Needless to say, the arts mastered by Indigenous Peoples today go far beyond the expression of their ancestral heritage or their modern adaptation to American aesthetics, more specifically country, folk, or rock music. Artists of all genres are emerging and shining, and opera singing is no exception.

That is why PAN M 360 gives pride of place to Innu soprano Élisabeth St-Gelais, guest soloist with Les Violons du Roy under the baton of Jonathan Cohen, performing three arias by German Baroque composer Christoph Willibald von Gluck (1714-1787).

As the respected and esteemed Florent Vollant pointed out at an ADISQ Gala (when an Indigenous category was inaugurated), this artist was not invited to this prestigious program for political correctness, but simply because she is excellent!

Elisabeth St-Gelais now has an international career. Her journey speaks for itself:

An Innu from the community of Pessamit (near Baie-Comeau), raised mainly in Saguenay, she holds a master’s degree from McGill University in the Voice and Opera program. Her great talent earned her the prestigious Wirth Vocal Prize as well as first prize in the 19-30 age category at the 2022 CANIMEX Canadian Competition. In 2023, she won the Prix d’Europe at the Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal. That same year, she also won first prize and the audience prize at the Canadian Opera Company Centre Stage Competition in Toronto. Named Radio-Canada Classique’s Revelation for the 2023-2024 season, she was selected in 2024 for the regionals of the Met Laffont Opera Competition, where she won the Encouragement Award. Committed and responsible, the singer has also been a member of the board of directors of the Conseil québécois de la musique since April 2023.

PAN M 360: You are a flagship of indigenous modernity, whose artistic expression is much more diverse than people realize. Bravo!

Elisabeth St-Gelais: It’s wonderful to hear you say that! If only you knew how much it means to an Indigenous artist.

PAN M 360: You trained in classical Western music and are known for your classical performances, but you are also deeply rooted in and committed to your ancestral culture.

Elisabeth St-Gelais: Absolutely. So, my training, in fact, what I want to do, and I think people can get a little confused about my goal. That goal is very simple: to be an opera singer.

Through this, I am a representative of Canada’s First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples, who are Canada’s first peoples. I have a platform, as I am somewhat well-known in the classical music world. If I achieve my goals and my career progresses, perhaps my role as a representative will become a little more apparent.

PAN M 360: Like any artist in the world who excels in opera singing, you don’t limit yourself to your own culture, which is perfectly normal.

Elisabeth St-Gelais : Absolument.

PAN M 360: Of course, you have to master the great repertoire. And if there are indigenous composers, so much the better. The renaissance of indigenous culture is far from over! We are still in the golden age of the phenomenon.

Elisabeth St-Gelais: Exactly. And as more and more Indigenous composers are finding greater opportunities to express themselves, collaborations are being considered on a larger scale. In this era of truth and reconciliation, Indigenous peoples are becoming more empowered in all spheres of society. So now is really the time when we can see the full potential of Indigenous artists.

PAN M 360: Let’s talk about your invitation to Les Violons du Roy for this grand opening concert in Quebec City and Montreal, conducted by Jonathan Cohen. Big deal!

Élisabeth St-Gelais : Yes, indeed!

PAN M 360: In this program, you perform three arias by Gluck, namely arias WQ40, WQ45, and WQ44. Tell us about them!

Élisabeth St-Gelais: Of course. I first had discussions with Laurent Patenaude (co-executive director and artistic administrator of Les Violons du Roy) to choose the Baroque repertoire for me, which is more romantic, because this orchestra specializes (mainly) in that period.

So we went with Gluck and found excerpts from three different operas: Iphigénie en Aulide (WQ 40), Armide (WQ 45) and Alceste (WQ 44). So we will have the interpretation of three strong characters at pivotal moments in each opera.

PAN M 360: How did the preparation go?

Elisabeth St-Gelais: I just got back from a rehearsal with Les Violons du Roy, and I was very impressed by the ensemble and its extraordinary conductor, Jonathan Cohen. Today’s rehearsal has definitely given me even more inspiration. The orchestra is extraordinary. It’s a great opportunity for me to deepen my musical language, to play with performers of this caliber, and with a conductor of Mr. Cohen’s stature. Yes, and Baroque singing is quite different from 19th-century singing.

PAN M 360: Vocal technique is different when it comes to baroque music. Tell us about the adjustments you make.

Élisabeth St-Gelais: There are several possible approaches, in fact. We are taking a slightly more intellectual approach here than usual, as far as I am concerned, but it is still extremely passionate. It really inspired me.

