Interviews

For the Semaine du Neuf, the Quatuor Bozzini celebrates 25 years of professional activity in the service of creative music, with creations by three exceptional composers: Michael Oesterle, Linda Catlin Smith and Martin Arnold – read our other interview on this subject. For this very special occasion, PAN M 360 is publishing two interviews with the members of this excellent Montreal quartet: Alissa Cheung, violin, Clemens Merkel, violin, Stéphanie Bozzini, viola, Isabelle Bozzini, cello. The concert will be presented this Friday, March 14, 7:30pm, at the Music Media Room. An interview with the members of Bozzini is dedicated exclusively to this concert, and we’ll be talking about this quarter-century of musical life, which is no mean feat!

PANM 360: L’effusion d’amitié, L’effusione d’amicizia to use the Italian title of La Semaine du Neuf’s program is a fitting title for this commemoration, isn’t it? Could it have something to do with the partly Italian origins of sisters Isabelle and Stéphanie? In any case, we’re guessing that friendship still reigns!

Stéphanie Bozzini: Certainly, friendship still reigns! This specific title is borrowed from a work by Michael Oesterle (with his permission) for solo violin or viola, l’effusione d’amicizia, written in 1996, which Clemens and I have both played a few times.

Isabelle Bozzini: My sister let the cat out of the bag… So it doesn’t come from our Swiss-Italian roots, even if it does them credit. This nod to one of Michael’s early works fits the context like a glove: creations by musicians with whom we’ve developed great artistic affinities over the years, and also solid friendships. We thought it was a good way to pay tribute to our 3 friends, colleagues and collaborators of several decades. The title aptly describes our relationship with them.

Clemens Merkel: It’s also a metaphor for all the friendships we’ve developed over the past 25 years. Because the starting point of our creative work always begins with the relationship with composers and other artists. And if we’re lucky, to quote the film Casablanca, “this is the beginning of a great friendship!

Stéphanie Bozzini: In a way, too, it’s a nod to friendship in general, to empathy, compassion, listening and sharing, which we need so much these days.

PAN M 360: Could each of you give us a personal account of your raison d’être as a quartet?

Alissa Cheung: Playing in a string quartet is a very rich experience. Not only can we count on a great heritage and canon of composed works, but we have the artistic privilege of commissioning and helping to determine the masterpieces of our time.

Clemens Merkel: The balance is optimal in terms of instrumentation, but also democratically, since we are all artistic directors and self-producers of our ensemble. We work well as a team and also enjoy working with other collaborators along our artistic journey, be they sound, visual, theater or dance artists.

It may sound a bit odd, but the first reason I started playing string quartet with Isabelle and Stéphanie was because I needed the money. When I came to Montreal in 1998, I was still going back to Germany quite often for engagements, but as I wasn’t present enough there, the engagements declined. However, I had no network in Montreal, I hadn’t studied here and I had virtually no contacts. When the Bozzini had to replace one of their violinists, I naturally took over. I haven’t regretted it for a second, and now I can’t imagine doing anything else. Of course, I also used my contacts in Europe to introduce the quartet to Europe right from the start. To this day, it’s one of our main focuses.

Stéphanie Bozzini: We’re privileged to be in this business, it’s an opportunity and with it comes responsibility towards creators and the public. It’s always on our radar. The 4 of us are in constant conversation with our collaborators. It’s a very intimate job.

PAN M 360: Remind us of the early days of Bozzini?

Isabelle Bozzini: With our student quartet, we met Michael Oesterle at the NEM Forum in 1996. He was a talented, outspoken young composer who impressed us with his extraordinarily loquacious manner! So we commissioned a string quartet from him, the first professional commission supported by the CAC for both him and us. Meanwhile, at the suggestion of German composer Gerhard Stäbler, Michael invited Clemens Merkel to Ensemble KORE’s founding concert in 1997. These 2 events reshuffled the deck and led, through a meeting at the Chapelle Historique du Bon-Pasteur, to a story of love and immigration, and the founding of Quatuor Bozzini… jokingly, we say that Michael and Guy Soucie were the quartet’s godparents!

Isabelle Bozzini: Clemens brought us a wealth of expertise and know-how acquired early in his career in Germany and elsewhere in Europe, where he played with numerous ensembles and worked with the greatest composers and conductors. This was a great inspiration to us, and also enabled us to reconnect with our European roots. At the same time, we had our Quebecois and North American know-how; from the outset we embraced this duality and worked to cultivate our relationships with local creators from all generations.

Clemens Merkel: When I started playing with the quartet, it had another name that I didn’t find particularly elegant or practical. That’s why I insisted on changing the name and suggested the surname of the two Bozzini sisters, following the tradition of naming the quartet after the primarius, but now after the “bass and rhythm section”. Interestingly, my father-in-law was a bit stung at first that we hadn’t asked permission to use his name. He had overlooked the fact that it’s also his daughters’ name! In the meantime, the name has become a brand, and should not be underestimated.

Stéphanie Bozzini: I remember our motivation, our pleasure in discovering new music, our energy – as only young people can have! and long rehearsals to fine-tune many details. Our first European tour was a real highlight. We met members of the Wandelweiser collective, including Jürg Frey, and played his music for the first time on that tour in 2001. In the pre-iPad days, we used to cobble together works of art from scores, and I remember one piece we received by fax, one page at a time!

PAN M 360: How did each of you join the quartet?

Isabelle Bozzini: I fell in love with the string quartet back in 1987, when Marcel St-Cyr and Tom Williams gave me permission to play in a quartet instead of the McGill University Orchestra. In 1994, I fulfilled this dream by founding a student quartet with my sister Stéphanie, 50% of which was dedicated to creation. After a few concerts, competitions and projects, and the arrival of Clemens in Montreal at the end of 1997 to found the Kore Ensemble (Oesterle/Courroux), we naturally made the transition in 1998 to become the Quatuor Bozzini, with a profile frankly dedicated to creation. For me, it’s simply the choice that has always inspired me most as a string player, and as long as you find “kindred spirits” to lead the project, you’ve got to hang on against all odds!

Alissa Cheung: Around 2013, the quartet was looking for a violinist. Laura Andriani was a mutual friend and knew I was looking for a professional change-from my position as violinist with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. In the fall of 2013, I auditioned in person in Montreal, which included excerpts from James Tenney, Beethoven, Walter Boudreau, Jo Kondo and Thomas Stiegler. We also talked about our career and artistic goals. In the spring of 2014, we gave a few concerts together as part of the Salon qb recital series, featuring music by Maxime McKinley, Denis Gougeon and John Cage, and it was clear that this was the right choice for everyone. Eleven years later, we’re still together and in great shape!

Clemens Merkel: I came to Montreal for the first time at the end of 1997, and then more and more often and for longer periods from 1998 onwards. But first it was for personal reasons, if I can put it that way. Then I decided to move completely to Montreal, and this was certainly a risky decision, as I had already worked very successfully in Germany for almost a decade with various ensembles and as a soloist. When I started playing with the quartet, there were only a few concerts a year, and doing it full-time was out of the question. That only came later, when we decided to put everything on one card and push the quartet as hard as we could. It worked out well.

Stéphanie Bozzini: After our studies, the QB was a continuation of our student quartet at the time. Working with composers, including in the contemporary music workshops at UdM with Lorraine Vaillancourt, really inspired us to continue. Initially, we all had other personal projects in addition to the quartet. We realized that the potential was there and that it would be much more satisfying if we dedicated ourselves full-time to the quartet. It was a risky gamble, but we took it, and we don’t regret it!

PAN M 360: What would each of you say are your particular qualities as performers in the quartet?

Isabelle Bozzini: For me, rhythm has always come first, and I take my role as “bass” very seriously! I worked a lot as a baroque musician, and developed a keen sense of harmonic conduct and chord resonance. When we started out, we focused a lot on the sound, which we wanted to be “straight”. We insisted on playing absolutely everything without vibrato! We developed our own sense of ensemble sound. But I’d say that pretty much the whole quartet swims in the same waters. I remember a conversation with the Hilliard Ensemble in which they explained that one was in charge of pitch, the other of rhythm, the other of balance, etc. In the Quatuor Bozzini, I don’t see as many clearly demarcated boundaries. I confess that I sometimes get impatient with my colleagues by insisting on working on a detail in a few bars… others have a sense and a more urgent need to access the big picture!

