Contemporary Music by Réjean Beaucage
/ September 1, 2015
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The upcoming season marks the fifth Homage Series by the Société de musique contemporaine du Québec (SMCQ), featuring John Rea’s music in 35 concerts. The first two will be presented the same evening (September 25) by Walter Boudreau’s SMCQ ensemble and Lorraine Vaillancourt’s Nouvel Ensemble Moderne (NEM, see the John Rea article). Rea’s most traditional works—S.P.I. 51 and STER 1.3, two electronic music selections from 1967 and 1968—can be heard at the closing concert of AKOUSMA’s Digital Immersive Music Festival, October 28 to 31 at Usine C (www.akousma.ca/en). Louis Dufort, the festival’s artistic director, will present these two works during a concert featuring compositions by Roxanne Turcotte, Martin Messier, Valerio Tricoli, and a duet formed by Martin Bédard and George Forget. Visit SMCQ’s website at www.smcq.qc.ca/en for complete series programming.
The Triple Forte trio (Jasper Wood, violin; Yegor Dyachkov, cello; David Jalbert, piano) will celebrate Estonian composer Arvo Pärt’s 70th birthday on September 23, twelve days after his birth. Three of his compositions will be performed during Arte Musica Foundation’s fifth concert season at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts’ Bourgie Hall. Shostakovich’s Trio No. 2 and a Canadian work by Japanese composer Reiko Yamada will round out the concert. www.mbam.qc.ca/en/concerts
On October 14, the NEM presents two works by Italian composer Salvatore Sciarrino, including his 2003 Quaderno di strada (Road Map), performed by baritone Vincent Ranallo. Performance takes place at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts’ Bourgie Hall. www.lenem.ca
When clarinettist Lori Freedman changed her membership status to “performer,” the Ensemble Transmission became a quintet. The ensemble will grow to cater to some guests during the 2015–2016 season, and will perform many works to honour major 20th-century masterpieces. Its season begins at Chapelle historique du Bon-Pasteur on October 2 with a concert featuring compositions by Éric Champagne, Jean Lesage, Arnold Schönberg, and Wolfgang Rihm. www.ensembletransmission.com
The Ensemble contemporain de Montréal (ECM+) begins its season on October 20 at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal concert hall. The ensemble welcomes Vancouver-based Turning Point Ensemble and its conductor Owen Underhill for a Quebec debut. The group will perform works by Dorothy Chang, Jocelyn Morlock, Farangis Nurula-Khoja, Ana Sokolović, and Anthony Tan. Tan won ECM+’s 2014 Generation Jury Prize; his work premieres at this concert. Véronique Lacroix’s vibrant ensemble will unveil its Generation2016 series in March. In April, the group tours six Quebec cities, presenting a program in a Homage Series to John Rea. The ensemble concludes its season with a concert in Vancouver. www.ecm.qc.ca
Composer and guitarist Tim Brady and his Bradyworks ensemble will make their mark outside Quebec, performing his chamber opera work Ghost Tango (Doug Smith, libretto) at Halifax’s Dalhousie Arts Centre from September 16 to 19. There will be a reprise performance at Kitchener’s Registry Theatre in early October. www.timbrady.ca
After returning from Sweden and Austria, and before heading to Ireland and England, Quatuor Bozzini will present New York composer Taylor Brook’s “Musique de chambre noire” October 29 and 30 at Montreal’s Cinémathèque Québécoise. The series comes with a video by Montreal native Nathalie Bujold. This audiovisual experience is presented in collaboration with the AKOUSMA Festival. www.quatuorbozzini.ca/en.
On October 11, Innovations en concert presents “The Music of Gavin Bryars” at Église du Gesù, featuring Montreal-based ensemble Warhol Dervish and the Out of Sight of Land project by New-York native Damon Hankoff. www.innovationsenconcert.ca.
Located on Montreal’s Bleury Street, Le Gesù is Le Vivier’s new headquarters. Le Vivier gathers all stakeholders involved with the city’s contemporary music scene. The website is a must-have reference for those interested in modern and contemporary music. You can find an event calendar, performer and composer profiles, and expanded general-knowledge topics on this website. It is a good idea to visit regularly to get an overview of activities in the contemporary music sphere, especially when it is impossible to list all events during the 2015–2016 season. www.levivier.ca/en
Translation: Dwain Richardson
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