Contemporary - my/maSCENA

Fall Season: Orchestras and Chamber Music

By Léa Papineau Robichaud on 1 September 2017 150/375, Canadian Music, Chamber Music, Contemporary, La Scena Spotlight, Orchestral, Quebec Music

Orchestre symphonique de Montréal The Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (OSM) will start its season with Mahler’s Symphony no. 8, “Symphony of the Thousand,” a large-scale work gathering more than 350 instrumentalists and singers on stage (September 19 & 21). In addition, Russian music will hold a special place during the fall. Russian-born conductor Vasily Petrenko will present an all-Russian music concert in October (October 11, 14, and 15), and pianist Charles Richard-Hamelin will complete the evenings with a concerto by Prokofiev. On November 11, the St. Petersburg Mariinksy Orchestra will present a concert in Montreal under the baton of renowned…

A return to new and contemporary music – 2017-18 Season

By Alexandre Villemaire on 1 September 2017 Canadian Music, Chamber Music, Contemporary, La Scena Spotlight, Quebec Music

Once again, the contemporary music scene in Montreal promises a season full of concerts and new music experiences. Whether as sophisticated regulars of contemporary music, fans of instrumental or mixed music, or even intrigued by the exploding scene of digital music and sound installations, Montreal’s artistic community will fulfill your desires as cosmopolitan music lovers. Here is an overview of several events to schedule on your calendar. La Société de musique contemporaine du Québec For its 52nd season, the Société de musique contemporaine du Québec (SMCQ) [Quebec Contemporary Music Society] presents a colourful program with diverse influences. This year, the…

Opera Creations in Canada

By Patricia Weber on 1 September 2017 150/375, Contemporary, La Scena Spotlight, Opera

This year, the Montreal landscape will be particularly animated by the creations of operas, thanks to the dedication of the ECM + and Chants Libres. The Opéra de Montréal’s programming will take part in this celebration with two Montreal creations, which will give the young artists of its Atelier Lyrique the chance to take part. In the rest of Canada, Edmonton will receive Lilies, historical events in Toronto will inspire the creation of a new work and Vancouver will give a new life to a classic. Bandits in the Valley Tapestry Opera, one of Canada’s leading contemporary opera companies, will…

Life Reflected

By Paul E. Robinson on 1 September 2017 150/375, Canadian Music, CD and Book Reviews, Contemporary

Zosha di Castri, Jocelyn Murlock, Nicole Lizée, John Estacio, Erin Wall, soprano; Martha Henry, narrator; Monique Mojica, actor; NAC orchestra; Alexander Shelley Analekta AN 2 8870, 73 min 25 s. This recording is the “soundtrack” for the multi-media work Life Reflected, which had its premiere at the National Arts Centre May 19, 2016. It was a highly ambitious and worthwhile project that brought together four newly-commissioned pieces by Canadian composers – three of them women – under the overall direction of the NAC’s conductor Alexander Shelley and creative producer and director Donna Feore. Each of the pieces was based on…

Airat Ichmouratov, Photographer: Sergei Bergen MUA & Art Style: Elena Chatokhina

Airat Ichmouratov: 21st Century Romanticist

By Kiersten van Vliet on 1 September 2017 150/375, Contemporary, Interviews, Quebec Music

Airat Ichmouratov is a triple talent of an uncommon sort. A composer, conductor, and klezmer clarinettist, he has earned critical acclaim in each domain. Resident conductor of Les Violons du Roy, Orchestre symphonique de Québec, and Orchestre Métropolitain, Ichmouratov made his debut with the Tatar Academic State Opera and Ballet Theatre in 2011. He is a founding member of the klezmer group Kleztory, which has won numerous awards, both domestic and international. In 2008, Ichmouratov received the “Best Concert of the Year” Prix Opus for conducting Les Violons du Roy in a concert entitled “Russian Impressions” – a concert that…

Gilles Tremblay (1932-2017): A School of Music

By Vincent Ranallo on 1 September 2017 Contemporary, La Scena Spotlight, Quebec Music

“One day, as I was playing a very simple tune, (…) my teacher wanted to make me feel the fluctuation of tempos, so he began playing the drums behind my back. To my surprise, I naturally followed the rhythm. I played and was being played. Just then, a group of musicians arrived (…) and played a constellation of contrapuntal rhythms. It was one of the most intense musical experiences of my life. I became almost weightless, lifted by so much beauty and also by the human communication that’s beyond speech. Being a musician among other musicians.” — Gilles Tremblay, travel…

CAMP Announce Modern Composition Course With Gavin Bryars

By Newswire on 31 August 2017 Contemporary, Education

24/07/2017 – Following the announcement (and fast selling out) of sessions with Chris Watson (founder of Cabaret Voltaire, and sound recordist for David Attenborough), Laraaji (celebrated ambient musician, best known for his work with Brian Eno) and Eli Keszler (NYC virtuoso percussionist, composer and installation artist), CAMP have announced a rare masterclass in modern composition with Gavin Bryars. Bryars is without a doubt one of the most world’s celebrated living composers. He emerged in the early sixties, playing bass with improvisers Derek Bailey and Tony Oxley, and by the late 60’s he was working with John Cage, Cornelius Cardew and…

Lebrecht Weekly – Hans Werner Henze: Kammermusik 1958, Neue Volkslieder (Tudor)

By Norman Lebrecht on 25 August 2017 CD and Book Reviews, Chamber Music, Contemporary, Lebrecht Weekly

Modern composers, when they die, go into limbo for about a decade before their reputation settles. It has been five years since Henze left us and I miss bumping into his music, on the radio, at festivals, anywhere. It has all gone rather quiet. Which may account for my excessive pleasure at encountering these otherworldly pieces, rich in references to a forgotten age and its leisurely pace. The Kammermusik, for tenor, guitar and eight instruments, is dedicated to Benjamin Britten in thanks for introducing Henze to the guitarist Julian Bream. But although Henze quotes a Britten phrase and dabbles wistfully…

ECM+ unveils the four young composers of Generation2018 !

By Newswire on 24 August 2017 Contemporary, Newswire

Montreal, August 23, 2017 – Ensemble contemporain de Montréal (ECM+) is pleased to announce that the jury has selected the winners of its biennial composition contest: Sophie Dupuis (N.-B., Ont.), Patrick Giguère (Qc/UK), James O’Callaghan (B.-C./Qc) and Thierry Tidrow (Ont./ DE) will take part in the Generation2018 adventure starting next February. With more than 60 high-level applications from Canadian composers, aged 35 and under from all over the country, the final choice has proved quite challenging for the jury comprising renowned professionals from the Canadian new music community: Gabriel Dharmoo (Composer and Performer, Montreal), Gordon Fitzell (Composer and Professor at University…

Lebrecht Weekly – Morton Feldman: For Bunita Marcus (Hyperion)

By Norman Lebrecht on 18 August 2017 CD and Book Reviews, Contemporary, Lebrecht Weekly, Piano

The US composer Bunita Marcus worked for seven years with Morton Feldman and subsequently accused him, after his death, of sexual abuse. Feldman wrote this piece as an act of homage to Marcus. It begins with what appears to be a visit by an extremely unhurried piano tuner and proceeds by its own logic into a sound world where time and motion lose all meaning. It lasts for 72 minutes and 38 seconds and unless it has succeeded in transcending such mundane measurements the experience will probably feel like eternity. The pianist Marc-André Hamelin reports that “the first time I…

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