PAN M 360: Apart from working with conductor Jonathan Cohen, did you work with anyone else to adapt to Baroque singing?

Elisabeth St-Gelais : Oui, notamment avec Alexandre Dratwicki, directeur du Palazzetto Bru Zane à Venise, qui collabore régulièrement au Domaine Forget de Charlevoix. J’ai aussi travaillé avec ma coach Louise Pelletier et mon professeur de chant Stefano Algieri.

PAN M 360: That’s quite a mandate, three arias of this caliber. Big contract!

Elisabeth St-Gelais: Not just big, but beautiful too!

PAN M 360: Upcoming projects?

Elisabeth St-Gelais : October is a very busy month! There’s the Stella Musica Festival on October 17 at the Cinquième Salle at Place des Arts. Then there’s the opening of the Agora Orchestra season, a recital at the Théâtre du Lac-Brome with Louise Pelletier, and then I’ll be heading off to Berlin for a while.

PAN M 360: Opera singers always travel!

Elisabeth St-Gelais : Oui!

Raoul-Jobin Hall at Palais Montcalm, Thursday, October 9, 7:30 p.m. Information and tickets HERE.

Maison Symphonique, Friday, October 10, 7:30 p.m. Information and tickets HERE

Programme

J.-B. LULLY

Suite Le bourgeois gentilhomme

C.W. GLUCK

• Dieux puissants que j’atteste… Jupiter lance la foudre (Iphigénie en Aulide, Wq. 40)
• Ah ! Si la liberté me doit être ravie (Armide, Wq. 45)
• Ah, malgré moi, mon faible cœur… O Ciel ! Quel supplice, quelle douleur (Alceste, Wq. 44)

A. VIVALDI

Concerto pour violoncelle en do mineur, RV 401

J.S. BACH

Ouverture pour orchestre n° 3 en ré majeur, BWV 1068

Concert d’ouverture des Violons du Roy

PROGRAMME

J.-B. LULLY

Suite Le bourgeois gentilhomme

C.W. GLUCK

A. VIVALDI

Concerto pour violoncelle en do mineur, RV 401

J.S. BACH

Ouverture pour orchestre n° 3 en ré majeur, BWV 1068

SOLISTES

Elisabeth St-Gelais, soprano

Cameron Crozman, violoncelle

CHEF

Jonathan Cohen

ABehind Liew Niyomkarn’s meticulously calculated concepts lies a profound, poetic sensitivity to the stories and relationships that shape sound. This affective approach has fueled collaborations with artists across the globe, weaving dispersed imaginaries into expansive human narratives that play on the borders of reality and fantasy. An established voice in the arts, her upcoming performance in Montreal is not to be missed. While preparing for her Flux collaboration with Anne F. Jacques, Liew Niyomkarn took a moment to reflect on her journey and share the elements that make her practice so unique.

PAN M 360 : You are part of the A.Hop collective with Anne F. Jacques, with whom you will be collaborating this Monday. Can you tell us how this collaboration came about, and how you have been preparing for the show?
Liew Niyomkarn : Anne-F is one of my favorite sound artists, and I always wanted to play a gig together, plus I was so thrilled that we’re in a collective! I knew early that I’m going to be in Montreal this time so I researched out to her. The preparation is quite organic and straightforward, we sent each others ideas and sound to get acquainted and we’ll be using some of Anne-F’s sound as time keepers like we do in some of A.Hop’s scores too.

PAN M 360 : You have released music with Chinabot, a collective that presents left-field music from Asia. We hear a lot about Brussels being a creative hub for this type of art form, with schools like Ars, but I’d like to better understand the ecosystem of experimental artists and collectives in Thailand, as it’s not something we often hear about. Who are some artists and collectives in Thailand, or in Asia, that have shaped you as an artist today?
Liew Niyomkarn : Back then, there weren’t too many experimental artists in Thailand, but most of the art scene was clustered around Bangkok and Chiang Mai. I looked up to the pop duo Stylish Nonsense, the record label Small Room, and the gallery WTF (Wonderful Thai Friendship)—they were my go-to spots when I lived there. After I left Bangkok more than a decade ago, the scene has really blossomed into a cornucopia of artist-run spaces. There are so many talented artists and musicians in Thailand. These days you can check out places like Speedy Grandma, N22, Storage Gallery, the music venue Noise House, and Jam Café. There’s also a thriving queer underground community, NonNonNon—just to name a few. The city has never stopped offering fun/exciting stuff!

