Interviews

To conclude its 2024-2015 season, Ensemble Caprice and its conductor Matthias Maute, in collaboration with Ensemble ArtChoral, present Bach’s St. John Passion, just in time for the Easter celebrations, as we enter the liturgical year in the midst of Lent. The Leipzig Kantor’s flagship work, alongside his other, larger choral St. Matthew Passion, the story of Christ’s Passion is magnified in this sacred opera, in which Bach’s music expressively and symbolically accompanies and supports the words of John, Pilate, Peter and Jesus. Alexandre Villemaire spoke to Matthias Maute about this work.

PAN M 360: Why did you choose to conclude Ensemble Caprice’s season with this Passion by Johann Sebastian Bach?

Matthias Maute: Bach’s St. John Passion is a work of storytelling, chorus and music of great depth, a true sacred opera featuring action supported by rich music, offering a powerful conclusion to the season.

You could say that with its drama and intensity, the musicians of Ensemble Caprice and Ensemble ArtChoral feel right at home!

PAN M 360: What is the story behind the creation of this iconic Bach work?

Matthias Maute: Johann Sebastian Bach composed The St. John Passion in 1724, shortly after his arrival in Leipzig, for performance at the Good Friday service at St. Nicholas Church. Based on the Gospel according to St. John, the work alternates recitatives, arias and choruses, creating a musical narrative that highlights the drama of Christ’s Passion. Reworked several times during Bach’s lifetime, this Passion reflects his commitment to combining theological depth with musical expressiveness.

PAN M 360: What was your first personal contact with the work, and what impressed you at the time?

Matthias Maute: As a musician, my first contact with this work was in an orchestra in the United States. Suzie LeBlanc sang the aria Zerfließe, meine Herze, and I played the flute part. That aria is a sublime, unforgettable moment.

PAN M 360: The St. John Passion is an oratorio, the closest thing to an opera in Bach’s catalogue. How is the story of Christ’s last moments musically staged in the structure of the work?

Matthias Maute: The St John Passion alternates recitatives, arias and choruses to convey the story with intensity. The recitatives tell the story, the arias express the emotions of the characters, and the choruses embody the crowd, reinforcing the drama. The orchestra supports the whole with expressive writing that underlines the key moments.

PAN M 360: Please introduce the soloists who will accompany you in this concert. What roles will they be playing?

Matthias Maute: Soprano Janelle Lucyk, a rising star on the Canadian scene, sings the role of Ancillae. Countertenor Nicholas Burns will take on the alto part in several arias. The role of Evangelist will be played by tenor Philippe Gagné, while baritone Dion Mazerolle will portray the apostle Peter and Pilate. Finally, the role of Jesus will be played by bass William Kraushaar.

PAN M 360: Just as in an opera, the chorus also plays an active role, both musically and dramatically. How does its participation fit into the narrative?

Matthias Maute: In the St. John Passion, the choir plays a central role, both narrative and dramatic. It embodies the crowd, intervening in the dialogues to express fervor, indignation or dismay. It also performs the chorales, which offer moments of reflection and contemplation, and the great opening and closing choruses, framing the work with solemnity and intensity.

PAN M 360: Are there any particular challenges, for both instrumentalists and singers, in interpreting the work?

Matthias Maute: Yes, performing the St John Passion presents challenges for both instrumentalists and singers. For the instrumentalists, mastering the wide variety of orchestral styles and textures, especially with early instruments such as the oboe da caccia, demands great precision. For the singers, the challenge lies in expressing deep emotions through vocally demanding recitatives and arias, while maintaining the clarity of the text. Moreover, the balance between soloists, chorus and orchestra must be constantly monitored to preserve the fluidity of the musical drama.

PAN M 360: What can you tell us about Ensemble Caprice’s upcoming season?

Matthias Maute: A colorful season awaits you, with three exceptional concerts at the Maison symphonique. The program includes Bach’s Magnificat, Mozart’s Mass in C, Mendelssohn-Bartholdy’s Violin Concerto, Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, the first cantata of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, and excerpts from Handel’s Messiah, all performed on period instruments. Complementing this, a series of concerts at the legendary 9th, and to open the season, a vibrant concert with Vivaldi on fire, again at the 9th.

In addition to being presented in Montreal on April 4 at the Maison symphonique, the concert will be presented in Quebec City at the Palais Montcalm on April 5.

INFOS & TICKETS HERE

From Fabreville, a Laval classic, Shawn Volcy became Shreez after giving up the 400 coups. It’s been a while, in fact: converted to full-time rap several years ago, Shreez won a Socan award in 2021 for his debut album On Frap, followed by Je Suis Canicule, nominated in 2023 for Rap Album of the Year at the ADISQ. Here we are in the spring of 2025, and the 14 tracks of On Frap II are released on the 7ième Ciel label. It’s a kind of autobiographical fiction with a big beat and big trap or drill bass, as well as melodic riffs. All infused with the Afro-Caribbean French typical of Montreal hip-hop. The opus also features collaborations with French rappers Jogga and La Kadrilla, not to mention Salgrimo and Jujuu on That Beat, who are on the rise on the Montreal rap scene. ALAIN, his faithful accomplice, does most of the beatmaking for the lyrics and instrumental transitions. Shortly before the official release of On Frap II, Shreez granted Alain Brunet a video interview for PAN M 360.

