Two imposing oratorios by Mendelssohn will come to life at the Festival de Lanaudière on July 18 and 19. The works Paulus (St. Paul) and Elias (Elijah), respectively, will be performed by the outstanding instrumentalists of the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin (AKAMUS), a multi-award-winning orchestra with one of the most extensive discographies of the last half-century, along with the superb voices of world-class soloists and young singers from the Audi Jugendchorakademie.
Ahead of these two concerts, PAN M 360’s Alexandre Villemaire spoke with Martin Steidler, Music Director of the Audi Jugendchorakademie, who will be on the podium for both performances, to learn more about these two-landmark works from the repertoire presented here in an exclusive North American performance.
crédit photo: Audi AG
Publicité panam
She is Swedish, trained in flute, violin, and piano, before taking up the guitar and, above all, the kora. For her, it’s a passion acquired. He is Senegalese and comes from a long and prestigious lineage of Mandingue griots. The kora and singing are in his blood. For him, it’s innate and simply life, you know. The couple in life as in music will be passing through (for the third time) at the International Festival Nuits d’Afrique on July 17, at Club Balattou. I would have liked to speak with both of them together, but the connection with Maher was not possible, so it was Sousou who granted me most of the interview, which is as follows.
Pan M 360: The most recent album, Made of Music, dates back to 2018. It’s been a long time…
Sousou: Indeed, it’s been a long time. There was the pandemic, of course, but that’s not really an excuse. Let’s say we slightly deviated from our usual course, and we developed other projects. Moreover, it’s not an easy task to make an album. It requires a lot of effort, but above all, money. Moreover, we have toured a lot, which is very good, obviously, but well, it took up our time. That said, we have several songs written, but we are waiting to be ready.
Pan M 360: Ready for what exactly?
Sousou: To produce them on an album. We want to bring a new sound to our style, something more electronic. For that, we need a good dose of studio production, which we want to do as much as possible ourselves. So we spent quite a bit of time learning how to do it and investing in the necessary equipment, here in Sweden.
Pan M 360: The story is becoming well-known, but it’s worth repeating: how did you come into contact with the kora?
Sousou: I was very young, and my father, a folk musician, sometimes held cross-genre music concerts and invited musicians to our home. One of them was a griot from Gambia. He played the kora. He used to come see us every year. When I turned 17, we went to Gambia to visit him, and I thought to myself that I would like to take a year to learn this instrument there before pursuing “serious” studies in Sweden. Finally, I never left that path.
Pan M 360: How are you welcomed there as a Western white woman?
Sousou: As a Western woman, I was very warmly welcomed. I would even say, ironically, that it is probably easier for a white Western woman than for a local woman. There, women are supposed to take care of the children, handle household chores, etc. So, for them, learning music and especially practicing it is quite difficult. It is a clear example of the kind of privilege that benefits us rather then women in Africa.
Pan M 360: Could you start a new lineage of griots, female, white, and Western?
Sousou: I think it would be insensitive of me to dare to take such an action and appropriate a culture that is ingrained in the blood and has been passed down through the centuries. I could practice the art I have learned, but passing it down as they do from generation to generation, no. My husband, Maher, can do it. We have two children, aged 11 and 17, and for now, they’re not really interested. Occasionally, we invite them to sing with us. The result is very good, but their interests are elsewhere at the moment…
Pan M 360: You will be playing at Balattou, what impressions do you have of the place?
Sousou: A very intimate place, where people are very close together! It’s very pleasant to play there.
Pan M 360: In addition to the songs from your existing albums, will we have some new songs? Sousou: Yes, probably. We can play a few of them to test the effect on the audience.
Femi proudly continues the work of his father, the legendary Fela, by relentlessly defending afrobeat on the international scene. A powerful display of brass and percussion, abundant, energetic, hypnotic and urban, carrying a message of peace, unity and resistance, Afrobeat combines funk and jazz with traditional Yoruba rhythms. Our contributor Keithy Antoine spoke to Femi Kuti in English just a few days before his long-awaited PAN M 360 concert.
