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Montreal, Tuesday May 9, 2023 – It is with great enthusiasm that Bourgie Hall unveils its 13th season, the very first crafted by its new directors, Artistic Director Olivier Godin and Executive Director Caroline Louis.
In keeping with previous seasons that have contributed to the reputation of this concert hall popular among music lovers, but also with a strong desire to blaze new trails, the programming for 2023-2024 is intended to be unifying and aligned with today’s musical world. It stands out thanks to its wide range of concerts and events pertaining to various musical traditions. Featuring exciting projects as well as several new initiatives, the next season will showcase in Montreal performers acclaimed on the international music scene as well as rising stars.
Olivier Godin and Caroline Louis express their delight at unveiling this programming crafted by their four-handed management: “For Bourgie Hall’s 13th season, we reveal how we envisage the next few years. The piano occupies a prominent place, while, given the hall’s particular suitability for vocal music, special importance will be accorded to these concerts. We will also place particular emphasis on new works and contemporary repertoire, with Rachel Laurin becoming Bourgie Hall’s first composer-in-residence. Tribute will additionally be paid to several luminaries of the repertoire, such as Ligeti, Théodore Dubois, Maria Callas, Rachmaninoff and Oscar Peterson. Furthermore, fans of jazz and music of diverse cultures will be delighted to learn that these series will be enhanced during the coming years.”
Rich and varied, with high-calibre recitals and artists from diverse backgrounds who reflect the community of which it is a part, this season will be composed of nearly 100 concerts presented by Bourgie Hall, with 50% of its programming including Quebec or Canadian artists. Furthermore, six concerts will echo two Museum exhibitions this fall: Marisol: A Retrospective as well as one featuring the work of Françoise Sullivan, a major Quebec artist. To this must be added more than 66 concerts by guest presenters.
Among the prestigious soloists performing at Bourgie Hall next season are clarinetist Andreas Ottensamer, pianists Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Christian Blackshaw, Charles Richard-Hamelin, Igor Levit, who makes his first appearance in Montreal, Isata Kanneh-Mason, Bruce Liu, and Víkingur Ólafsson; fortepianist Jean Rondeau; mandolinist Avi Avital; trumpet player Sergei Nakariakov; violinist Daniel Hope; singers Gordon Bintner, Karina Gauvin, Wolfgang Holzmair, Marie-Nicole Lemieux, François Le Roux, Ema Nikolovska and Davóne Tines; as well as conductors Jonathan Cohen and Anthony Marwood.
As for chamber music ensembles, Bourgie Hall will welcome the Dover Quartet, Ligeti Quartet, Trio Wanderer, Faust-Queyras-Melnikov Trio, as well as the Musicians from Marlboro.
Finally, Bourgie will have the pleasure of welcoming several Baroque ensembles: Théotime Langlois de Swarte and Le Consort, Le Poème harmonique, Gothic Voices as well as the Alia Mens ensemble.
In order to make concerts accessible to a wider audience, various attractive subscription packages (series and à la carte subscriptions) ensure that ticket prices remain affordable. As usual, MMFA members enjoy a 15% discount on the General Public rate at all times. For concertgoers 34 years old and younger, a 50% discount on the General Public rate and last-minute tickets at the cost of $10 (subject to availability) are offered.
THE HIGHLIGHTS OF THIS 13th SEASON
PRESTIGIOUS NAMES AT BOURGIE HALL
Located at the heart of a vast museum complex and endowed with exceptional acoustics, Bourgie Hall has been offering music lovers remarkable encounters with artists of international calibre for 13 seasons.
Among the prestigious soloists performing at Bourgie Hall next season are clarinetist Andreas Ottensamer, pianists Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Christian Blackshaw, Charles Richard-Hamelin, Igor Levit, who makes his first appearance in Montreal, Isata Kanneh-Mason, Bruce Liu, and Víkingur Ólafsson; fortepianist Jean Rondeau; mandolinist Avi Avital; trumpet player Sergei Nakariakov; violinist Daniel Hope; singers Gordon Bintner, Karina Gauvin, Wolfgang Holzmair, Marie-Nicole Lemieux, François Le Roux, Ema Nikolovska and Davóne Tines; as well as conductors Jonathan Cohen and Anthony Marwood.
As for chamber music ensembles, Bourgie Hall will welcome the Dover Quartet, Ligeti Quartet, Trio Wanderer, Faust-Queyras-Melnikov Trio, as well as the Musicians from Marlboro.
Finally, Bourgie will have the pleasure of welcoming several Baroque ensembles: Théotime Langlois de Swarte and Le Consort, Le Poème harmonique, Gothic Voices as well as the Alia Mens ensemble.