Alissa Cheung: Compositional perspective, sense of flow or energy for phrases and overall structure, communicating the emotional content of the music to the audience.

Stéphanie Bozzini: Pragmatism, listening, thinking, the ability to find common ground and compromise (I’m writing this, but I realize it applies to all of us!). Musically, sound, flow, balance and intention guide my work. Getting back to the basics, and “gossiping” about the details I find very important and satisfying too. But I prefer the liberating feeling of throwing myself into the form as a whole. Lightening the mood by cracking a joke, I like to make my colleagues smile.

Clemens Merkel: The big picture is very important to me, the stylistic questions, the aspects of sound, the flow of the music. These are things that often go beyond the individual passage or even the piece. What we do has to be clear, well thought-out and logical, and always have our own character. But then, of course, it’s always about the details, the tiny adjustments in bowing, rhythm and intonation. It’s really always a team effort, and the quartet is only as good as the strengths of the four members combined in such a way that the result is more than just the sum of the four.

PAN M 360: What is the experience of artistic direction and choice of works for your programs? Does an artistic director decide after brainstorming? How does that work?

Isabelle Bozzini: My colleagues often tease me, calling me “the big man” or “the queen”, but in reality we’ve been working in collaborative mode since the very beginning, 2.0 avant la lettre. Our horizontal structure allows us both great flexibility and enthusiastic investment by our members and collaborators in the “Quatuor Bozzini” project! Collectively, we regularly question our choices, pick and choose what we want to explore, and foster sustained conversation and close collaboration with the artists who compose for us. It has to be said that over the years, we have been very well surrounded, not to mention the rich repertoire that exists for quartet. And of course, we have a taste for adventure and co-creation, whether in music or other disciplines. All these encounters have nourished us and helped us grow artistically.

Alissa Cheung: For us, music and composition are always at the forefront. We don’t feel the need to flaunt our skills as musicians, but we do want to communicate music that has a strong voice and perhaps experiments with an idea that is rarely adopted by other, more conventional composers. Sometimes the context of artistic choice changes, for example, between festival commissions and workshops, but we usually manage to agree on who we want to work with. And of course, if we have a good experience of working with composers, we want to continue this collaboration for as long as possible, as the Effusione di Amicizia program proves.

Clemens Merkel: As Isabelle says above, we’re all involved in the artistic direction and also in the administration of our company. I think that’s one of our strengths: that all four of us identify very strongly with what we play and what we do, with all the projects, concerts, tours, CDs, workshops. We see it as a unit where each element contributes to the overall picture. Proof of this is the fact that we can build long-term relationships with composers, with those who took part in the “Composer’s Kitchen” with us over 15 years ago now returning as mentors. For us, it’s a sign that we’ve done things right, the way we wanted to, in our own way.

Stéphanie Bozzini: Sharing decisions and directions between the four of us is the strength of our quartet. This was very important 25 years ago, and it hasn’t changed. Our affinities with the music we program dictate our artistic decisions. And in a sense, it’s the quartet that decides (this organization—almost literally—that we created!). Discovering new languages, new ways of doing things, and thinking outside the box are things that have always attracted us and motivate our artistic decisions.

PAN M 360: Can we talk about cycles in the evolution of Bozzini over 25 years?

Isabelle Bozzini: I would say yes. When we were considering a multi-year plan a few years ago, we identified a few “epochs” for Bozzini. The first, from about 2000 to 2007, was a cycle of research: our identity, our sound, the aesthetics that spoke to us. The construction of our network, and the beginning of ongoing relationships with numerous artists. The period when we established the “broad outlines.” The second, from about 2008 to 2018, I called it a period of expansion, of growth. We expanded our networks, diversified our support, and multiplied our activities, both locally and across Canada and internationally. It was also the period when we began to develop our interdisciplinary projects (Hozhro, Ange Noir, Une idée sinon vraie, etc.). The next, I called it “maturity.” Having emerged from our “eternal succession” state, we had a certain sense of accomplishment, and more means to achieve our ambitions. This was short-lived, since we soon fell into the “reinvention” pot, which unfortunately seems to want to take root! But hey, it forces us not to rest on our laurels…

Clemens Merkel: It’s a bit like in real life. There are these cycles of about seven years if you look at 2000 to 2007, 2007 to 2014, and 2014 to about 2020. This means we’re still in this COVID and post-COVID cycle. Perhaps it’s reassuring to see that we have a new cycle around 2027, which will hopefully be quite wonderful.

PAN M 360: What do you think are the most significant programs in your history?

Isabelle Bozzini: A few milestones stand out for me: The three concerts of our first official series (October 20, 2020, February 9, and May 11, 2021), whose programming we had discussed and weighed extensively. Each concert featured a Charles Ives quartet, a work from the New York School (Feldman, Cage, Wolff), and two Quebec works combining emerging and established artists (six in total, including four premieres: Jérôme Blais, Justin Mariner (premiere), Luc Marcel (premiere), John Rea, Michael Oesterle (premiere), and Jean Lesage (premiere); The world premiere in May 2001 in Düsseldorf of Jürg Frey’s Streich Quartet No. 2 “L’Événement Wandelweiser” (The Wandelweiser Event) as part of our residency at the Théâtre La Chapelle in September 2003. During our residency at the TLC for two years, we also presented In Tempore Belli (Crumb and Reich), and our first Composer’s Kitchen in spring 2005; “La Quadrature du Cercle” (The Quadrature of the Circle) in 2006, where, at the invitation of the SMCQ, we presented a particularly virtuoso program, featuring the world premieres of Denys Bouliane’s Rumore Sui, Jean Lesage’s String Quartet No. 3 “Objets trouvés, commentaires et digressions” (Found Objects, Commentaries and Digressions), and Walter Boudreau’s Le Grand Méridien;





The creation of a four-handed work by Joane Hétu and Jean Derome, Le Mensonge et l’Identité;
The creation of Hozhro, our first major interdisciplinary co-production project, for which we quickly had a hard time! And the good fortune to have a fantastic team with whom we developed the project from 2006 to 2009: Michel Gonneville (composition and texts), Mario Côté (video), Pierre Thibault (installation and scenography), Danièle Desnoyers (choreography and direction);
Ange Noir at OFFTA in 2011! Having commissioned a text from Jean-Frédéric Messier in 2007 to accompany George Crumb’s Black Angels as part of a narrated youth concert at the Klangspuren Festival in Austria, we had the distinct honor of being part of one of the last productions of the illustrious MOMENTUM! Theatre;
The concerts with Alvin Lucier and Pauline Oliveros at the 2015 SIP Festival, one of our favorites of all the concerts we presented with this great-little festival! Every moment with Alvin was poetic…;
The fantastic residency with Eliane Radigue in July 2017, which led to the premiere of Occam Delta XV at Suoni in 2018, and several times since;
Spring 2021, where we recorded the complete works of Christian Wolff, Michael Oesterle, Tom Johnson, and Bryn Harrison (and previous albums dedicated to Linda Smith, Cassandra Miller, and Ana Sokolovic!);




All Composer’s Kitchen workshops and concerts since 2005;

Our show Innamorati, developed with the formidable puppeteer Marcelle Hudon.

We just presented a third series with the CAM on tour, and this is only the beginning!

I already regret those I haven’t mentioned, but I have to stop before writing the full biography!

