On March 13, the Université de Montréal Big Band will present a concert dedicated to the female voice, in collaboration with the jazz vocal program. On the program: eleven arrangements of a wide variety of pieces, from Billie Holiday to Tom Jobim, via…John Coltrane!
Our contributor, Michel Labrecque, discussed the concert, to be presented at Salle Claude Champagne, with one of the six vocalists, first-year jazz vocal student Juliette Oudni, and Brazilian João Lenhari, musical director of the Université de Montréal Big Band since 2023.
PANM360: How did the idea of creating a Big Band concert that highlights the female voice come about?
Juliette: It’s the result of a collaboration between the jazz vocal interpretation program and the Big Band. The six performers chosen – Marie-Ève Lambert, Marie-Ève Caron, Margaux Devez, Maude Brodeur, Gabrielle Nessel and myself – were given carte blanche to choose the pieces. And João Lenhari did all the original arrangements. For my part, the piece I chose to perform solo is the Brazilian song Madalena. I’ll be performing another as a duet, and there will be an a cappella piece for six voices.
João :First of all, I love the Big Band and its enormous possibilities. This year, we decided to focus on the female voice and, why not, do the concert in March, the month dedicated to women’s rights? Afterwards, I listened to multiple versions of the songs chosen by the girls, passing them through the Big Band filter. Each of the six performers has a different vocal timbre, so we have to take that into account, and tailor the arrangements to suit. It’s also a women’s concert in that five of the twenty musicians are girls. Imagine, half our trumpet section is female, which is really cool.
PANM360: The choice of pieces is really wide-ranging, from Cole Porter to Tom Jobim, we find ourselves in different eras. How did you go about choosing which songs to perform?
Juliette: Well, we’re very good friends, and we often sing together, so it was easy to talk about it. We were offered a number of different concert formats, and we opted for one that allowed for duets rather than just solos, as well as a six-voice interpretation. It’s more of a challenge to collaborate, to mix voices. And you’ll see the result on Thursday March 13.
PANM360 : What intrigues me most about your choice of music is the decision to do an a cappella piece with a John Coltrane piece that is purely instrumental.
Juliette: Our choice was John Coltrane’s ballad Central Park West, which is effectively a song without words. So my colleague Gabrielle Nesset wrote the lyrics and we sent it to João.
João: I searched for a long time and finally found a version sung by a solo male voice. So, making an arrangement for six voices was a real challenge. Finding colours and harmonies without instrumentation. But all in all, I’m really happy and the girls worked really hard.
PANM360: In total, we’ll be hearing ten sung pieces plus an instrumental piece for the Big Band. In addition to what we’ve already mentioned, what can you expect?
João: For me, the big novelty is the original arrangements of all these pieces for a Big Band format. Something I’ve never heard before.
Juliette: Also, the diversity of the repertoire: gospel, jazz, samba and so on. With so many different vocal timbres, from very low to very high. I’m really looking forward to being on stage, and a big thank you to João for these wonderful arrangements.
PANM360: As a reminder, the concert takes place on March 13 at the Salle Claude Champagne in the Faculty of Music at the Université de Montréal. In closing, tell us what you do musically outside the Université de Montréal.
Juliette: In addition to my studies, I’m a member of a sextet called Junon, which mixes French chanson, soul and jazz.
João: I’m a trumpet player, have a quartet, my own big band and play in a number of Montreal bands, including the Julian Gutierrez project, my compatriot Manoel Viera’s band and a host of others.
PANM360: Thank you both, obrigado!
An eagerly-awaited program at the Semaine du Neuf, Montreal’s Paramirabo is also an international encounter with Musikfabrik, one of Germany’s leading new music ensembles. The joint program features the work of composers Gordon Williamson, Chris Paul Harman, Paul Frehner, Juliet Palmer and Dylan Lardelli, not to mention works by the late Pauline Oliveros and Rodney Sharman. In this context, the members of Musikfabrik have this time been constituted as a trio: oboe/English horn, horn, double bass. This encounter promises “a dark and rich palette of sound…an avant-garde experience, true to the mission of both ensembles to explore the new languages of contemporary music.” Conducted by flutist Jeffrey Stonehouse, Paramirabo is represented here by pianist Pamela Reimer, interviewed by Frédéric Cardin for PAN M 360.
PAN M 360: Musikfabrik is a legendary ensemble in contemporary music. How do you anticipate this encounter with three of its members?
Pamela Reimer: We’re looking forward to a joyful collaboration! Sharing, learning, experimenting, re-creating.
PAN M 360: How did you construct the program? Why did you choose the male and female composers?
Pamela Reimer: It was Canadian composer Gordon Williamson, now based in Hanover, who proposed this collaboration between Musikfabrik and Paramirabo. Essentially, it’s two concerts for the price of one! Three members of the Musikfabrik ensemble are touring Canada with works by New Zealand/Maori composer Dylan Lardelli, Canadian composer Juliet Palmer and Gordon Williamson. Paramirabo will also join the trio for Pauline Oliveros’ work, conceived for open instrumentation, and Vancouver’s Rodney Sharman’s duet for English horn and piano. Paramirabo will soon be leaving for Europe, and we have chosen a few pieces from our touring repertoire.
Peter Veale, cor anglais, Musikfabrik
PAN M 360: The styles represented are quite diverse. Is there a common thread running through the programming?
Pamela Reimer: Not really! It’s a feast of music from all over, for all tastes.
PAN M 360: There will be 5 creations out of the 8 pieces performed on March 11. Any interesting details about each of them before diving into listening to them at the concert?
Pamela Reimer:
JULIET PALMER: The work blur of lichens is dedicated to her grandfather, who was a lichen lover and almost blind. The work questions blurred boundaries.
DYLAN LARDELLI: The Giving Sea is a spiritual evocation of the ocean, always evolving, always transforming, with its elements of depth, density, movement and separation.
GORDON WILLIAMSON: Odd Throuple – a reference to the :English saying Odd Couple, but instead of two there are three!
The trio of instruments rarely heard together: oboe, double bass and horn.
PAUL FREHNER: Un pont sanguin – a meditation on the ‘bridge’ between us – human beings on earth – and the world ‘beyond the horizon’. The pianist plays the synthesizer, and the percussionist, the cencerros (bells) – in search of sounds that evoke meteor showers.
CHRIS PAUL HARMAN: Francisez-moi – a tribute to early French composers, writers and poets, with a few surprises! Paramirabo acknowledges the generosity of Paul Frehner and Chris Paul Harman for their musical gifts!
PAN M 360: What can you say about the piece by Pauline Oliveros, one of the great avant-garde figures of the 2nd half of the 20th century?
Pamela Reimer: The musicians of Musikfabrik proposed this piece, a work without traditional notation, and rather instructions, typical of Oliveros and her famous deep listening philosophy. Each performer chooses a single pitch, and should approach it in as many ways as possible. Approach and departure, always different. Short or long, loud or soft, dramatic or meditative, question or answer. Each iteration is unique.
Pauline Oliveros: Approaches and Departures, Appearances and Disappearances for solo, duo or ensemble (1994) Juliet Palmer: blur of lichens* (2025) – 10′ Dylan Lardelli: The Giving Sea* (2025) – 10′ Gordon Williamson: Odd Throuple* (2025) – 10′
Dedicated to the exploration of opera and lyric song in today’s context, the Chants libres company is piloting a Laboratoire lyrik, in which artists explore the concepts of presence and absence. Presented at La Chapelle Scènes Contemporaines this Wednesday, March 12, as part of Semaine du Neuf, this research-creation project brings together scenographer Cédric Delorme-Bouchard, actress Jennyfer Desbiens, cellist Audréanne Filion, mezzo-soprano Marie-Annick Béliveau and composer Frédéric Le Bel, in a triptych for voice, cello and electronics. The dramaturgy of this work draws on voice, sound, body movement and light. Metamorphoses take place, immersion is imminent. Beforehand, mezzo-soprano Marie-Annick Béliveau, artistic director of Chants Libres, explains the ins and outs.
PAN M 360: Please tell us about the lyrik laboratory, its foundations and its connection with this production presented at Semaine du Neuf.
