Additional Information
The 2025-26 season of the Salle Bourgie has just been launched, and it promises to be a particularly exciting one. It will be the 15th season for this now venerable institution, created thanks to an exemplary collaboration between the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and philanthropist Pierre Bourgie. After the remarkable reign of Isolde Lagacé, it is now four years since Oliver Godin, Artistic Director, and Caroline Louis, General Manager, took over the helm and set the course for an annual programme that is as colourful and high quality as ever.
I had a quick chat with the two indefatigable music lovers about the upcoming season, and their favourites (always an impossibly difficult exercise).
Asked what they have learnt from their years of programming at Salle Bourgie, Olivier quickly replies that the Montreal public is extraordinary. ‘’It’s an audience that follows us in our choices and the directions where we want to take the venue‘’. He also mentions the versatility of the hall, which allows for a number of configurations, as well as privileged and intimate encounters with some very big international and local names.
The good news is that young people are also present: ‘People always say that classical music is for greyheads, but we have an increasing number of under-34s, and that’s great to see. Of course, we love our greyheads with all our heart, they’re the core of our audience, but it’s inspiring to see that our strategies for acquiring another audience are bearing fruit‘’, says Olivier Godin. Caroline Louis points out that over the past three years, this segment has doubled, and now accounts for an average of over 15% of the audience. A more than respectable figure, given that the repertoire is often more niche classical music than the symphony fare.
For the season as a whole, there’s no need to draw up a long grocery list here, especially as the details are available on the venue’s website, but suffice it to mention the continuation of the complete Schubert lieder series with (brace yourself!) Wolfgang Holzmair in what will be one of his last recitals before retirement, Anne-Sofie von Otter, rising star Andrè Schuen, Samuel Hasselhorn, the exceptional Victoire Bunel, and many others. There will be a strong piano focus, with visits from Leif Ove Andsnes, a residency by Kristian Bezuidenhout, the explosive Beatrice Rana, a complete Prokofiev with David Jalbert, Quebec’s Élizabeth Pion, the eagerly awaited return of Vikingur Olafsson in Bach, Beethoven and Schubert, Alexandre Tharaud, an all-too rare appearance by Dang Thai Son, the spectacular Fazil Say, and so much more, including an event that promises to be memorable: the meeting of Marc-André Hamelin and Charles Richard-Hamelin!
Violinists galore (Christian Tetzlaff, Jinjoo Cho, Andrew Wan, Tabea Zimmermann (viola)), cello, flute, guitar and more. In contemporary music, there will be some fine acts, including the excellent New York vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth, with repertoire by Missy Mazzoli and Caroline Shaw, among others. There’s also the Duo Étrange (as it’s called), made up of soprano Vanessa Croome and cellist Sahara von Hattenberger, with a new work by Nicole Lizée. Les Violons du Roy, Les Idées heureuses, Arion Orchestre Baroque and other regulars are still there. Collectif9, the highly innovative string ensemble from Montreal, will be taking us on a journey through the various iterations of the Passacaglia, from Frescobaldi to Ligeti.
‘’It’s very important for us to give a platform to local artists. They make up half our programme‘’ – Olivier Godin
Jazz (Jazzlab Orchestra, the inescapable Taurey Butler and his Charlie Brown Christmas, François Bourassa in duet with Marie-Josée Simard, the Cordâme ensemble and its beautiful show Fabula Femina, the Kate Wyatt Quartet, one of the best pianists in Canada today, and a Montrealer, a tribute to Pat Metheny, etc.) and world music (Zal Sissokho and his poetic West African kora that will meet jazz, Yiddish music by the Likht Ensemble and composers killed or who survived the Holocaust, a unique encounter between the venerable 92-year-old Alanis Obomsawin and two-time Polaris winner Jeremy Dutcher, in an intimate piano-voice version) are always on the bill, of course, not forgetting the unmissable visits by musicians from the OSM and the OM. Also, uncommon but very interesting : two concerts that will combine music with modern dance.
‘’We’re happy to programme established names, but we also like to provoke encounters, try things out and, perhaps, act as a precursor, by merging worlds‘’ – Olivier Godin
There’s a lot more, so take a look at the brochure, which is now available.
Before ending the interview, I couldn’t resist asking the two enthusiasts a few tough questions.
Your most emotional moment in perspective? Olivier Godin: ‘’I’d have to say André Shuen’s recital. This will be his first time in Montreal and he’s a young baritone with an extraordinary interiority. He’ll be mixing lieder by Schubert and Mahler, set to movingly beautiful texts by a number of poets, which we’ll be able to follow above the performer. It’ll be a very moving journey, for sure‘’.
Caroline Louis: ‘’It’s so difficult, but I can’t fail to mention Wolfgang Holzmair’s final concert, performing Schubert’s Winterreise.
Oh well, another one : your most surprising moment? Olivier: ‘’Perhaps the concert of improvisations on keyboards (piano, harpsichord, organ) by Ilya Poletaev, who will play spontaneously on images from the last century chosen by the director of the FIFA (Festival international du film sur l’art de Montréal).’’ Cinema, surveillance cameras, NASA images and AI creations, a whole ensemble that paints a broad and fragmented portrait of a century of images.
Caroline : ‘’The concert by Fazil Say, who will be playing the Goldberg Variations alongside his own compositions.’’
Let’s meet often at the Sherbrooke street west hall.