PAN M 360 : Yuri Landman creates instruments which focus on creating unheard timbres, but his instruments also expand the possibilities of interaction. Why did you choose to use his instruments for this record, and what do they bring to your practice?
Liew Niyomkarn : I had a series of intensive meetings with Yuri a few years back. We mostly dug into fundamental physics (his background), tunings, and the harmonic series. He’s really well-versed in all of it. For him, math works almost like an autopilot—he speaks in mathematics, which I still can’t fully wrap my head around. But I’ve come to terms with the division of harmony over string instruments, and we even started building a few of them so I could grasp it more directly.
We drew on Glenn Branca’s harmonic system as a foundation, and Yuri worked out his own adaptation. What I love about this approach is that the more options you lay out, the more you’re pushed to lean on your ears and intuition to decide what you want—or what sound truly speaks to you. For me, it’s always exciting to pick up the theory, but at the end of the day, I fall back on my ears and my feelings.

PAN M 360 : Your musical practice clearly has a strong connection to physical space, with collaborations extending across the globe and combinations of field recordings that imagine boundless new worlds. Conversely, what we see in the media is that where boundaries are undemarcated, for example on the border between Thailand and Cambodia, there is potential for conflict. Do you think it is possible for humanity to exist without borders, in a state of peace?
Optional: How do you, in this boundless music, consolidate different actors; different states?
Liew Niyomkarn : Yes—if those in power stopped using borders as weapons, humanity could already be living without them.
[ answer A ] for music — I’m not sure I intentionally bring them together. I just let the music bring out different states, so they end up colliding, overlapping, and unraveling on their own or at least I hope it comes across that way.

PAN M 360 : As someone based in Brussels, Bangkok, and L.A., you have a unique perspective on these three distinct cultures. Can you give us your insights on the collective notion of a division between Eastern and Western cultures?
Optional: How would you interpret these differences musically speaking?
Liew Niyomkarn : I’m not sure if there’s really a division like that. I think culture tends to adapt for human survival — we inevitably find ways to move forward. These are big cities with a wide array of multicultural environments. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I’m pretty sure the vibe of these cities finds its way into my music

PAN M 360 : The above-mentioned cities are very dense urban areas and megapolises, but your music on the other hand feels completely detached from these urban landscapes. It is not only minimally composed, but also incorporates elements of field recordings from what sounds like a jungle on “feels like liquidity”, and talks about the stars in “comet of curiosity”. Can you talk to me about this dichotomy; of the outside-inside spaces which you occupy between life and music?
Liew Niyomkarn : One cool thing about using sound and music as a medium is that it bypasses rational thought and elicits a kind of fantasy. Science and fundamental physics are a good place for me to go psychologically. Using field recordings is, for me, not only a way to preserve memory but also to construct simple narratives—ones that I hope we could live in as alternatives to the real world.

PAN M 360 : Glenn Branca and Sonic Youth are noted amongst the influences on your most recent album “In All Possible Places at Once”. The No Wave movement which broadly connects these two artists was partly inspired by early American Avant-Garde, which I can hear in your music. But beyond this, the sonic textures of these albums are almost in contradiction to your soft plucked combination of string instruments and gently introspective environments. You mentioned tunings and compositional forms, but what inspires you conceptually about artists like Glenn Branca and Sonic Youth?
Liew Niyomkarn : I like that they treat sound as a spatial, material force. They explore texture, dissonance, and resonance to shape immersive environments rather than just melodies, and embrace the overlaps and chaos that arise when sonic layers interact.

PAN M 360 : You have worked on films, soundwalks, theatre pieces and even some installations of your own. In what ways does your live performance practice differ from your other sound practices, and in what ways are they similar?
Liew Niyomkarn : I love live performance because it really wakes up your inner clock in a way no other form can. What overlaps for me is the sense of space, the environment, and the collaborations that grow out of them.PAN M 360 : A final question: What are you most excited about artistically right now? Is there a specific project which is inspiring you the most?
Liew Niyomkarn : I’m writing a score for Savant Flanuer, where we’ll be performing at Send+Receive in a few weeks, and a live performance collaboration with three Thai artists for a Ghost 2568 Festival in Bangkok. Mostly, I’m researching music notation and want to write more scores, create an exhibition, and expand my work into a sound installation.