Alissa Cheung: Wigmore Hall December 3, 2022 – the complete quartets of Gerald Barry interspersed with works by Cassandra Miller, Michael Oesterle, Claude Vivier, and Tanya Tagaq;

Trip November 12, 2020 – unofficially our 20th anniversary concert with works by Christopher Butterfield, Cassandra Miller, Michael Oesterle, Thomas Stiegler, and Jennifer Walshe;

An Idea Otherwise True 2019-2020 – music by Ana Sokolović with Marc Boivin, dance;

SIPFest August 10, 2018 – closing concert of a residency with young Indonesian composers




Clemens Merkel: Difficult question, there are so many. Of course, certain programs and projects stand out. But for me, it’s the long-term relationships that develop over many years that stand out. To name a few: Michael Oesterle, Jürg Frey, Cassandra Miller, but also Ana Sokolovic, Jimmie Leblanc, Christian Wolff, Eliane Radigue, and many others. I can’t—or don’t want to—separate art and human relationships. It’s just as important for the quartet that we pay as much attention to a piece by a young composer in a workshop as to a piece by a very well-known composer with whom we’ve been working for a long time. Perhaps that’s not the point of this question, but interpersonal relationships, especially with young artists, are extremely important to us.




Stéphanie Bozzini: Our multidisciplinary projects, which have always been initiated by reflections that go beyond the framework of a string quartet in recital, push us and often lead us to venture into unknown territory, sometimes in uncomfortable situations (!), but always with the idea of ​​moving forward: Une idée Sinon vraie (dance), Innamorati (shadow theater, puppets), Ange Noir (theater), Musique de chambre noire, Les Petites Portes (video), etc.

The marathon concerts, the first being the Quartet’s Odyssey in 2001 at the Théâtre La Chapelle, then Wigmore Hall 2022, Aldeburgh Festival 2023, and the BBC’s Hear and Now series in 2007 (which influenced a whole generation of young British composers who heard a quartet playing without vibrato, with a very stripped-down aesthetic, and from which many drew inspiration).

Our concerts and programs resulting from long collaborations over the years: Eliane Radigue, Jürg Frey, Michael Osterle, Martin Arnold, James Tenney, Alvin Lucier, Christian Wolff.




Programming local composers who are rarely performed internationally, through our role as ambassadors of Canadian and Quebec creation: e.g., Jimmie Leblanc at Gaudeamus in the Netherlands, which received a truly positive reception, is a recent example that comes to mind, to name just one.

On a personal level, the projects/programs where we were able to establish very strong and lasting relationships with our collaborators. These exchanges add a whole new dimension to the work.

PAN M 360: What are each of you most proud of having accomplished in this quartet?

Isabelle Bozzini: Staying the course, with all the ups and downs of the profession, and the thousands of aspects to understand/learn to steer the ship. Keeping the fire burning, to return to the work each day with pleasure. Learning patience, among ourselves and with our collaborators; vigilance is essential. Cultivate curiosity and a sense of risk, to enable every little miracle of creation!




Alissa Cheung: Human relationships and the community of all our collaborators.

Stéphanie Bozzini: The idea of ​​having created an organization. Almost literally, it’s constantly evolving, where everyone finds their place, where listening is prioritized, where everyone adapts. We pool our strengths to advance our mission. To be there for each other in times of need. Proud to have persevered despite the difficulties and challenges. Proud of the connections we establish and maintain among ourselves, with the people who support us at the office, and also with all the artists and friends we’ve met over the past 25 years. It’s very enriching.




Clemens Merkel: When we start our careers as young musicians, we never know exactly where it will lead us. The quartet has given us a clear direction; it is a task and also an obligation (perhaps a very German idea). That is, an obligation to my colleagues, to the composers who trust us and give us their music. I am very proud that we have managed to live and survive as a quartet in an environment here in Quebec and Canada where there is not much of a so-called “market,” all while playing the music we deem important. Playing music from Montreal, Quebec, and Canada in Europe, bringing music from Europe here. It is a body of work that has developed over the years, consisting of many elements that fit together like a large puzzle. Of course, I am proud of many individual events, concerts, projects, but after so many years, this is actually what fills me with satisfaction and at the same time gives me the motivation to continue as long as I can.




PAN M 360: Do you think this Semaine du Neuf concert is the most important of your 25th anniversary season?

Clemens Merkel: It’s always the next concert that’s the most important!

Isabelle Bozzini: I quite agree with Clemens…! It’s a flagship concert of our 25th anniversary, but we chose to celebrate throughout 2025, because a quarter-century deserves to be celebrated in a big way, and because this year we have a particularly exciting series of events.


 


PAN M 360: Summarize the concerts already presented in this context and those coming up before the end of this season? Needless to say, we’ll talk about them again in other articles.



Isabelle Bozzini: After Effusione d’Amicizia at Semaine du Neuf, there will be the premiere of the opera Hiroshima Mon Amour in co-production with Carte Blanche and Chants Libres at the FTA, interspersed with several appearances at major German festivals, Witten and Darmstadt. A concert at Suoni Per Il Popolo (also celebrating its 25th anniversary!) with Sarah Hennies. The premiere on August 15 at Time:Spans of works by Cassandra Miller, Zosha Di Castri, and Taylor Brook, a major co-commissioned project with Le Vivier and Soundstreams (Toronto), works that will be performed in Montreal in October and in Toronto in 2026. In September, a return to Gaudeamus and a first appearance at Musica Strasbourg, and much more. To be continued!












Due to unforeseen circumstances, Matthew Warren Ruth will not be playing on March 15th as part of La Semaine du Neuf in a concert that was supposed to showcase his own work in addition to Tim Brady’s in the second half. Instead, Tim Brady will be playing the entirety of his solo guitar piece Symphony in 18 Parts and his piece For Guitar.  We had the chance to ask about some of the specifics of these two pieces before this Saturday.




PAN M 360 – With respect to Symphony in 18 Parts, I would think turning a solo guitar into an entire symphony would be quite the challenge where timbres are concerned; but over forty-nine minutes you pull it off. How did you decide on the quality of the sounds you want and how to use them?




Tim Brady: Symphony in 18 Parts started as just a few little guitar pieces. It was only after I’d written three or four pieces that I decided to make it into this ambitious 50-minute work. But once I had made that decision, I knew I need to have as much variety as possible in terms of timbre and sound.  Just six strings for 50 minutes is pretty intense, so I spent some time looking for very contrasting effects and loops just playing with sounds before I got into the detailed composition process. Once I had found a wide range of different tones, I then tried to imagine the journey we will make together in the concert hall – and how these sounds could help create the form of the piece, the journey for the listener.




PAN M 360 – Unless I’m mistaken, there aren’t any commercially released recordings of your piece For Electric Guitar at the moment. Will this piece be an ode to the instrument? A piece that’s particularly idiomatic of the guitar? Perhaps something altogether different?



Tim Brady: This performance will be the premiere, no recording has yet been released. Probably, I’ll release it sometime in 2026, but it is fun to premiere a piece in front of a live audience. And, yes, it is very idiomatic.  There are some effects, but far fewer than in Symphony in 18 parts. It is really more about just playing guitar. Hence the somewhat laconic title: “For Electric Guitar.”




PAN M 360 – I understand that you’ve worked with Matthew Warren Ruth in the past and that he has composed works for your Instruments of Happiness guitar ensemble. How did you first begin collaborating and what is it about his own musical sensibilities that jive so well with your own?



Tim Brady: Due to some unforeseen circumstance, Matthew has, regrettably, had to cancel his performance on Mar. 15. He is a great guitarist and strong composer, he was a student of mine at Concordia several years ago. I hope the public gets to hear more of his music in the coming years. I will be playing the FULL 18 movements of Symphony, then a short intermission, the premiere of “For Electric Guitar.”  There will still be lots of guitar music on offer!




PAN M 360 – I see, that’s too bad about Matthew. Well, I suppose I can still ask you this: This was previously being billed as “Two generations of guitar virtuosos;” with the electric guitar being a relatively young instrument, I’d be interested to know your take on how much guitar music has changed from one generation to another. Where do you suppose it goes from here?




Tim Brady: As an instrument, the electric guitar has evolved a great deal since 1932 (the “official” invention date). Amps and instruments are more flexible, more subtle, and the addition of effects (starting in the mid-1960s, with the real explosion starting in the late 1970s) has given it a new voice. The younger generation of players are great musicians, capable of playing in a rock band, a jazz gig, or following a conductor. The basics stay the same – six (well, sometimes seven or eight…) strings, clean versus distortion, loud versus soft, etc.  There are a few basic choices, but each artist will find their own voice.