VOCAL RECITAL
Bourgie Hall’s intimate atmosphere is ideally suited for vocal recitals. This year, the hall will welcome outstanding lyric artists who will dazzle the public with their voices and exceptional performances during 13 outstanding recitals: Marc Boucher, baritone and Olivier Godin, piano (October 11); Davóne Tines, bass-baritone and John Bitoy, piano (October 15); Gordon Bintner, bass-baritone and Michael McMahon, piano (November 10); Tribute to Maria Callas with Aline Kutan, soprano and
Richard Turp, lecturer (December 2); Jack Swanson, tenor and John Arida, piano (December 8); Rose Naggar-Tremblay, contralto and Julien LeBlanc, piano (December 13); Wolfgang Holzmair, baritone and Olivier Godin, piano (January 27); Ihor Mostovoi, baritone and Serhiy Salov, piano (February 17); Cyrille Dubois, tenor and Tristan Raës, piano (March 15); Ema Nikolovska, mezzo-soprano and Charles Richard-Hamelin, piano (March 20); François Le Roux, baritone and musicians from the Orchestre Métropolitain (April 18); Marie-Nicole Lemieux, contralto and Karina Gauvin, soprano (April 19); as well as Myriam Leblanc, soprano and Romain Pollet, piano (May 15).
OUTSTANDING PIANISTS
Pianists renowned worldwide for their immense talent and great musicality present 18 exceptional recitals: Isata Kanneh-Mason (October 10); David Greilsammer (October 26); Sandra Murray and Claire Ouellet (November 1); Christian Blackshaw (November 2); Pierre-Laurent Aimard (November 5); Llŷr Williams (November 7); Jean Rondeau (November 15) and Anders Muskens (November 26) on the fortepiano; Louise Bessette and Corey Hamm (December 6); Momo and Mari Kodama (December 10); Víkingur Ólafsson (January 24); Igor Levit (March 11); Illia Ovcharenko and Alexander Kashpurin (April 6 and 7); Charles Richard-Hamelin and Eric Lu (April 10); Michelle Cann (April 16); André Laplante (April 27); and Bruce Liu (May 14).
EARLY MUSIC
The Baroque era is filled with musical treasures, and over the years this musical style has made Bourgie Hall’s reputation. Performed primarily on period instruments, these concerts celebrate the variety and opulent sounds of early music. In addition to certain Les Violons du Roy’s concerts mentioned below, here are the other Baroque concerts of the 2023-2024 season:
- Le Poème harmonique (October 28)
- I Gemelli Ensemble (November 22)
- Gothic Voices (December 14)
- Arion Baroque Orchestra (December 17)
- Víkingur Ólafsson (January 24)
- Ensemble Caprice (January 28)
- Théotime Langlois de Swarte and Le Consort (February 21)
- Les Idées heureuses (March 29)
- Ana Vidović (April 9)
- Daniel Hope (April 23)
IN RESIDENCE: RACHEL LAURIN
Bourgie Hall is proud to present its first composer-in-residence, Rachel Laurin. Several of her works will be highlighted during four concerts.
- The world premiere of the cycle Chant pour un Québec lointain with baritone Marc Boucher and pianist Olivier Godin (October 11)
- Celebrating Women Composers with the Quatuor Cobalt (November 8)
- The String Quartet, from the Refus global to Today with the Molinari Quartet (January 25) ● Tribute to Rachel Laurin (February 18)
LIGETI FESTIVAL
To mark the 100th anniversary of György Ligeti’s birth, on November 4 and 5 Bourgie Hall is presenting a festival devoted to his works, comprising concerts, a conference, and film screenings, with acclaimed pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard as the guest of honour. Other guest artists include the Ligeti Quartet as well as an ensemble composed of musicians from the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, conducted by Jean-Michaël Lavoie. In conjunction with this programming, three films by the celebrated director Stanley Kubrick, the soundtracks of which include excerpts of this Hungarian master’s music, will be shown at the Cinéma du Musée.
