Interviews – PAN M 360

The 2025 Présences autochtones festival will mark the 35th edition of this annual gathering, which began in 1990, just after, as you may recall, the Oka Crisis in Quebec. A difficult context to establish a brand new festival centered on Indigenous people! And yet, André Dudemaine, the tireless spokesperson for the cause and artistic director of the festival, has never ceased to be convinced of its relevance. He was right, of course. Today, the festival is more relevant, and especially popular, than ever. He introduces us to artists from Indigenous cultures around the world, many of whom are from right here, in music, film, and visual arts. This edition of the festival, he himself announces without hesitation, is set against the backdrop of the rise of a “neo-fascist movement” in North America, primarily driven by Donald Trump’s MAGA (Make America Great Again) vehicle in the United States. In this regard, Mr. Dudemaine recalls Montreal’s roots in resisting this kind of thinking. From the Great Peace of 1701, the first “international” treaty of this scale signed on Turtle Island (North America) between 39 Indigenous Nations and the first settlers, to the ovations given to Sitting Bull, a Lakota chief despised by Americans, and Jackie Robinson, a black baseball player adored in Montreal but mistreated in the South, Montreal seems to have a propensity for gathering and benevolent coexistence in its very DNA. This leads André Dudemaine to say without hesitation: Montreal is the most anti-MAGA city in America. I talked about all sorts of things like that, and of course about the musical programming for Présences autochtones 2025, with André Dudemaine.

The interview (in French) is divided into four parts, with the full version at the end.

Part 1: The Programming

Part 2: Montreal – Anti-MAGA City

Part 3: Tribute to Innu Song and Florent Vollant

Part 4: The Festival’s Beginnings 30 Years Ago, During the Oka Crisis

Full Version

The Obiora Ensemble of Montreal is a classical orchestra whose mission is to introduce European-style scholarly music written by racialised artists. In the case of classical music, that means pretty much anyone who isn’t white and male. The orchestra is also made up of musicians from multicultural backgrounds, which is not very often seen in well-established orchestras. Of course, the ensemble also plays the pillars of the “White” repertoire, but in programs where these are alongside pieces by female composers, white or not, by “old” (baroque, classical, romantic) black composers, or of course by contemporary artists from all backgrounds. In short, it is an ensemble that ultimately reflects a more accurate image of the possibilities for listening to and interpreting classical music, an image that also corresponds much more precisely to the population of an ultra-cosmopolitan city like Montreal. On August 2 and 3, 2025, the Obiora Ensemble will give two free concerts in as many Montreal parks, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce Park at 7 p.m. (August 2) and Ahuntsic Park at 2 p.m. (August 3). These concerts are made possible by being part of the Campbell Concerts series. The program, for the occasion, will consist of works by artists of African descent: Valerie Coleman (Tzigane for quintet), Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (Nonet in F minor op.2), and William Grant-Still (Danzas De Panama). I spoke with the orchestra’s co-founder and executive director, Allison Migeon, about these concerts.

You’ve probably seen his name at the bottom of PAN M 360 articles or interviews. Indeed, our colleague Vitta Morales isn’t just a journalist. He’s also a drummer and singer and founded the band King Lobster Krew, a unique blend of surf rock, jazz, and beach music. Molt is the band’s second studio album. Michel Labrecque took advantage of its release to interview Vitta Morales.

The hard work of the classical singing interns at the Canadian Vocal Arts Institute (CVAI) over the past four weeks will culminate on Sunday afternoon, July 27, at the Claude-Champagne Hall. The twelve singers of this 21st edition of the Montreal Vocal Arts Festival will present Mozart’s The Magic Flute, staged by Nathalie Deschamps. The Salzburg composer’s final opera, a classic among the classics of the repertoire, this work, or Masonic symbolism and eternal struggle of shadow against light, blends with the vocal and instrumental complexity of Mozart’s music in an energetic tableau, formative for both the young opera artists and the young musicians of the Orchestre de la Francophie, the orchestra that will accompany this production. Following this final concert, Alexandre Villemaire spoke with conductor Christopher Gaudreault, who will be on the podium to lead this ensemble of musicians.

TICKETS AND INFO

No need to be a contemporary sociologist or anthropologist to know that a powerful connection has been made between conductor Kent Nagano and the Quebec audience. Since his departure from the post of conductor of the OSM, he has returned several times, always to a warm audience that welcomes him like one of the family. This proximity, the American conductor had perceived, and felt the possibilities from the moment he arrived in Montreal. His strength is that he nestled into it naturally with authenticity. In return, Quebecers, even the least “classical”, the least intellectual, regularly drank in his public interventions, despite the calm, even slow, pace and lack of showmanship in his sentences. An interesting paradox in a society so infatuated with its comedians, its loud-mouthed and colorful popular figures. In short, each of his returns is anticipated. The one on August 1st at the Lanaudière Festival is no exception. With “his” former OSM, he will conduct a balanced program, without flamboyance, which will leave a lot of room for the Nagano style: the precise drawing of the symphonic discourse and the elegant blossoming of emotions. I discussed with the maestro of the program (Webern, Debussy, Brahms) and many other things, including his love for Quebec, during a very generous interview of about thirty minutes, conducted in English, even though, as we know, he speaks French. Question of fluidity. Such a beautiful interview that I didn’t dare “edit” it by removing elements. As a result, I suggest you listen to it in pieces, six in total, from the first question to the last. Happy listening.
DETAILS AND TICKETS FOR KENT NAGANO’S CONCERT IN LANAUDIÈRE

Question 1: Assessment of the last 10 years or so in Hamburg

Question 2: Upcoming projects

Question 3: How did he construct the program for the August 1st concert

Question 4: His vision of Brahms in light of historically informed performance

Question 5: What differences does he see between the OSM he left and the one he is now returning to?