With Obsession, violinist Marie Nadeau-Tremblay presents a spellbinding new album in which repetition, variation and obsessive intensity serve as common threads. In this interview with PAN M 360, she talks about the genesis of the project and the recording process. Her playing, assertive, modern and highly sensitive, comes into its own on this album entirely in minor keys. Recorded by ATMA Classique in Mirabel’s Saint-Augustin church, the album’s sound quality is impressive, highlighting the variations in texture and the warmth of the violin.

PAN M 360: How does the title of your album, Obsession, relate to this one?

Marie Nadeau-Tremblay: The Cambridge English Dictionary defines obsession as “something or someone that you think about all the time”. Merriam Webster suggests something different: “a persistent disturbing preoccupation with an often unreasonable idea or feeling”. The Larousse, for its part, defines obsession as “a repetitive and threatening idea, imposing itself incoercibly on the subject’s consciousness, although the subject recognizes its irrational nature”.

It’s probably this more exhaustive definition that best sums up the theme of this album, if it’s even possible to condense everything under a single theme. These pieces have much in common. Each has obsessive characteristics: a theme and its variations [“La Furstemberg”, La Folia, Une jeune fillette], a repeated basso continuo line [the Buxtehude and Biber pieces], or a haunting rondo theme that returns again and again in a haunting fashion [Francœur].

The choice of keys is equally limited, with each composition written in D, G or A minor. That said, I have nothing against major keys: many of my favorite works feature these keys, which I believe are capable of expressing infinitely more complex emotions than minor keys, which are naturally more direct and unambivalent. Take, for example, the “Kyrie” from Mozart’s Mass in C minor, one of the greatest musical works ever written, in my opinion. The decidedly ominous, mournful and funereal tone of the opening theme, the slow march of the strings and the entrance of the choir arriving like an inexorable divine judgment leave no room for ambiguity. These are dark musical lines, among the darkest ever written. Why, then, is it only at the arrival of a major theme carried by the solo soprano, in the 34th bar, that an incredibly powerful emotion overwhelms the listener, so complex that it’s almost impossible to put it into words? I can only think of an oxymoron like “luminous sorrow” to describe it. Such is the power of major keys. This album, however, is completely devoid of them, apart from nine brief bars in E flat major in the Lento of Buxtehude’s Trio Sonata, BuxWV 261. There was something about the homogeneity of an album made up entirely of minor-key compositions that captivated me, not least because the album is about obsession, about being locked into looped repetition. I wanted a trance-like effect to emerge from the works as a whole. I hope the story I’ve tried to weave is convincing.

I have certain traits of an obsessive personality, and this album, designed according to my tastes and inclinations, is a reflection of that. As a child, I loved erasers so much that, by the age of ten, I had made over 200 little characters out of erasers and staples, each with its own name tag. As a teenager, I loved olives so much that my parents gave me some for Easter instead of the traditional chocolate. For my 17th birthday, my classmates made me an “olive cake”, a pile of olives topped with icing. This year, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve listened to Glenn Gould’s recording of the Goldberg Variations (1981), certainly hundreds of times. All my life, I’ve been fascinated by insects, to the point of freely sharing my home with free-roaming praying mantises and other creatures. I’ve always been like that. While this may be problematic in some respects, it’s a characteristic that can undoubtedly be put to good use in the making of a finished artistic product. At least, that’s what I’ve tried to achieve with this album.

(Answer taken from the album booklet).

PAN M 360: How did you go about selecting the pieces for this album? Are there any works that you particularly enjoyed rediscovering?

Marie Nadeau-Tremblay: I always choose repertoire that I like and that I want to listen to and play. I also choose pieces for which there isn’t already a recording that I like enough that I don’t think I could produce one that I like better. (I’m not saying that my version is “better”, because, fortunately, that concept means nothing in music. It’s just that, personally, I prefer my interpretation. And it doesn’t always succeed, but at least that’s my ambition).

PAN M 360: For this project, you are surrounded by exceptional musicians, including Mélisande Corriveau, Eric Milnes and Kerry Bursey. How did you go about choosing the performers?

Marie Nadeau-Tremblay: I’ve known and collaborated with these musicians for several years. So we know each other well musically, and I knew that their exceptional playing and vision would be major assets for this repertoire.

PAN M 360: Can you tell us about the recording process? Where and how was the album recorded?

Marie Nadeau-Tremblay: It was recorded by ATMA Classique at Mirabel’s Saint-Augustin church, an ATMA favorite. As is the norm with this kind of project, we had 3 days to record everything. After that, there was a long waiting period of a year and a half before the album came out, during which time I was impatiently waiting to hear the result. In the end, I’m happy. This album represents who I was when I recorded it.

PAN M 360: Do you have a particular approach to sound or acoustics?

Marie Nadeau-Tremblay: Yes. I’m looking for a luminous velvet sound.