Marie-Annick Béliveau: When I took over as artistic director of the company in the summer of 2022, I felt it was important to maintain Chants Libres’ mission of lyric research and creation. I see it in three parts: creating new repertoire, exploring new forms, and seeking out new creative processes.
It’s precisely with the aim of giving us opportunities to explore new processes of lyric creation that I decided to organize lyric laboratories: creative events that mobilize more modest means, circumscribed in time, lasting just a few days and allowing us to test ideas and proposals, without the aim of producing a new show.
Producing a lyric show is a major operation, often spanning two or three years, which mobilizes considerable technical, financial and human resources. And so, when we work on these new creations, we’re always more or less in “solution mode”, looking for what will work. The lyriks labs are an opportunity to try out formulas, in content and form, without looking for a solution. The process is more interesting than the end result.
This is what we’re presenting on Wednesday March 12, and it’s the fruit of the work of a small team of 5 people, several conversations, sharing of ideas, brainstorming and some thirty hours of work in the studio.
PAN M 360: “In this new Chants Libres lyrik laboratory, the artists explore the concepts of presence and absence. But what else?
Marie-Annick Béliveau : The lyrik 03 laboratory, which will be presented at the chapel next Wednesday, is in fact the culmination of a conversation. Frédéric LeBel once proposed an idea for a laboratory, for which he would compose music for voice, cello and electro. His idea was to have the voice and cello heard live and/or recorded, and to play with processing and spatialization to create ambiguity: where do the sounds we hear come from?
I had seen two of his creations in which he succeeded in creating a dramaturgy by playing with the bodies we see, those we guess, and those that disappear. We are three performers on stage, who is sound? who is not? Why does she sing? Why doesn’t she sing when we can hear her?
PAN M 360: What other projects does Chants libres have in store with this Laboratoire lyric?
Marie-Annick Béliveau: What’s next for Laboratoire lyrik 03? I’m sure we’ll all come away from the experience somewhat transformed. What interests me is proposing to artists and spectators that they imagine creating a new opera show based on new paradigms, for example, without a story, or without a score, or in intergenericity, in decompartmentalization. Putting unusual ingredients into the pot. How will these research-creation efforts influence our future productions? It’s hard to say, but it’s all about developing a posture.
PAN M 360: Can you elaborate on this question of presence and absence?
Marie-Annick Béliveau: Frédéric composed a duet for voice and cello that we perform three times, in three different combinations. Cédric has created a dramaturgy based on our three bodies, the lighting that reveals or conceals them, and the way we look at each other. Depending on who we see or hear, but also who we don’t see, who looks at the others and who is looked at, relationships are created, complicities, rivalries, games of domination and submission.
I’ve always found it fascinating how, for a singer, her body on stage, whether immobile in front of the piano or performing a scene from The Marriage of Figaro, the singer’s body is very present, the spectator watching the artist as much as listening to her, her face, her gaze, how she moves. He listens to her even when she’s not singing. Initially, I really liked the idea of people seeing me and hearing my voice when I’m not singing, and hearing me but seeing Jennyfer, and wondering whether it’s her or me singing, or waiting for her to sing in turn.
I’m going to make you smile, but I love the moment in the Sempre Libera of Verdi’s Traviata, when Violetta sings alone in her home, and all of a sudden we hear Alfredo singing outside… absent but so present! Verdi’s idea is frighteningly effective. We wait for him to return, and no! Curtain!
PAN M 360: How is the public involved in this process?
Marie-Annick Béliveau: The public is part of the equation when you’re doing creative, exploratory work. I’m perhaps more sensitive to this because I’m a performer. Often we work in the studio, trying things out, testing, making choices, but I know that all ideas, no matter how good they are in the studio, remain hypotheses until they are presented to an audience. And it’s often only after you’ve sung in front of an audience that you can tell what works, what doesn’t, what will work and what should be abandoned.
In fact, I’m sure it’ll be on Thursday that I’ll really be able to tell you what the point of this lyrik laboratory was, and we’ll be able to grasp it when the audience is in the auditorium.
And I’m delighted to be able to invite the audience to come and share these moments of exploration with us, to have a daring audience, who come to see and hear creative lyric art in a phase of development.
PAN M 360: How did the project develop with scenographer Cédric Delorme-Bouchard, actress Jennyfer Desbiens, cellist Audréanne Filion, composer Frédéric LeBel and yourself?
Marie-Annick Béliveau: First, we had a meeting, a conversation, to get to know each other, to talk about these ideas of absence and presence, about what makes up the dramaturgy. We also talked about the idea of doing an opera without a text, without a narrative at the outset. Then we read the first versions of Frédéric’s score, and Cédric and Jennyfer imagined how it could be transposed into movement and displacement.
What’s fascinating is that in the neon-lit studio, with no electronics or microphones, it was clear that Frédéric could “hear” all the sound processing in his head, and Cédric could “see” the scenography and lighting in his head too. They’d describe them to us, but it was all very abstract.
PAN M 360: Voice, cello, electronics. How was this work constructed?
Marie-Annick Béliveau: I can’t comment on Frédéric’s compositional approach, but what is certain is that there is a dialogue between voice and cello from the outset. But the moment when Audréanne and I take up a real challenge is when, to rehearse the piece a second time, we swap parts. Audréanne plays the vocal part, and I sing the cello part, which is quite perilous. We have to “interpret” the score to play what’s written, but above all we have to figure out how to imitate each other, and at the very least make the exchange audible. The electronic part is an amalgam of recording and direct processing, and the whole thing is spatialized.
PAN M 360: Why choose a triptych?
Marie-Annick Béliveau: There are several reasons why we decided to do three versions of the same piece: firstly, the question of exchanging parts, and secondly, quite simply, because we are three performers, so each receives her share of attention.
PAN M 360: Where do you see this production in your season of Chants libres?
Marie-Annick Béliveau: As luck would have it, we’ve had 3 creations in less than 11 months – a very intense year for us. These creative projects have been in the works for 12, 24 or more months. But this lyrik laboratory project, this meeting between Frédéric and Cédric, was very close to my heart, and Le Vivier’s offer to be in the chapel as part of the Semaine du Neuf program was a great opportunity.
PAN M 360: This concert is part of the revival of the Chants libres company. Can you tell us a little about your still recent tenure as artistic director?
Marie-Annick Béliveau : A wind of renewal, certainly, but it’s very important for me and Pauline Vaillancourt (whom I’m replacing) to remain faithful and loyal to the company’s mandate. When Pauline founded Chants Libres in 1990, it was almost impossible for a composer to find the means to create an opera in Quebec. The situation has changed, here and elsewhere, and the major opera houses are making a point of commissioning new repertoire, of presenting contemporary repertoire, and I’m really very happy about that.
The mandate of Chants Libres is, of course, to produce new works, but for me it’s especially important to focus our activities on research and creation.
Over the last few decades, dance and theater have seen major advances in the way they define themselves. In the performing arts, inter-artistic proposals are multiplying, and the boundaries between disciplines are becoming porous. This multi-faceted scene is generating a new audience, which is not a theater or dance audience, but above all a creative audience, thirsting for singular, dynamic, original proposals. I believe that creative lyric theater has a place in this movement. That’s the direction I want Chants Libres to take.
PAN M 360: What has the public’s reaction been since you took over? How is the relationship with the public evolving under your new management?
Marie-Annick Béliveau: The 24-25 season is the first that I can call my own, in which Chants Libres presents projects that I have piloted. It’s a little early to gauge how audiences are appreciating the direction I’m taking the company. However, I think that both the audience and the general public have noticed that all the projects presented this season or announced for next are co-productions. Opera and lyric theater are multi- or interdisciplinary forms, which lend themselves easily to the game of collective creation, and it’s natural for me, and even necessary, to develop projects in collaboration with artists from theater, dance, popular music, world music and the digital arts. We pool our skills, resources, audiences and references. That makes me very happy, and it makes the future of Chants Libres bright.
What will you do on March 8th, International Women’s Rights Day? Our PAN M 360 writer Léa Dieghi is most definitely going to dance at WOMEN OF THE INDUSTRY, alongside Regularfantasy. Not you ? Well, maybe you should, you wouldn’t regret it… And if you don’t know either of them, now’s the time to read about them! “Who doesn’t love music?” answered the artist Regularfantasy, aka Olivia Meek, when Lea asked her when her passion for music began. Born on Vancouver Island and now based in Montreal—which she fondly calls the “French-speaking Peter Pan paradise”—the DJ and electronic producer has been on a steady rise over the past few years.