Publicité panam
Les mamans du Congo mix tradition, rap and electronica with brio. These women from Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, have teamed up with French beatmaker and producer Rrobin to concoct an original musical sauce. They’ll be in concert at Nuits d’Afrique this Wednesday, July 16, on the free outdoor Loto-Québec stage in the Quartier des Spectacles’ quiet Esplanade.
Our journalist Michel Labrecque spoke with Gladys Samba, the group’s founder and singer, and her two arranger acolytes.
Publicité panam
We don’t usually interview artist couples at PAN M 360. But that’s what we did with Manamba Kanté, daughter of Guinean legend Mory Kanté, and her husband and superstar Soul Bang’s. Both are part of the program for the 39th edition of the Festival international Nuits d’Afrique, offering us an indoor concert (for Soul Bang’s) and a concert on the big stage (for Manamba). Guinea is set to shine this year. Our journalist Sandra Gasana caught up with the duo, who are much compared to Beyoncé and Jay-Z, as they prepare to deliver two distinct shows that will leave a lasting impression on festival-goers.
Publicité panam
On Tuesday 15 July at Balattou club in Montreal, Senegal’s Sahad, a great friend of the city and festival Nuits d’Afrique, will be back on stage to present a concert in which we’ll have the chance to hear a preview of some of the tracks that will be on his forthcoming album, African West Station, due out this fall. I spoke to Sahad about the concert, but also about his various projects, such as running a music label and setting up an experimental eco-village.
PAN M 360: My colleague Sandra Gassana did a great interview with you last fall. In it, you talk a lot about your musical career. I won’t go over the same ground again, and will leave readers and listeners to consult the interview in question (see below). So I’ll dig elsewhere, like hearing you talk about your designation by some critics as ‘the embodiment of the revival of Senegalese music’. What are your thoughts on this? Is it a burden?
Sahad: Senegal has long had a history of musical and artistic quality. There was an explosion in the 70s and 80s, with Baaba Maal, Youssou N’Dour, Ismaël Lo, Cheikh Lo, and so on. Then, there was the period of the 90s and 2000s when hip hop was mostly being produced. At least, that’s what the labels wanted to sell. Alternative and independent music lost a bit of visibility. But the young people who are fans of it did not let themselves be erased and started creating all sorts of very diverse products, even if they had to do it without support. I joined this movement and I am happy if my success gives visibility to this generation of musicians. So, no, it’s not a burden, but rather a responsibility.
PAN M 360: You even created a label, Stereo Africa 432. What are the advantages it provides, and what are the challenges for this type of business in Senegal?
Sahad: The advantage is that it allows us to tap into an exceptional pool of young artists. 75% of the population of Senegal is under 25 years old. They have things to say, these young people! They want to express themselves! The abundance is impressive, so it becomes a pleasure to take the most interesting ones and help them produce albums. And then it opens minds and removes certain blinders that exist. The challenges, of course, are financial in nature. The Senegalese state does not support artistic creation, like in Quebec. So, we have to work hard to reach an international standard and recreate optimal conditions, like in the West. But it must be done. We have a duty to offer the art we create to the whole world.
PAN M 360: You also contributed to the creation of an eco-village in the Senegalese countryside. It is based on principles of fair organic farming. Have you encountered difficulties, like Dicko Fils who also got involved socially but had to leave his native Burkina to settle in Montreal after threats to his safety?
Sahad: There are difficulties, of course. When we want to change mindsets or deeply rooted ways of doing things, some people object to it. What is most important is to decolonize economic habits and mindset. The eco-village offers alternatives based on indigenous knowledge. It is therefore a Senegalese model by Senegalese people. Thinking organic is a decolonization of the mind. In this sense, it resonates better with some minds, as it is a continuation of the struggles for independence from the 1960s.
Sahad: The village itself is a success, but it’s especially the impact on the entire region that pleases me. Many other surrounding villages are forming a relationship with the eco-village, and all of this is becoming a much larger network. It is also a matter of the residents taking responsibility, who do not wait for government assistance, but rather take matters into their own hands and ensure their development according to biological, equitable, and cultural principles. I think it’s healthy.
