Editorial

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Last December 9, La Scène Musicale/The Music Scene concluded its 2010 Endowment Fund campaign with an entertaining recital featuring soprano Aline Kutan, pianist Martin Dubé and trombonist Matthew Russell at the home of ¬Margaret Lefebvre. About 35 people braved the snow and traffic, for a selection of traditional English carols with brass, an ¬Armenian hymn and arias from Lakmé and Roméo et Juliette. The ¬prevailing comments heard afterward were that the evening was magical. Music has that effect.

As for our Endowment Fund, thanks to supporters at our two fundraisers and 150 other donors, we raised $40,000, which thanks to the Quebec government’s Placements Culture program, will be matched by another $60,000 to create a $100,000 fund. The grant stipulates that we deposit the money in the Foundation of Greater Montreal for a period of 10 years and that we benefit from the annual interest earned. We hope that this will help LSM in the long-term. See page 17 for the list of donors.

In the short term, we are planning more fundraising activities for 2011 to help with our operating budget, including several intimate ¬private events. For March, we will be launching an online auction of music and arts related items that will run through the summer. We need the help of musicians and artists. Please contact us at ¬fundraising@¬lascena.org to donate goods or services for the auction.

As part of La Scena Musicale’s 15^th year, we will look back at some of our accomplishments. Ten years ago, we conducted an extensive online survey to produce the list “Top Ten Musical Valentines” along with an online Valentine’s e-Card featuring those works, demonstrating our leadership as a global classical media outlet. That feature is still available on our website ecard.scena.org, and in time for Valentine’s Day; we are reprinting the list.

Our cover features pianist Emanuel Ax, who stops in Montreal for a Valentine’s Day recital with Pro Musica. Lucie Renaud also remembers pianist John Newmark, the subject of our monthly Discovery CD, in partnership with XXI Records, which is sent to our paying subscribers. Incidentally, we are launching our 2011 Subscription Campaign with a special 2-for-1 Winter promotion for new subscribers: buy one subscription and get the second one (for a friend) free. It makes a special Valentine’s Gift. The promotion ends on February 28, 2011.

There is plenty more in store for the issue, including our regular columns, jazz section, reviews and our regional calendar.

During these cold winter days, warm up to great music.