PAN M 360: You produced a music video for La Foliade Michel Farinel. Do you have any other similar projects in the works, or any upcoming opportunities where we can hear the Obsession album?

Marie Nadeau-Tremblay: The album is on all listening platforms. We had a very nice launch on October 25, 2024 in Tokyo, Japan. I’ve just come back from a tour with the Jeunesses musicales with Kerry Bursey, in which we played a few pieces from the album, with our colleague Tristan Best on viol. More projects to come.

Photo Credit: William Kraushaar

Kizaba, which means scholar or philosopher in Lingala, epitomizes his name. Always on the lookout for new experiences, he’s not afraid to be avant-garde in everything he does. With Future Village, he offers us a return to the ancestral, always with his electronic and afro-futuristic touch. The man who is constantly on the road, between Asia and Latin America, through Africa, will be in Montreal for the launch of his third album on April 12 at Théâtre Fairmount. For the occasion, he has several surprises in store, including a live painting, a pop-up with clothes from his future collection, and dance performances. In short, all the ingredients for an evening in the artist’s image, blending music, dance and fashion. Our journalist Sandra Gasana spoke to Kizaba for PAN M 360.

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What do cottages, emos and the movie Bridesmaids have in common? At first glance, there’s no obvious connection. Yet these words came naturally to me as I chatted with singer-songwriter and now album producer Caroline Savoie. It was by taking on all these roles that she confronted her uncertainties and learned to let go, the better to follow her instincts.

Since we don’t go into battle alone or without armor, Caroline Savoie has built up her cavalry: mentors, cheerleaders, friends and colleagues. Surrounded by these long-time accomplices, she drew on this open camaraderie to bring Rom-Com, her fourth album, to life. In this latest opus, she plunges headfirst into what ignites her. She gives herself over to a creative, kitschy and uninhibited fire.

Why give up your guilty pleasures? A good question, especially since Caroline Savoie’s guilty pleasures are also ours, and they sound good too. Carried along by this new wind of courage, she asserts her romanticism, this time without compromise. She loves what she loves, and finally gives herself the sweetness she deserves.

Here lies the moral of every good rom-com! Love of self always comes before love of others. Caroline Savoie understands this. She sings of love in 90s pop, power ballad, bossa, folk-pop, indie-rock and all their hybrids. Rom-Com is a true sonic quilt enriched by a carefully crafted narrative identity.

PAN M 360: How did you strike the right balance between this coherent narrative and the eclectic range of musical genres on the album?

Caroline Savoie: I’d say that the coherent narrative meant that I felt freer to explore different musical genres. Since I had a clear story line, the musical packaging came second. My primary aim was to tell a story, no matter what genre the song was going to be in. After that, it was just a matter of gluing it all together and making it work.

PAN M 360: The album explores a quest for self-acceptance before being able to find love. Is it a reflection of your own journey, or a broader reflection on love stories?

Caroline Savoie: It’s more about me and the people around me. I’m still working on being more confident and loving myself as I am, but one thing’s for sure, I certainly respect and value myself more than I did in my early twenties. And that comes with making better choices for yourself. Loving yourself before being loved is easier said than done, but now I’ve found someone with whom I feel free to be myself and who loves me for who I am, and that’s the foundation for me.

PAN M 360: Through the aesthetics of Rom-Com, you reinterpret love archetypes from cult films that have marked you. What is your nostalgic relationship with these films?

Caroline Savoie: In fact, it’s the kind of film I love to watch because it’s so light-hearted; often, the ending is predictable, and that brings me a certain comfort. At the same time, I’d been trying for some time in my artistic process to get away from the “ketaine” thing, trying to prove I don’t really know what to I don’t really know who. That said, calling the album Rom-Com and turning it into a concept was a way for me to come into my own, as the emo girl I’ve been since Day 1! It was liberating to take a bit more of the self-judgment out of the equation and dive fully into the world of romance.

PAN M 360: For Rom-Com, you were responsible for composition, interpretation and production. Were there any aspects of this process that proved more demanding than you had imagined?

Caroline Savoie: It was my first time as a producer, and I found it quite a challenge! I found it hard to stand back from the project at times – like not knowing when to take a break to listen to the tunes and analyze every detail haha! It was always when it came to deciding on certain artistic decisions that I had the most difficulty, for fear of making the “wrong” decision. Following my instincts wasn’t always my strong suit, so it was definitely a good exercise in confidence. In all this whirlwind, I’m lucky enough to have a manager who’s the best cheerleader around, so it’s made it a bit easier to dive into the void like that.

PAN M 360: Who did you turn to for an outside perspective?

Caroline Savoie: I was lucky enough to benefit from the mentorship of Salomé Leclerc, who gave me excellent advice throughout the process. She’s an artist I really admire, so talking to her about it all answered a lot of my questions. There’s also Benoit Moirier (who did the sound recording and mixing) who I could count on throughout the recording for his input. He even helped me set up a studio at my cottage and showed me how to use the recording software! He was so cool to work with. I also have to say that my boyfriend must have listened to the album 100 times with me to reassure me on the days when I thought everything was rotten. All in all, I was really lucky to be well surrounded, with kindness and love !!!!

