Additional Information
We are quite familiar with the role of Jeunesses Musicales Canada (JMC) in supporting and developing the careers of young Canadian artists. We sometimes forget that the JMC hall, or Joseph-Rouleau Hall, located in the heart of Plateau Mont-Royal in Montreal, offers a season of concerts of all types (Happy hours, youth, families, etc.) throughout the year. I had the chance to discuss with the General and Artistic Director Danièle LeBlanc, about the 2026-2027 season of the small, but incredibly charming concert hall.
PANM360: The mission of Jeunesses Musicales Canada is to support young artists. What part does the programming of concerts in the Joseph-Rouleau hall play in this?
Danièle LeBlanc: Our mission is divided into two parts: Supporting the career development of young artists, yes, but also Promoting musical activities for preschool and primary school audiences (and we add concerts for adult audiences).
PANM360: So a season of programming at the Joseph-Rouleau hall, it’s all this.
Danièle LeBlanc: Yes, that’s what we try to reflect in our small 100-seat theatre. We welcome school outings. We also have concerts for families, offered once a month, on Sundays.
We also offer a series of concerts that allow us to provide young artists with opportunities to showcase their talent in a professional context. Every year, we offer a residency to an artist. This is realised through free access to our venue, followed by the production and presentation of three concerts throughout the year, according to their schedule.
In addition, there is a guest concert, ideally by a JMC artist or a former JMC artist. And of course, all our concerts that go on tour also have the opportunity to be held in Montreal in our venue.
PANM360: What do we take away from the 26-27 season?
Danièle LeBlanc: We can notice the name Krystina Marcoux, marimbist. She will be our artist in residence for the year. She will handle the programming, artist booking, etc. for the organization of three concerts. She is a very dynamic and bold artist. We have known her since 2019 because she was a JMC artist.
On October 15th, she will present her first concert as part of our Happy Hour series, which starts at 6 PM with the aperitif, the concert at 7 PM, and everything ends at 8 PM so that people can go finish the evening at a restaurant (there are plenty in the area).
Her concert is called Dance, Rhythm, and Fire. There will be Stravinsky, Gershwin, Saint-Saëns. She will be performing in a duo with the violinist Chloé Dumoulin, another excellent young artist of the next generation.
PANM360: Violin and marimba, it’s very surprising and refreshing. One recognises the originality of Krystina Marcoux.
Danièle LeBlanc: Ah yes, absolutely. Her second concert, Timeless Trilogy, will take place on January 28, 2027. She will be in a duo with another marimbist, Conrado Moya, who plays a lot in Europe. He will be passing through here and will take the opportunity to explore all kinds of repertoires with Krystina, including Bach and Ravel in unique arrangements.
INFO AND TICKETS FOR THE THREE CONCERTS WITH KRYSTINA MARCOUX
PANM360: If there is a percussionist capable of making the Baroque sing as much as Impressionism or crossover, it is her.
Danièle LeBlanc: I have an anecdote about that. During her first audition for the JMC, she had played Bach, precisely. I don’t remember exactly what. But I remember a judge who told me backstage, “It’s the best Bach I’ve ever heard in my life.” Krystina on a marimba, that’s it.
Finally, her residency will end with Embrassing the Ephemeral on March 17 2027, in a marimba-voice duo. Something else that is extremely rare! She will be with soprano Caroline Gélinas to play Mahler, Falla, and Bach, again. I think it will be a very, very beautiful residency.
PANM360: So, there are three Happy Hour concerts, but they are not the only ones?
Danièle LeBlanc: No, of course not. These are only the three scheduled and set up by our artist in residence. There are several others throughout the year. In this series of Happy Hours, there is also a guest concert and three other concerts by emerging artists chosen by the JMC to tour Canada.
The guest will be Pierre Rancourt, a well-known opera singer. He will accompany himself this time on guitar and with foot-tapping in a tribute to Québécois chanson Great Félix Leclerc. An instrumental trio will be with him. The emerging artists who will complete the series will be the viola-piano duo of Wilhelm Magner and Elizabeth Pion (whose career is progressing very well!); the Duo CordaVox (Bruno Gauthier-Bellerose on guitar and Lucie St-Martin, soprano) in a program inspired by folk songs according to Ravel, Britten, Rodrigo; and then the Passamano Ensemble, a piano-cello-flute trio that will explore tango.