PAN M 360 – You told us previously that you make a habit of improvising on the guitar every day. Were any of the eighteen parts of your symphony improvised or was the piece more through-composed?




Tim Brady: Symphony in 18 parts is composed through. I use improvisation to keep in touch with music creation on a visceral level, and I do sometimes use it in my music.  But not in this piece.




PAN M 360 – The names for the symphony parts themselves lie somewhere between poetic and meta. Did you decide to name them after your aesthetic choices? Is there some kind of narrative throughline? Perhaps I’m reading too much into it?




Tim Brady: Honestly, I’m not quite sure what those titles mean! I wanted to call things more than just “Movement 1” – to give a sense of identity to each section. So, I worked on a series of phrases that I found intriguing and then tried to see if there was some sort of relationship between the phrases and the music.  But it is very much on a subconscious level – I just went totally on intuition, with no grand plan for the titles.




PAN M 360 – And finally: I need to know; any model of pedal or effect over the years that you have a sweet spot for? Do you happen to be a gearhead or do you go with whatever serves the music in the moment?




Tim Brady: I do enjoy following gear trends, and have owned tons of different gear over the decades, but I have not bought any new stuff for a while. Better to really know and use the gear you know than always trying something new.  I have spent quite a bit of time on the basic sound and set-up for my guitars – pickups, alternate wiring configurations, strain gauge, string height, and choice of woods.  It all starts with the guitar – that better sound and feel right.  All the pedals in the world won’t fix a bad-sounding instrument.










What unites the works of Mozart, Dvořák, Kodály and Johann Strauss? Stylistically varied in terms of language and separated by different eras, it’s their instrumental instrumentation that attracts attention. In a program that brings together works for strings by these different composers, Les Violons du Roy musicians Katya Poplyansky (violin), Pascale Gagnon (violin), Annie Morrier (viola) and Raphaël McNabney (double bass) put forward unexpected musical formations for their instrument, to be heard in an apero-concert on March 12 and 13 at Palais Montcalm. To talk about them, they each agreed to answer a few questions from PAN M 360.




PAN M 360: String trio formations are usually composed of a violin, viola and cello. Here, you propose unexpected trios, that is, rarer formations with two violins and a viola, then two violins and a double bass. Why are these formations considered rarer? How does this translate in terms of musical writing, and do these formations lead you to modify your playing depending on the place your instrument occupies in the score?




Katya Poplyansky: Often a cello plays a bass line, in addition to the melodies… Without the cello, our responsibilities as violinists and violists become more numerous and perhaps even more complicated! Sometimes, we play the melody, sometimes, we accompany, and sometimes, we play the bass line, all in a few short bars. It’s a challenge but also very rewarding.




PAN M 360: Apart from their particular instrumental configuration, what characterizes each of the pieces in this concert?




Pascale Gagnon : I’d say this concert is a journey through the ages, starting with Mozart with a very simple and enjoyable trio, a small piece in just two movements, an adagio and a menuetto, which is quite unusual. We’re used to 3 or 4 movements. For the Dvořák, it’s a 4-movement trio. The magnificent slow movement is a beautiful romantic moment; my favorite. The scherzo, too, is very interesting, with a folkloric flavor and a rhythmic interplay that is quite unsettling for the listener. The Kodály is a blend of folkloric inspiration and modern harmonies; a classical-form trio in 3 movements. For him too, I particularly like the second movement, a conversation between viola and first violin that can seem to be improvised. The second violin, on the other hand, weaves an atmosphere throughout the movement with very gentle, sometimes even disquieting tremolos. And to end the concert, a Strauss waltz with the melody on the first violin, accompanied by the bass and second violin.




PAN M 360: What are the challenges or things to watch out for as a musician when performing chamber music repertoire?


Annie Morrier: Chamber music is often very rewarding but requires a lot more personal involvement. Being in a small group, we have to take charge of the musical ideas, the balance of the instruments and the style of the pieces we perform. In an orchestra, this is mainly the role of the conductor. We also have to be very aware of the other parts. To know exactly what’s going on in all the parts played, and to be particularly flexible to other people’s ideas and their own interpretations. This sometimes leads to discussions and decisions. What’s more, the scores are often technically more difficult, requiring more individual preparation.




PAN M 360: The piece Wiener Carnaval-Waltzer, Op. 3, is traditionally performed by an orchestra. You’ll be performing it as a trio. What are the challenges of reducing orchestral mass for your group, and what can a chamber ensemble bring to the listening experience compared to an orchestra?




Raphaël McNabney : Unfortunately, it will always be impossible, despite all our efforts and creativity, to reproduce the palette of colors and timbres of a 3-piece symphony orchestra. That said, it’s easier to move and dance in a small group, and the characters of the works can always be conveyed, whatever the orchestration. Also, on a practical level, being able to export symphonic works with modest means, means enabling a wider audience to enjoy them in a variety of contexts, like a fine Strauss waltz at the end of an aperitif…




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For the Semaine du Neuf, the Quatuor Bozzini celebrates 25 years of professional activity in the service of creative music with creations by three exceptional composers: Michael Oesterle, Linda Catlin Smith and Martin Arnold. For this very special occasion, PAN M 360 is publishing two interviews with the members of this excellent Montreal quartet: Alissa Cheung, violin, Clemens Merkel, violin, Stéphanie Bozzini, viola, Isabelle Bozzini, cello. First, let’s talk about the concert this Friday, March 14, 7:30 p.m., at the Music Media Room.




PAN M 360: Why these three composers in such a commemoration?




Isabelle Bozzini: L’Effusione d’amicizia is one of the flagship projects of our quarter-century, commissioned from composers who have been with us since the beginning: Michael Oesterle, Martin Arnold and Linda Smith. These exceptional creators have long done us the honor of following and appreciating our work. Full disclosure: all these artists know and appreciate each other, and they were once mentors at our Composer’s Kitchen or BozziniLab, so there’s a lot of effusiveness!




PAN M 360: Tell us about 3-Way Cotillion, a sextet by Martin Arnold, in which we find the composer’s fascination with early music, folk traditions and the influence of psychedelic music. Can we find out more about the work?




Stéphanie Bozzini: 3-Way Cotillion is based on simple materials and structures. The sextet opens with a long melody from the two violas, supported by “cushion” chords and pizzicato punctuations from the other instruments. Its title refers to a dance, which is quite characteristic of Martin’s works: undulating, humble melodies, never extravagant, sometimes slow, but also dotted motifs that punctuate the phrases as cadences. A reminiscence of melodic motifs recurs throughout the piece.


Clemens Merkel: The composer always leaves a lot of decisions and freedom to the performers in terms of articulations, nuances and even characters, which gives his works a great playground for us.


Isabelle Bozzini: Martin is a pure music lover with an exceptional and extremely eclectic record collection. He has a reverence for Renaissance music, he grew up with the folk tradition in Alberta and lived through his psychedelic period. To fully understand all his influences, I think you need to go and hear him in a bar with one of his bands in Toronto.


PAN M 360: How did you integrate cellist Audréanne Filion and violist Élisa Trudel?


Isabelle Bozzini: Violist Élisa Trudel and cellist Audréanne Filion are two up-and-coming musicians. They share a sound and aesthetic affinity, and have a real curiosity for new music. That’s why we turned to them. Audréanne is active in the musique actuelle scene, among others, and has already played with us in 2023 at Québec Musiques Parallèles for Jürg Frey.


Stéphanie Bozzini: We’ve met Elisa regularly at various concerts in Montreal and Rimouski, and it’s inspiring to see the younger generation of performers taking an interest in new music. And it’s great to have them with us for this concert!


PAN M 360: Michael Oesterle, with whom you first met at the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne Forum in 1996, is the initiator of a long collaboration with the ensemble, which will present his Quartet No. 4, the fifth work written for Bozzini. Is there any connection with the previous works you’ve played with the quartet over the years? How is the work constructed, and what is at stake in its performance?