PAN M 360: By wearing so many hats, did you feel you were giving yourself away even more with this album than with your previous ones?

Caroline Savoie: I think so! I felt very vulnerable throughout the whole process. I was learning a lot of new things at the same time, and looking my best, even if that wasn’t always the case. The result makes me even prouder because of that, I really feel that I’ve managed to let my personality shine through in this project and that I’ve followed through on my ideas.

PAN M: We hear that this is the first time you’ve created an album exclusively with friends. How has this dynamic influenced the sound of Rom-Com? And how are your former collaborators who thought you were friends?

Caroline Savoie : LOL whew I laughed at that question!!!! I think the difference with former collaborators is that they became friends through the process. It was often new encounters and above all new collaborations. Here, I was with my live musicians and long-time friends for the recording. As a result, the process was much easier, given that everyone involved in the project knows me extremely well and is already familiar with my musical universe and personality. This made it less stressful for me to communicate my needs and ideas. They already understood me without me having to say much. That said, I’ve learned so much from the last 3 directors I’ve worked with (Jay Newland, Philippe Brault and Joe Grass ). They were all unique, and I took all their wisdom with me!

PAN M 360: The album is both a retrospective and an introspective, a look back at your twenties. If this decade were a Rom-Com, which one would you choose?

Caroline Savoie: I don’t think you could necessarily call it a Rom-Com (sort of), but I’d go with Bridesmaids. I think it describes so well the beauty and complexity of friendships between women, while being SO funny. It makes me think of my close friends and all the different stories we’ve been through together. Plus, we’ve all had our fair share of love affairs and disappointments, and we’ve always been there for each other through thick and thin.

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Love triangles, staged combat, pirates and the struggle between following duties or following his heart, all in an Atheniens scenery. Does are some of the elements that the public will see and hear in this new production of Georg Friedrich Handel’s Imeneo, presented by the young voice students of Opera McGill from March 28th to March 30th at the Paradox Theatre. One of Handel’s last operas, this production is staged by Patrick Hansen, professor at the Schulich School of Music and Artistic Director of Opera McGill. Considered a leading progressive figure in opera, he is an opera producer equally established as a stage director, conductor, vocal coach, collaborative pianist, and artistic administrator, having spent the last forty years on the creative and producing teams for over 300 operas.  With his productions having been seen all over North America and in Europe, this production of Imeneos will mark his 100th show with Opera McGill. A few hours before the premiere, Patrick Hansen answered the questions of PAN M 360 collaborator Alexandre Villemaire, talking about the story of the opera, his inspirations and his work as a teacher.

PAN M 360 : Where does Imeneo stands in Handel’s catalogue of over 40 operas? Are there any stylistic differences in the music or in the writing?  

Patrick Hansen : It is his penultimate opera right before he wrote The Messiah and turned to oratorios, so this is Handel at his most evolved, musically speaking. Some of the arias have a depth to them and are quite extended. Others, more bare bones and minimalist. There’s a bass aria where you can hear where “The People That Walked in Darkness” came from.

PAN M 360 : What is Imeneo’s story, and what are its underlying themes?

Patrick Hansen : It is a simple story – a hero rescues two women from pirates and takes them home to Athens. Then he demands to marry one of them, against her and her fiancé’s wishes. The entire opera is about this ancient Athenian woman coming to grips with deciding to follow the dictates of the patriarch and the hero instead of following her heart. The themes of duty and rational thought versus love and personal choice sit deep in the show. It’s still an important reminder about how in today’s world there are still so many women not being allowed to decide for themselves how their life should be led. 

PAN M 360 : One of the last times Imeneo was performed by Opera McGill was in 2011. At the time, you were also the director of that production. Did you reuse any of your ideas from that production, or did you start from scratch? What was your inspiration?

Patrick Hansen : This is one of my favorite productions from my past, so I decided to do a direct remount, with minor changes. The venue is different, which causes some staging decisions to change. The lighting is much more evolved and we get to use the Paradoxe Theatre venue as a vessel for some dramatic lighting moments. Each cast is different. Back in 2011, we had a double cast and this time around we also have a double cast – so two productions, but four different casts. So, there’s always subtle differences. The ornaments are entirely different, of course!

The inspiration comes from the film “Hero” by Zhang Yimou. In it, a hero who might not be a hero tells a tale. During the course of the film, we realize that each time the story is told, the truth changes. This opera, where each act is about Rosmene not being able to decide what to do, tells essentially the same story each act. So, I decided to create three different versions of the Truth. Each act is its own universe. The characters are slightly different each act. They are not the same because the truth is not the same. The story is told through the Act One lens of violence, the Act Two lens of relationships that build and break, the Act Three lens of a much more abstract, mind-altering version. Tirinto, the fiancé, starts off as more of a poet and ends up a warrior. Imeneo starts off as a brutish bully/hero and ends up with more humanity. Each character undergoes change. The lighting design is also inspired by the saturated colours of the film as well.

PAN M 360 : In an academic context, are there any challenges in finding operas that are accessible, both for the public and the singers, but also formative for the students?

