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Welcome to the September 2025 national issue of La Scena Musicale. Our annual Arts Season Preview special kicks off La Scena Musicale’s 30th season of publishing, which will include six full-colour issues (three in the fall and three in the winter and summer).
The 2025-26 season continues the all-colour format the magazine adopted in November 2017. All six issues will be national issues, with separate English and French editions, once again confirming our position as the largest bilingual arts media in Canada. We may also publish special issues during the year for our paying subscribers. Additionally, we will continue to offer personalized serenades for Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day.
New Features
In addition to continuing the Choral section we introduced last year, other new features for 2025-26 are: La Scena: Art of Living, which includes a Word Search puzzle based on the issue’s main theme (this month it’s piano); La Scena a tavola (this month featuring a recipe by Gino Quilico); Music & Fashion; and a Cityscape feature starting with Vancouver in October. We will also have a new Older Adults section.
La Scena serves our readers with the most comprehensive coverage of Canada’s arts scene. This season, we will shine a spotlight on festivals (fall, winter, spring and summer, and international), baroque, orchestras, opera and voice, wind instruments, and violin. Our resource guides will feature venues, competitions, camps and choirs.
September Issue
Our annual Arts Season Preview covers various musical genres (choral, opera, orchestra/chamber/solo, contemporary and world music), dance, English and French theatre, and the visual arts. We cast an eye on Canadian artists working abroad, youth programs, Canada’s newest arts CEOs, and fall jazz. You can read more detailed news about Tafelmusik, La Nef, Les Idées heureuses, Orchestre Philharmonique du Québec, Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal, Opéra bouffe du Québecf and a new opera in Ottawa.
The issue has a piano theme. On the English cover is pianist Michael McMahon, whose lifetime dedication to collaborative piano was recently recognized with an Order of Canada. Norwegian star pianist Leif Ove Andsnes is featured on the French cover. We also profile Cliburn winner Aristo Sham, and check in with Jon Kimura Parker about the upcoming Honens piano competition.
Our events calendar and Fall Festival Guide list a wide variety of performances. As always, we offer reviews of the latest recordings.
National Calendar
As in previous issues, we present a national print calendar, containing concert listings from Quebec to Ontario. Owing to space limitations, all listings are in summary form. We invite readers to consult our website—www.mySCENA.org —for complete details in both English and French.
La Scena Radio
We are bringing back La Scena Radio by streaming recordings reviewed in the last two issues, and other newly released albums. Visit myscena.org/radio.
SUBSCRIPTION AND DONATION DRIVE
La Scena Musicale has evolved with changing habits in media consumption, while also maintaining its 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 focuses on news and events.
As we look ahead in the 2025-26 season, we aim to increase both digital and print content. As this issue demonstrates, we have many talented writers and we wish to give space to their voices. Frequent increases in the price of magazine paper, however, are cause for concern. We hope you will consider supporting our magazine through a donation and/or by joining our fundraising committee by contacting us at don@lascena.org.
Another way to support the magazine is through the LSM Boutique at mySCENA.org, where greeting cards and tickets to our partners’ events are available for purchase. You can also preorder our Book magazines on Puccini, Mahler and Handel’s Messiah.
As a result of the pandemic, we have changed from street distribution to home delivery. We invite our readers to purchase subscriptions so as to ensure they continue to receive all of our annual issues. Subscriptions can also be purchased for others, and make an ideal gift for students, parents or artists.
As always, La Scena Musicale maintains a vigorous presence on Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), and LinkedIn. The website offers new resources almost daily. The live performing arts are back, and La Scena Musicale is here to support them.
Wishing a musical and artistic autumn to all!
PDF version (Download)
Contents
- 6 Editorial
- 8 Industry News
- 12 Fall Festival Guide
- 13 Fall Festival Picks
- 14 Tafelmusik
- 16 La Nef
- 18 L’Orchestre Philharmonique du Québec
- 19 Mightier Productions The Lion Heart
- 20 Word Search
- 21 La Scena a Tavola
- 22 New Directors
- 31 CD Reviews
- 33 SMAM; Opéra Bouffe du Québec
- Piano
- 24 Michael McMahon
- 27 Honens International Piano Competition
- 28 Leif Ove Andsnes
- 30 Cliburn Winner Aristo Sham
- 2025-26 Arts Preview
- 32 Choral Music
- 34 Orchestra
- 36 Chamber & Solo
- 37 Baroque
- 38 Opera
- 40 Contemporary Music
- 41 Jazz
- 42 Youth
- 43 Canadians Abroad
- 44 French Theatre
- 45 English Theatre
- 46 Dance
- 47 Visual Arts
- Boomers
- 48 Learning Opportunities
- 49 Music Therapy
- 50 Calendar
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