Between her collaborations with incredibly talented producers and artists like Francis Latreille (aka Priori), Cecile Believe, and Kristian North, the foundation of her own label Plush Records alongside D. Tiffany, and multiple single releases on Canadian and international labels (Mood Hut, Heart to Heart, Pear, to name a few), she has continued to carve out her musical journey. Bringing a housy, techy, yet groovy and sexy atmosphere to the electronic scene, she has become a zestful force in the industry.
An artist with multiple influences—ranging from Pop, R&B, and Rock to Disco—Olivia Meek eventually found her way into DJing and electronic music production. But it’s not just her music that brings the fun; it’s also her sparkling personality.
Creating new sonic worlds every time the musical wizardry happens—both with artists and the audience—we had the chance to catch up with her, in between travels, ahead of her performance with the collective Women of the Industry this weekend.
In this cross-interview, let’s dive into her mystical musical journey. But let’s also get a little more political, as we discuss the special Caba-Rave event happening this weekend in Montreal—an initiative aimed at promoting and supporting women in the nightlife industry.
PAN M 360 : Let’s start with the basics—where it all began—tolearn a bit more about you. When did this passion for music start?
Regularfantasy: I’ve always had a passion for music. Apparently, my first concert was when I was four years old. It was The Barenaked Ladies (a ‘90s Canadian rock band), and I danced in my chair before taking a nap. Music was always around me in the sense of pop culture, and later, it became a way to connect with people. My mom loved music and concerts, and we had tons of homemade tapes and CDs—that era. As a kid/teen, I took singing lessons, played piano, violin, marimbas & bongos, xylophone, flute, musical saw, sang in a choir, joined an R&B band, played the triangle in a concert band, and took guitar lessons. I was always drawn to music, but it never fully clicked. Then I started jamming with people—playing guitar, drums, bass, or keyboard—and recording covers. Sometimes, I performed live at DIY events. I think what really hooked me was the community—the people, the friendships, the connections, the memories. It was more fun than video games, homework, sports, or whatever else teenagers were doing.
PAN M 360 : Why have you chosen to make and perform electronic music? What do you loveabout it?
Regularfantasy: I had a friend whose older brother was a DJ. He put some disco edits on my iPod that his brother had made, and I was blown away. That was around the time MGMT and Chromeo got big, and I was already really into the Bee Gees, so those disco edits felt like magic to me. At the same time, I was always going to the gym and looking for good workout music because they played terrible 2000s remixes of Avril Lavigne (which sounds good, I know, but trust me, it was not). The idea of music that makes people dance and have fun fascinated me. Then my friend got some turntables, and I started listening to more dance music, and I was just like… this is it. I can’t fully explain it, but something about electronic music spoke to me.
PAN M 360 : How would you describe your music? And what kind of energy do you aim to createin your performances?
Regularfantasy: Oh God, I don’t think I could truly describe my music, but if I had to, I’d say it’s housey, techy, vocal, and trippy. In my DJ sets, I go for an uplifting, groovy, sexy, and slightly psychedelic vibe. I like mixing genres in a way that’s confusing but also perfectly wrong. And, of course, I love good old-fashioned bangers. I want my sets to be fun but also a little introspective.
PAN M 360 : It seems like collaborations have always been important to you, even back inVancouver, can you share some of your experiences collaborating with other artists, collectives,labels, and albums?
Regularfantasy: I love collaborating—with other artists, producers, visual artists, photographers, and labels. I love creating new worlds with people; it really excites me. But to build these musical worlds, you need friendship, community, synergy, and good ideas. You need to get excited about something together. That’s what makes collaboration meaningful to me.
PAN M 360: Since you’re performing at Women of the Industry on March 8th, do you have anythoughts on the political side of electronic music, particularly the role of women in the scene?
Regularfantasy: I mean, I have too much to say and nothing at the same time. I just want to create a fun, fruity space where people can dance. I love seeing both the girls and the boys up front, dancing their hearts out. My goal is for everyone to have fun, feel comfortable, be seen, and maybe even be challenged. That’s my mission.
PAN M 360: Could you tell us about your upcoming releases and shows? It seems like you’vebeen moving around a lot lately!
Regularfantasy: My next show is this Saturday for Women of the Industry! As for releases, I have a lot in the works. I’m finishing an EP with Spray and working on a few projects with Montreal’s own Priori—we have an edits EP coming out in March and are gearing up for some longer, more official releases. I’m also collaborating with Cecile Believe on some tracks, which will make their way into the world soon. And of course, I’ve been working with Kristian North on our second EP for Rendezvous. Lots of cooking and most of it is nearly done. Stay tuned!
PAN M 360: Do you have a fun, absurd, or crazy story from a show orperformance—either one you played at or just participated?
Regularfantasy : One time, I went to an after-party in the middle of the mountains in Ibiza, and there was a goat trotting around inside the house.
“They said it was close.”
“They said it was only a five-minute drive.”
In the context of International Women’s Rights Day, March 8th, our collaborator Léa Dieghi could talk with the collective Women of the Industry, where Regularfantasy, alongside Karaba, Ekitwanda, and Duchess, will be performing on March 8th. The show will feature a mix of DJ performances, VJ projects, and burlesque acts—delivering high-energy, sensual performances throughout the night, all led, of course, by women. Providing key insights about their organization, as well as educational facts on the role of women in the industry, let’s dive into their vision together.
PAN M 360 : Can you tell me more about your organization? When did it start, and who are thekey figures in your collective?
Women of the Industry: Women of the Industry began as an idea from one of our collective’s members, Elisa, four years ago. She wanted to host an event on March 8th, International Women’s Rights Day, to celebrate and support women in the nightlife industry. The following year, Elisa—known to friends as Zaza—reached out to us, Catherine and Margaux, the creators of PeachClub, to help organize the first full-scale edition. This version featured an all-female lineup of DJs, burlesque performers, and local vendors, transforming the event into a true celebration of women in the scene.For the past two years, it has evolved into an annual co-production with Moment Factory.
PAN M 360 : Your concept revolves around the role of women in the electronic music industry,right? Can you tell me more about how this idea came to life?
Women of the Industry: The reality of women’s place in the nightlife industry is, to put it mildly, problematic. A quick glance at our Instagram page (@womenoftheindustry) reveals some telling statistics about the ongoing gender gap. For example, globally, only 30% of festival bookingswere female, while 58.5% were male. In 2023 in the U.S., only 6.5% of music producers werewomen, and the global gender pay gap remains around 20%, with even high-ranking womenearning less than their male counterparts for the same work.When you consider these statistics and the broader political climate, it’s clear why we feel it’s essential to create events that amplify women’s voices and give them the space they deserve.
PAN M 360: What performances are planned for this edition? What kind of atmosphere do youwant to create?
Women of the industry: Like last year, we’ll be collaborating with Arabesque Burlesque, a bilingual burlesque school based in Montreal that takes an inclusive and intersectional feminist approach to its programming. They’ll be bringing high-energy, sensual performances throughout the night, including gogo dancers and both solo and duo burlesque acts. These performances will be enhanced by a groundbreaking VJ project created by Moment Factory’s Innovation Team, led—of course—by a woman. The project combines AI technology with real-time image creation and projection, immersing partygoers in a visually stunning atmosphere where performers and the audience seamlessly blend together. Our goal is to create an unforgettable dancefloor experience that feels immersive, inclusive, and electric.
PAN M 360: What is your long-term vision for Women of the Industry? What do you hope toachieve?
Women of the Industry : At its core, Women of the Industry is about giving women a platform—helping them build connections, create new opportunities, and reach their full potential in this industry and beyond. To stay updated on what’s coming next, we encourage everyone to follow PeachClub(@tastethepeach) and Elisa (@turnt) on Instagram.Also, Don’t forget to follow the wonderful Regularfantasy, on Instagram, but also onBandcamp,Spotifyand Soundcloud.