Every show we choose is chosen because we feel it will teach our students something essential. We always choose shows that our students can successfully perform. So we never just choose a show because we want to do a Rigoletto, for example. We make these repertoire choices with who will be returning to the school and who may be coming to start their studies. Our challenge is usually orchestration – we can’t do something with a huge orchestra that might overwhelm the singers. But we do balance between canonic works, new opera, baroque opera, and musicals/operettas.

PAN M 360 : This production will be your 100th Opera McGill show! What are you most proud of after all these years at Opera McGill? What knowledge and experience would you like to pass on to the young singers?

Patrick Hansen : I’m so proud that over 1000 students have participated in Opera McGill in some capacity – onstage, offstage, as rehearsal pianists, in the orchestras, creating the sound recordings, creating the video for the webcasts. Opera McGill is much more than just the voice students. They learn that collaboration at this level means so many people all coming together to create art – and each person’s contribution is just as important as the next. Collaboration is how the world evolves. And when people stop collaborating and working together for a shared experience, the world turns ugly and falls apart.

PAN M 360 : This may be a tough question, but in all the productions you’ve staged, is there one that has left a particular mark on you and the cast?

That’s an impossible question! There have been a million great moments – mostly in the rehearsal room during our hundreds of thousands of hours of rehearsing or coaching or staging. 

PAN M 360 : If you had to describe Imeneo in just one word, what would it be?

Fractals

GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL Imeneo

Dorian Komanoff Bandy, conductor

Patrick Hansen, stage director

INFOS & TICKETS HERE

The Mivos Quartet has been described as the successor or heir to the Kronos Quartet. The ensemble, founded in 2008 at the Manhattan School of Music, specialises in new music for string quartet, but it certainly has its own personality. Mivos is a regular on labels that focus on the music of today, such as the excellent Kairos. But in 2023, it was with the highly prestigious Deutsche Grammophon label that it recorded the three quartets by Steve Reich, one of the pioneers of American repetitive minimalism. Despite Reich’s fame and the impact of his works, this was curiously the first time that his three quartets had been newly recorded by the same ensemble on the same album. Not content with achieving this recording premiere, the musicians of the New York-based quartet have made it the subject of concerts that can be seen in several major cities. This will be the case in Montreal on Tuesday 1 April 2025, in Salle Bourgie at the Musée des Beaux-Arts. On the occasion of this visit, the first for the group in the city, which will also offer the first opportunity here to hear this complete Reich corpus live, I conducted an interview with the band’s violist Victor Lowrie Tafoya.

PanM 360 : Some people say that you are taking over Kronos. What do you say about that?

Victor Lowrie Tafoya (Quatuor Mivos) : We owe them a lot, like every quartet playing new music of course. I mean, they’re pioneers. But they are still going on strong and we are just doing our own thing. I don’t think we are taking over anything.

PanM 360 : How do you differentiate your repertoire with theirs?

Victor Lowrie Tafoya (Quatuor Mivos) : I don’t know how they would describe what they do, but I’d say that we tend to have a focus more pronounced on American and European experimental music, with things between. 

PanM 360 : How did you form, and have you had this focus from the beginning?

Victor Lowrie Tafoya (Quatuor Mivos) : Yes we did. We formed in 2008. We (all the original members, of which only myself and Olivia, the first violinist, remain) were all members of the new Master’s degree Contemporary Performance Program at the Manhattan School of Music. 

PanM 360 : How would you describe this program?

Victor Lowrie Tafoya (Quatuor Mivos) : It was new at the time, but since then, other universities have started some like that. It’s a program where academic learning is integrated in actual playing. Many different people from diverse backgrounds created it. I remember we had trainings in India classical music, improvisation, contemporary music theory, chamber group music. So a lot of angles that merge together at some point. 

PanM 360 : You have recorded many times for small but excellent labels like Kairos. How did you happen to get a contract with Deutsche Grammophon?

Victor Lowrie Tafoya (Quatuor Mivos) : That was a long time coming. In fact, when we started talking about recording all three quartets, we didn’t even know it was to happen this way. The truth is, the idea came from Steve himself. We played in New York and we got to know him. At some point he mentioned the possibility of recording them all. So, we said ‘’if you think it’s a good idea, well why not?’’ Then it still took many years of getting support and donors before our part-time agent then got us connected with someone and then someone else, and finally it became a DGG thing that we are proud of. 

PanM 360 : Curiously, even being such fundamental masterpieces of the contemporary quartet repertoire, they have never been recorded as a whole group before in a single offering. Why is that, do you think?

Victor Lowrie Tafoya (Quatuor Mivos) : 

I don’t know. Kronos had a big imprint on them of course, and the last one was created only in 2010. What I can tell you though is that it’s a lot of work to give life to them! Each has many layers of sound recording to be added up. The playing and then the sounds (trains, voices, World Trade Center tragedy, etc.) You have to combine all of those things carefully. It’s a big time investment. Moreover, for these versions, we had support from Steve who got all the sounds remastered. So the quality here is the best available. 

PanM 360 : They are even less often played together in concert….

