Arabic Classical / expérimental / contemporain

June 13 at Suoni Per Il Popolo: No Hay Banda with Sarah Davachi and Nadah El-Shazly + Sarah Pagé

by Laurent Bellemare

The Suoni Per Il Popolo festival may present three or four concerts each evening, but on a Thursday evening in June, a packed Sala Rossa was ready to welcome two hours of contemporary music. In the case of both proposals, they were premieres, and it was the excitement of discovering the new projects of these renowned artists that brought everyone together. Such enthusiasm for innovative music is to be welcomed, and confirms the relevance of the No Hay Banda series of events.

Sarah Davachi: No Hay Banda performs Three Unisons for Four Voices.

The shimmering sound of the vibraphone notes played with the bow had barely joined the spun sounds of the strings when the ensemble suddenly had to stop playing. The interruption was caused by the violinist feeling unwell, and she unfortunately had to withdraw from the concert to regain her strength. We had then heard no more than five minutes of minimalist music, moving very slowly and gently.

Following this false start, a few minutes passed without the crowd really knowing what was going on. Pianist Daniel Áñez was soon able to announce that the concert would resume with a substitute violinist, Clemens Merkel of the Quatuor Bozzini. A mere spectator, the musician offered to play Sarah Davachi’s work at a moment’s notice, much to everyone’s relief. The ensemble then got down to work and restarted their performance of the 70-minute piece.

A little deciphering of the work’s title helps us understand how it works. On the one hand, the ensemble of six performers was divided into four instrumental groups: strings, winds, percussion and ondes Martenot (and electronics!). The voices interacted with each other by playing the same musical material (hence the idea of unison), but with individual freedom of execution. A sequence of notes had to be played in a given time, but the writing was not rigid as to how the performer would get there. In this way, the piece was structured by a chronometer, with precise timings determining its progression.

Perceptually, the work seemed to emerge from silence, then rise in density and intensity for half an hour or so, then calmly descend into nothingness. To appreciate such music, one had to be attentive to the micro-details – the subtle harmonic changes generated by the improvisational element. The effect was comparable to that of a massive drone whose harmonics had been skilfully orchestrated, in the manner of spectral music à la Gérard Grisey or Tristan Murail.

Unfortunately, the beloved Sala Rossa may not have been the best place to immerse oneself in this type of listening. Between floor creaks, chair squeaks and bar action, it wasn’t easy for the instrumentalists to monopolize the sound space. As a result, the audience’s selective listening was seriously challenged, which didn’t help to plunge fully into the musical proposition. A possible compromise would have been to amplify the instruments so that they enveloped the space more fully. All in all, Three Unisons for Four Voices was an invitation to plunge actively into the sound material, which the ensemble communicated with brio. We only regret the acoustic constraints that somewhat mitigated the immersive effect the work could have had.

Nadah El-Shazli + Sarah Pagé

While not the artists’ first collaboration, the unusual duet between Egyptian singer Nadah El-Shazli and harpist Sarah Pagé is still a fresh offering. Pagé had indeed recorded harp on El Shazly’s 2017 album Ahwar, but the two artists’ collaborative concerts are more recent than that.

The performance contrasted sharply with the first part of the concert, to say the least. The songs were full of energy and moved along at breakneck speed. El-Shazli’s Arabic lyrics and traditionally-inspired vocals, modulated with live processing and complemented by sampling, combined in a tasty, novel rendering. The singer’s mastery of vocal ornamentation brought out the modal colors of her melodies.

But what was most impressive was the variety of vocal techniques she employed. El-Shazly moved easily from a strong, full-bodied vocal projection to a more vulnerable voice with very little breath. What can we say about the few screams she let out towards the middle of the show? The singer also used the microphone creatively, to create dramatic effects. The further away the microphone was, the less processed El-Shazby’s voice became, allowing her to make skilful modulations of timbre and volume. She also ended one piece singing a capella, abandoning amplification for a goosebump-inducing moment.

Sarah Pagé was not to be outdone, well equipped with her amplified harp and an arsenal of effects pedals. In the course of her performance, the harpist traversed a wide range of playing modes, extended techniques and types of sound processing. Her performance was totally dynamic, moving fluidly from fast articulations to delay playing, bowed spun sounds and plucked chord ostinatos. Exemplary, Pagé once again confirmed the great versatility of his artistic practice.

All in all, the interplay between El-Shazly’s vocals and Pagé’s strings was a successful rendezvous. The performance seems to have been composed mainly of original music, although at least the last piece of the concert ‘Mahmiya’ was taken from El-Shazly’s solo album. In any case, we look forward to hearing a duo album from these two artists.

Photo by Pierre Langlois

Indie Pop

HABITAT SONORE : the music that rocks Montreal… and the Phi Center !

by Salima Bouaraour

The music that rocks Montreal. Fifteen artists from the local scene. Fifteen songs with a very wide range. Synth pop, electro, R&B, indie rock, hip-hop. The list is available for listening from May 8 to August 11 at the Phi Center. A recommendation from PA N M 360 for your summer pleasure!

Artists – Gayance – Narcy – En Stéréo – KALLITECHNIS – The Bionic Harpist – Patrick Watson – Klô Pelgag – Daniel Bélanger – Bibi Club – Jean-Michel Blais – Waahli – Cosmic Cosmic – Malika Tirolien – Dominique Fils-Aimé – Karkwa – revisit the sound design of one of their works to allow audiences to fully immerse themselves in a three-dimensional universe offered by Dolby Atmos on a set of 16 multichannel loudspeakers.