Question 6: his vision of the warm relationship he maintains with Montreal and Quebec society in general

It is on July 25, 2025, at the Gilles-Lefebvre Hall in Orford that the Collectif9 ensemble will present to festival regulars their exciting vision of contemporary folklore, or at least the idea of folklore that some of today’s most creative musical minds in classical music have: Nicole Lizée, Vijay Iyer, John Zorn, and several others. I spoke about this with the two masterminds behind the success of this ensemble, Andrea Stewart and Thibault Bertin-Maghit. I also took the opportunity to ask them about their role as guides in chamber music for the young people at Camp Orford, and how they perceive this new stage in their artistic lives, they who not so long ago were young people launching themselves into the world of concert music (they still are, young, that is, hence the question).

On July 24, the Festival de Lanaudière will welcome the young and new chamber music ensemble Ember for an evening of intimacy and friendship. Composed of soprano Elizabeth Polese, pianist Christopher Gaudreault, violinist Katelyn Emery, and horn player Florence Rousseau, this quartet of young musicians will offer the Musée d’art de Joliette a unique musical experience, with Richard Strauss’s Four Last Songs as the main work. Presented in a North American premiere in a chamber music version, this arrangement of Strauss’s last cycle of melodies will be accompanied by works by the most famous trio of friends in music history, Robert Schumann, Clara Schumann, and Johannes Brahms.

To discuss this, Alexandre Villemaire from PAN M 360 spoke with Elizabeth Polese, founding member of Ensemble Ember.

Photo Credit: Brenden Friesen

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For his Canadian debut, Argentinian countertenor Franco Fagioli offers a program dedicated to the castrato repertoire of the XVIIᵉ and XVIIIᵉ centuries. Taking Giovanni Battista Velluti (1780-1861), considered to be one of the last great castrati, as a reference figure in this program, the singer praised by critics for the virtuosity of his interpretations that are “unfailingly intelligent and stylistically aware” (Presto Magazine), will present works by Rossini, Mercadante, Zingarelli, Nicolini and many others, accompanied by the Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal de Versailles, conducted by Stefan Plewniak, also making their Canadian debut.

Ahead of the July 26 concert at the Festival de Lanaudière, PAN M 360’s Alexandre Villemaire had the opportunity to chat with the singer about the program he’ll be performing, his personal and professional background, and the complex issue of defining the human voice.

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Deeply rooted in the cultural and musical ecosystem of our national capital, the Quebec City Opera Festival is set to kick off its 14th edition from July 23 to August 3. This year, the richness and diversity of female figures will be expressed through works that intensely explore freedom in all its forms. From the spellbinding and captivating Carmen to the devoted Lakmé, via Mr. Seguin’s brave little goat and an expanded version of Schönberg’s opera Pierrot lunaire, each production highlights unique trajectories that reveal courage and resilience. In addition to these four major productions, there will be the timeless traveling performances of the lyrical brigades, which will present two short lyrical works: Adolphe Adam’s one-act operetta À Clichy and the opera La théière, an original creation by Jean-François Mailloux (music) and Jean-Philippe Lavoie (libretto). Alexandre Villemaire spoke with Grégoire Legendre, interim general and artistic director of the Opéra de Québec, for PAN M 360. It was an opportunity to discuss the new program and look back on the history of the festival with the man who created it in 2011 and who has guided the Opéra de Québec for 33 years.

This interview about the Quebec City Opera Festival is part of a PAN M 360 content partnership with La Vitrine, the largest website dedicated to daily cultural events across Quebec.

To access the link to the Quebec Opera Festival showcase, click here.

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A woman of the theater, producer and director, Nathalie Deschamps has been active in the world of opera for many years, having directed over 65 productions for a number of organizations, including Opéra de Montréal, Augusta Opera, ECM, Opéra Immédiat, Festival Orford and Atelier lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal. More recently, she was behind the opera staging of Michel Tremblay’s Albertine en cinq temps, with music by Catherine Major, which we’ve featured prominently in these pages.

Nathalie Deschamps also acts as artistic coordinator and mentor at the Festival d’art vocal de Montréal, currently taking place at the Université de Montréal’s Faculty of Music, teaching young trainees, both singers and directors, about character construction and staging. In this capacity, she will oversee the staging of Mozart’s production of The Magic Flute, as well as assisting in the development of the opera gala, to be presented respectively on July 27 and 24 at Salle Claude-Champagne. Ahead of these two concerts, Alexandre Villemaire spoke to her about this involvement and the work she’s doing with the young people at ICAV.

Photo Credit : Tam Photography

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Montreal label Cosmovision Records welcomes El Gato Negro, the singer and multi-instrumentalist who has taken to the road and built a bohemian life for himself, creating a sound that fluctuates between subtropical pop, traditional from all over, jazz and hip hop, all stamped with a digital signature. The latest album from this Manu Chao pal, Tigre qui pleure (2024), on which Orchestra Baobab and Cucurucho Valdés collaborated, codifies cumbia, salsa, soukous, bolero and afrotrap beats. Keithy Antoine spoke to him for PAN M 360.

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G L O W Z I is an interdisciplinary artist based in Tiohtià:ke. Using and relying on his curiosity as a device to understand and (re)discover the multiple fields they engage with, the artist expresses themselves in plural art forms such as painting, graphic design, filmmaking, photography and original music production. By visually and/or aurally rendering their modes of thought, questioning and embodied experiences, G L O W Z I transports anyone whose eyes and/or ears encounter his creations into their funky, spicy and definitely danceable artistic universe. Keithy Antoine spoke with them for PAN M 360.

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