MONDAY OCTOBER 6, SALA ROSSA, 7:30 PM. INFOS + TICKETS HERE

Publicité panam

Nick Blacka, playing alongside pianist Chris Illingworth and drummer John Scott, is the bassist for the British trio GoGo Penguin. Since 2012, the Manchester trio has released seven studio albums, two EPs, three live recordings, and was nominated for the Mercury Prize shortlist in 2014.

We’re not really talking about an emerging band on the ice floe of jazz in the grip of climate change, much less a rallying cry for Sidney Crosby’s team!

Over the previous decade, GoGo Penguin had been identified among the leading trios of this new aesthetic, certainly associated with jazz, but also with math rock, prog and cutting-edge electro.

These acoustic trios (or almost) have in common the primacy of collective work, and a more tenuous approach to individual expression. A trend, certainly.

Last June, the album Necessary Fictions was released, and we can well imagine that its material will be the main course of the group’s Quebec and Canadian tour, of which the Palais Montcalm will be an important stop on Thursday, October 16.

And that’s why PAN M 360 was put in touch with Nick Blacka for the following interview:

PAN M 360: Let’s start with your new album, Necessary Fictions. What has been accomplished if we take a chronology of your recording development?

Nick Blacka: V2.0, our second album, was nominated for the Mercury Prize. That’s when we started paying more attention to what we were doing. And then we signed to Blue Note, where we released the albums Man Made Object, A Humdrum Star and GoGo Penguin (of the same name). Two more albums followed on XXIM Records, including our latest album. It’s been a long journey… even though life is short!

PAN M 360: Yes, life goes by very quickly, but it’s a very good purchase to record 9 albums, 9 collections of new songs, and it continues.

Nick Blacka: Like life, isn’t it? You look at a photo of yourself years after it was taken, and you realize you’ve aged. We always say that each of our albums is a snapshot, a Polaroid of who you were at a specific time. So the idea of a new album is to stay true to ourselves, honest and open about who we’ve become.

PAN M 360: There is indeed a danger of finding yourself a prisoner of your image and marking time, as is so often the case in music.

Nick Blacka: Right, so we don’t worry too much about what the outside world thinks of us. We still have to take risks. We want to explore new territories.

PAN M 360: And what are these new territories, in the case that concerns us?

Nick Blacka: We’ve always used a bit of electronics and synthesizers, but I think there’s more of that on the new album. However, for a long time now, using these machines has made us think differently about composition.

PAN M 360: Can we be more specific about some examples? Our readership is also interested in knowing the parameters of your compositions.

Nick Blacka: A good example would be a track on the new album, What We Are and What We’re Meant to Be. The electronic influence is very clear: the very heavy bass comes from a synthesizer. Then we play the acoustic instruments over it, but it’s very close to dance music. Only a few tracks on this album carry these kinds of ideas, I’m also thinking of Naga Ghost.

PAN M 360: The electro influence therefore led you to play it in addition to evoking it acoustically.

Nick Blacka: In the past, we often talked about dance music forms, which we expressed with our acoustic instruments. Now, we sometimes try to use synthesizers, even though bass and drums remain at the heart of what we do.

PAN M 360: Many music lovers who enjoy improvisational music and new hybridizations of jazz and other styles know Gogo Penguin and appreciate your music. Your success is also attributable to the trend you emerged from: small, cohesive jazz ensembles, very rhythmically solid, and less inclined to solos.

Nick Blacka: As you say. But there are times when we improvise, of course, and especially live, things change. There are of course bass, piano, or drum solos, but that’s when it serves the music, rather than every piece.

PAN M 360: And, just before the emergence of your generation, there had been precedents.

Nick Blacka: When I was a teenager, I was influenced by bands like Portishead (trip-hop) or Ronnie Size Reprazent (drum’n’bass). These bands, among others, took samples of double bass or drums, it was really inspiring. And we always come back to it. Personally, I studied jazz at school, I did my jazz degree, I learned about all these different styles, and I became very excited about playing bebop and standards. But there was a point where it was cool to do something else and we stayed true to our interest in new fusions.

PAN M 360: We can still talk about a trend: in the 2010s, we saw several groups of this kind emerge in the UK – Get the Blessing, Neil Cowley Trio, The Comet Is Coming, Sons of Kemet, etc. Now we can see it elsewhere in Europe and also in North America. What’s next?