CONTEMPORARY MUSIC
In addition to the aforementioned concerts in tribute to Rachel Laurin and the Ligeti Festival, several other concerts highlight new musical works:
- Ensemble Variances and Paramirabo: works by Missy Mazzoli, Thierry Pécou, Cassandra Miller and Steve Reich (October 24)
- The Women Who Leave: world premiere of a song cycle composed by Luna Pearl Woolf on poems written by Rose Naggar-Tremblay (December 13)
- Imani Winds: Black and Brown: a concert highlighting contemporary works inspired by jazz and Latin American music (February 1)
- Missy Mazzoli, composition and Jennifer Koh, violin (February 28)
- Opera of Today: three contemporary creations by three women composers, in collaboration with Musique 3 Femmes and Le Vivier (May 30)
TRIBUTES
New for this year, the Tributes series celebrates several outstanding musical figures: Gabriel Fauré and Théodore Dubois, who both died in 1924, Sergei Rachmaninoff (born 150 years ago) as well as György Ligeti and Maria Callas, both born in 1923. The internationally-renowned, Montreal-born jazz icon Oscar Peterson, the great Quebec visual artist Françoise Sullivan as well as two major figures of the Quebec musical scene, conductors Raffi Armenian and Agnes Grossmann, will also be honoured in 2023-2024.
CHAMBER MUSIC
Chamber music, whether for duos, trios, quartets or small ensembles, occupies pride of place at Bourgie Hall. Among numerous unmissable events are the following:
- Dover String Quartet (September 27) as the opening concert
- Nakariakov-Kashimoto-Meerovich Trio (October 16)
- Musicians from Marlboro (December 5)
- Molinari Quartet (January 25)
- Apollon Musagète Quartet (February 6)
- Stéphane Tétreault, cello and Olivier Hébert-Bouchard, piano (February 8) ● Faust-Queyras-Melnikov Trio (February 12)
- Lluís Claret and Sandra Murray (March 6)
- Trio Wanderer (April 24)
JAZZ 5 À 7
Starting at 5 p.m., Bourgie Hall’s bar will be open for six jazz 5 à 7, on Thursdays at 6 p.m..
- The innovative sextet Turboprop (October 5)
- Two Jazz Pianos with Jean-Michel Pilc and Rafael Zaldivar (December 7)
- A Charlie Brown Christmas: the return of this holiday classic! (December 20 and 21) ● André Leroux and Friends (February 22)
- Tribute to Oscar Peterson with the Taurey Butler Trio (March 14)
- The Scale of Time with Yves Léveillé and his musicians (May 16)
PROJECTS CONNECTED TO CURRENT CONCERNS
Wishing to anchor itself in the society that surrounds it and with a concern for greater inclusivity, Bourgie Hall will present various thought-provoking projects that reflect current concerns.
- On September 30, a concert in conjunction with the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation as well as the Journées de la culture will highlight three Indigenous women: Innu poet Maya Cousineau Mollen, Anishinaabe composer Barbara Assiginaak and Innu soprano Elisabeth St-Gelais.
- On January 27, to commemorate UNESCO’s International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust, baritone Wolfgang Holzmair will offer a recital titled Music at Theresienstadt. The recital will be preceded by a lecture on January 23.
- On February 17, pianist Serhiy Salov and baritone Ihor Mostovoi will present a concert in homage to the people of Ukraine (With Ukraine!). It will include the world premiere of Letters from the Frontline by Evan Mack based on poems written by Ukrainian soldiers in the line of battle.
- On April 2, the concert Iranian Women: A Wind of Freedom will be given in support of the women of this Middle Eastern country.
CONCERTS IN CONNECTION WITH THE MUSEUM’S EXHIBITIONS
A world-class concert hall in a museum provides an exceptional opportunity to work closely with the MMFA to develop a rich programming of multidisciplinary activities. This unique positioning opens up unsuspected creative possibilities, exploring innovative links between various art forms. In 2023-2024, six concerts in connection with two exhibitions at the museum will be presented:
Exhibition Marisol: A Retrospective, presented at the MMFA from October 7, 2023 to January 21, 2024)
- Soraya Benitez: Sin frontera (October 25)
- Quatuor Cobalt: Celebrating Women Composers (November 8)
- Les Rugissants: Marisol/Fragments (November 29)
- The Women Who Leave (December 13)
Exhibition on Françoise Sullivan, a major Québec artist who celebrates her 100th birthday this year (presented at the MMFA from October 31, 2023 to February 18, 2024)
- Tribute to Françoise Sullivan (January 21)
- The String Quartet: From Refus global to Foday with the Molinari Quartet (January 25)
LES VIOLONS DU ROY
A presence at Bourgie Hall since its opening, Les Violons du Roy are back for a 13th season! This ensemble offers Montreal audiences 7 memorable concerts.