The listening experience lasts 51 minutes, while you sit or lie on comfortable cushions in the dark. Your hearing is thus called upon to its full potential, allowing you to fully appreciate the performance in depth;

The sensory euphoria offered by this listening experience has a high meditative potential, where each of the song’s sonorities occupies its own space, lulling you along as you take multiple detours through the infinite sweetness of Patrick Watson’s voice – Better in the Shade – , through the vocal warmth of Gayance – Lord Have Mercy – or through the magical harp of The Bionic Harpist.

Canadian contemporary R&B star KALLITECHNIS will clearly stand out, with his upbeat track WOUND UP, which won the 2022 Juno Award. Her album will be available to listen to from June 19 to 23 in the listening room: Mood Ring.

PAN M 360 strongly invites you to experience this session specially dedicated to talented Montreal artists!

PLAYLIST:

Jean-Michel Blais – passepied

The Bionic Harpist – In Stillness

Dominique Fils-Aimé – Cheers to New Beginnings

Patrick Watson – Better in the Shade

Klô Pelgag – Mélamine

Daniel Bélanger – J’entends tout ce qui joue

Bibi Club – Le feu

Karkwa – Gravité

Waahli – Te revoir

Malika Tirolien – A Love That Will Last

KALLITECHNIS – WOUND UP

Gayance – Lord Have Mercy

En Stéréo – Clair Obscur

Narcy – Journey

Cosmic Cosmic – Jupiter

POUR INFOS ET BILLETS

Classical / Modern Classical / Opera

Der Kaiser von Atlantis: a modest but important production

by Frédéric Cardin

A moment I’d been looking forward to for a long time took place yesterday in Salle Claude-Champagne at the Université de Montréal: a performance of Viktor Ullman’s opera Der Kaiser von Atlantis. Well, almost what I expected, as it was a concert version, enhanced, that said, by some very fine video projections. Der Kaiser is a great masterpiece in a small format (not even an hour), a fundamental opera of the 20th century that almost disappeared under the carelessness of the Nazis, but survived for decades under an old mattress. Follow the link below to find out part of the story.

WATCH THE INTERVIEW WITH CONDUCTOR MATHIAS MAUTE ABOUT DER KAISER VON ATLANTIS (in French)

Der Kaiser tells a simple story: Emperor Overall (what an appropriate name) wages war on all his neighbors. He boasts that he has Death on his side, “under his banner”, and that with it, no enemy can survive. Death, fed up with being used like this, decides to go on strike. With no one left to die, war becomes pointless, and no one fears the evil imperial dictator. So much so that even people fall in love across enemy lines. Overall is in despair when Death appears to her and proposes a deal: she will resume her service on condition that her first victim is the Emperor himself. In a final gesture of redemption, the Emperor accepts, for the good of all. The direct reference to Hitler and fascism is obvious (minus the redemption), and serves as a powerful, hyper-focused symbol and indictment of the absurdity of megalomania. Ullmann died in Auschwitz in 1944. He never realized that his subject never had the strength of character of the fictional character.

Ullmann’s score is marvelous. An absolute masterpiece of eclectic modernism, typical of a certain style of the 1920s, 30s and 40s, which dared to mix atonal music, late Romanticism, jazz, popular music, consonance and dissonance. In short, what we’re used to today, a century ahead of its time.

The fifteen-strong chamber orchestra features a portable organ, banjo, guitar and classical strings, woodwinds and brass. The music is sparkling with motifs and snatches of melody that are juxtaposed and swiftly strung together, without ever giving the impression of amalgamating into a shapeless soup. On the contrary, ultra-smooth lines, drawn with a scalpel, sometimes anticipating those of Shostakovich. Ullmann keeps us constantly on our toes. A modernism that is often cynical, that squeaks and plays tight in corners, but full of humor and contagious vitality.

*Der Kaiser von Atlantis* – Festival Classica

The vocal side is divided between scansions and singing. Frédéric Caton (Death) gives a fine performance, a purring bass, very much in character. Florence Bourget in the role of the Drum, with magnificent projection and a pleasant timbre. Éric Laporte as Harlequin (symbolizing Life) is adequate, but a little thin in the treble. Pierre-Yves Pruvot plays the Emperor Overall, and his grandiloquent vibrato is blessed with a character who can live with it. I’m not sure I’d have liked it in any other context. Le Haut-Parleur, the national radio station, is conducted ”imperially” by Tomislav Lavoie, but in a German that lacks clarity. Emmanuel Hasler and Sophie Naubert are very decent in their small roles as soldiers.

This was a concert version, but ”augmented”, as I said, by video projections, combining beautiful, partially animated illustrations by Maxime Bigras and a montage of archive films by Matthieu Thoër, of Lumifest en cavale. Without this visual dimension, the experience could have seemed arid. All that remains now is to hope for a real stage production in the not-too-distant future.

I disagree with a colleague who regrets the absence of costumes in a concert version. What’s the point of “graying” singers in Halloween when they’re condemned to remain stationary? It would be ridiculous. Anyway…

The concert ended with the presentation of Montrealer Jaap Nico Hamburger’s Symphony for Chamber Orchestra No. 1 “Remember to Forget”. A fitting complement, the underlying theme of this symphony being that of one train heading for death (1st movement) and another heading for liberation, or life (2nd movement).

The link with opera was also made with Hamburger’s music, which bears some resemblance to Ullmann’s, although it is built on a much more linear discursive architecture. No sudden, even violent leaps between opposing affects, textures and rhythms. Rather, the music is fairly consonant, albeit with occasional atonal outbursts, set to a steady pulse, illustrating the train’s progress. Depending on whether the train is heading for life or death, the atmosphere changes, of course. Hamburger would make an excellent film composer. Hamburger’s parents survived the Allied landings in 1944. After the murdered Ullmann, this man’s permitted existence is a positive conclusion. One train to death, another to life.