Victor Lowrie Tafoya (Quatuor Mivos) : Well, this is pretty intense music. What is important to know is that Steve’s style is very transparent and it needs continual rhythmic focus and very precise intonation. It may sound easy compared to works with more complex harmonic constructions, but it requires a lot of attention and a lot of energy to remain expressive in the context of cohabitation with prerecorded electronics. If you don’t give it that energy and extreme accuracy, it just becomes background music to the prerecorded elements. What we want is to give this experience a vibrant quality. 

PanM 360 : Have you thought of asking him for a new quartet?

Victor Lowrie Tafoya (Quatuor Mivos) : Well no. Not yet. I’m not sure he has time, but if he has, we would certainly be interested. 

PanM 360 : How do you evaluate the importance of Reich’s quartet corpus in the vast repertoire?
Victor Lowrie Tafoya (Quatuor Mivos) : I think it’s at the center of it. What he did was pioneering, all those speech patterns turned into melodies. The quartets are like mini operas, they are telling expansive historical stories with text and harmony. We take it for granted now, but it was groundbreaking back then. His esthetic legacy is all over the place now. It will stand the test of time.

DETAILS AND TICKETS FOR THE MIVOS QUARTET CONCERT ON TUESDAY MARCH 1 2025

In Brûlez-moi vive, Éléonore Lagacé explores themes of self-affirmation, love, freedom and the passage of time, all peppered with a few existential reflections. At times energetic, at other times quiet and introspective, this album takes us to unsuspected shores with its surprising progressions and bursting production.

Produced by Frantz-Lee Leonard on the Ad Litteram label, this 10-song opus blends pop, R&B, ’80s and other melancholy ballad influences, against a backdrop of soaring bass and lyrical flights.

Éléonore Lagacé has been a fixture on Quebec screens since she was a teenager. After appearing on Big Brother and Zénith, she released her debut album on March 21, 2025. Brûlez-moi vive follows the EP Elle s’en fout, released in April 2023.

Marilyn Bouchard took a closer look at Éléonore Lagacé’s work before submitting her questions. For PAN M 360, our interviewer wanted “to find out about her feelings and experience following this first production, and also to find out what she has in store for us next.”

So 10 questions for 10 songs!

PAN M 360: How does it feel to release your first full-length album?

Éléonore Lagacé: Relieved! I can finally move on and start creating again. I’m very proud of this achievement!

PAN M 360: How long did it take you to compose and write the album?

Éléonore Lagacé: Approximately 2 years

PAN M 360: You said in an interview that you felt a great need to make this project your own. How did you appropriate this album?

Éléonore Lagacé: When I talk about taking ownership, I mean taking ownership of myself! Learning a little more every day about who I am, where my limits are, what I want and what I don’t want anymore. The subjects of the songs on the album deal with my big existential questions of the past and present.

PAN M 360: What emotions did you want to share with the public on this album?

Éléonore Lagacé : Freedom, torment, love, the desire to dance, to honor your emotions, even the most intense ones.

PAN M 360- What was it like working with Frantz-Lee Leonard on the album’s production and sound identity? As you’ve worked together before, I imagine your creative relationship is growing?

Éléonore Lagacé: Frantz-Lee est un musicien que j’admire énormément. J’ai adoré travailler avec lui car il n’a pas peur d’aller au bout de ses idées les plus folles et pense sincèrement qu’il n’y a pas de rêve trop grand.

PAN M 360: De quelle manière tes inspirations Lady Gaga et Charli XCX t’ont aidées dans la direction de l’album?

Éléonore Lagacé: Charli XCX was for me the model of jemenfoutism (I don’t care attitude) and freedom that I wanted to portray in my music. Lady Gaga, my idol since I was 11, gave me the strength to write this album.

PAN M 360: One thing you’ll keep from this album and one thing you’ll leave behind?

Éléonore Lagacé: I keep my melodies, I’m really proud of them. And I leave the idea that I would have liked it to be an album of 20 songs.

PAN M 360: What did you find most difficult in creating this first album? What are you most proud of?

Éléonore Lagacé: The hardest part was not giving up. The thing I’m most proud of: the people who worked on it.

PAN M 360- What are your plans for 2025?

Éléonore Lagacé: Touring with my own show Brûlez-moi vive and my band FANTASTIQUE, Zenith show, musical comedy Peter Pan.

10- Finally, the hidden gem of the album?

Éléonore Lagacé: Journée mélancolique.

Last year, Jaeden Izik-Dzurko was the first Canadian winner of an instrumental edition of the Concours musical international de Montréal (CMIM). Another epic achievement in the same vein in 2024: The Leeds International Piano Competition, no less. In 2021, the CBC had named the pianist one of “30 Canadian classical musicians under 30”. This prestigious status comes on the heels of numerous awards, accolades, appearances with many renowned orchestras and conductors – in short, all the events that define a great artistic rise in the classical world. Four years after the CBC revelation,  Jaeden Izik-Dzurko is having an international career, Montreal piano music lovers will attend his Sunday afternoon recital at Pierre-Mercure hall. This is exactly  why Alain Brunet had a chat with this more than excellent player.

PAN M 360 : What real impact has this significant recognition had on your career since then?