Nick Blacka: I think the way we play and write music is just in tune with the musical culture of our time. We come from that melting pot. In Manchester, our city, there are so many different styles of music and the local scene is so vibrant, there’s bound to be some crossovers happening. Because it’s so hard to fund it, a DIY attitude has developed. So we’re always putting things together.

The two things that always stand out about Manchester are football and music. For a city not as big as London, Manchester has contributed a lot musically. Maybe because it rains a lot… I don’t know. Everyone wants to make music here!

PAN M 360: One thing is certain, teamwork trumps all when it comes to you!

Nick Blacka: It’s more than just teamwork, it’s also the joy of being in a band. Everyone has their strength, everyone contributes, it’s not done alone. That’s the beauty of it all. Each of us could have solo careers, but we prefer to stay within this band. It’s great, this feeling of musicians working together. That’s what we feel, anyway.

PAN M 360: Whatever form it may take!

Nick Blacka: Yes, we’ve gotten to the point where we don’t worry about whether it’s jazz or something else. We make music, we try to write songs, and we want it to resonate emotionally. That’s our focus.

PAN M 360: How does it work on a daily basis?

Nick Blacka: The music is mostly written by Chris and me, who live in Manchester. We do a lot of development work together. John is in London, and he comes to work with us for intensive work sessions. So we spend a lot of our lives together, we evolve together. These shared lives are definitely reflected in our music.

Yes, yes. If you ask anyone in the world, the two things they’ll say about Manchester are music or football. Those are the two things. For a city that’s not as big as London, the history and heritage of the city and what it’s contributed in terms of music is considerable. Maybe because it rains a lot… I don’t know. Everyone wants to make music here!

PAN M 360: And how can all this stand the test of time?

Nick Blacka: We’re older, we’re in the middle of our lives, but we’re still wondering what’s next. We’re still looking to move forward with authenticity and the desire to communicate something personal, without the challenge of changing everything.

Publicité panam

If you watched the state funeral of the great sociologist Guy Rocher on TV, you also saw and listened to the Molinari Quartet, whose musical activities PAN M 360 has been covering since the platform’s inception. Music lovers will still be eager to hear this excellent ensemble, which begins its 2025-26 season on Tuesday, October 7. With Olga Ranzenhofer, we explore this first program under the Passages banner, consisting of works by Bartók, Shostakovich, and Boucourechliev. We also talk about the quartet’s new member, violist Cynthia Blanchon, and we look ahead to the new season that is just beginning.

PAN M 360: Let’s start with the renewal. You’ve reached parity with the arrival of violist Cynthia Blanchon. Bravo! Why did you choose her specifically? What are her strengths?

Olga Ranzenhofer: We chose Cynthia after auditioning several violists. Her rich sound, her keen sense of phrasing, her great musicality, and of course her great technical mastery of the viola convinced us that she was the violist we were looking for. She also has extensive experience in chamber music.

It’s a great pleasure for me to have another woman in the quartet. The work atmosphere is cheerful and we all really enjoy working together. Cynthia’s arrival gives new impetus to the Quartet.

PAN M 360: Why play on a Tuesday as the season opener?

Olga Ranzenhofer: Usually, our concerts are on Friday evenings, but with the arrival of our new violist, we had to change because Cynthia was unable to perform on the date we had planned. It’s as simple as that! The other concerts will be on Friday evenings again.

PAN M 360: We will be returning to your 2025-26 programs several times this season, but can we talk about a general perspective for this 29th season?

Olgan Ranzenhofer: We have maintained our mandate to perform the great works of the 20th and 21st centuries and to premiere new works since our beginnings, and this season is no exception! Our first concert features works by two of the most important quartet composers of the 20th century, Béla Bartók and Dmitri Shostakovich, who wrote no fewer than 21 quartets between them! It is essential for a quartet to play these works, as they are the foundation of the string quartet repertoire.

We were supposed to perform the complete Shostakovich quartets last May, but unfortunately the concerts had to be canceled at the last minute. We are very happy to announce that we will be performing this complete set with Cynthia next May. We also have two beautiful premieres this fall; Denis Dion wrote Coin Darling for us, a work in tribute to Guido Molinari, and we will premiere Blair Thomson’s first quartet, Internesses, in December. We will also finish our complete Philip Glass quartets in February and record them for ATMA. So, continuity and new releases are on the menu for our 29th season.

PAN M 360: The first concert of the season of your series Vingtième et plus is entitled Passages. Why?