It’s a shame that Salle Claude-Champagne was only partially filled. Was it the program or the hall itself? Not its acoustics, which were excellent, but rather its location. A cul-de-sac (literally) devoid of any form of amenity in a wide radius around it (zero restaurants, bars or activities of any kind). A dormitory district. What a pity, it sounds so good.

The fact remains that such an operatic treasure, still too hidden, absolutely must be mounted and shown everywhere. It can serve as a powerful anti-totalitarian document as well as an introduction to modern opera and musical language. Its very short duration, its archetypes that can be understood by all, and the infinite possibilities it offers in terms of staging, are all elements that make it an absolute must in the art of music. It’s not what the Festival Classica will fill its coffers with, but the cultural and social importance of this kind of proposition is noteworthy. The vision and courage of the Classica team are to be commended, despite the very modest means at their disposal to realize this project. Sponsors who support this project should know: your investment will go far beyond a monetary rebate.

Bravo and thank you for daring.

Contemporary Opera

6 women, 3 operas and a beautiful evening of premieres

by Frédéric Cardin

Female creation is abundant and wide-ranging, if the three new operas presented (in part) at Salle Bourgie last night are anything to go by. Together, these three operas cover a broad spectrum of contemporary and scholarly musical language. Indeed, the evening’s premiere, entitled Fables et légendes – Opéra d’aujourd’hui (Tales and Legends – Opera of Today) was perfectly balanced between one rigorously atonal work, another fundamentally melodic and consonant, and a third somewhere in between. Each opera is the fruit of a collaboration between two women, a composer and a librettist. All three works were partially staged, as Bourgie Hall (and probably also the organizers’ financial means) did not allow for complete scenography.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE PROJECT IN AN INTERVIEW WITH KRISTIN HOFF OF 3 FEMMES MUSIC

The duo of composer Analia Llugdar and librettist Emné Nasereddine had the honor of launching the evening. Je suis fille de la fille (I am daughter of the daughter) is a musical setting of excerpts from the poetry book La danse du figuier, winner of the Prix Émile-Nelligan in 2021. Allow me to quote a comment from the jury that awarded the prize to Emné Nasereddine, about La danse du figuier :

In a meditation on her origins, the poet Nasereddine evokes three women: her grandmother, Téta, her mother, Fadwa, and her daughter, Emné. After her mother’s death, Emné makes a pithy observation: “the women of my country die before they can write”. This terrible observation undoubtedly motivated the poet to disobey her grandmother, who urged her to find a husband. By choosing instead to become a writer, Nasereddine faced a number of challenges. Once in Montreal, the poet moved into a territory where there were no “familiar scents”. It is poetry that will enable her to forge her own path in her host country, to sow the scents of Lebanon.

Jury of the competition

Llugdar’s music is not intended to describe any particular ethnocultural background. It is rigorously atonal, made up of timbral splits and fragmented rhythms. Accompanied only by a flute (Josée Poirier) and percussion (Krystina Marcoux), soprano Andréanne Brisson Paquin gave a well-embodied and, above all, vocally impressive performance. Llugdar’s score is demanding : abruptly interrupted lyrical flights, varied onomatopoeia and cooing need to be projected powerfully. One passage particularly struck me: the one in which the main character seems to return to her memory to evoke her grandmother, Téta, who is preparing the tea. The percussive sounds on the words tea, teapot, Téta, cup, etc. are amusing and remarkably well projected by Andréanne. A parenthesis (ostentatiously defined in and out of the piece by unusually violent attacks from the percussion – Krystina Marcoux, excellent) that felt good in a rather harsh total product. As mentioned above, this was an extract of some twenty minutes from a total work that must be around forty minutes long. No date has been set for the complete premiere.

*Je suis fille de la fille* – cr.: Kevin Calixte Josée Poirier (g); Andréanne Brisson Paquin (c); Krystina Marcoux (d)

I’ll now move on to the second opera of the evening, a sort of symbolic fable that’s both zany and serious: Raccoon Opera, by sisters Rebecca and Rachel Gray. Yes, an opera featuring a… raccoon as one of the main characters. In truth, the animal seems more like a symbol, that of a force that draws us towards conformity, rather like Ionesco’s rhinoceros. But Rachel’s libretto (Rebecca is the composer) doesn’t levitate into the metaphysical for all that. It’s a rather plebeian tale of a millennial getting it on in a dingy Toronto apartment, and getting it on even harder with the landlord, obviously a viscerally insensitive person. The young woman, whose name is Erin, doesn’t hold a grudge. She despairs over the state of her life, but remains resigned, apathetic. Then the raccoon comes along and makes her rebel, and get angry! Yesterday’s excerpt stopped at the moment when Erin, pumped up by the animal, cringes and transforms emotionally.

Rebecca’s music oscillates between an assertive lyricism that contrasts sharply with the previous work. The orchestra, by far the largest of the evening’s three operas (six musicians and a conductor), often offers a gritty, pointillist counterpoint, but not only that. At certain moments, it takes on a warmer aspect. It’s Raccoon who stimulates this duality, as a character who is both reassuring for Erin, but also, one senses, dangerous and manipulative. To what end? We’ll find out if the work ever gets the chance to be created in its entirety. Video projections of coffee stains, spaghetti metamorphosed into faces with disheveled hair, and other incongruities provide a visual complement to the Spartan life of a young adult in a (far too expensive) apartment.

I loved the mix of topical social commentary (the housing crisis) and broader reflection on emotional repercussions, materialized by the absurdist symbolism of the raccoon, a raging conformist factor (again, very topical) and heir to a rich literary tradition.