Created by Abenaki storyteller and librettist Nicole O’Bomsawin and composer Alejandra Odgers, Nanatasis paddles the vast reservoirs of three traditional Abenaki legends. The tales of Grandmother Marmot unfold, as do the epic adventures of Klosk8ba, boy turned man, man turned hero. The world is created from the first sound of a rattle. A giant, fearsome moose (Moz) that Klosk8ba reduces to the size of an everyday object. Endless winter finally giving way to spring. These are the themes of three legends brought together in this work commissioned by Musique 3 Femmes, in co-production with percussion ensemble Sixtrum and directed by Métis director and set designer Troy Hourie. Eleven musicians and four puppeteers bring the concept to life on Saturday March 8 and Sunday March 9 at Théâtre Outremont. As part of La Semaine du Neuf, mezzo-soprano Kristin Hoff and composer Alejandra Odgers interview Alexandre Villemaire for PAN M 360. The work was presented in collaboration with Le Vivier in May 2024, and is now back in the context of La Semaine du Neuf.
PAN M 360: Nanatasis is a project commissioned by Musique 3 Femmes, the company you run with composer Luna Pearl Woolf and co-founded in 2018 with Suzanne Rigden and Jennifer Szeto. For those unfamiliar with your organization, what is its mission and what inspired you to found it?
Kristin Hoff : The M3F project was born of a desire to see women occupy more management positions in opera. To see women take on more roles as opera creators, stage directors, conductors and company directors. We have focused our work on creation with the biennial commissioning and development prize, the Mécénat Musica Prix 3 Femmes. This means that it’s by supporting opera creators – female composers and librettists – that we’ve had the greatest impact. Part of the reason we wanted to bring female voices into opera was because we wanted to hear stories written by women, where women can also be at the center of these stories, rather than victims or secondary to men, as is often the case in traditional opera.
That said, more generally, we’re really keen to bring new stories to the opera stage, to support voices that haven’t yet been heard in this form. That’s why we’ve opened up our MMP3F award to non-binary candidates, and we’ve also opened up a BIPOC category, to make sure we’re supporting culturally diverse voices too.
PAN M 360: What’s Nanatasis all about?
Kristin Hoff : Created by Abenaki storyteller and librettist Nicole O’Bomsawin and composer Alejandra Odgers, Nanatasis takes us on a journey through three traditional Abenaki legends, through the tales of wise Grandma Marmotte and the exciting adventures of Klosk8ba, a boy turned man and hero. These legends tell us the story of the creation of the world, starting with the first sound of a rattle, a giant, terrifying moz [moose] that Klosk8ba reduces to its present-day size, and of an endless winter that gives way to spring.
PAN M 360: Alejandra, how did the collaboration with Nicole O’Bomsawin begin?
Alejandra Odgers :In 2007, during my doctoral studies, I decided to compose a piece based on the songs of the indigenous people of my native Mexico. It was springtime, and I was in the process of researching texts when I decided to go and eat at a sugar shack. I’d heard that the Maison des peuples autochtones at Mont St-Hilaire was offering a meal with Amerindian flavours, and that there was an Abenaki woman presenting an animation with song and dance. Loving cultures from all over the world, it didn’t take much to convince me that this was the place I wanted to go. And that Abenaki woman was Nicole. I fell in love with her culture, her songs, and ended up asking her if she would agree to let me record her songs so that I could compose a piece for symphony orchestra with them. Generous as she is, she agreed, and that was the beginning of a friendship and collaboration that has lasted for 18 years, and has led to the creation of at least four of my works.
PAN M 360: What guided your inspiration and choice of instrumentation, which essentially features a percussion and flute ensemble?
Alejandra Odgers : During my lengthy interview with Nicole in 2007, I learned that the Abenaki used rattle, drum, wooden sticks and sometimes the flute as instruments. So when the time came to think about the opera’s instrumentation, the choice was already made: percussion instruments and flute. I decided to have four percussionists so as to have a musician in each corner of the stage, and have a quadraphonic effect that at the same time represented the four cardinal points.
PAN M 360: Did you conceive the music as a single narrative, or does each of the three legends have its own musical signature?
Alejandra Odgers : In fact, it’s a bit of both. It’s about three legends that could be independent. But in writing the libretto and composing the music, we created common threads that linked the three legends together. In terms of instrumentation, although the four percussionists and the flute are always present, each legend has its own “color”. For the Creation legend, the main instrument is the rattle; for Moz, drums (wood and skins); and for Pebon and Niben, metal percussion.
PAN M 360. A first presentation of excerpts from Nanatasis took place on May 30, 2024 at Salle Bourgie as part of a concert honoring the other winners of the call for works you had launched in 2022 and their creations (Je suis fille de la fille, Analía Llugdar & Emné Nasereddine; Raccoon Opera (Rebecca Gray & Rachel Gray). Are there any differences between then and the March 8 performance, and how has the work matured?
Kristin Hoff : Bourgie’s show allowed us to present a single legend in an essentially musical version. The show also featured a few puppets, videos and lighting. This is the complete version – the real one. The three legends are presented on a magnificent stage with a painted floor, animal-skin screens, the Abenaki island, with all the puppets, costumes, traditional Abenaki dances, shadow puppets, video design and full staging – the complete show with all the best and most beautiful things!
Alejandra Odgers : Also, since last year’s presentation, we’ve been fine-tuning the narrative thread that runs through the three legends. And on the musical side, we feel that the singers have made their characters their own, and the musicians really know the music and the legends. Everything is more coherent.
PAN M 360: When did the idea arise to involve the Castelliers Festival in the concert?
Kristin Hoff : I met Louise Lapointe, artistic director of Casteliers, about 18 months ago, when we were collaborating on a residency project for other creators. I told her about the project we were working on, a puppet opera featuring three Abenaki legends, which would be our first foray into puppet opera. She was seduced by the idea and asked me to send her more details. The rest is history!
PAN M 360: Kristin, as a performer in the opera, but also as its production director, what do you remember as a human experience in the process of creating this work with the various stakeholders?
Kristin Hoff: It was a great opportunity to share in many ways. Not being an Aboriginal organization, M3F approached this project with a great deal of humility. But Nicole O’Bomsawin opened up her culture and stories so that we could all enter and take part. She believes this is the best way to understand, know and love them. This generosity is very special. I am deeply grateful to her, and to the indigenous people who have contributed to this project and shared it in this way.
PAN M 360: And Alejandra, what do you remember as a human experience in the process of creating this work with the various people involved?
Alejandra Odgers : I think few things touch me more than seeing how people from different backgrounds, speaking different languages, can work together and give of their best to create something beautiful together. In this case, the Abenaki legends. It’s incredible how many people are involved in a project like this, which was intended to be “a little chamber opera”. Collaboration, sharing, mutual aid, openness, listening, patience and respect (for other people’s points of view and rhythms) were the order of the day. To manage to do so, in a long-term project such as this, is bliss and gives me hope in the complicated world we live in today.
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If you haven’t already heard, which is unfortunately quite possible given the chronic under-reporting of creative music in the media sphere, the superb Quasar saxophone quartet is commemorating 30 years of existence. World-renowned for their virtuosity and inclination towards contemporary works, Quasar is an active member of Le Vivier. It’s easy to see why Quasar is honoured to present the opening concert of the third Semaine du Neuf, this Saturday, March 8. To this end, Alain Brunet interviewed the excellent saxophonist Marie-Chantal Leclair, Quasar’s artistic director.
PAN M 360: This program presents the North American premiere of three contrasting and evocative Lithuanian works: Calligrammes (Kristupas Bubnelis), Trauma (Mykolas Natalevičius) and Azaya (Egidija Medekšaitė). Why these Lithuanian choices? A theme?
Marie-Chantal Leclair: In October 2024, Quasar presented three concerts in Lithuania. One of these concerts took place in Vilnius, as part of the Autumn Festival organized by the Lithuanian Composers Association. The Festival commissioned three pieces for us from composers Kristupas Bubnelis and Mykolas Natalevičius and composer Egidija Medekšaitė. We had the chance to work with them and her on site before premiering them in concert. We discovered three singular and inspired musical universes that we are now presenting in Montreal, convinced of the importance of making the voices of these three artists heard.