Stéphanie Bozzini: It’s a long one-movement piece, divided into a few sections, so it contrasts with Quartet No.3 “Alan Turing”, which is in 4 distinct movements, or other of his quartets that are short in form. Quartet No.4 begins and ends with a chorale reminiscent of the great classical tradition, echoed in harmonics at the center of the piece. Michael constructs his works by alternating expressive geometric musical materials. With very simple means, he creates a whole fresco of original, playful and expressive sounds.


Isabelle Bozzini: Despite the technical difficulties of the piece, her intimate knowledge of the language for strings makes the performance accessible: for example, rapid harmonic strokes that are idiomatic for strings. Of course, we love the challenge of technically complex works, for the challenge, the pleasure of learning, the desire to push oneself and the fluidity of playing.


Stéphanie Bozzini: But at the same time, it’s satisfying for us not to have to “get bogged down in the flowers of the carpet”, as we sometimes say to each other in rehearsals, so that we can devote ourselves to other aspects of the music that are more important to us: expression, dynamics, flow and balance.




PAN M 360: Toronto’s Linda Catlin Smith created the piece Rêverie especially for the occasion. What are the characteristics of this work? What’s at stake in the performance?




Alissa Cheung: We’ve played almost all of Linda’s string quartets, and we’re delighted to finally have a commission written especially for us. We can recognize elements of her earlier quartets, phrases and orchestration that remind us of Gondola or Folkestone, but this piece is unique in the evolution of Linda’s string quartet writing. The work is made up of numerous homogeneous sections that flow from one to the next, and features Linda’s characteristic contrasts between light and dark, in terms of harmonic, orchestral and emotional content. As in many of her other pieces, the ensemble needs to have a strong sense of pulse, without losing the organic nature of weightlessness and fluidity for the listener.




PAN M 360: Why is this program being presented at the Music Multimedia Room (MMR), renowned for its acoustic and multimedia virtues?




Isabelle Bozzini: We associate the MMR with electro music, with the live@CIRMMT events among others, but we mustn’t forget that it was originally a recording studio with extraordinary acoustic qualities. This is the first time we’ll be playing live there, and I can’t wait! Of course, the choice of concert venues also depends on calendar availability and the artists’ schedules.


Photo credit: Kristian Trana




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Flautist Cyrille Angers and pianist Bruce Gaulin are teaming up for the upcoming Mélodînes concert, a series dedicated to emerging performers. On the eve of their concert this Wednesday, March 12, at 12:10 p.m. in the Claude-Léveillée Hall at Place des Arts, the two colleagues take part in this three-part interview: solo, solo, and duet!




Questions for Cyrille Angers 



A native of Quebec City and admitted to the Conservatoire de musique de Québec in 2018, he became a gold medalist at the Concours de musique de la Capitale and a scholarship holder from the Fondation du Conservatoire de musique in 2019. He received the Alain Marion Excellence Scholarship from the Académie internationale de musique du Domaine Forget in 2021. He also distinguished himself by winning several prizes in national music competitions, including first place at the Canadian Music Competition (2022) and the OMNI Music Competition (2021/2023). These honors allow him to play as a soloist with the Orchestre Métropolitain, during the “Tutti 2023”.




PAN M 360: What are the directories that are most dear to you at the moment?


Cyrille Angers: At the moment, I’m most interested in the repertoires of composers who incorporate national or folkloric elements into their music. Whether through the themes addressed or the images evoked, this approach allows me to discover new sounds, often bold and authentic. I could cite in this category big names like Respighi, Mussorgsky, Vaughan Williams, or Sibelius, but also “smaller” names like Vladigerov, de Freitas Branco, Paliachvili, or Stenhammar, to name but a few. Being a great travel enthusiast, this musical approach allows me to travel from afar and continue to confront myself with unusual musical approaches.


PAN M 360: Which directories are you most interested in?


Cyrille Angers: I would say it’s the repertoires that stray from the beaten track. I particularly appreciate novelty and creative freedom, and exploring lesser-known repertoires fulfills both of these aspirations. These works rarely have such a deep-rooted performance tradition as those of composers like Chopin, Schubert, or Bach, which allows me to bring my own vision and give free rein to my creativity, which appeals to me even more.


PAN M 360: Do you consider yourself primarily as a solo flute player or more of a generalist, in terms of orchestral music?


Cyrille Angers: I consider myself primarily a solo flute player. Although I greatly enjoy playing in orchestras or chamber music, it is in the solo aspect that I feel most comfortable.




Questions for Bruce Gaulin



Recipient of First Prizes in several competitions such as the Festivals du Royaume, Clermont-Pépin and Saint-Pierre de Saurel, the Concours de Musique de la Capitale as well as the Canadian Music Competition, where he was a finalist in the Tremplin. Soloist and chamber musician, he has performed notably at the Chapelle historique du Bon-Pasteur, Orford Musique, the Sainte-Pétronille Chamber Music Festival, the Préludes of the Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, the Opéra de Québec, and the Orchestre symphonique de la Côte-Nord. In addition, he is co-founder and manager of the Ensemble Renouveau.




PAN M 360: As a chamber musician, do you have any preferences for a configuration?


Bruce Gaulin: I really like small groups, duos or trios, which give more latitude and freedom to the performers between certain “solo” moments and certain “chamber” moments.


PAN M 360: What is your favorite repertoire?


Bruce Gaulin: There’s no real constant beyond the fact that a work must be fundamentally authentic to speak to me. Whatever the style, the era or genre, or even the nationality, there must be this sense of truth in the message being conveyed, without artifice or detours.


PAN M 360: Do you have any preferences for solo vs. ensemble work?


Bruce Gaulin: I like both! When you play solo, you only have yourself to manage (which is no easy task sometimes!), but when you’re playing with someone else, you have to be sensitive to the other person and think for them in addition to taking care of yourself. It can teach you a lot about other aspects of life.




Questions for Bruce Gaulin and Cyrille Angers




PAN M 360: Tell us about the genesis of your collaboration.


Bruce Gaulin: I accompanied Cyrille for the first time when I played for the flute class at the Conservatoire de Québec in the fall of 2021. I had the opportunity to repeat the experience many times thereafter, for competitions and recordings.


PAN M 360: How important is this duo in your respective careers?


Bruce Gaulin: Playing with Cyrille is always a pleasure and a most enriching experience. This concert is close to my heart and will be most stimulating and surprising.


PAN M 360: Have you defined a directory to explore?


Bruce Gaulin: We will explore a host of composers who were prodigies in their own right in each of their lives. The majority of the works presented here are transcriptions of pieces written for other instruments and arranged by Cyrille.


PAN M 360: Please tell us about the works chosen and their composers for this program:


Cyrille Angers: The composers we selected for this program are all musical prodigies. True to form, Bruce and I sought to highlight lesser-known works, written by composers less well-known than Mozart or Beethoven, for example.


Some, like Frank Martin with his Ballade or Georges Enescu with his Cantabile and Presto, created pillars of the flute repertoire. The Ballade was written for the Geneva Competition, while the Cantabile and Presto served as an evaluation piece for the Paris Conservatoire Competition. However, the other works of these composers are rarely programmed in concert halls.


Other composers in our program are better known to the public, but for other works. This is the case with André Mathieu with his Concerto de Québec or Samuel Barber with his celebrated Adagio for Strings.


Lili Boulanger is beginning to make her mark in the concert repertoire, both with professional orchestras and flautists, with pieces such as Nocturne and On a Spring Morning.


Heikki Suolahti’s Sinfonia Piccola was admired by Jean Sibelius, considered the greatest Finnish composer in history. It is very rarely performed, but it is a testament to the undeniable genius possessed by Suolahti, who died at the age of 16 from leukemia.


As for Camille Saint-Saëns, his success precedes him, and his Introduction & Rondo Capriccioso, Op. 28, is one of the essentials of the violin repertoire. It will be by far the most famous work that Bruce and I will perform in this program.


PAN M 360: Tell us about the challenges of their execution.