INFO AND TICKETS FOR THE HAPPY HOUR CONCERT SERIES
PANM360: Pierre Rancourt, excellent lyrical singer, in a traditional/song format, it’s very intriguing.
Danièle LeBlanc: What I find inspiring about this project is that it comes from his work in welcome classes for newcomers. He developed an approach that conveys to immigrants an image of Quebec and its inhabitants. What does it mean to live in Quebec, what does it mean to be Quebecois. He reprises Félix, but also arranges it. Sometimes, there are Arab-tinged sounds, for example. It’s a true intercultural adventure, and a generous and touching sharing. He was inspired by that and is giving us a very beautiful concert.
PANM360: There is also Ma Belle Opérette (My Beautiful Operetta). What is it?
Danièle LeBlanc: That’s very original and exciting. It’s a special show, which will take place at the Maison de la culture Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, because it’s too grand to fit in our small hall. My beautiful operetta is actually a compilation of well-known and lesser-known operetta and lyric comedy arias, scripted by Pascal Blanchet, a fine connoisseur of this repertoire. He imagined a fictional situation, in Montreal in the 40s-50s, in which producers are putting on a show. Through the various situations, all sorts of melodies will be heard, including some from Lionel Daunais and Charles Goulet, of course. There will be all sorts of likeable characters, a critic, a French diva, etc.
INFO AND DETAILS FOR MA BELLE OPÉRETTE (MY BEAUTIFUL OPERETTA)
PANM360: Your other target audience is children and families…
Danièle LeBlanc: Yes, it still works very well. We have several productions that are running and coming back.
PANM360: Like Annabelle Canto...
Danièle LeBlanc: In truth, Annabelle will be a new production adapted with artists from New Brunswick. This province is a very important partner in the JMC network.
We have classics that are always popular, The Halloween Ball, The Forest of Music Lovers, The Grand Christmas Ball, etc. Some have been with us for about twenty years, like The Grand Christmas Ball! I like to think that we have had an impact on young artists who have been able to develop their project and give it a long life.
There is also a guest concert in this series. This year, it will be Il était une flûte (Once Upon a flute) with Aurélie Morgan. She presents a dozen flutes of all kinds and from all countries.
INFO AND TICKETS FOR THE FAMILY CONCERTINOS SERIES
PANM360: It’s very family-oriented. Not just in terms of programming, but in terms of the JMC community…
Danièle LeBlanc: Yes. It’s true that all organisations want to create this kind of belonging. I don’t think we’re different from others in that sense. You know, the Montreal Symphony, the Opéra de Montréal, everyone wants to create a family around them, a community that believes in it and will move forward (both the patrons, the artists, the employees, the volunteers, and the music-loving public). However, JMC is an organization specifically focused on young people, most of whom are not yet known, and that is unique. I think that JMC is an important organization in the ecosystem, relevant for young artists and for young children who want to discover music.
PANM360: Sometimes it seems that the Joseph-Rouleau hall is still not well known to concertgoers, and even to the residents of the Plateau.
Danièle LeBlanc: In what you are saying, certain factors need to be taken into account. First of all, the building itself is a significant architectural witness. You can’t do whatever you want with the facade. If you look at the top of the building, it says Clinique Laurier. It’s historic. So there is a challenge, we can’t dismantle the facade as we would like to show people that we have a room.
We are also located between the Conservatory and the Maison de la culture du Plateau Mont-Royal, they are direct competitors, we need to stand out.
PANM360: Is the room being used to its full capacity?
Danièle LeBlanc: No, but it is used at high capacity. Between our scheduled concerts, our external rentals, our internal use for our own activities, our own rehearsals, I dare to say that it is occupied 60% of the time by external, internal, or rental projects. We could always seek more rentals, we could always position ourselves differently within the ecosystem, that’s a consideration to be made. We will actually start designing our future strategic plan soon. These are reflections we will have. But you’re right: we have the challenge of standing out, of emerging from this kind of jewel in a case, hidden in a box, itself in a drawer.
PANM360: Thank you, and have a wonderful 26-27 season! Thank you, and a very beautiful 26-27 season!
Danièle LeBlanc: Thank you!