Jaeden Izik-Dzurko: I consider myself extremely fortunate to have a very full concert schedule and to be able to share my music with wider audiences around the world.

PAN M 360 : Beyond your remarkable virtuosity, how do you define your pianistic personality?

Jaeden Izik-Dzurko: It’s quite difficult to characterize one’s own playing, but I consider myself a serious and introverted performer. I love to present large-scale works with ambitious and monumental musical narratives.

PAN M 360 : What do you consider to be the most obvious characteristics of your playing?

Jaeden Izik-Dzurko : I believe that one of my pianistic strengths is layering: maintaining clarity and independent shapes in multiple simultaneous melodic lines. It’s a quality possessed by my favourite pianists, and one that I have worked very hard to cultivate in my own playing.

“Born in Salmon Arm, British Columbia, Jaeden earned his Bachelor of Music at The Juilliard School with Yoheved Kaplinsky and his Master of Music at the University of British Columbia with Corey Hamm. He is also a former student of Ian Parker. He currently studies with Jacob Leuschner at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold and Benedetto Lupo at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia.”

Q: Who were the most influential teachers in this selection of authentic masters?

Jaeden Izik-Dzurko : I am extremely fortunate to have benefitted from the invaluable guidance and expertise of many exceptional teachers. I am exceedingly grateful to all of them for the imprint they have left on my musicianship. Perhaps the greatest influence has come from my mentor, Dr. Corey Hamm, who mentored me during my formative years while I was a teenager, and guided me through my first international competition experiences during my Master’s degree.

PAN M 360 : Where are you based now?

Jaeden Izik-Dzurko : I currently reside in Germany, and frequently travel to Rome for lessons.

PAN M 360: Let’s share your overlook on the Montreal program on Sunday April 30th.

JEAN-SÉBASTIEN BACH (1685 – 1750) Partita No. 4 in D major, BWV 828

PAN M 360 : What is your own experience with this work?  Where do you place it in your repertoire?

Jaeden Izik-Dzurko: When participating in competitions, I was often advised, like many pianists, to refrain from playing Bach, as it is considered risky and potentially divisive. Although I did not always heed this advice, I did find it difficult to program Bach’s music in competition programs due to time constraints and repertoire guidelines. Now that I have concluded the competition period of my musical journey, I am eagerly programming Bach’s music again!

PAN M 360 : And in Bach’s keyboard repertoire?

Jaeden Izik-Dzurko: The fourth Partita is truly a remarkable and sophisticated work. The seven dances take the listener through a profound and varied emotional journey. Some movements, like the Overture, Courante and Gigue, possess a lighthearted joyfulness, while others are more introspective, even sorrowful. Particularly ambitious is the Allemande, the longest dance of the Partita, which sustains a beautiful, highly chromatic lyricism throughout the expansive movement.

SERGUEÏ RACHMANINOFF (1873 – 1943) 10 Preludes, Op. 23

PAN M 360 : Great piano music by Rachmaninoff !  Where do you see this work in your repertoire and that of the composer?

Jaeden Izik-Dzurko: The Preludes are an early work in Rachmaninoff’s oeuvre, yet they are burgeoning with emotional depth, lyricism and originality. I have performed many of the Preludes as encores, but I love the grand musical narrative that is produced by playing all ten in succession.

PAN M 360: How do you personally approach it at the keyboard?

Jaeden Izik-Dzurko: One of the qualities that I most love in Rachmaninoff’s keyboard music is his wonderful pianistic sensibility. When playing his works, one is struck by his technical mastery and his innovative pianism. As a singular virtuoso himself, Rachmaninoff had any possible technical device at his disposal, and he knew how to utilize the instrument to obtain the greatest possible energy, force and sonority. I am lucky to have large hands. As a result, I find Rachmaninoff’s writing very pianistic and idiomatic, despite being full of innumerable technical challenges.

ALEXANDER SCRIABIN (1872 – 1915) Fantasy in B minor, Op. 28

PAN M 360: You obviously love the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th, including of course its Russian variations. Right ?
Jaeden Izik-Dzurco: That period was marked by a number of composers who, alongside their distinctive and powerful compositional voice, were also exceptional soloists and interpreters (in particular, Scriabin, Rachmaninoff and Medtner). As a result, their music is crafted perfectly for the instrument, and written with an intuitive sense of the concert stage.

PAN M 360 : What do you like best about Scriabin? Why did you choose this work?

Jaeden Izik-Dzurko: Scriabin’s music is highly evocative and original. The transformative creative evolution he underwent over the course of his life reveals the idiosyncratic artistic spirit that he possessed. If I had to identify a single element in his music that I love most, it would be his remarkable gift for melody (the lyrical, second theme of his Fantasie is among his most exquisite).

FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN (1810 – 1849) Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op. 58

PAN M 360 : Chopin is a must for all pianists of good, excellent or exceptional level. What place does he occupy in your own tastes?

Jaeden Izik-Dzurko: I must confess that interpreting Chopin’s music does not come especially naturally to me. I find his use of the piano quite challenging, and occasionally awkward to execute. Nonetheless, his writing possesses a unique elegance, gracefulness, and poignant lyricism that I truly adore.

