Pandemic or no pandemic, the arts will thrive. As will La Scena Musicale.
Have a great musical and artistic fall!
This page is also available in / Cette page est également disponible en:
Francais (French)