Olga Ranzenhofer: There are several reasons for this title. First, there is the passing of the torch to our new violist. Second, Bartók’s First Quartet represents the transition from post-Romanticism to the path of modernity, and the three movements of this quartet form an astonishing journey, from despair to hope, from funeral dirge to Hungarian dance. Finally, the premiere in 1953 of Shostakovich’s Fourth Quartet opened the way to greater artistic freedom with the death of Stalin.

PAN M 360: Tell us about the challenge of Shostakovich’s 4th Quartet, written during the Stalinist regime and premiered after Stalin’s death in 1953. What are its special features? How did you prepare for it this time?

Olga Ranzenhofer: This 4th quartet was performed at the very first Molinari concert in November 1997. I’ve been playing this quartet for almost 30 years now, and I always discover something new in it. That’s the sign of a true masterpiece! Of course, we change our interpretation over the years, and that’s what’s extraordinary about live music. It’s always renewed. The structure of this quartet is very classical, both in its four movements and in the internal form of its movements. The second movement is a small masterpiece in itself, with its very touching, intimate theme that contrasts with the very orchestral first movement. The last movement is particularly incredible, with its long, intense buildup. It’s always a great pleasure to play this work.

PAN M 360: Same question for Béla Bartók’s 1st quartet, opus 7, “whose three movements form an astonishing journey, from despair to hope, from funeral song to Hungarian dance.”

Olga Ranzenhofer: This quartet takes us through a whole range of emotions. The sighs of despair at the beginning transform over the course of the work into a return to life and then a joy of living with dance rhythms. Bartók’s quartets always represent a great challenge because everything is intertwined and depends on what came before. The work is in constant accelerando; you have to carefully balance the tempos and intensities to be able to reach the end of the work!

PAN M 360: To complete the program, the Quartet III by the Bulgarian composer (naturalized French) André Boucourechliev (1925-1997), a work written for the 1995 Evian International String Quartet Competition. Why this choice? What are its particularities? How do you approach it?

Olga Ranzenhofer: This quartet is very interesting. Boucourechliev, who was also a musicologist and writer, composed about thirty works. These three quartets offer great challenges to the musicians because we must be more than performers… we participate at several moments in the composition of the work. Boucourechliev created “open” sections in which the musicians must make decisions about the material to play, the order in which to play it, and the choice of intensities and speeds. All this must be done not by chance, but by attentively listening to the other voices and following a common thread. We create a new work every time we play this quartet.

I invite music lovers to listen to the episode entitled “Passages” of our podcast “Le studio du Quatuor Molinari.” Host Jean Portugais welcomes Cynthia Blanchon for an interview and presents the works on the program for the concert on Tuesday, October 7.

PAN M 360: How did the Molinari Quartet (and your daughter Odile Portugais, soprano) experience the state funeral of sociologist Guy Rocher? Remind us of your interpretation choices!

Olga Ranzenhofer: Guy Rocher was a great builder of modern Quebec. He was also a great music lover and a loyal supporter of the Molinari Quartet. At 98, he still came to our concerts! My husband, Jean Portugais, knew him well at the University of Montreal, and we were very touched to be invited to see him in palliative care in August.

I brought my violin and played Bach, Handel, and Massenet for him. After his death, his daughter Anne-Marie called me to ask the Molinari Quartet to play at the National Tribute in his honor.

We chose to play the first movement of the magnificent Quartet No. 2 by Quebec composer Jacques Hétu and the first movement of Shostakovich’s 1st Quartet, two works conducive to contemplation. One of the pieces I had played for Mr. Rocher was Handël’s Lascia ch’io pianga, which is an aria for soprano. The family wanted this work, so we asked Odile to do it with us. We were also asked to play the well-known song Adieu Monsieur le professeur, so my colleague Antoine Bareil made an arrangement for voice and quartet. It was a very touching moment at the very end of the ceremony when the Katimavik Vocal Ensemble, conducted by Frédéric Vogel, sang the chorus and invited the crowd to join us.

