Editorial

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October is La Scena Musicale’s month for youth, as our second annual Rising Stars issue features 12 musicians to watch for. On the cover is 21-year-old Stéphane Tétreault, who came to prominence three years ago with the gift of a rare Stradivarius cello from a major benefactor. Stéphane’s innate musicality is a perfect match for the special cello.

We also feature eleven winners of recent Canadian and International competitions (from the Montreal International Music Competition, Prix d’Europe to the Queen Elisabeth and Menuhin), along with our annual Competition Guide.

Interestingly, five of the twelve rising stars are students or graduates of Quebec’s network of Music conservatories, which made headlines in September over rumours that Quebec government budget cuts will force the closure of the regional conservatories by 2015. We join the entire musical and artistic community in condemning this possible decision. On the next page, we share the open letters from conductors Jacques Lacombe, Yannick Nézét-Séguin and Alain Trudel.

I’m pleased to announce that the new LSM Mentorship Program will be launching soon; OSM first trumpet Paul Merkelo has agreed to be our first mentor, and more will be announced in the fall. To apply, visit www.scena.org.

In anticipation of Montreal’s 375th anniversary in 2017, we will start a new section in our November issue: “Montreal Cultural Metropolis.” In this issue, we offer a sample with a spread on the Quartier des Spectacles.

We continue our 2014-15 Subscription Campaign with the return of the Discovery CD for subscribers, now as a weekly CD of the Week MP3 download, i.e., 52 full-length CDs in the next 12 months, or one CD per week totaling 52 hours of music. The October CDs include a disc of French melodies featuring soprano Karine Boucher, one of our 2014 rising stars, plus one of  Stéphane Tétreault’s favourite recordings (1953 Tosca with Callas). Other subscription privileges include whiter paper and full translations to either English or French

Finally, we are offering subscriptions as a fundraising tool; partnering high school music programs and amateur ensembles can keep up to 50% of the amounts raised. We hope you will help by subscribing.

Our 2014 Fundraising Fund campaign continues with plans for fundraising activities and our next Online Auction: items include a painting by the late composer Otto Joachim, and signed batons from Charles Dutoit, Fabien Gabel, Alain Trudel and Boris Brott. The auctions close on Nov. 21, 2014. Visit www.lascena.ca.

Have a great October full of music and the arts!