*Raccoon Opera* – cr.: Kevin Calixte Rebecca Gray (g); Erin Wieser (d)

The evening ended with the last of the three proposals, probably also the most eye/ear-catching and attractive work. Nanatasis, with music by Alejandra Odgers and libretto by Nicole O’Bomsawin, could even be described as an opera “for the whole family”. The program features three Abenaki legends, of which, understandably, only one was presented yesterday.

The story is that of an Abenaki warrior (Kl8sk8mba) who sets off for the Far North to solve the riddle of a never-ending winter that prevents his people from sowing and harvesting enough to survive. The character meets Pebon (Winter) and, with the help of Niben (Summer), convinces him to let go for part of the year, thus creating the cycle of the seasons.

Of the three, Nanatasis is the opera that benefited from the most generous use of costumes. Pebon and Niben are very beautiful, characterized by huge faces made of colored paper, ribbons and other artifice, harnessed above the singers who interpret them. Pebon is sung by bass William Kraushaar, magnificent and perfectly cast, with his deep, rich timbre and irresistible roundness. Odéi Bilodeau is equally fine as Niben. Tenor Mishael Eusebio vocally embodies Kl8sk8mba, who is also doubled in his movements by a puppet.

Alejandra Odgers’ music is tonal, melodic and accessible. She draws, appropriately and even skilfully, on tropes associated with native music, but also with those of her native Mexico (the character of Niben allows her to do this). The orchestration is sparing (a flute and percussion), but colorful. It’s easy to imagine Nanatasis going on tour and appealing to a very wide audience. In fact, it’s the only one of the three operas to have a full premiere date, in 2025 in Montreal. I’m really looking forward to it, and from the comments I heard after the evening, so is the audience.

*Nanatasis* – cr.: Kevin Calixte Odei Bilodeau

We owe a warm thank you to all the teams behind this important work of operatic renewal: Musique 3 femmes, the organization behind the project, Le Vivier and Sixtrum percussions.

Bravo, bravo, and kudos on a job well done.

Avant-Garde / Contemporary

Surrealist dive at Innovations en concert

by Frédéric Cardin

The Sala Rossa was pretty well packed last night for the presentation of Innovations en concert’s final concert of the season. A concert with a Dadaist buffet and conceptual art allure. Four female composers, three from Montreal and one from Toronto, presented an equal number of new works conceived for acoustic instruments, digital processing and video projection. The only exception was Keiko Devaux’s introductory piece, performed in (almost) complete darkness. The piece, written for double-bell trumpet (yes, a trumpet with two outlets, one normal and straight, the other at an upward angle), was a very fine introduction. Devaux makes good use of the very rapid timbral contrasts that can be executed by this instrument. For example, one bell can be muted and the other unmuted, so that the performer can switch from a veiled to a brilliant sound in the space of a single note. No need to change instruments or take time to install the mute. The piece, entitled SADA (echo), evokes wide-open spaces struck by amply reverberated resonances, evoked as much by the instrumental writing as by the live digital manipulations. A beautiful introduction, imbued with a strange nobility but also a sense of panoramic grandeur, supported by the mostly consonant harmonies used by the composer, and beautifully rendered by soloist Amy Horvey.

The evening continued with a radically different proposal from Terri Hron, entitled Out Loud, a feminist opera for solo performer, live electronics and video, lasting around twenty minutes – ish and divided into two parts. Each part presents a character from the familiar imagination: Titania from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, then the Siren from Andersen’s fairy tale. In simple but evocative costumes, each soloist (Helen Pridmore and Jennifer Beattie, excellent in their respective roles) is placed as if in an abyss with her pre-filmed, screen-projected double. An open dialogue ensues, sung in an invented language made up of clicks, rolls, murmurs and a few lyrical flights of fancy. On screen, the “translation” of the text reinforces the sense of strangeness of these ironically more “real” characters, despite their imaginary nature. Terri Hron’s treatment is resolutely feminist. It’s easy to see how Shakespeare’s ill-treated Titania becomes a woman who reclaims her right to inhabit her nocturnal living space. This Queen of the Night (parallel universe version) is supported by the performer’s beautiful, piercing high notes and a text (the translation, of course) that invites us to embrace the poetry of darkness. Some of the performer’s lascivious waddling in the video is perplexing and poorly choreographed, but the basic message is well expressed.

Jennifer Beattie, mezzo-soprano dans/in *Out Loud* de Terri Hron (La sirène/The Siren) – cr.: Nick Jewell

The Siren, in the second part, also assumes her femininity, not wishing to become human for the eyes of an insignificant prince, but rather because she “feels out of place” in the aquatic world. Hron’s music, neither frankly atonal nor consonant, is truculent in its use of onomatopoeia, partly improvised by the performer. I think that a clearer sonic distinction between the two tales (timbres, colors, rhythms, textures, whatever) would have been in order, to better differentiate and embody the plunge into two narrative universes well set in their decorative contrasts. The fact remains that this is a very stimulating proposal, and I’d love to hear more from this young composer.

The third offering was another 180-degree turnaround. Toronto’s Olivia Shortt, equipped with her baritone sax and effects pedals, threw her Makwa to the audience, a kind of hammered rage against a video backdrop of films of a capering cat, made-up characters, a queer couple in incongruous situations and psychedelic animations. Dali and Bunuel would have loved it. The saxophonic vociferations, reinforced by loops and ample reverb, were not as violent as the artist had implied in her “warning” to the audience. An intense performance, to be sure, but highly dynamic and narratively coherent thanks to the video’s surreal follies (which is ironic, isn’t it?). Indeed, without the video’s often playful side, the whole thing could have been boring.