Publicité panam

With her vibrant look of bright colours and sometimes improbable shapes, reminiscent of Émilie in a phantasmagorical and alternative Paris somewhere between Yves Saint-Laurent and the aesthetics of the film The Fifth Element, the American Sophie Grey is increasingly making a name for herself on the pop scene. She has opened for Sting and Shaggy, but is now taking the reins of her own musical destiny with the Retro Electro tour, which is also the title of her most recent album. It was after studying classical piano that the very young lady was carried away by the music of the 1980s, its melodic ease, its simple and catchy rhythms and its hyper-expressive visual theatricality. What she offers with Retro Electro is a respectful but not pastiche revisit of 1980s pop music, with all the panoply of gestures and tics of this archetypically styled aesthetic, but using the richness of contemporary electronic lutherie to give it a little extra “oomph.” It is perfectly suited to the retro-futuristic movement that is coming to life everywhere in cinema, literature and visual arts. Before her performance at Bar Le Ritz PDB in Montreal on October 12 (her only stop in Canada!), I had the pleasure of speaking with the artist who, what a nice surprise, also speaks quite exquisite French (for a short part of the interview). Here is the interview:

DETAILS AND TICKET FOR SOPHIE GREY’S CONCERT AT THE RITZ PDB BALL IN MONTREAL, ON OCTOBER 12, 2025.

Drummer and composer Andrew Cyrille intended to pursue advanced studies in chemistry and ultimately opted for the chemistry of sounds and improvised music. Of Haitian descent, the octogenarian is among the great American musicians who have experienced the transition from modern to contemporary jazz. He was heard alongside saxophonist Coleman Hawkins in his early days, then in pianist Cecil Taylor’s band. Later, he was associated with saxophonist David Murray, pianists John Hicks and Marilyn Crispell, and many others. This Saturday at La Chapelle / Scènes contemporaines, he is performing the second part of a program as part of the FLUX festival, presented jointly by Le Vivier. We reached him in New York earlier this week, and here is the conversation transcribed for PAN M 360 readers.

PAN M 360: You’ve performed in Montreal several times in the past, and this time you’re coming in a different context. Perhaps you could briefly explain this solo project to us, and tell us how it came together?

Andrew Cyrille: It’s built on original compositions and also on concepts that come from other artists. I express my music through the medium of percussion.

PAN M 360: And if we try to be more specific, can you give us examples of these experiences, or of your relationship with your compositions as a percussionist?

Andrew Cyrille: Yeah, well, I did something a few years ago on an album called What About, it has to do with trying to give an example of birth, the first breaths, the first sounds that can be communicated to other human beings. Another one on What About focused on drum frames, this included overdubs of whistles or flutes. Another piece was recorded with Gene Lee and Jimmy Lyons on the Nuba album and I’m playing the Nuba piece that I designed and in which I do a percussion solo in homage to Art Blakey and Max Roach, like the Seven for Max that I’ve already recorded. If I give you all the examples, I’m not going to play them all!

PAN M 360: Can you tell us about this specific project planned in Montreal?

Andrew Cyrille: I’m coming alone. And I gave Flux Festival instructions on how to assemble the drum kit that would suit me. I photographed my instruments and sent them to the FLUX organizers.

PAN M 360: You have always been involved in new forms of jazz, as a drummer, performer, composer, or leader. And what place does the solo concert have in all this?

Andrew Cyrille: I’ve done a lot of percussion solos throughout my career, and I would say that soloing is also included in a jazz composition for any ensemble. I just presented a solo concert at a club in the New York area.

PAN M 360: So it’s always changed, you’ve been able to refine your approach and go further.

Andrew Cyrille: Whatever the jazz compositions, that’s what we do within those compositions: make them different. In other words, to take a piece and transform it by adding new ingredients. We start with a composition and transform it with our own influences.

PAN M 360: Are your Haitian roots reflected in your music? Haiti’s rhythmic heritage is so rich!

Andrew Cyrille: I was born in the United States to Haitian parents. There are reminiscences of Haitian culture in my playing, but it’s rather subconscious. The fact is that my musical education was received in the United States, at music schools like Juilliard, and that made me who I am. Of course, the musicians from all over the world with whom I played also contributed to forging my musical personality. I learned through all of that to become who I am.

PAN M 360: You stayed connected to the music.

Andrew Cyrille: The thing about music is that you don’t see the notes, you don’t taste the notes, you don’t put them in your pocket. You feel the notes, and it’s a spiritual connection. If you find a common thread and a way to connect with other human beings regardless of the clothes they wear or the food they eat, then you can make music.

PAN M 360: Are you involved in many ensembles or do you still focus on your solo project?