Cyrille Angers: I would say that each work presents its own challenges. For André Mathieu’s Heikki Suolahti, the main challenge was adapting them for flute and piano. Once transcribed, Suolahti’s work fits easily with the piano. As for Mathieu’s two works, they are much less intuitive musically. Mutual listening between Bruce and me is therefore essential to ensure good cohesion. Boulanger’s work continues in this vein. Although much more intuitive than Mathieu’s Sonata, for example, it also requires a high level of refinement. Regarding the works of Enesco and Martin, I would say that the main challenge is authenticity. These works are very frequently performed by flautists. Thus, approaching them with a new and different approach is the main challenge. In Barber’s work, the challenge lies in musical colors, lyricism, and breathing, issues that are common in slower-paced pieces. As for Saint-Saëns’s work, it is undoubtedly the technical difficulty, since it is intended to be a work of virtuosity.




PROGRAM




André Mathieu, Ballade-Fantasie for Violin and Piano (arr. for flute and piano)
Sonata for Violin and Piano (arr. for flute and piano)
Lili Boulanger, D’un matin de printemps for flute and piano, ILB 5
Samuel Barber, Canzone for Flute and Piano, IGE 2
George Enescu, Cantabile and Presto for Flute and Piano, IGE 2
Frank Martin, 2nd Ballade for Flute and Piano
Heikki Theodor Suolahti, Sinfonia Piccola for Orchestra, IHS 1 (arr. for flute and piano)
Camille Saint-Saëns, Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, Op. 28, for Violin and Orchestra (arr. for flute and piano)








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Manu Katché is probably the best-known drummer in France. His accompaniments for national and international stars, from Michel Jonasz to Sting and Peter Gabriel, not to mention dozens and dozens of prestigious collaborations, make him a distinguished guest in Montreal, this time as an ensemble leader and composer. Given his upcoming intimate stop at Studio TD this Wednesday, March 12th, a prelude to a dozen concerts in Quebec until the end of the month, PAN M 360 offers you this interview with Alain Brunet with the star drummer.

PAN M 360: Your last recording, The Scope, dates back to 2019. That’s right, isn’t it?

Manu Katché: Absolutely.




PAN M 360: If you’re going back on tour, does this herald an upcoming recording? If so, what’s the project?

Manu Katché: Exactly. I’ve composed about ten new songs, but they haven’t been recorded yet. This Quebec tour, besides playing in this country where I have many memories and which I really appreciate, will allow me to test and develop these new tracks live with my band. Once in the studio, I think it will be a real plus for recording them.

PAN M 360: Who are you touring with in the current cycle?

Manu Katché: The same bassist who is already present on my last album as well as on stage, Jérôme Regard, as well as guitarist Patrick Manouguian. I have a new person who has just joined us and who plays keyboards and trumpet. Sebastian Studnitzky

PAN M 360: Could you please briefly describe your touring colleagues, their backgrounds, and their skills as performers and improvisers?




Manu Katché: As for bassist Jérôme Regard, he’s also a double bass player and double bass teacher. This allows me to choose a precise sound for the pieces I play, delivered either by his electric bass or his double bass. As I mentioned, he’s a double bass teacher, which means he reads music perfectly and allows me to save a lot of time in rehearsals once the pieces are written, because he sight-reads music. He comes from a jazz background, with that harmonic openness associated with jazz and the ease of improvisation. The guitarist, Patrick, comes from the world of mainstream music, just like me; we have fairly similar codes regarding accompaniment and offer a fairly diverse sound palette.

PAN M 360: What repertoire do you plan to play in MTL? Your own compositions? Jazz-infused covers? Standards?

Manu Katché: Only my own compositions, new ones as I told you at the beginning of this interview, and maybe, but it’s not yet official, two covers…




PAN M 360: As an ensemble leader, what do you seek to express with your colleagues?

Manu Katché: Playing together for quite some time now allows us to enjoy ourselves together and, with this shared pleasure, to share it with the audience. What matters most to me is the interactivity with the audience, certainly the reason why musicians need to perform live—a source of enormous and unique emotion.

PAN M 360: The recent pieces in your repertoire draw on groove, jazz, pop, Afro-descendant music from the Caribbean or Africa, traditional West African music, and even electro. How would you describe them?

Manu Katché: It’s difficult to answer this question. Offering an instrumental repertoire for my entire set, I would say pop/jazzy-electro…




PAN M 360: You were a five-star accompanist for some of the most renowned creative pop artists for a long time. How did the transition to your solo career, your own expression, come about?

Manu Katché: I have been and remain a sideman. I really enjoy being able to play and collaborate with artists of different styles. It’s true that over ten years ago, I decided to start a band and perform with it. The simple pleasure of being able to play and perform my own music—I think all these collaborations I’ve been a part of—certainly gave me the desire to be a leader as well. I believe this isn’t a transition in my career, but simply a continuation. My drumming style, derived partly from my classical studies at the conservatory, is part of this desire to express musical and melodic things while being a drummer.




PAN M 360: What music has changed your musical trajectory even slightly over the past decade?

Manu Katché: I listen to a lot of different things. Aside from metal, perhaps, everything else gives me a lot of pleasure as long as the music touches me. This can range from hip-hop to jazz to mainstream music. I evolve like any human being; the music I listen to nourishes me and allows me to progress culturally. Trends are present regularly, and I find that this new generation of musicians is offering truly beautiful musical works through their projects.

PAN M 360: Since the release of The Scope six years ago this month, what has happened musically for you?

Manu Katché: Let’s unfortunately remember that we had to endure two difficult years, deprived of our time due to COVID. As soon as we were “allowed” to travel freely again, I went on a world tour with Peter Gabriel, after participating in the i/o album. Just before that, I collaborated on Sting’s album: The Bridge.




I’ve also recorded several jazz albums with various artists, American, French, and Belgian. I co-produced three albums for Michel Jonasz—La Méouge, le Rhône, La Durance—Chanter le Blues, and the latest album, Soul, while participating in each of the tours for these albums and, more recently, the very beginning of this new tour for the Soul album. I’ve composed a brand new personal album that I’ll be recording soon. I’ve written and released my second book, #Beat, with Grasset.

PAN M 360: You’re also a broadcaster; you’ve done a lot of television work, sometimes on cultural topics but also on social issues such as racism and immigration (La Face Katché). How would you summarize this career as a broadcaster?




Manu Katché: La face katché is a program found on the website “Yahoo.fr.” I’m very proud of it because I’ve interviewed, and continue to do so, a good number of people from diverse backgrounds. I think it’s important to talk about it, and above all without aggression, which, in my opinion, is a positive opportunity for understanding difference. Understanding where certain people come from, what their childhood was like, how they had to position themselves simply to be able to live normally, without bitterness, animosity, or jealousy. I think we all had complex or difficult childhoods, some of them due to violent, uneducated, or absent families. The fact that we have a different profile, whether visibly or not, doesn’t allow some people to understand or even judge. With this program, I try to highlight these difficulties and differences so that understanding and acceptance are more present.

PAN M 360: How do you see your recent role as a host?

Manu Katché: I don’t see anything specific, I don’t calculate anything, I simply do the things that are important to me with all my heart!


PAN M 360: Do you see a link between your media career and your musical career?

Manu Katché: It seems to me that we act according to our personalities. It’s impossible for me to dissociate myself for one project or another; I would be in disharmony and therefore not myself. I am in tune with my intuition, my instinct, and my knowledge to deliver something sincere and honest. There are musicians who don’t speak out, others who will, some who will campaign for a cause, others not, it doesn’t matter. Knowing how to position yourself, being in your place with respect for others without judgment.