PAN M 360: Who to expect for the concert on July 15th? The latest album (Lumma) dates from 2023…
Sahad: A new album is in preparation for this fall, so we will present some new tracks. The album will be called African West Station.
PAN M 360: Ah, a great opportunity then to have some privileges if we’re present at Balattou. In Montreal, you are at home, in a way. You have many friends here. Will there be some on stage with you, like Ilam for example?
Sahad: PAN M 360: It’s very possible, yes!
PAN M 360: We’ll have to be there to enjoy it. Thank you!
Just before crossing the south-western tip of Lake Harrington, on route 327 north in the Quebec Laurentians region, the crossroads is there, easy to miss. It’s Cammac Road, which leads to the music camp of the same name. You may never have heard of it, but it’s been lighting up amateur musical hearts for over 70 years. Cammac Music Camp was founded in 1953 by brothers Carl and Everett Little with the mission of providing summer training for amateur musicians of all ages. Today, every of the eight weeks of the summer season (residencies last seven days), around thirty children and sometimes as many as 80 adults can stay there at the same time. Some sing, others play an instrument. Single adults, couples and even whole families come here to benefit from the teaching of experienced teachers and renowned professional artists, such as flutist and musical director Francis Colpron, soprano Jacqueline Woodley, baritone Julien Patenaude, flutist Vincent Lauzer, violinist Olivier Breault, conductor Julien Proulx, cellist Noémie Raymond, jazz bassist Adrian Vedady, pianist Kate Wyatt, harpist Anabelle Renzo, harpsichordist Geneviève Soly, and many more…
Even John Rutter
Artistic director Guylaine Lemaire told me that some summers, visiting international artists are invited to spend some time here. Imagine being an amateur chorister and getting a few tips from… John Rutter! It’s happened. There was also the Gesualdo Six vocal ensemble. ‘’The boys took the opportunity to do some very Canadian things, with canoe trips on the big lake, right there. They got their money’s worth, as they capsized and got very wet!’’ No need to rub it in, let’s not add insult to injury, haha. Because, you know, what happens at Cammac stays at Cammac.
There are also themed weeks, such as early music week, chamber music week, jazz week and so on. The summer music camp runs for eight weeks, which of course makes it the busiest season of the year, but weekends and activity weeks are also available occasionally during the rest of the year (for spring break, Thanksgiving weekend, a Bach+ weekend in May, etc.).
Related activities include hiking, canoeing (on nearby Great Lake MacDonald, which gave trouble to the guys from gesualdo Six), yoga and more. Some people rent rooms, while others set up on a piece of land with just their camping gear (cheaper, of course). Participants can opt for a package including meals, or make do with their own food and picnics. There are plenty of ways to spend the week.
Sunday pro concerts
Summer is also a great time to organise a series of concerts called Musical Sundays. It was during one of these concerts that I visited Cammac for the first time. There are regulars, of course, but Guylaine Lemaire told me that there are quite a few newcomers, over 20% this year. And the number of requests has been rising in recent years. ‘’It’s funny, because I meet local people who don’t even know the camp exists, and at the same time we’re starting to turn down applications because we’re full some weeks. We’re not very well known, but word of mouth works well for us’’.
Musical Sundays take place in the concert hall built in 2006 on the site of the old building that used to host events, but which had aged quite a bit. The current hall is quite simple, adjoining the reception desk, the cafeteria and the kitchen (which serves brunch after the concert, depending on the package you choose). Square, with large windows overlooking the lake, the sound is pleasant and adequately reverberant for small ensembles or solo performances. I was there for the Quartom male vocal quartet, who gave an eclectic concert ranging from Renaissance songs to Mozart, Leonard Cohen and Gilles Vigneault. The complicity and beauty of the four voices (Julien Patenaude, Philippe Martel, Benoît Leblanc and Joé Lampron-Dandonneau), combined with a touch of friendly humour, is a recipe for success, especially as it is no substitute for the excellent quality of the performance.