The festival’s theme “Global issues, Theories of Survival” referred to the major global, geopolitical, climatic and technological issues that are shaking up and weakening our world. How do these issues resonate in the works of composers, in the world of music and in the way it is received by audiences? This is the theme under which the two composers imagined their piece, each appropriating it in their own way. I wanted to share these works with our Montreal audience, but I also wanted to share this theme and the reflection that accompanies it, convinced that here too (over 6000 km from Vilnius), it resonates, and that these concerns are also ours.
PAN M 360: “The Quasar saxophone quartet continues its international collaborations, tackling with sensitivity the major issues facing our world”, announces the official Vivier program. What do you mean by the major issues facing our world? We know there are quite a few these days!
Marie-Chantal Leclair : The challenges are climatic, economic, technological, socio-political, both local and international. We approach them with a great deal of humility. In fact, we’re holding out a perch, proposing a moment of reflection, trying to create an opportunity. The title of the concert refers to our fears in the face of these “planetary challenges”, in the face of the scale of the threat. We hope that, together, we can better confront them, or at the very least find ourselves in a space of dialogue and solidarity, full of meaning and hope.
PAN M 360: “The title Tout ce qui m’épouvante is taken from a poem by Guillaume Apollinaire, excerpts of which are recited in Kristupas Bubnelis’ piece. This quotation evokes our fears, our terrors, in this world of global challenges, but also the saving and necessary power of art.” Needless to say, it’s a timely theme in the global context, but… what prompted you to call this program at Semaine du Neuf?
Marie-Chantal Leclair : I’m interested in the poetic aspect of the title, its evocative power (it’s an extract from Apollinaire’s poem) and at the same time its brutal link with an equally brutal reality. Tout ce qui m’épouvante“ (”All that frightens me”) refers us to both the intimate and the external situation. Musicians and artists are not disconnected from the world; we don’t live in bubbles. Even if we don’t turn our works into manifestos, we are touched and affected like all other citizens. The concert hall is not impervious to the outside world, even if art can be a refuge, a space of freedom. We can’t pretend nothing’s happened, so we might as well create a space open to exchange.
A few months after the Vilnius Festival, as the pressure continues to mount, we too are asking ourselves the following questions: What influence do major global issues have on the music of today’s composers?Can or should we ignore it?Do they divide or unite us?How do these issues resonate in composers’ works, in the music world and in the way music is received by the public?
On March 11, a round table with various Semaine du Neuf artists will address these issues.
PAN M 360: Over the years, Quasar has forged links with a number of artists’ networks abroad. How would you rate the importance of these networks in the edifice of your achievements?
Marie-Chantal Leclair: It’s a major impact for us, and hopefully for our community too. It goes back a long way, our first international tour took place in 2006, and it’s grown in importance over time. What interests me is the artistic and human dialogue, the exchange. We’re lucky enough to work with a large community of artists, performers, composers, curators and so on, all over the world. They have greatly nourished our artistic approach, but always in resonance and dialogue with our strong sense of belonging to the Montreal and Quebec new music scene, which is of great creative vitality. All these contacts influence our vision of the world as a whole. The stranger becomes a friend forever.
PAN M 360: Could you briefly elaborate on each of these 3 “evocative” works? A word about their composers? The nature and stakes of these 3 works?
Mykolas / Trauma : Freely inspired by the phenomenon of post-traumatic syndrome, this piece is a succession of moments of relaxation and rising tension, of consonance and dissonance, symbolizing a growing pain towards a possible healing, supported by a continuum of sustained, intense, rich and complex sonorities.
Kristupas / Calligrammes : An unbridled, impetuous flow of poetry and music, virtuosity and extreme contrasts. Quite a ride.
Egidija / Asaya: Music with electronic tape based on drones evoking the buzzing of bees. Gradually, the harmonious sounds turn into chaos. A strong, direct, punchy gesture. With a video, created by Lukas Miceika, whose images evoke the Predator drone engine.
A fourth piece by Lithuanian composer Vykintas Baltakas is on the program, an older work that we premiered following an unexpected encounter with the composer at the Witten Festival (Germany). Inspired by the mythical phoenix bird, which rises cyclically from its ashes, I like to think it symbolizes our capacity to be reborn as humanity.
PAN M 360: The Saxophone Quartet/While Flying Up, by Ukrainian composer Alla Zagaykevych, a favorite of the quartet, pays tribute to the struggle of the Ukrainian people. We’re still in Eastern Europe, and we know what just happened in Washington with the humiliation/embarrassment of President Zelinsky. So how do you see this work in context? And what are the main characteristics and interpretive challenges of this work?
Marie-Chantal Leclair: We met Alla during his residency at Le Vivier in 2022, at the start of the war. It was a wonderful artistic and human encounter. She is a great artist and a woman of extraordinary courage. After her residency in Montreal, she returned to Kiev, where she continues her life as an artist and teacher. Carrying the voice of Ukrainian artists is a tribute to the quality of their art, but also a way of humanizing them, giving them a place in the world, carrying their voice.
It’s a highly sensitive piece, with a very refined, assertive style. It’s a piece made up of thousands of details, each with its own importance. The piece requires great mastery of soft nuances, attacks and the exploitation of very delicate multiphonic sounds. Each sound has its place, its role, and this requires the utmost concentration.
PAN M 360: Your 30th anniversary features a number of concerts, including this one: “To celebrate its 30th anniversary, Quasar is offering a special anniversary version of its concert From Bach to Zappa, celebrating three decades of creations during which Quasar has left its mark on the musical landscape here and abroad. Always eclectic, energetic and festive, this new version of a concert that has conquered audiences of all kinds (from Havre-Saint-Pierre to Moscow!) gives pride of place to new Quebec works created by Quasar: Rouge, by Jean Derome and Michel Smith’s musical theater, Squat au Quat “… Could you elaborate on this program and its update?
Marie-Chantal Leclair: The From Bach to Zappa program has been on the road for 20 years, and the formula still works with audiences, so we’re always delighted to present it! We start with Bach, end with Zappa, and in between, we travel between eras and musical styles. Between Bach and Zappa, the works may change, but the aim is always to introduce the public to the many facets of the saxophone, always choosing works that we feel are of the highest quality, regardless of style or era. It’s a living, breathing program that evolves and changes with us, while retaining its essence.
The integration of contemporary repertoire, and particularly original Quebecois content, has always been part of the De Bach à Zappa project. This program has enabled us to reach out to a wide range of audiences both here and abroad, and for us it’s important to reach out to the general public outside the concerts given by specialized new music broadcasters and festivals. It’s complementary.
This year is the first time we’ve included Michel Smith’s musical theater. We’re enjoying ourselves, and I think we’re also, and above all, enjoying the audience. It’s a wonderful work, funny, colorful and out of the ordinary, just like its creator. Set to a deeply original score, the story unfolds as four protagonists work to get somewhere, overcoming a few obstacles…!
PAN M 360: What’s the link between Bach, Chick Corea, Frank Zappa, Will Gregory, Jean Derome and Glazunov?
Marie-Chantal Leclair: They are all excellent composers whose pieces we love to play!
PAN M 360: More than ever, Quasar seems to be revisiting modern and contemporary jazz. What is your connection with jazz?
Marie-Chantal Leclair: Our link with jazz is free and unpretentious. It has to be said that avant-garde jazz and free jazz share many things with contemporary music. Musical genres are not compartmentalized. It should also be said that improvisation has been part of Quasar’s practice for a very long time, so it’s a common ground (albeit with different codes and a different tradition) with jazz. Finally, it’s worth mentioning that there’s a whole repertoire for saxophone quartet that flirts with jazz aesthetics, and we don’t hold back when the opportunity arises. Take, for example, Louis Andriessen’s Facing Death, a veritable tribute to Charlie Parker, which we have endorsed.
Alongside his work with Quasar, André Leroux is a great virtuoso performer and jazz improviser. His proximity to the jazz community has certainly facilitated encounters and exchanges. I’m thinking here in particular of our collaboration with François Bourassa, with whom we’ve just set up a new concert program around Chick Corea, and for whom François has composed and arranged new pieces for this quintet, Quasar-Rass.
PAN M 360: Could you briefly comment on each of the works on the March 6 program?
Bach: the art of the fugue, a must-have masterpiece by the great Baroque master, which we’ve been playing for 30 years and to which we always return.
Glazunov: Probably the only great Romantic work written for saxophone quartet, this is an exceptional work that really takes the detour, and makes the quartet resonate in a new way.