PAN M 360 : As one of your great pianistic qualities is the fluidity of your phrasing, which defines its exceptional refinement, we imagine that Chopin was a pianistic model in this sense. What are your thoughts on this?

Jaeden Izik-Dzurko: Certainly, written testimonies of Chopin’s interpretive style and approach to playing the piano are wonderful sources of inspiration for me.

PAN M 360 : In your recording for the Leeds International Competition, you also play two studies by Ligeti, which brings us closer to the present. What is your relationship with Ligeti?

Jaeden Izik-Dzurko: I do not have extensive experience playing Ligeti’s music, but I am fortunate to have received the guidance of my teacher, Dr. Corey Hamm, who has playing Ligeti complete oeuvre and has remarkable insight into his musical style.

Voilà! Enjoy your stay in Montreal and have a great concert!

INFOS + TICKETS HERE

Publicité panam

Voyager, Boubé’s latest album, will be launched this Saturday, March 29, at Club Balattou. This electric guitar virtuoso mixes rock and desert blues, as only he can. For the occasion, he will be accompanied by his long-time musicians, and is planning a few surprises for the audience. A finalist at the Syli d’or in 2024, this stepping stone enabled him to record this album, which was composed in Niger. In French, English and Tamasheq, sometimes all three in the same song, he takes us on a musical journey to various regions of Africa, notably North Africa. He plans to defend this album in Africa and elsewhere. Our journalist Sandra Gasana spoke to him, just a few days before his eagerly-awaited show.

Publicité panam

Le Couleur has left its mark on the French-speaking world of America, and on French-language pop in general. Founded on groove, synth-pop, euro-disco, house and other flavors ideal for the dance floor, the Montreal-based ensemble spent over fifteen years on stages around the world before announcing an indeterminate hiatus and moving on to other expressions and individual projects. But before closing the lights, several concerts are scheduled between now and the end of the warm season, and the first show on the agenda is the last Montreal concert, scheduled for this Friday, March 28 at the SAT. Laurence Giroux-Do sat with Alain Brunet for PAN M 360.

INFOS + TICKETS HERE

Bella White is a somewhat newer singer-songwriter on the country and bluegrass scene, but her influence is quickly taking hold. Originally from Calgary, Alberta, she released her full-length debut, Just Like Leaving, in 2020 and the follow-up album, Among Other Things, in 2023. Bella grew up around the bluegrass sound, played by her father around the house, who was always in some sort of bluegrass band. She uses her arresting voice to make way for simpler and calming, traditional bluegrass country music that chronicles the times of life.

Bella also loves to put her own twangy spin on country standards with her EP of singles cover Five For Silver, like “Concrete and Barbed Wire,” by Lucinda Williams, or more contemporary songwriters, like Jeff Tweedy (of Wilco). We spoke to Bella ahead of her show at Petit Campus on March 29.

PAN M 360: For readers who have no idea who you are, who is Bella White? How did you get into music? 

Bella White: I was born in Calgary Alberta Canada into a very musical family. Both my parents definitely passed their love of music down to me. I feel very lucky that I was encouraged to play and follow that thread my whole life.

PAN M 360: I love your cover of “Unknown Legend,” can you talk about how Neil Young has inspired your songwriting? Or anyone else? 

Bella White: I love Neil Young so much. I’ve always been a really big fan of his. I can’t think of any singular way that he’s inspired my songwriting, but I think absorbing that over the years gave me an appreciation for the craft. 

PAN M 360: As a fellow Albertan (I’m from Edmonton), do you think that kind of folk-country bluegrass influence came from your upbringing? Maybe because of the Rockies and open skies?

Bella White: The Rockies in the open sky definitely influenced my love for music. I think my main appreciation for country folk Bluegrass came from my dad, though. He grew up in Lynchburg, Virginia, and always played that kind of music my whole life. 

PAN M 360: Are you planning another release or working on something for 2025?

Bella White: I am! I went into the studio this winter and recorded a third album which I’m very excited to share!

PAN M 360: When you were starting out, did it take you a while to find that country twang in your voice?

Bella White: I think it came pretty naturally to me since country and bluegrass was kind of what taught me to sing.

PAN M 360: Do you feel your records are all connected, coming from the same place, continuing the same story and themes or completely different and why? 

Bella White: I think that they’re all different. I wrote them all at different times in my life, and they captured different moments for me. I guess they’re probably also connected in some way, shape, or form, and maybe they are continuing my larger life story, but I like to think of them as being different.

PAN M 360: Do you sit down and carve out time to write songs, or is it a more drawn-out process?

Bella White: It definitely goes both ways! Sometimes, it’s more structured, and sometimes, it’s more free-form.

PAN M 360: Are you bringing a band for your show in Montreal? What can people expect?

Bella White: I’ll have a trio with me! Sam Gelband plays the drums, and Gina Leslie plays the bass. I love playing with them so much, and we can’t wait to be in Montreal! 

BELLA WHITE W/ MADDY FRIGO – PETIT CAMPUS TICKETS

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