Nicole Lizée dans/in Saskbient/Manitobient – cr.: Nick Jewell

The final moment of the evening belonged to Nicole Lizée, who presented for the first time Saskbient/Manitobient (an obvious play on the words Saskatechewan, Manitoba and ambient), an expressionist painting for Amy Horvey on banjo and double-bell trumpet (a huge repertoire boost for this instrument in a single evening!), with Lizée’s acoustic-digital tweaking, set against a video evoking the two Prairie provinces through all manner of objects and staging. Amy Horvey pinching a barbed-wire fence in the video responded to the same live artist playing her banjo. Lizée sliding a toy skate across a vinyl, DJ-style, echoed her live double manipulating her sequencer. Wearing hats resembling sheaves of wheat, the two performers played in front of a jumble reminiscent of certain symbolic icons of the central provinces: a wooden fence, a stuffed cow, a small farm, corncobs whose peeling also served as rhythmic accompaniment, like percussion, and even little balloons in the shape of aliens, the kind with big heads and big black eyes you might see on T-shirts bearing the words “I Live in Area 51, But Don’t Tell Anyone”. I didn’t quite understand that one. Are there more ETs in Saskatchewan and Manitoba? It has to be said that Lizée has a passion for science fiction. But it doesn’t matter, because the musical proposition, without being the Montreal creator’s best, is quite amusing.

That said, while Saskbient/Manitobient was the evening’s headliner, I came away very impressed by Hron’s Out Loud, shaken and stirred by Shortt’s Makwa, and absolutely seduced by Devaux’s SADA.

CMIM – Piano 2024 | Jaeden Izik-Dzurko, first Canadian pianist ever to win

by Alexandre Villemaire

Jaeden Izik-Dzurko took top honors with his performance of Brahms’ Concerto n^o 2 in B flat major, delivered with profound musicality and coherence in both technique and vision of the work.

After eleven days of fierce competition, a packed Maison symphonique witnessed the conclusion of the Piano 2024 edition of the Concours musical international de Montréal on Thursday, May 16th.

Born in Salmon Arm, British Columbia, Jaeden Izik-Dzurko becomes the first Canadian to stand atop the podium of a piano edition of the CMIM.

He had previously distinguished himself in the competition by winning several special prizes, including Best Canadian Artist from the Fondation Bourbeau ($5,000). Worth a total of $140,000, the top prize includes a $50,000 Career Development Grant from the Azrieli Foundation, the Steinway Recording Prize (worth $54,000) from Steinway & Sons, as well as several concert engagements, including a Korean tour in March 2025 (Steinway Prizewinner Concerts), a concert or recital in a subsequent program of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, and a solo recital for the Coast Recital Society’s 2025-2026 season in British Columbia.

crédit photos: Tam Photography

Italy’s Gabriele Strata took 2nd prize, worth $15,000, and the ICI Musique Audience Prize, worth $5,000. Anthony Ratinov from the USA took 3rd prize, worth $10,000. The three unranked finalists, Elias Ackerley (UK; South Korea), Derek Wang (USA) and Jakub Kuszlik (Poland) each received a $3,000 bursary. Chaired by cultural manager Zarin Mehta (USA, India), the international jury comprised nine members: Dmitri Alexeev (Russia, UK), Lydia Artymiw (USA), Louise Bessette (Canada), Jan Jiracek von Arnim (Germany), Robert Levin (USA), Hélène Mercier (Canada), Ronan O’Hora (Great Britain, Ireland) and Minsoo Sohn (South Korea);

Finally, the recipients of the special awards are as follows: Jakub KUSZLIK (Poland), winner of the Prix du Jury de la relève; Élisabeth PION (Canada), winner of the Prix de l’engagement philanthropique Bita-Cattelan (offered in partnership with Bita and Paolo Cattelan); Gabriele STRATA (Italy), winner of the Prix Musique de chambre (offered in partnership with Dixi Lambert and the Festival de musique de chambre de Montréal); Jaeden IZIK-DZURKO (Canada), winner of the Prix André-Bachand for the best interpretation of a compulsory Canadian work (offered in partnership with Claudette Hould); Jaeden IZIK-DZURKO (Canada), winner of the Prix André-Bachand for the best interpretation of a sonata in the semi-finals (offered in partnership with Anne Stevens).

The next edition of the Concours musical international de Montréal will take place from May 25th to June 16th, 2025, and will be dedicated to the voice. A musical event to mark on your calendar without delay.

classique

CMIM – Piano 2024 | Finalists announced

by Alexandre Villemaire

And now it’s done. After three intense days, the ten MIMC semi-finalists have completed their program presentations to the audience at Salle Bourgie and to the members of the international jury. The four pianists who performed on Sunday were: Jaeden Izik-Dzurko (Canada), Arisa Onoda (Japan), Jakub Kuszlik (Poland) and Antonio Chen Guang (China).

This final day of semi-finals was once again marked by a high level of playing, making it difficult for the judges to decide who will advance to the final stage of the competition, and which of the ten will be awarded one of the three special prizes for Best Sonata Performance, Best Canadian Compulsory Performance and Best Chamber Music Performance;In this Sunday Final Four, the competitors offered contrasting performances, most of which had a significant program construction. Jaeden Izik-Dzurko stood out with a dramatic Sonata n^o1 E minor by Rachmaninov and Arisa Onoda with a sensitive interpretation of Sonata n^o 3 by Chopin.

In the second half of the afternoon, programs and performances by Jakub Kuszlik and Antonio Chen Guang were exhilarating and marked by moments of great emotional intensity. Kuszlik, already a recipient of the Prix de la relève, delivered a program that gave way to great interiority and profound lyricism, with Brahms’s Sonata n^o 3 in F minor as its centerpiece.