Chick Corea: Originally written for solo piano, this rather classical work is a series of short pieces inspired by the world of childhood, which we intersperse at various points in the program. Little gems.
Jean Derome: a formidable piece based on a single scale that runs from the lowest note of the baritone to the highest of the soprano, never repeating itself. It takes 4 of us to play it in its entirety, and is a symbol of solidarity and the need to work together to achieve things. A clever mix of melodies (love songs, war songs) with moments of improvisation, all with Jean’s unique touch.
Will Gregory: Inspired by South African music, this piece is an irresistible ode to joy and sunshine.
Michel Smith: From Bach to Zappa, part of the Opus Concert of the Year award-winning “J’men’sax” concert.
The Quasar saxophone quartet is made up of Marie-Chantal Leclair (soprano), Mathieu Leclair (alto), André Leroux (tenor) and Jean-Marc Bouchard (baritone). Last fall, Quasar launched Chaleurs, a piece by the illustrious Walter Boudreau.
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Sirine Hassani’s transhumance may not be epic… but it’s not far off! Born in France from Algerian Amazighparents, she arrived in Rimouski at the age of 18, and now lives in Quebec, Sirine Hassani is a solid French-speaking rap artist. Sirine’s extreme sensitivity and striking lucidity are her best allies and, as she will tell you in the following, they can also become her worst enemies. Sirine’s allies serve her obvious talent as a songwriter and rapper, embodied under the pseudonym Sensei H, adopted by the Quebec City rap scene, not to mention her successful appearances at the 2024 Francouvertes. Her first album, La mort du troisième couplet, was released at the end of 2024. She explains this at length in this video interview with Alain Brunet for PAN M 360, in the context of her imminent Montreal stopover on March 21 at Centre PHI.
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From March 8 to 16, for the third year running, Groupe le Vivier presents La Semaine du Neuf. Quebec’s leading presenter of creative music kicks off its event this Saturday, March 8: 13 programs (including an installation) will showcase 25 creations, not to mention other registered works. Focusing primarily on local production this year, La Semaine du Neuf aims to catalyze our openness and curiosity as music lovers towards the composition and performance of creative music, whether instrumental, electronic, audiovisual, immersive, or destined for the good old concert hall.
Before the big launch on March 8, Le Vivier’s artistic director was interviewed by Alain Brunet for PAN M 360. Here, Jeffrey Stonehouse talks about the audiences Le Vivier attracts and comments on its programming, concert by concert.
PAN M 360: Over the last few years, we’ve noticed that Le Vivier’s audience is very varied, multi-generational, and eclectic. Is this the result of a conscious effort?
Jeffrey Stonehouse: We’re working very hard on diversifying our audience. We want to create contexts that resonate with new audiences. We obviously want to continue to do this with Semaine du Neuf.
PAN M 360: How can we satisfy all the audiences who might be interested in the Le Vivier community?
Jeffrey Stonehouse: There isn’t just one audience at Le Vivier. It’s as varied as the people you meet on the subway. We’d like our programming to represent the diversity of our city. It’s a development, a crossover between specialized audiences, the general public, and young audiences/families.
PAN M 360: How can the general public be attracted to such programming?
Jeffrey Stonehouse: Personally, I believe that there are open-minded people everywhere in society, and to me, they’re the hidden fans – college teachers, fans of experimental theatre, spectators looking for more intense experiences, etc. – who can be attracted to this kind of programming. To embark on Semaine du Neuf, you need an opening! The experiences are completely different from one evening to the next, from audiovisual immersion to acousmatics to puppet theater, all anchored in new compositions.
PAN M 360: What is the common thread running through the programming of the third Semaine du Neuf?
Jeffrey Stonehouse: It’s all about creation. We’re presenting 25 creations this year. This takes us to several of the city’s most emblematic venues, with a dozen programs in all, plus an installation by Jean-François Laporte that introduces us to the new Le Vivier venue. The glue that binds this festival is all the facets of creative music. The cement is the new.
PAN M 360: Let’s go ahead and comment on the artistic direction of each program. So with Totem Contemporain’s installation Spirituel under the direction of Jean-François Laporte:
Jeffrey Stonehouse: Espace Sainte-Hilda (6341 Av. De Lorimier near Beaubien) is an Anglican church that Le Vivier shares with the community. Jean-François Laporte’s installation, which is currently on show there, highlights this spiritual place. Jean-François created this installation using bowls, his lutherie allowing for a hyper-meditative experience. Jean-François Laporte’s subtle experience is one in which the public feels no time has passed.
Nanatasis, presented this Saturday and Sunday PM at Théâtre Outremont :
Jeffrey Stonehouse: This program brings together three women, with opera text by Abenaki artist Nicole O’Bomsawin and music by Alejandra Odgers. This program is presented in collaboration with the Casteliers International Puppet Festival. The opera is inspired by three Abenaki legends and features music created for young audiences and families. It is, of course, a junction between creative music and indigenous traditions. In this sense, we find that creations are always interesting, especially for young audiences.
Jeffrey Stonehouse: Quasar has put together a whole creative concept around Lithuanian composers. There’s also a work that particularly touches me, by Ukrainian composer Alla Zagaykevych ( The Saxophone Quartet/While Flying Up ) who spent several months in residence at Le Vivier. I’m happy to see that her time in Montreal still resonates, especially in the current geopolitical context. I think this statement is important.
Jeffrey Stonehouse: This program by Annette Vande Gorne and Julien Guillamat is a marathon concert of (mainly) Belgian music. This entirely acousmatic concert is the result of a collaboration between Robert Normandeau and Annette Vande Gorne, and is presented in the MMR and its 64 loudspeakers. The central piece on the program is Annette’s Vox Alia, a cycle in five parts built around the voice as an emotional vector. Julien Guillamat’s Altitudes and the 2nd movement of his Symphonie de l’étang are also on the program. I’d also like to highlight a work by Montreal composer Ana Dall’Ara-Majek, Xylocopa Ransjecka.
Jeffrey Stonehouse: We’re doing a first test in Longueuil for this residency project at the Maison de la Culture Michel-Robidas. The program is led mainly by Martin Bédard. This is another acousmatic proposal illustrating the richness and diversity of pure electroacoustics. Martin has been developing this project for some time, and it has been incubating here in Longueuil. Why this program? I love Martin’s music, and this is an opportunity to showcase his work as part of Semaine du Neuf.
Jeffrey Stonehouse: One of the interesting things about the festival is the meeting points between the Montreal and international communities. The 2025 edition is more local, but the emphasis on international programming is cyclical, and the March 11 concert is a fine example of a local-international collaboration. Paramirabo welcomes the German ensemble Musikfabrik, a trio led by oboist Peter Veale. Essentially, it’s a double set where each ensemble presents its parts and then everyone joins in. New works by Paul Frehner and Chris Paul Harman will be performed by Paramirabo, those by Dylan Lardelli and Gordon Williamson by Musikfabrik. There will be a few moments of encounter between the two ensembles, including one inspired by an improvisation by Pauline Oliveros involving all the musicians, on the theme of approaches and departures. There will also be a piece by Canadian Rodney Sharman, for English horn and toy piano played by Peter Veale and pianist Pamela Reimer.
Jeffrey Stonehouse: The Chants libres company has set up the Laboratoire lyric, a space for exploration and creation for lyric singing. This time, the focus is on composer Frédéric Lebel, with the participation of scenographer Cédric Delorme Bouchard, performer Jennyfer Desbiens and cellist Audréanne Filion. It’s a triptych combining voice, cello, and electronics, with a dramaturgy provided by lighting design. What will be the glue? I’ll know, as will the audience, at the moment of performance.
Jeffrey Stonehouse: Soprano Sarah Albu and accordionist Matti Pulkki have formed the duo Sawtooth. For me, this proposal is a “coup de cœur”, a techno-opera questioning our relationship with technology, particularly through the personification of the loudspeaker embodying technology in our societies. Now based in Finland, Montreal composer and performer Charles Quevillon has worked extensively with dance over the course of his career, and his proposal for this program is highly performative. I can’t wait for the public to discover it!