Quartom – Cammac 13 juillet 2025
cr.: Frédéric Cardin
Still to come in the Sunday series 2025, if you happen to go by there (an hour and a bit from Montreal): the excellent Quatuor Cobalt, Denis Plante and his bandoneon, Kate Wyatt’s jazz trio with a tribute to Oscar Peterson (very high calibre!), Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du soldat, musical theatre with Marc Djokic, violin, Simon Aldrich, clarinet, Maxim Shatalkin, piano and Peter Duschenes, narration, and then the finale with Les Boréades conducted by Francis Colpron, celebrating their 30th anniversary with English baroque music.
The hall will be fully paid for in 2026, prompting the artistic director to say that after that, other investments will be made, for example to refurbish other buildings in the area (the Lake Lodge, for example, which is next door), where many campers stay. I visited it, and it’s clean and well-maintained, but it shows its age. And with visitor numbers on the rise, the time has come to move up a gear.
All in all, then, this small (but not so small) music camp, the only one of its kind in Canada if I’m not mistaken, is holding its own in the music world, and is even tending to flourish! It’s a shame that it’s still relatively unknown. Let’s try to change things a bit, and make it essential to increase the venue’s capacity! A happy problem to solve for the administrative team.
A proud son of the Éwé people, a citizen of the world influenced by Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Youssou N’Dour and Sting, Yawo promotes peace, dialogue and tolerance with self-sacrifice, generosity and optimism. His talent for composition and musical arrangement, his ease on guitar, bass and transverse flute, his travels around the world and his desire to propel an international movement for innovative Togolese music, have led him to explore with a jazzy tendency the confines of ancestral sounds by adding afrobeat, afrofunk, afropop and reggae rhythms. Keithy Antoine sat down with him for PAN M 360 and concocted this interview, featuring several musical passages.
Publicité panam
Every year, the Nuit de la kora, a highlight of the Nuits d’Afrique international festival, honors the virtuosos of the Mandingo tradition. This Sunday, July 13 at the Gesù, 8pm, humble guardians of memory will bring the kora to life – an instrument as majestic as it is symbolic. Among them, Zal Sissokho, an emblematic figure on the Montreal world music scene, shines for his authenticity and his ability to bring together the actors of his culture and the others with whom he now exchanges.
Nominated for the Gala Dynastie 2025, he likes, in his own words, “to marry his reality with the cultural baggage of the kora”. Alongside him, Senegalese kora master Toumany Kouyaté impresses with his precise playing and stage presence. Griot and musician on Cirque du Soleil’s O show – seen by over 20 million spectators – he perpetuates, string after string, the soul of an ancestral heritage. An unforgettable rendezvous under the banner of beauty and transmission. For PAN M 360, Keithy Antoine chatted with Zal Sisshoko to whet our appetites!
Publicité panam
à
Wesli has taken part in the Festival international Nuits d’Afrique countless times. This ambassador of Haitian music is proud to take part every year, and to offer us memorable shows every time. This year, we’ll be treated to some firsts, unreleased songs from his forthcoming album, and for the occasion, he’ll be joined by special local and international guests. He reveals some of them in an interview with Keithy Antoine, for PAN M 360.
Publicité panam
You may have discovered him during his participation in the Kalmunity Vibe Collective project several years ago. Fabrice Koffy hasn’t stopped slamming since then, with his guitarist Guillaume Soucy, who has been with him since the beginning. But for the 39th edition of the Festival international Nuits d’Afrique, he will be with his full band, with saxophone, clarinet, drums, guitar and double bass. Our collaborator Keithy Antoine spoke to the poet-slammer a few days before his performance at Club Balattou on Monday July 14.
Publicité panam
Mateus Vidal was a member of the famous Brazilian samba-reggae group Olodum for almost 30 years. Today, he has settled in Montreal and started a new project, the Axé Experience, named after a style of Afro-Brazilian music born in Salvador de Bahia, where Mateus Vidal hails from. The new Québéco-Brazilian told our contributor Michel Labrecque about his background and his new life in Montreal. He also tells us about his festive concert, presented at Nuits D’Afrique on July 17 at 5pm on the Scène Loto-Québec.
Publicité panam
Subscribe to our newsletter
Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