Antonio Chen Guang, for his part, offered a veritable epic of style with a program of thoughtful musical narrative, moving from the world of nature with Reflets sur l’eau by Debussy and Barbara Assiginaak to the inner world yearning for contemplation with Beethoven’s Sonata in A-flat major and Busoni’s arrangement of the chorale Ich ruf’ zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ by J.S Bach to finish deep down in the Earth an infernal dance, Liszt’s first Mephisto-Valse . Both received thunderous applause and standing ovations from the audience.

But, as in all competitions, the choice rests with the jury, and the intensity of the applause meter is not always a decisive factor. Speaking through its president, Zarin Mehta, the names of those advancing to the final round were announced around 6:30pm. They are Elias Ackerley (UK; South Korea), Jaeden Izik-Dzurko (Canada), Jakub Kuszlik (Poland), Anthony Ratinov (USA), Gabriele Strata (Italy) and Derek Wang (USA).

Gabriele Stata is the winner of the Prix Musique de chambre, a $2,500 prize donated by Dixi Lambert. The prize also includes participation in a concert at the Montreal Chamber Music Festival, valued at $3,500. Canada’s Jaeden Izik-Dzurko completes a double, winning the $3,000 prize for the best interpretation of a sonata in the semi-finals, offered in partnership with Ann Stevens, as well as the $2,500 André Bachand Prize for the best interpretation of the imposed Canadian work, offered in partnership with Claudette Hould;

The next date is May 15 and 16 at the Maison symphonique, where the finalists will present a complete concerto accompanied by the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, in an evening that promises to be under the auspices of Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Brahms and Rachmaninov.

crédit photo: Tam Photograpy

For ticket info, it’s HERE.

The public is also invited to vote online for the Prix du public ICI Musique. Voting will close 15 minutes after the final on May 16.

To vote, it’s HERE

Disco / Electronic / Funk

Random Access Memories, 11 years later: HI FI document at PHI Center

by Alain Brunet

The album Random Access Memories will be 11 years old on May 17, 2024, the fourth and final major recording by the celebrated French tandem Daft Punk has unquestionably become an international pop classic, with Grammys and Victoires to its credit, prestigious collaborations and almost instant global appeal.

Remember spring and summer 2013!

Daft Punk’s studios were packed with all the big names: Nile Rodgers on guitars, Nathan East on basset, Pharrell Williams on vocals, Giorgio Moroder as a godfather witness, not to mention Panda Bear (Animal Collective), Julian Casablancas (The Strokes), Chilly Gonzales, Paul Williams, Paul Jackson Jr., Omar Hakim, Todd Edwards, DJ Falcon and many more.

These legendary ’70s musicians had reunited in the studio under the Daft Punk umbrella. Then came the melodies, and the story of the birth of the mega-hit Get Lucky, with here a riff by Nile Rodgers and there a line by Nathan East, then the famous chorus by Pharrell Williams.

A mega-success based on the nostalgia of the years 69-82, Random Access Memories had conquered every generation capable of partying, and proved a model of perfection for its vintage production, meticulous arrangements, impeccable sound recordings and the exceptional quality of a personnel who had already left their mark on world pop.

Seduced and mobilized by this anthological gathering in ” legendary studios “, (notably Electric Lady in NYC), host Rebecca Manzoni, of France-Inter’s Totemic program, launched a year ago this very high fidelity audio document (thanks to Sonorium’s technical support) about the making of Random Access Memories. .

You can listen to this audio document by clicking here, but we suggest that you experience the very high quality sound in the Phi Center’s Sound Habitat, a comfortable lounge offering authentic high-fidelity immersion.

” These are selections from the album and not the complete album. There is, however, an anniversary album, but that’s not the case here. We received the stereo mix from France fait and spatialized the recording with a Dolby Atmos mix for our own system,” explains the Centre Phi’s creative sound supervisor Philippe Rochefort;

The document also includes the testimony of Florian Lagatta of Studio Gong, a renowned sound engineer in France, who explains the background and origins of the affair, which dates back to early 2008 and began with a search for old microphones, an old console and other analogue equipment.

Typical of French public radio, this audio document emphasizes that Random Access Memories, an album entirely financed and produced by the Versailles-based tandem (Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo), is thick with butter, presenting it as a bulwark against technological prefabrication and artificial intelligence. The choice of analog technologies and ” real ” instruments, typical of the 70s and 80s to the detriment of digital tools, allows the sound document to assert such an artistic direction taken by Daft Punk at its latest station.

On a droit, par ailleurs, à des extraits d’interviews de Thomas Bangalter et Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo.

Among other historical details that fans and musicophiles everywhere will enjoy, Daft Punk explain that Random Access Memories was produced under very different conditions from the previous three, this time in a traditional studio with ” real musicians “.

This old-school approach to soul, disco, funk and pop was also a nod to their childhood and adolescence, a dream come true as they got to play with their idols.

“Bringing the human element back into music” is the avowed aim, and it’s one that defends itself well against being backward-looking.

THIS PROGRAM IS PLAYED AT CENTRE PHI HABITAT SONORE UNTIL AUGUST 11th

BOOK YOUR SEATS HERE

Daft Punk – Random Access Memories

A Sonorium creation, with the support of France Inter

Duration

66 minutes

Agenda

Wednesday: 16:30, 18:00

Jeudi: 13h30, 15h, 16h30, 19h30*

Friday & Saturday: 1h30 PM, 4h30PM, 6h PM , 7h30PM

Sunday: 1:30 pm, 3 pm, 4:30 pm

Electronic

A Boiler Room in Montreal, on May 11, 2024

by Salima Bouaraour

From Nairobi to Ramallah by way of Dubai, Tel Aviv, Hong Kong, Berlin, New York, Bogota or Marrakech, Boiler Room is now a more than sacred anthology for devotees of the night realm on every continent! And here’s the Montreal stopover!