Jeffrey Stonehouse: My main interest in this program will be a composition by Toronto’s Linda Catlin Smith, who was a student of Morton Feldman. This work unfolds in a soft, relaxed space. In this sense, it’s a minimalist expression. Two other creations by Michael Oesterle and Martin Arnold. The latter’s approach is based on ancient and traditional music, interwoven with today’s psychedelic music. As for Oesterle, this is the continuation of a long collaboration with Bozzini.
Jeffrey Stonehouse: Two generations of electric guitarists meet. Tim Brady invites Matthew Warren Ruth to share the program. In both cases, we’re talking about the double hat between performers and composers.
Jeffrey Stonehouse : First of all, we have to mention the Opus Prize for its artistic director, Thibault Bertin-Maghit. This project fits in with Collectif9’s aesthetic, which is very interested in what lies at the frontiers of disciplines. The whole experience of “Quelque part, mon jardin” is inspired by Kaie Kellough’s text, with video by Myriam Boucher and Nicole Lizée, and illustrations by Julien Bakvis and Melissa Di Menna. It’s a highly visual experience, moving from lyricism to a kind of groove through Kaie Kellough’s words.
Jeffrey Stonehouse: For Love Songs, we have three women, including mezzo-soprano Kristin Hoff, performing a huge work by Montrealer Ana Sokolovic. In the same program, New York’s TAK Ensemble will perform a work inspired by Olaf Stapledon’s novel Star Maker, in which we are invited to follow the evolution of human nature from the cosmos. It’s a musical language in suspension, floating through a microtonal approach. It’s something that vibrates. We’re delighted to present this piece.
PAN M 360: How do you strike a balance between the dramatic framework of this programming and the artists’ dispositions?
Jeffrey Stonehouse: We have to find a way to strike a balance. Logistics sometimes make things impossible, but concluding with TAK was a conscious and deliberate choice. Our proposal concludes in immersion, all of which makes for a very fine journey for the audience.
Led by Canadian conductor Janna Sailor, this morning’s program highlights the talent, diversity and contribution of women to classical music, with works by Toronto Afro-descendant Rachel McFarlane, Indian-American Reema Esmail and American pioneer Amy Beach. The voices of guest soloists Suzanne Taffot, a soprano of Cameroonian origin, and Anuja Panditrao, an Indian Hindustani singer, will be used to magnify the work of Reema Esmail. As you may have guessed, this program takes place on March 8, International Women’s Rights Day, and is presented this Sunday, March 2, at Salle Pierre-Mercure, 3:30pm. To find out more, Alain Brunet interviewed Allison Migeon, General Manager and co-founder of OBIORA.
For almost two decades, Helvetian pianist and composer Nik Bärtsch and Ronin, his futuristic jazz quartet, have been perfecting a solid blend based on the composition of contemporary structures and the assumption of a groove based on rhythmic phase shifts, with less emphasis on long improvisations. His many albums bear witness to this singularity, and the pianist and composer can be described as a visionary for having achieved this perfect fusion. That’s why a visit to this group is an absolute must for fans of small contemporary jazz formations. Sunday evening at the Gesù! For PAN M 360, Alain Brunet asked Nik Bärtsch a few questions while he was on tour on this continent before taking part in the Montreal en lumière Festival.
PAN M 360: Two decades ago, your ensemble emerged as a beautiful hybrid between new jazz and post-minimalism, kind of close to the Steve Reich concept of phase shifts but it would be reductive to qualify it that way. Are you still building on the same foundations?
Nik Bärtsch: Yes, since also already there we matched more ingredients: groove culture and percussive band organism play. We developed our own path by blending these ingredients and we’re constantly evolving – on the one hand me as a curious consequent composer and on the other hand the band an evolutionary organism that has played every week together since 2004. Every Monday we play a concert at my club EXIL in Zuh since 2004.
PAN M 360: Can you remind us of those foundations?
Nik Bärtsch: I started with Boogie-Woogie, Blues and Jazz, shifting into Latin and via Gershwin into modern Classical Music like Bartók, Stravinsky, then Reich, Ligeti, and Feldman and always was interested in rhythmic concepts and group instrumentation. So I developed a view for rhythm strategies through all styles.
PAN M 360: Can you explain briefly the main steps of your musical language evolution through your discography since Ritual Groove Music?
Nik Bärtsch: We started with the acoustic group MOBILE. I wrote a chamber music piece for my final recital at the music university. It was influenced by Bartók, Reich, and Japanese Ritual Music. Earlier I wrote groove cycles inspired by Steve Coleman and Reich. So this led to the first MOBILE record RITUAL GROOVE MUSIC, which we recorded after a 36-hour-long live musical ritual in Zurich, our first performance in that spirit. Important was the combination of clearly composed material and the freedom to work with it modularly during the open minimal parts in that constantly ongoing live music ritual. Thus was the fundamental and fruitful experience for us as a band with the strategies of groove, interlocking rhythms, polymetric cycles, elliptic beats, polar scale fields, and structural harmonies – this sounds a bit intellectual but it was actually a very sensual experience creating a new sound and way of band play. So this led finally to an evolution of 14 main albums till today with SPIN as the newest result. Every album explores a certain phase and every composition touches a new essential musical idea.
PAN M 360 : The notion of improvisation is still included in your music but not that much as we can observe. Where do you see it in your craft?
Nik Bärtsch: Improvisation is very important. I was always present in music as a part of a triangle with composition and interpretation. But improvising does not necessarily mean soloing. So we use a lot of improvisation strategies that do not sound like a solo. For example, we work with freedom of instrumental blending and colouring, ghost note developments – like adding little notes in the dramaturgy of a piece – or with one free voice in the band as a “context spot.” This means that the player has the role of moving in a musically-composed context like an animal who hides itself in the surroundings: when it moves you see it when it doesn’t, you just see the whole picture. Improvisation is also often used in our music laconically, like for example Duke Ellington just played a few notes or lines to give a part a certain flavour.
PAN M 360: Do you see yourself more as a composer than a performer or vice versa? Do you rather aim for a perfect balance between playing and imagining music? Or do you see things in different ways ?
Nik Bärtsch: The performance is the truth. The best composition does not sound if the band or context is not appropriately chosen. So my/our work is a combination of both: I have the ambition to bring a high-quality composition into the band by responding to the quality of the band or performer. That’s why we play so long and every week together. The performance is the composition and vice versa.
PAN M 360: Would you see your colleagues roles closer to classical interpreters or jazz people? Or somewhere between both?
Nik Bärtsch: I was longing for a third way, combining the freedom of jazz world and the precision in interpretation and instrumentation of the classical world. So that’s who my modular way of making music evolved: precise composition in relation to the quality of the interpreting players and bands.
PAN M 360 : Tell us about your team of musicians, their role, their strengths,and what they have to do for your artistic building.
Nik Bärtsch: First of all it is important to know that I have played together with drummer Kaspar Rast since we were kids. We started making music (and playing soccer on the same team) together when I was ten and he was nine years old. So his drumming influenced my way of writing essentially, also because I also played drums as a kid. Reeds player Sha, who is ten years younger, came to the band when he was 19 years old. He had a fresh mind and developed on the bass clarinet a form of percussive beatboxing. He also was a passionate soccer player and therefore his knowledge about team play and team spirit was highly developed compared to all the jazz artists mainly focusing on being a capable soloist. This led to true team in working. This also means that my colleagues give valuable feedback regarding compositions. When the bass player change came six years ago we found in Jeremias Keller a like-minded musician with enormous qualities also as producer. This is a real working band, socially, energetically and aesthetically. Very difficult to put together in these times!
PAN M 360 : We shouldn’t care about where you sit stylistically, only the result matters. But are you mainly reaching out to jazz aficionados because of the instrumentation and its rhythmic proposal?
Nik Bärtsch: We want to listen to the resonance of the audiences. There is interest from very diverse scenes – beautiful! We also have a lot of followers from rock and electronica people or from spiritual music scenes. I never was interested in styles when they were meant as musical ideologies. I find inviting and sharing interesting. I try to create simple music that is complex in the deep when you dive into it. But mainly it should offer you energy and focus.
PAN M 360 : Spin, your last recording, was released last year. For you, what are the main achievements of this specific project?
Nik Bärtsch: The record shows the phase of the band: two completely new pieces, one as a combination of new material with older one, two very early pieces in completely new arrangements. So the record first of all shows the sound and energy of the new quartet with new bass player Jeremias Keller. And then it shows our journey. Forward to the roots, back to the future.
