Interviews
Dominic Trudel is the Executive Director of the Conseil québécois de la musique, which produces the Prix Opus gala, this Sunday, February 2 at Salle Bourgie, 3pm. Here, at the invitation of PAN M 360, he talks to Alain Brunet about how the Quebec concert music gala fits into the CMQ’s spectrum of activities.
Catch up on the Opus Awards: watch the 2023 gala!
For the Conseil québécois de la musique (CMQ), Ève-Marie Cimon is the coordinator of the Opus Awards, which will be presented at a 28th gala on Sunday, February 2 at Salle Bourgie, transmitted on the CMQ’s FB page. More specifically, she manages the judges and juries, oversees the development and expansion of the categories, and ensures that the rules for evaluating nominees are fair and equitable. Here, Ève-Marie explains how the 32 Prix Opus are awarded, reflecting the reality of concert music in Quebec today in all categories – classical, contemporary, electroacoustic, jazz, world music and traditional music. PAN M 360’s Alain Brunet spoke with her ahead of the Prix Opus Gala.
Catch up on the Opus Awards and watch the Gala 2023!
Le jeudi 6 février 2025 à 19h30, à la salle Pierre-Mercure à Montréal, l’Orchestre classique de Montréal offrira une plongée musicale dans l’africanité classique grâce au concert Échos lointains d’Afrique. On y entendra aussi la soprano Suzanne Taffot, Québécoise d’origine camerounaise, qui y donnera, entre autres, une création de David Bontemps, Le deuil des roses qui s’effeuillent, un cycle de mélodies sur des textes de l’auteur et poète haïtien Jacques Roumain.
Programme :
Walker, George : Lyric for strings
Bontemps, David : Le Deuil des roses qui s’effeuillent (création)
Coleridge-Taylor, Samuel : Novellettes, op. 52
Still, William Grant : Danzas de Panama
Spirituals (arr. M. Hogan et H. Bégin) :
– Deep River
– Give Me Jesus
– Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child
– He’s Got the Whole World In His Hands
First time in Montreal, Dalie will warm our hearts on February 2 at Club Balattou, bringing us sunshine from her native Congo. Singer, songwriter, dancer, percussionist and actor, she’s coming as part of a women’s artistic residency, but will also be taking advantage of the opportunity to take part in one of Nuits d’Afrique’s five concert-events as part of Black History Month. Come and discover a multi-talented artist whom our journalist Sandra Gasana had the pleasure of interviewing.
Created in 2003 before making its Broadway debut in 2005, The Light at the Piazza is one of those works that mixes the codes of popular Broadway performances with the lyrical musical lines of operatic language. Winner of six Tony Awards, including Best Original Score, the composer’s sophisticated score is both a rewarding project for Opera McGill’s young opera artists, and an interpretative and technical challenge. A few hours before the opening night of this performance at the Monument national, which runs from January 31 to February 2, Alexandre Villemaire spoke for PAN M 360 with conductor Jonathan Monro, who will be at the podium for all three performances, to talk about the work and its particular aesthetic.
Jonathan Monro, chef
David Gately, director (Catherine Thornhill Steele Visiting Artist)
January 31 at 7:30
February 1 at 7:30
February 2 at 2pm
Tickets are available HERE
Crédit photo: Emma Tranter
Event presented as part of Festival Montréal/Nouvelles Musiques / 12th edition (2025) – Music and images.
Satosphère – Société des arts technologiques1195, boulevard Saint-Laurent – H2X 2S6métro Saint-LaurentMonday, February 17, 2025 7:30 pm
Drummer, visual artist and science-fiction enthusiast Michel Langevin is best known for his role as percussionist with Voivod, the iconic Quebec metal band he co-founded 42 years ago. One of Voivod’s dreams was to experience symphonic metal, a dream that is finally coming true at PdA’s Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier. Dina Gilbert will lead Voivod and the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal in this fusion of metal and symphonic music. Alain Brunet interviewed her ahead of what promises to be a historic event for Quebec music lovers.
Quebec-born Dina Gilbert is the maestra who has conducted the symphonic hip-hop experiments of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and other European orchestras, notably for I Am, MC Solaar, Big Flo et Oli and the leading figures of rap keb. This time, she conducts the OSM and the emblematic Quebec metal band Voivod. Hugo Bégin’s arrangements should both magnify and transform the 12 Voivod songs on the program. Two unique evenings at the OSM, January 29 and 30 at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier.
Photo Credit: Patrick Boucher
From the point of view of complexity and demand for virtuosity, metal is the most advanced form of rock expression, whether you like the violence or not. Trained as a trombonist, composer and, in this case, arranger, Hugo Bégin has grasped this perfectly and proceeded to create 12 arrangements for 12 songs by Voivod, undoubtedly the emblematic band of Quebec metal after 42 years of loyal service. That’s why PAN M 360 is looking into the matter! Our esteemed colleague Laurent Bellemare and Alain Brunet asked Hugo Bégin about the ins and outs of these two historic evenings of symphonic metal at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, on January 29 and 30.
The Year of the Dragon, which will end on January 30, will be marked by music and the meeting of East and West. Conceived a few years ago, the Maison symphonique will perform the world premiere of Christian Thomas’ Concerto for Pipa, which will be performed by virtuoso Liu Fang, one of the most renowned in the world and described as “the empress of the pipa.” The unique notes of the pipa, this ancient Chinese instrument, will join those of the FILMharmonique Orchestra conducted by Françis Choinière, which will also perform the famous violin concerto Les Amants papillons, with violinist Guillaume Villeneuve as soloist, as well as Stravinsky’s The Firebird. A few days before the concert, Alexandre Villemaire spoke with Christian Thomas about the composition of his concerto.
Read Frédéric Cardin’s review of the concerto
For more information and tickets, click HERE
Photo Credit: Enzo Wong
This program is scheduled for February 19 at McGill’s Music Multimedia Room, presented by the SMCQ as part of Montréal/Nouvelles Musiques / 12e édition (2025) – Musique et images.
On January 17, the young Quebec ensemble Quatuor Cobalt officially launched its first album, Reflets du temps. Through three works by female composers of different periods and styles (Maddalena Sirmen, Fanny Mendelssohn and Alicia Terzian), ranging from the classical era to the present day, the quartet – made up of Guillaume Villeneuve and Diane Bayard (violins), Clément Bufferne (viola) and François Leclerc (cello) – express a shared passion for the variety of the string quartet repertoire, while adding their own personal touch, notably through interpretation on period instruments. PAN M 360 contributor Alexandre Villemaire spoke with François Leclerc about this launch and the quartet’s upcoming projects.
Photo Credit: Annie Ethier