From London’s underground huis clos to an international marketing concept, or how to glorify celebrity culture: BR radiates wide! This London-based project, founded in 2010 by Blaise Bellville, began with the idea of filming live DJ and producer performances in a confined area of a dilapidated warehouse, and has since become a world-renowned marketing concept with a relentless following.

An online TV channel, it attracts millions of views, pays artists fairly, promotes diversity at every level and offers a broader vision of music than just electronica (jazz, hip hop, soul…). Today, even traditional music is included, such as the folk songs sung by Khadija Warzazia and her all-female bendir orchestra during a BR in Morocco;An online TV channel, it attracts millions of views, pays artists fairly, promotes diversity at every level and offers a broader vision of music than just electronica (jazz, hip hop, soul…). Today, even traditional music is included, such as the folk songs sung by Khadija Warzazia and her all-female bendir orchestra during a BR in Morocco.

Montreal hosted its first BR 11 years ago. Local artists such as the mythical Kaytranada, the versatile Ouri, the eclectic San Farafina and the genius Pierre Kwenders have graced the backstage of this net TV show.On Saturday, May 11, the Laylit collective -honoring the Swana scene and its diaspora-, for the second consecutive time (New York, 2023), organized the evening to offer a rich artistic line-up of Swana, electronic and Arabic-language folk music, featuring artists from North Africa: Manalou (Algeria) and Chloé Lallouz (Morocco). Founders Nadim Maghzal and Philippe Manasseh, Wake Island’s hybrid DJs, helped electrify the crowd.

The Quai du Vieux Port was abuzz with excitement on two levels for 6 hours, as 2,000 to 3,000 young people sought out night-time thrills. The line-up was vast: Korea Town Acid, Chaos in the CBD, Kettama, Martyn BootySpoon and many more! (Full list here: https://boilerroom.tv/session/montreal-24 ) In the meantime, while you’re waiting to watch this Boiler Room on the net (available in a few weeks on https://www.youtube.com/@boilerroom ), PANM360 invites you to enjoy the one made in New York, in 2023, by the Laylit team!

MNSA, New York, 2023

Saphe, New York, 2023

Avant-Pop / Electronic / Experimental / Contemporary / Middle Eastern

BORN TO LEAVE (REVISITED) at Centre Phi: Sophoclean electronic tragedy with a Lebanese flavour

by Salima Bouaraour

Lebanon, a land at the crossroads of Phoenicians, Arabs and its ethno-religious diversity, which manifests itself in history like a lyrical and dramatic epic. Tinged with richness and beauty, this country has also experienced untold tragedy for several decades, including civil war, economic crisis and regional instability. Today, the Lebanese diaspora is estimated at around 12 million worldwide.

Wake Island explore cette question dans un triptyque comprenant une performance immersive en direct, une expérience d’écoute audio spatiale et un jeu vidéo de rôle.

In fact, Philippe Manasseh and Nadim Maghzal have teamed up with a team of media designers to re-invent a new formula for their album Born to Leave, released in 2021, into a 3D game, centered on the themes of immigration and Arab identity as well as with the artist, Radwan Ghazi Moumneh, to revisit the sound design.

The spatial mix is available to listen to in the Sound Habitat and comes in 9 parts.

1. Habitat sonore. May 1 to May 7. Spatial mixing of the album.

Plunged into the half-light of an immersive room, equipped with a multi-channel installation and a sound of unsettling perfection, the listening conditions are more than optimal. The music transcends you from every angle, with a subtle blend of a scenario worthy of a cinematic atmosphere such as Dune and an electronic ambience typical of immersive performances. More than ever, you feel the synthesis of two entities: Wake Island’s narrative and Radwan’s sonic mise en abîme: bouzouk, synth, electric guitar, effect pedal, whirring, echoing, spiraling or resonating sound, distant voices, the sensation of wind blowing across sand, shaking walls and detonation, deep bass. An absolute must!

2. Role-playing video game with the soundtrack from the album presented on May 3.

In alcoves fitted with cushions, several Ipads are laid out to access the video game. This is a role-playing game in which you, the player, are immersed in a Beirut-Montreal flight about to land at Pierre-Elliott Trudeau International Airport. You meet characters such as Maha, Bahia and the Canadian immigration officers, as well as the two enigmatic characters from Wake Island. As well as being a treasure hunt, you’ll be asked a number of questions, each of which you’ll have to answer takes you on a journey of intrigue. The setting is composed of 3D visuals. Scenes are akin to psychedelic hallucinations, set against a backdrop of the album soundtrack and Lebanon’s political and economic crisis. Let yourself be caught up in the game!

3. May 3. Immersive live performance with Wake Island and Radwan Ghazi Moumneh + video installation by Giotto remixing the game’s 3D visuals

Sublime. Meditative. Bewitching: a live performance worthy of a modern-day Greek tragedy. In the listening room, the artists formed a triptych where the stage consisted of synths, ouds, electric guitar, zither, keyboards, ableton controllers and effects pedals. The installation and design resembled an ancient Greek tragedy featuring illustrious characters torn apart by passions or overwhelmed by fate. The soundtrack illustrated the tracks from the revisited album, but was distinct from the immersive listening experience. The intention was to make this a clearly unique experience, and it was a success! The acts – exposition, rising action, climax, falling action-dénouement – lasted around 60 minutes.

