Editorial

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La Scena Musicale is proud to present the 14th annual National Festival issue. We offer a thorough Guide to Classical Music and Arts Festivals to help you plan your musical summer with listings of 92 classical music festivals, 830 concerts and 100 arts festivals. Our seasoned writers highlight the most exciting events on the Canadian festival scene.

In Quebec, the two-year-old Knowlton Festival is taking the year off for planning, freeing up Kent Nagano and the Montreal Symphony to join Orford for a 2-week mini-festival. Under the artistic direction of Jean-François Rivest, Orford has added other new features including a conference series. New this year is the Festival Opéra de Saint-Eustache organized by soprano Leila-Marie Chalfoun, while the Festival classique des Hautes-Laurentides, organized by André-Gilles Duchemin, has expanded its programming to include 10 different municipalities. Meanwhile, founder and former artistic director of the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival Julian Armour has created the new Music and Beyond festival, which will take place in Ottawa in early July with over 60 events.

Swiss flutist Emmanuel Pahud is our June cover artist. Pahud will teach and perform at the Domaine Forget Festival this month.

Readers will also find La SCENA in this issue, which features a look at the world’s first international circus festival, a historical view of fringe festivals across Canada, an exclusive interview with filmmakers Anne-Sophie Dutoit and Jean-Claude Labrecque, and much more.

Music lovers will be treated to musicologist Jean Marchand’s comparison of Mahler’s Symphony no. 8, the famed “Symphony of a Thousand,” and Monteverdi’s Vespers, both to be performed this June. Readers also meet Canadian baritone Elliot Madore, a winner of the 2010 Met Auditions.

The June 2010 Discovery CD (in partnership with XXI Records) features beloved Canadian contralto Maureen Forrester (who will celebrate her 80th birthday this summer!) performing Schumann’s Frauenleben und lieben and works by Brahms. LSM subscribers receive this disc plus a bonus downloadable album of Forrester singing Bach and Handel arias.

Our Endowment Fund campaign continues, and we urge you to help us reach our goal of raising $100,000 by November 30; each dollar raised will be matched with an additional $1.50 by the Quebec Placement Culture program. La Scena Musicale depends on your support in order to continue promoting classical music in Canada and we are grateful for your readership and encouragement.

Enjoy your read. We hope to see you at some of the many festivals this summer!