PAN M 360 : Is your band going to perform your recent material in Montreal, next Sunday?
Nik Bärtsch: Yes, we will play almost the whole record and the great piece “A” by reeds player Sha, which was on our last album AWASE. The whole material has already evolved again live…And of course, we have surprises for you!
PAN M 360 : Many composers need a specific band to express their music. When it’s done by others, it doesn’t work so well because they don’t get the real vibe, because they just have an intellectual understanding of your work. What do you think?
Nik Bärtsch: This is an important issue. Actually every new music needs such an understanding. Also in times of Mozart and Haydn, very often the ensembles worked longer together for a certain Duke or King or whatever dude. Capable ensembles with the understanding of a certain music culture are essential to make the music sound. To think, a musical masterpiece is the composition just on paper or in the head is negligent. It’s as if you would live in an architect‘s plan instead if a real house. Of course, a capable composer or architect must be clear and as precise as possible for the context but you name it: without the vibe, the culture, the understanding nothing feels right.
PAN M 360 : About your work for other ensembles or orchestras? I don’t even know if this work exists.
Nik Bärtsch: Yes, I wrote several pieces for external groups for example chamber music works, often for percussion ensembles but also a few full orchestra pieces. Although it is the “same” music, I have to adapt to the circumstances because of the reasons we discussed above. The most known ensembles for which I wrote were for example Third Coast Percussion from Chicago, Bang On A Can from New York, Britten Sinfonia from London or the Basel Sinfonietta in Switzerland.
PAN M 360 : You also have connections with other musicians or bands from all over the world, some of them are releasing stuff on your own label. Can you talk about this aspect of your creative life?
Nik Bärtsch: I find it important to share knowledge-how and to create platforms also for others. If you do nothing for others, nothing changes in a community. Therefore I founded my boutique label Ronin Rhythm Records and I co-founded the music club EXIL in Zurich and the contemporary music festival CURRENTS in Zurich. These initiatives give upcoming artists and colleagues with like-minded ideas chances to perform and to evolve. We for example will release the new album Ce qui tourne dans l‘air by Montreal avant folk band L‘Oumigmag in April on my label.
PAN M 360 : What are your next projects?
Nik Bärtsch: Staying on these projects! Too much work…I also have two beautiful duo projects: a piano duo with pianist Tania Giannouli and one with my daughter Ilva Eigus, who is an extraordinary violinist, already more capable than me with only 17 years!
After a very captivating performance of his piece of La grande accélération: Symphonie no. 12 at the Saint-Joseph Oratory, we at PAN M had the chance to correspond with Tim Brady and ask him about the development of his career, his writing process, his aesthetic preferences, and more.
PANM360:During the artistic explanation you gave at the M/NM concert you mentioned that the inspiration/significance, at least partially, of “La Grande Acceleration” came from historical events and their tendency to unfold very quickly. Did you write the piece with our current era in mind, or rather history more generally?
Tim Brady: When I started writing the piece in 2018 I had just started to really notice that the nature of our society was starting to really change. On one hand, we were becoming more interconnected through the Internet, national identities seemed less important, the climate issue involves every one. On the other hand, right wing forces were starting to gain strength – Brexit happened, the 1st Trump presidency. So my idea was that things are changing – fast. The original title was “Because Everything Will Change” but then I stumbled upon the term The Great Acceleration (often defined as 1950 – 1980 – when there was the huge growth of the middle class in the West). It seemed to me that we are going through a new Great Acceleration – history is moving fast. And, for now, not in the right direction.
PANM360:I don’t think it’s too controversial to say that many of your works contain nods to the shredders and rockers of old. Are there any rock artists that you’ve been enjoying lately? Any that you’ve been revisiting?
Tim Brady: There are so many amazing players on YouTube – that is where the guitar world has migrated, away from radio or streaming. Folks like Gutherie Govan, Matteo Mancuso, Julian Lage – these are great players, and there are hundreds more. And female players are finally starting to have an impact – about time! I am very unsystematic about listening to players – I just see what is on YouTube when I’m in the mood for some guitar shredding. Let the algorithms surprise me.
PANM360: I understand that some formative portions of your career were spent in Montreal, Toronto, Boston, and London. What was it like to pursue an artistic career in those cities during the 70s and 80s? Were there aspects that were harder, or easier, compared to working in music now?
Tim Brady: Things were very different – as you can imagine. Musical aesthetics were much more rigid. There was a right way to compose, and a wrong way to compose. Musical borders were very clearly defined – this was jazz, this was classic, this was blues, etc. Composers were much more dogmatic. When I started doing new chamber music for electric guitar (not jazz or rock or blues) around the early 80s, many people were offended, many did not understand. “It is simply not done!”.
Things are much, much more open, aesthetically. Which is great, but also is challenging. With so many options, how does an artist choose? Making art is never simple, regardless of the era. But maybe it is not meant to be?
The technical changes are also major. Almost every composer / performer now has access to a multi-track studio in their laptop. Samples sound great. You can get stuff out there via the Internet. This afternoon I have a Zoom rehearsal with a group in Baltimore who are giving the US premiere of my piece “This one is broken in pieces: Symphony #11”. Unimaginable in 1980.The specific challenges have changed, and will continue to change. But making music and focusing on creativity will never be the easiest job in the world, I suspect.
PANM360:One-hundred electric guitars is certainly an orchestration choice not often seen. What are some other sound or instrument combinations that you enjoy using in your compositions? Any personal favorites?
Tim Brady: I pretty much enjoy composing for any instrument. Each instrument has its beauty and expressive nature. But if I look at my catalogue, the things that keep coming back are: electric guitar (obviously), bass clarinet, violin/viola, orchestra and vocal music. I have curiously written almost no solo piano music since the early 1980s – it seems to be just not my thing.
PANM360:Is it true that you were largely self taught until your late teens? If so, what factors helped you decide the information or knowledge you would seek during your self taught period? Where would you look for new ideas with respect to the guitar and songwriting?
Tim Brady: Yes, I only learned to read music at 19, when I took my first “Introduction to music theory” class at Vanier College (now CEGEP). But from 16 to 19 I was teaching myself by ear as much as I could about harmony and scales. I was listening to lots of fusion, modern jazz, Debussy and Stravinsky, trying to figure it out. So by the time I started formal music education, I actually had a pretty good ear. So when the teacher said: “This is what Tonic to Flat Submediant sounds like”, I said to myself “Oh, that’s just E major to C major – I know that”. So much of my music theory training was just learning the accepted terms for things that I already had in my ear. I tended to get marks like 98% or 100% on my theory tests, I won’t lie.
PANM360:I imagine that with a catalog of compositions as large as yours, you must also have techniques for dealing with writer’s block, or tricks for productivity. Do you implement anything special when you know you have writing to do?
Tim Brady: I almost never have writer’s block. I’m not sure why. My guess is partially my nature – composing music is just what I do. But most days I also spend at least 15 – 20 minutes improvising on guitar (sometimes more). This keeps the pathways open – it makes the act of making music a daily activity, so you don’t get that fear of “Oh no! What will the next note be???”. I also very recently found a quote from French author André Gide which I think is very powerful: “Yes, It’s all been said before, but nobody was listening. So we have to say it again”. How many Ab or F# notes have been composed in the past thousand years? Literally millions. So why do it again? Because we have to keep listening.
PANM360: And finally: What are some of your favourite venues or spaces? (Could be past or present!)
Tim Brady: For my crazy huge spatial pieces – St. Joseph’s Oratory works really well! And the Complex Desjardins is cool for more “popular” 100 guitar events. Probably the best concert hall I’ve played is in Thunder Bay, Ontario – they have an insanely good 1,200 seat venue there! With electric guitar and effects, you can kind of bring your own “acoustic” with you, so one is a bit less dependent on room sound than, say, with viola. For acoustic music, Salle Bourgie is great – and I have a concert there on June 4th with the Warhol Dervish String Quartet, who are playing my string quartets number 3, 4 and 5. Note: this is a shameless plug for that concert!
The best concert hall is the one where people are really listening, where there is that sense of music as a connection between musician and listener. Good acoustics help, but the quality of the listening is really the goal.
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