Nadim, Philippe and Radwan, the three protagonists, captivated the audience in a grandiose performance on a circular open stage, encircled by the audience. The “musician-actors” shared all the roles. The catharsis lay in the common thread instilled by an extremely vaporous, continuously repeating strand. One song followed another to highlight the “Lebanese” tragedy played out before our eyes and ears, imbued with an immense poetic intensity. The sound design was predominantly ambient and soaring, but the haunting rhythm was broken up by Philippe’s voice with parsimony and finesse. A touch of vocoder and orientalizing vocalization. Nadim created the rhythmic jerks and Radwan enveloped the audience in bewitching layers. Visual artist Giotto projected images from the video game in the background. A pure Sophoclean electronic tragedy with a Lebanese flavour.

VIDEO GAME FREE ACCESS HERE !

OTHER INFOS HERE

Folk Pop

Noah Kahan: An Emotive Performance with Goofy Banter

by Serena Yang

Noah Kahan’s “We’ll All Be Here Forever” arena tour has been a sensation across North America, following the rocketing success of his 2022 album Stick Season. The tour made its way through Canada, finally landing in Montreal this past weekend at the Bell Centre.

The evening commenced with Jensen McRae, whose soulful folk-pop set, accompanied by her acoustic guitar, keyboardist, and electric guitarist, set an intimate tone for the crowd. Taking the stage with a salute, the Vermont native kicked off his set with a trio of anthemic stomp-clap folk hits: “Dial Drunk,” “New Perspective,” and “Everywhere, Everything,” juxtaposing catchy melodies with introspective lyrics of longing and angst.

During his performance of “Godlight,” a poignant track about the emotional toll of touring, Noah lamented about being just three hours away from his Vermont home. “It’s tough being this close to home without being able to return… I miss my folks and my family.”

Throughout the concert, Noah delivered a deeply emotive performance, delving into themes of love, loss, addiction, mental health, personal flaws, and complex family dynamics. Despite the darker topics, he maintained a lighthearted and goofy banter with the audience, interacting as if we were all friends sharing stories at a bar. “I just wanna take a moment to shout out to everyone here whose parents have divorced… it wasn’t your fault – it was your dad’s!” he quipped, introducing “All My Love,” a moment that had the entire crowd on their feet, clapping along.

Transitioning to the B-stage at the back of the arena, Noah treated the audience to an intimate solo acoustic performance of “Growing Sideways” and teased the unreleased track “The Great Divide,” before returning to the main stage with the spirited “Northern Attitude.”

For the encore, Noah reappeared wearing a Montreal Canadiens jersey, ending the night with “The View Between Villages” and his biggest hit, “Stick Season.” From the maple leaf-shaped confetti that rained over the crowd as Noah bid Montreal farewell, to the hockey jersey, to his references of a bleak and cold winter in his lyrics, Noah and his music deeply resonate with his Canadian fans, who completely sold out his Canadian tour dates. For those who missed out, fear not – Noah will return to headline Osheaga for another unforgettable performance.

Photos by Serena Yang

Université de Montréal | Jean-François Rivest’s Grandiose Farewell

by Elena Mandolini

Université de Montréal’s Salle Claude-Champagne was packed to the rafters on Saturday evening for an exceptional concert. Not only was the program ambitious (Mahler’s Second Symphony was featured), but it was also the last concert of the season for the Orchestre de l’Université de Montréal (OUM), and Jean-François Rivet’s last as conductor, as he retires at the end of the university term. For all these reasons, the occasion had to be celebrated in style. Some 250 musicians gathered on stage to thrill the walls of Salle Claude-Champagne with their remarkable interpretation of Mahler’s Symphony.

If Mahler’s work had to be described in one word, it would probably be contrasts. Contrasts of nuance, of tone, of size too. The OUM perfectly conveys all these subtleties. Despite the large number of players, the pianissimo nuances are truly pianissimo. In this second symphony, particularly in the first movement, there are several superimposed melodies shared by the different sections of the orchestra. The balance between these sections is excellent, allowing us to hear each melody distinctly. The low instruments, especially the double basses, are the driving force of this work, and throughout the evening we hear them carry the orchestra with flawless precision.

If the first movement is dramatic and powerful, the second is more playful and dance-like. We admire OUM’s ability to move from boundless power to restraint, without losing any of its precision. Jean-François Rivest guides these transitions with evocative gestures, true to his trademark precision. The third movement gives way to beautiful exchanges of melody between different instruments. Here again, the moments of heightened intensity are never confused. The volume achieved by the orchestra is at times staggering. In the fourth movement, the orchestra provides excellent accompaniment for mezzo-soprano Mireille Lebel. This very short movement ends delicately, with a soft, enveloping sound. The last note of this movement, which seems to fade away, never faltering.

Then the fifth movement calls for a return to force. The same energy and power as in the first movement, but with even greater grandeur. In this movement, the brass must play backstage. As the Salle Claude-Champagne is not entirely suited to this, in our opinion, these instruments are barely audible, but the echo from backstage creates a very beautiful effect. This movement also features a large chorus. This is where we find a downside. The execution of the soft nuances gives the impression that the choir is hesitating. We would have appreciated a little more certainty in the choir’s entries in the soft, almost a cappella passages, accompanied by the soprano Layla Claire, and more power in the work’s final, fortissimo moments. But the symphony ends grandly, with an impressive brass section and a few organ chords.

The evening lived up to its billing. The OUM once again demonstrated its great talent and ability to rise to ambitious challenges with flying colours. It was a fitting tribute to Jean-François Rivest on his last evening at the helm of the orchestra.

For the calendar of events at the Université de Montréal’s Faculty of Music, click HERE!