Editorial

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Living in Côte St-Luc, the Canadian city with the oldest population, for years my wife and I have thought that it would be a great idea for musicians to give regular free concerts at senior residences. Last month, this idea became a reality with the formation of la Société pour les arts en milieux de santé (SAMS), whose aim is to use music and the arts to bridge the isolation of people living in such facilities. For 2009-2010, SAMS has secured enough government funding to organize 528 free concerts, with professional or professional level students receiving a stipend of $100 to $150. SAMS is modeled after the Health Arts Society (HAS), founded in 2006 in British Columbia by David Lemon, and which now runs 1000 concerts. Radio-Canada Opera de samedi host Sylvia l’Écuyer, a Vancouver resident, brought the idea to former MNA Daniel Turp, who decided to take up the cause following last fall’s Quebec Elections, and is now president of SAMS. This is a great initiative, and at the same time, whether through SAMS or on their own, all musicians would contribute to the community in this way.

June is another exciting month for La Scena Musicale, as we feature our 13th annual National Festival issue. The second of two nationally distributed issues, it appears on May 29 (Quebec Edition) and on June 5 (English Canada Edition) and continues to provide the most complete information to plan a musical summer in Canada, including our 13th annual Guide to Classical Music and Arts Festivals (more than 200 festivals!). This will be the most comprehensive guide yet, with 80 classical music festivals and 700 concert listings, as well as 120 arts festivals. Furthermore, our festival picks highlight the most exciting events.

On the cover is Canadian contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux, who will celebrate her first 10 years of career; after a long year and a half abroad, she returns to Canada to appear at the Lanaudière and Knowlton Festivals, and make her Montreal Opera debut. Our festival coverage continues with a look at the business of festivals through interviews with several festival general directors. We look at the music of Henry Purcell, who is celebrated this year by the Montreal Baroque Festival, which will open the festival featuring the sounds of 6 restored violas da gamba with an interesting history. June will be a Bruckner month in Montreal, as both Symphonies No. 7 and No. 8 will be presented; LSM looks at the composer and discusses the works with Raffi Armenian and Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

The June Discovery CD features the percussionist Marie-Josée Simard and pianist Mari Fabi. Remember that this CD (a collaboration with XXI Records) is free for paying copies of La Scena Musicale. As we continue our 2009 Subscription Campaign, I am pleased to announce that the Canadian music recording industry is lending its support with prizes for a Super Subscription Contest. So far, we have $20,000 in prizes: XXI Records will contribute a collection of 260 CDs, SRI Distribution 200 CDs, Analekta 200 CDs, ATMA 200 CDs, Naxos 200 CDs and CBC Records 100 CDs. What better way to start or complete your CD collection? This contest is open to current and new subscribers as of August 15, 2009.