MANU KATCHÉ PLAYS 12 CONCERTS IN QUÉBEC, FROM MARCH 12 – 30.  MONTRÉAL, TROIS-RIVIÈRES, LAVAL, TERREBONNE, SHERBROOKE, JOLIETTE, SAINT-HYACINTHE, REPENTIGNY, GATINEAU, DRUMMONDVILLE, QUÉBEC, SAGUENAY, RIMOUSKI




BILLETS ET INFOS POUR LE STUDIO TD MERCREDI 12 MARS




BILLETS POUR SALLE ANDRÉ-MATHIEU, SAMEDI 15 MARS






BILLETS POUR SALLE JEAN-GRIMALDI DU THÉÂTRE DESJARDINS, DIMANCHE 23 MARS




BILLETS ET INFOS POUR LE PALAIS MONTCALM, VENDREDI 28 MARS























In the wake of Sunday’s concert at McGill University’s Music Multimedia Room (MMR), which immersed the audience in a 3-hour immersive sound ecosystem featuring works by Annette Vande Gorne, Julien Guillamat, David Piazza, Ana Dall’Ara-Majek, Francis Dhomont and Robert Normandeau, PAN M 360 put these questions to Annette Vande Gorne, a leading figure in acousmatic music. We talked about her career, the artistic ties that unite Quebec and Belgium, and the evolution of acousmatic music.


PAN M 360: You were taught by Guy Reibel and Pierre Schaeffer at the Conservatoire National Supérieur in Paris between 1977 and 1980. What attracted you to the medium of musique concrète and acousmatic music?


Annette Vande Gorne: The chance discovery of musique concrète and acousmatic music (Pierre Henry’s Le voyage and François Bayle’s Les espaces inhabitables) caused a complete upheaval in my musical perception: a sensation of the body floating, abstract forms in spatial movement, white on black, in my mental imagination. The immediate communication beyond any specialized knowledge and cultural barrier (through archetypes, iconic images and their traces) that freely leads our personal imaginations, immediately diverted me from a smooth and predictable path as a classical musician and composer of instrumental music to the rockier, yet innovative paths of acousmatic music: nothing to see, everything to imagine.


PAN M 360: The links between Belgium and Quebec in the development of acousmatic music are significant and marked by important encounters. How did these links come about, and what impact have they had?


AVDG: These links were forged thanks to Francis Dhomont, who was a professor at the University of Montreal at the time and a guest at the first “L’Espace du Son” festival in Brussels in 1984. He had set up a summer electroacoustic workshop in Arles in which some of his students participated, and suggested that one of them take up a residency in the Musiques & Recherches analog studio. I chose Robert Normandeau in 1987. Since then, links have been forged, notably between the Conservatoire Royal de Mons, where I created an electroacoustic section – a master’s degree in acousmatic composition – and the Université de Montréal, where five students are currently in residence in Mons. But also editorial links between Jean-François Denis’ Empreintes DIGITales label and 6 composers living in Belgium. Last but not least, ties of exchange and friendship are perpetuated through a constant back-and-forth of residencies, concerts, commissions and conferences between Musiques & Recherches, a number of Belgian composers and myself, and associations or concert series such as Réseaux, Akousma, Le Viver aujourd’hui, in addition to numerous Quebec composers.


PAN M 360: The voice, the primary emotional and musical vector and ancestral medium of all communication, is at the heart of your Vox Alia cycle, which will be presented in its entirety. How did you incorporate this element into the sound treatment of the work?


AVDG: All strata – from sound to meaning, from cry to language, from spoken to musical – are explored in the use of the voice. The voice as a purely sonic entity is particularly suited to electroacoustic studio processing, as it is to spatial polyphony. Reforming virtual, spatialized choirs throughout the concert venue using autonomous voices is one example. The CIRMMT hall in the basement of McGill University’s Elizabeth Wirth Music Pavilion is a marvel of sonic precision, thanks to its 66 high-quality loudspeakers. Other acousmatic concerts would be perfectly suited to it.


PAN M 360: How would you describe your creative process? What inspires you as a composer, but also as a researcher? Is research always present somewhere in your compositions?


AVDG: Research is indispensable. I can’t imagine innovative creation without a theoretical humus to support and justify it. Thanks in this respect to François Bayle, whose constant research, itself based on his pertinent readings, enables the particular genre of “acousmatic” to exist on a reasoned basis. I extend this by integrating these reflections into a musically broader context, as a kind of bridge to practice applied to the sensitive. And it works! I’m currently writing a treatise on acousmatic composition.


PAN M 360: The performance on March 9 tells a bit of a generational story too. The first part will feature your work Vox Alia with Vol d’arondes by your friend, the late composer Francis Dhomont, while the second part will present works by composers who have been marked by your respective teachings. What strikes you about the way young composers approach composition today? What changes have you noticed?


AVDG: The question is vast and, it seems to me, cannot be generalized, as cultural environments are different, for example, between Montreal, Quebec, and Europe, France, Belgium and so on. Obviously, technology and its evolution (from analog to artificial intelligence) is general and shared by all, but its use differs, and also depends on the orientation of new generations of teachers. Here, we’re leaving the world of pure listening for that of multimedia and screens, whereas in Belgium, thanks to the multiplicity of spatialized concerts on acousmoniums or loudspeaker systems (there are 5 in Belgium) and contemporary orchestras (6 in Flanders and Wallonia-Brussels), listening alone is at the heart of musical practice.


PAN M 360: What advice would you give to newcomers to acousmatic music?


AVDG: Listen with your eyes closed! Internalize, focus your attention, let yourself be guided by mental images, cultivate your memory. Take an interest in the repertoire (the Musiques & Recherches “electrodoc” site lists over 7,000 composers and 1,500 works: and electrocd.com has a vast electro-library.


Start recording, headphones on, all the sounds that attract and intrigue you, listen to the recordings, choose and don’t hesitate to erase what doesn’t seem musical enough.


Live happily, passionately. Committed.


As part of Semaine du Neuf and in collaboration with the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal and Vivier InterUniversitaire, two masterclasses open to the public with Annette Vande Gorne and composer Linda Catlin Smith are offered.


Annette Vande Gorne
L’espace au cœur de la recherche en musique acousmatique


Wednesday, March 12 – 1 to 4 pm
Conservatoire de musique de Montréal (Salle Multimédia)




–


Master class with composer Linda Catlin Smith


Thursday, March 13 – 4 to 6 p.m.


Conservatoire de musique de Montréal (Salle de récital)


This activity is linked to the concert Quatuor Bozzini: Effusione d’Amicizia 




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The fruit of a close collaboration between performance duo Sawtooth and composer Charles Quevillon, Le Baptême du Haut-Parleur is a techno-opera that blends music, theatre, puppetry and electronics to question our role as consumers in a capitalist society and our attachment to technological objects, whose manufacture exploits our Earth.


Audiences will have the opportunity to discover this bold opera at Espace Orange | Édifice Wilder on March 13. In this context, our journalist Judith Hamel had the pleasure of chatting with Sawtooth member Sarah Albu and Charles Quevillon. A conversation that gave rise to some very topical reflections on the place of the artist in a capitalist world, as well as on their artistic approach rooted in collaboration and mutual support.




PANM360: To begin with, the central element of Le Baptême du Haut-Parleur is this human-object, the loudspeaker. What prompted you to choose this object as the opera’s central character? And why did you choose the Genelec 8020D model in particular?




Sarah: I approached Charles with the idea of creating a work for my duo Sawtooth with accordionist Matti Pulkki. Matti and I both love cinema. So we started with the theme of dream logic, as we see it in our dreams and inspired by its use in films. All 3 of us share a fascination for the relationship between humans and technology. It was Charles who came up with the idea of a Baptism ritual for an everyday object, the loudspeaker. Our discussions at the start of the project revolved a lot around our attachments to our technological objects and how these objects are an integral part of our artistic practices.


Charles: The initial idea grew out of my interest in the links between the technological objects I use in music and spirituality, the sacred and rituals. For me, the loudspeaker is a secular object, present daily in my ears, my headphones, my computer. So the idea was to imagine what a sacred loudspeaker might be, and to explore the themes that flow from it. For example, Act I echoes YouTube unboxing videos, a kind of technological baptism in our modern society.


I chose to name the Genelec 8020D, because Genelec is a Finnish loudspeaker brand that’s very well known in Finland, where I live. What’s more, I opted for this model because of its rounded aluminum chassis design, its weight close to that of a newborn baby, but above all because these were the speakers I had in my studio.