Andrew Cyrille: I focus on what people ask me to do. For example, I just played with the trio of pianist David Virelles, who is of Cuban origin and lives in New York with double bassist Reggie Workman, or with the group of pianist Adegoke Steve Colson. There is no specific plan in my collaborations, there are rather possibilities, opportunities. There is also my own quartet that recently performed at the Village Vanguard, with Bill Frisell, guitar, David Virelles, piano and Ben Street, double bass. I will soon return there with an ensemble including Joe Lovano, saxophone and Dave Douglas, trumpet. In addition, I teach at The New School. For me, it works like this: I can really only manage the present, try to improve myself in the present and stay alive (creatively). Yes, I think about what may happen in the future. But for me, when the future unfolds, it is the present. And that is what matters to me.

PAN M 360: Are memories important to you? You have a long and varied career, but you are still active.

Andrew Cyrille: You know, there are things in the past that I can remember, experiences that have made me grow spiritually. For example, I had the opportunity to play with Coleman Hawkins for his album The Hawk Relaxes. I was 21 when I did that, and I had never met Coleman Hawkins before, and I had a recording date with him, and who was it? Ron Carter was on bass, and Kenny Burrell was on guitar, Ronel Bright was on piano. I was Sarah Vaughan. That was the only time we played together, Coleman Hawkins accepted me and we played his music.

PAN M 360: Coleman Hawkins was already old at this time, but he had a reputation as a very open man, which was not the case for the majority of his colleagues of his generation.

Andrew Cyrille: One person I had a phenomenal time with and who taught me a lot was the great pianist Mary Lou Williams. I was a student at Juilliard at the time, and Mary Lou taught me other dimensions of music, including having me sing melodic patterns from modern jazz before she played them. I learned not to be afraid of my voice and to do what she told me to.

PAN M 360: A bit like in Indian classical music, where the ragas are said out loud before being played.

Andrew Cyrille: Many things on this planet are interconnected.

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Cordâme isn’t a band like any other. The members vary depending on the project, but there’s a core group that remains. Among this core group, we have Jean Félix Mailloux, who spoke with Keithy Antoine to describe the band’s uniqueness and what they’re preparing for MUZ. For the occasion, they’ve invited Ziya Tabassian, who has already participated in their projects in the past but has agreed to do it again. An evening that promises to be rich in sounds, with the river as its narrative thread.

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Originally from Rwanda, Umurutasaté was born in Ethiopia and lived in Libya before arriving in Quebec 28 years ago. It was after a trip to Brazil in 2005 that she realised music would be an integral part of her life, but it took almost 15 years to make that dream a reality. After a pandemic and a midlife crisis, she quit her 9-to-5 job to devote herself entirely to her three passions: music, journalism and teaching French. She spoke with Keithy Antoine for PAN M 360 about her music, a blend of East African and Latin American rhythms, a few days before her concert on 4 October at Studio TD.

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Recently arrived in Quebec from the Republic of Congo, Hendry Massamba is a percussionist at heart. He sings mainly for people who have no voice and whose realities are not always obvious. He will be accompanied by well-established musicians such as Donald Dogbo on drums for his first show as an artist. He has already participated in MUZ as a percussionist, but this time will be completely different. Keithy Antoine was able to ask him a few questions about his artistic journey as he prepares to perform on Saturday, 4 October at Studio TD.

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Her name may seem intriguing at first glance, meaning ‘the hairy one’ in Spanish, but it was inspired by a video in which a woman sang about her body hair. And it is this word that the artist chose for her stage name. Quebec-Colombian Lapelúda embraces both of her roots in her music. She has just released a brand new album, Entre cielo y tierra, and is preparing to deliver a show that reflects her personality, in which she has added a song in French translated from one of her compositions in Spanish. She discusses this with Keithy Antoine in this interview, a few days before her show on Saturday 4 October at Studio TD.

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Nora Toutain is participating in MUZ for the second time and will be accompanied by her loyal collaborators on drums, guitar and bass. Franco-Moroccan, she has three albums to her credit and wishes to continue her musical introspection and open up to new horizons. She feels more comfortable exploring songs in French, something she did not do in the past. Keithy Antoine spoke with her to learn more about her career and what she has in store for us on Saturday, 4 October at Studio TD.

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Raíz Viva is a band that made a name for itself at the Syli d’Or competition. Since then, they’ve been everywhere, with music that draws on Afro-Colombian and indigenous roots. Several members play different traditional instruments, sing and share their passion for Colombian culture and the cultural diversity it encompasses. Nicolas, one of the members, spoke with Keithy Antoine for PAN M 360 and even shared a surprise that will take place on Saturday, 4 October at Studio TD. Not to be missed.

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Programme

Concert d’ouverture des Violons du Roy

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