From the Editor

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Welcome to our 15^th annual national issue dedicated to higher education. In addition to our annual Guide to higher education — 16 schools and summer academies participated in either our English or French listings and advertising — we present education news, a profile of educator Nadia Turbide and a look at the Isabel, Queen’s new concert hall.

Twenty-Five is the anniversary year celebrated by our cover ensembles: the Ensemble Caprice led by Matthias Maute graces our English cover, while the Alcan Quartet is our French cover feature.

In choral music, it’s a passing of the guard, as conductor Iwan Edwards bids his musical farewell in his final concert with the Concerto della Donna, while we meet young conductor Philippe Bourque, the new artistic director of the St. Lawrence Choir, the choir Edwards initially founded.

Piano enthusiasts will be sure to check out our profile of Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov. In contemporary music, we look at ten essential electroacoustic compositions in Quebec. Our nod to Movember is in the form of the aria of the month’s look at Figaro’s “Largo al factotum” from Rossini’s Barber of Seville. Our series on the Cultural Metropolis continues with the politics behind the project.

Finally, with this issue, we begin a series on the state of the recording industry, starting with Marc Chénard’s view of the Jazz industry. The series continues in the next issue (Dec/Jan) with the classical music recording industry, along with our Gift ideas and CD reviews.

Don’t forget to check out LSM’s other regular features, including our extensive concert listings (also searchable online at SCENA.org), event picks, and news in the classical music and fine arts world.

For the last 18 years, La Scena Musicale has been brought to you by a dedicated team of staff and volunteers driven by our charitable mission to promote music and the arts.

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. Other subscription privileges include: whiter paper, and full translations to either English or French. 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 our next Online Auction: items include a painting by the late violist-composer Otto Joachim, and signed batons from Boris Brott, Charles Dutoit, Alain Trudel, Jean-Philippe Tremblay and Fabien Gabel. Bidding starts on November 21 until November 30. We are also planning a fundraising conference-interview with filmmaker Denys Arcand on May 3, 2015, and will be launching the LSM Mentorship Program. Visit www.lascena.ca.

Have a great musical November.