PANM360: The opera was created in collaboration between your performing duo Sawtooth and composer Charles Quevillon. What role did friendship and collaboration play in this process? What were the main challenges encountered during its development?


Charles: We make a hell of a team, I think. A real synergy was created during the three workshops where we conceived the piece together. Then, between these sessions, I spent a lot of time writing the score and working on electronics, video and staging, while maintaining a regular exchange with Sarah and Matti.


Act 3 was the most difficult for me; it was a piece of the puzzle that required a lot of soul-searching before finding its place. This act marks a break in the relationship between the “mother” and her loudspeaker, and I wanted to strike a balance between a critique of the consumerist framework and an expression of the love and enchantment that a technology like the loudspeaker can arouse.


Sarah: I love working with Charles and Matti, and I was very happy to get us together to undertake this project! It’s been a very collaborative process all the way through, and continues to be so; not only during the work periods, but also in between. I think we’ve spoken at least once a month since 2022, sometimes much more. The main challenge was distance: we live in 3 different cities. So the piece evolved through multiple periods of intensive “face-to-face” work, with in-between discussions in progress, little messages and images sent, voice messages and sharing of inspirational material. The piece is made with a lot of love and a lot of humor too, and I think the audience can feel it. There are a number of key elements that started out as silly moments in rehearsal that ended up working their way into the final work.



PANM360: Le Baptême du Haut-Parleur premiered in Helsinki in the summer of 2024, and was performed last December in Montreal. For this second performance here, will there be any different elements?


Charles: We removed some elements that were weighing the piece down, both dramatically and technically. We’ve also changed the ending, which is now a little more punchy than in the Helsinki version. There are also cultural differences, particularly where the Genelec brand of loudspeakers is concerned. In Finland, they’re ubiquitous, whereas here they’re less well known to the general public. So we took the time to contextualize the brand.


Sarah: There was also a 20-minute version that we performed at the Sound Symposium’s ONSOUND festival in St. John’s, Newfoundland in July 2023. The piece has changed and evolved a lot since then, each time we change little things. For March 13, we’re working in a very large space, which gives us more room for movement and staging. There will also be Charles handling the giant puppet, which was motionless in December.




PANM360: In an interview with Le Vivier, you speak of a reconciliation with the capitalist world in which we live and work. Is this reconciliation a form of acceptance of consumer society, or a way of questioning it?


Sarah: I actually had a hard time using the word “reconciliation” in this context, because I feel it’s a very bold statement. There’s a part of me that regrets saying that, because I don’t want to give the idea that our project is a celebration of the consumer society. But it was something Charles had said in a previous interview that really made me think about what we were expressing. The opera’s narrative is complex; for me, there’s a thread that criticizes over-consumption in contemporary society, but there’s also a story of love and enchantment, a phase of infatuation, then a gradual realization of the complex baggage this object carries, after my character develops an attachment to the object and declares his love for it. So it’s not a strict condemnation or surrender to capitalism, but a reflection on attachment.


Charles: When I think of certain natural objects, like a rock, I think of their birth, their origins; there’s something noble, enchanting, almost magical, that naturally links them to spirituality. On the other hand, when I think of a loudspeaker, it’s hard not to see the whole process of industrialization and consumption that surrounds it. This undoubtedly makes it more complicated to feel an unconditional love for technology. For me, this piece is a way of overcoming this cognitive dissonance, of reflecting on my relationship with the loudspeaker beyond its status as a consumer object.



PANM360: In your opinion, can the artist really extricate himself, or is he inevitably caught up in this system?


Charles: I personally find it difficult to make music outside the consumer framework. I think it’s possible to break out of it, but for me it’s not a necessity. My aim is rather to reflect, to ask the question and become aware of it. In the past, say before the Renaissance, art was mainly associated with religious institutions. Today, as an institutionalized practice in museums, concerts and festivals, it is deeply rooted in capitalism. It’s a tension I feel every day when I embark on a project. Since this is my profession, one of my main motivations for making music, in all honesty, is to earn a living. Most of the time I manage to put these considerations aside, but they always come back and shape my work. There are many better ways of satisfying this need, and I’d be deeply unhappy if it were the only thing that mattered! My greatest satisfactions have nothing to do with money: they come from collaborating with musicians, from the emotions shared with audiences, and from the artistic and logistical challenges of creating large-scale works like this opera.




The relationship between consumption and my musical practice goes far beyond the loudspeaker and the objects that surround me; in fact, it’s one of the axes I’m exploring in my doctoral thesis currently being written.




Sarah: As an artist living in a city, I find it hard to imagine how I could extract myself completely and continue to create. Can a single person extract themselves? There’s a lot of excellent art that exists outside capitalist structures and lots of great initiatives and groups that work in an anti-capitalist way. Like Charles, for me the goal is to reflect, to remain critical in my work and to make the effort to be kind to other humans and non-human relatives in my daily life. And also to be able to continue doing projects that inspire me with collaborators who resonate with me, to be able to share moments of suspension outside everyday life with an audience. I feel there’s a myth that artists have to exist separately from the rest of society, and somehow live on air, raisins and morals. Our work is part of society, even if we criticize it, and we can choose to work for things we believe in, but to continue creating art, we need certain supports. We also all need community, mutual support.




PANM360: As well as being an experimental singer, you also work on folk music and knitting projects! How do your different artistic practices come together? Are these projects separate, or do you find intersections, whether in spirit, musicality, or approach to technology and tradition?


Sarah: Sometimes the projects are materially separate, but there’s always a kind of inspiration that flows from one form to the other. Sometimes I approach knitting or spinning as a performance or meditation rather than an action required to make a garment. Textile arts connect me to the past and to my ancestors, and help me honor the work of women of yesteryear and all the people who weren’t or still aren’t considered artists because their handiwork isn’t valued in the same way as “high art”. I love the intersection of craft and DIY and the mixing of forms.


My interest in traditional music was born out of a similar need: to connect with the past and a communal experience of making music. I began to familiarize myself with the different styles of folk singing from the region where my father’s family is from (former Yugoslavia), and I was so moved and inspired that I couldn’t stop these vocal textures from seeping into some of my other projects. These textures felt so familiar to me, even though I didn’t grow up with these traditions. Furthermore, there are very strong historical connections between textile work and community and traditional singing. In my career, I’ve done projects where sound, performance, and textile arts were blended and others where they were separate. Sometimes I like to just sit and knit a sock or sing a song I know without needing to break new ground in any obvious way. Overall, I find it very enriching to connect with ancient practices when I’m making new or cutting-edge work. It helps me remember that nothing is truly new and that’s okay; it’s the energy, the spirit, the intention, the connection that matters most.



PANM360: After this performance, what’s next for you? Where can we follow your work?


Charles: I’m finishing my doctorate on the Sacred Representation of Musical Technologies in Instrumental Musical Theatre. My website: charlesquevillon.com and my Instagram: @charles_quevillon.


Sarah: I’m slowly working on a solo album project and I’ll be able to give it more focus now! I can’t wait! Performance-wise it’s a bit more relaxed for a while, I’m preparing for concerts with the Balkan Quartet Sava (directed by Dina Cindrić) in May and a new project with Sam Shalabi and a fiery ensemble for the Suoni per il Popolo festival in June. In July and August I have the great privilege of singing covers of Steven Takasugi’s piece Il Teatro Rosso, premiered in February with No Hay Banda, in festivals in Germany and New York. In the meantime, recordings with the ensembles No Hay Banda, AC/CC and Phth. http://www.sarahalbu.com instagram: @sopranoise


photo : Maija Tammi







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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.




TICKETS & MORE INFO




Programme


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′


*Entracte*


Rodney Sharman: Remembering John Cage (2019) – 4′
Paul Frehner:  Un pont sanguin*  (2025)  – 10′
Chris Paul Harman:  Francisez-moi* (2025) 20′
Frédéric Lebel: Si le Temps, l’Espace (2022)


*Création


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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.




INFOS & BILLETS ICI






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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—to learn 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 love about 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 create in 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 in Vancouver, 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 any thoughts 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’ve been 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 or performance—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.” 





















    


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