- The Essence of Strings (October 20): Anthony Marwood, violin and conductor ● The Devil’s Labyrinth (November 3): Nicolas Ellis, conductor, and Kerson Leong, violin ● French Romance (January 19): Nicolas Ellis, conductor, Florie Valiquette, soprano and David Jalbert, piano
- Mozart and Haydn, Winds and Harp (February 2): Jonathan Cohen, conductor and Valérie Milot, harp
- Bach, Handel and the Concertante Organ (March 1): Nicolas Ellis, conductor and Isabelle Demers, organ
- The Guitar of Miloš (April 26): Jonathan Cohen (conductor) et Miloš (guitar) ● Fantastic Dreams (June 7): Nicolas Ellis, conductor, and Andréanne Brisson Paquin, soprano
MUSICIANS OF THE OSM
The Musicians of the OSM, who have enchanted audiences since Bourgie Hall opened, are back for 4 unmissable musical encounters.
- A Festival of Brass: works by Michael Tilson Thomas, Fernando Morais, Lauren Bernofsky, Bernstein and Piazzolla (September 29)
- An Out-of-the-Ordinary Octet: with the OSM’s double bass section (February 16) ● An Evening with Fauré (April 5)
- At the Heart of the String Quartet: works by Jessie Montgomery, Philip Glass and Kelly-Marie Murphy (May 24)
MUSICIANS OF THE OM
As part of a brand new partnership beginning this season, the Musicians of the OM present four chamber music concerts, in addition to three family concerts with the fabulous Barbada de Barbades.
- Andreas Ottensamer, clarinet: works by Brahms and Emilie Mayer (October 18) ● Tribute to Raffi Armenian and Agnes Grossmann (March 19)
- Le Bal masqué and L’Histoire du soldat: two major works of French vocal music (18 avril) ● The Winds of the Orchestre Métropolitain: works by Simon Bourget, Thuille and Poulenc (June 5)
FAMILY CONCERTS WITH BARBADA AND THE ORCHESTRE MÉTROPOLITAIN
Initiated by Bourgie Hall, three events are offered to families in 2023-2024 with the fabulous Barbada de Barbades and the Orchestre Métropolitain! “Once upon three times…”, three musical tales written and staged by François Racine and narrated by the colourful drag artist on November 12, April 14 and June 2 to a soundtrack created by musicians of the OM.
MUSIC OF GLOBAL CULTURES
In 2023-2024, several musical ensembles, representing the wide variety of music from global cultures from five continents, will be visiting Bourgie Hall.
- The Kleztory Ensemble offers a concert of Eastern European music (September 21). ● Soraya Benitez presents a concert with Venezuelan accents titled Sin frontera (October 25). ● Liu Fang, pipa and guzheng, and Liu Xiyan, guqin: a concert to usher in the Lunar New Year (February 10).
- Didem Başar, on the kanun, presents Continuum, a concert that evokes both Turkish musical traditions and Western sounds (February 13).
- Iranian Women: A Wind of Freedom with soprano Bahar Harandi pays tribute to the courage and resilience of the women of this Middle Eastern country (April 2). ● The exceptional cellist Abel Selaocoe and the Manchester Collective present Sirocco, pushing the boundaries of his instrument and weaving together Western and non-Western traditions (April 4).
- Violinist Daniel Hope presents The Soul of Ireland, which captures Ireland’s rich musical heritage from the Renaissance to the present day (April 23).
ARTS CROSSROADS
This season, five events combine music and other art forms, whether they be dance, literature, visual arts, or cinema:
- Music and dance: Tribute to Françoise Sullivan (January 21)
- Music and literature: National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (September 30) and Even If I Lose Everything (May 25)
- Music and cinema: Right in the Eye (March 17)
- Music and visual arts: lecture by François Filiatrault (in French) on various masterpieces from the MMFA’s Hornstein collection (April 3)
As of May 9, all details of the 2023-2024 season will be available online at bourgiehall.ca.
BOX OFFICE
Three simple ways to purchase tickets
ONLINE: bourgiehall.ca
BY PHONE: 514 285-2000, option 1, or 1 800 899-6873
IN PERSON at the MMFA box office (during opening hours) and at Bourgie Hall (one hour prior to the concerts)
Numerous affordable subscription packages are also available.
About Bourgie Hall
Inaugurated in September 2011, Bourgie Hall is a 462-seat concert hall at the heart of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Possessing exceptional acoustics, it has quickly made a name for itself as one of Canada’s most beloved venues for concert music. Located in the nave of the former Erskine and American Church, its spectacular architecture includes a collection of twenty Tiffany stained glass windows that is unique in the country. Bourgie Hall presents over a hundred concerts a year in various musical styles, ranging from jazz to classical works, from Baroque music to contemporary creations. Its high-calibre programming features some of the most prominent Canadian and international musicians of their generation, whether they be at the beginning of their careers or already well established.
This page is also available in / Cette page est également disponible en:
Francais (French)
