Montréal, le August 23rd, 2022 – The I Music de Montreal Chamber Orchestra, which will be back in residence at the Pierre-Mercure Hall, is proud to unveil the details of its 39th season with its 22-23 season partner Le Groupe Maurice ! During the 2022-2023 season, I Musici de Montréal will transport you to the four corners of Europe with its music and imagination. You will visit the British Isles, France, Germany, Austria and Italy, thanks to our prestigious guests: Karina Gauvin (soprano), Tania Miller (guest conductor), Stéphane Tétreault (cello), Valérie Milot (harp), Vincent Lauzer (recorder), Ariane Brisson (flute), Maxim Rysanov (viola et guest conductor), and, of course, Julie Triquet, our solo violin.

Thanks to the special event Carte blanche to Caroline Monnet, you will explore the artist’s universe, her musical choices and a creation by composer Ravon Chacon. Ancient tales will be told by André Robitaille and danced by Max Pollak, a Broadway star in New York. Throughout the season, the composers who constitute the fundamental repertoire of I Musici (Bach, Vivaldi, Boccherini, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Debussy, Ravel, Britten and Shostakovitch) will rub shoulders with other composers to discover (Boieldieu, Walton, Elgar, Holst, Pärt, Arnold, Telemann) as well as lively creators (Ichmouratov, Torres, and more).

The 2022-2023 season

BRITANNIA: Karina Gauvin and Les Illuminations
Thursday, September 29, 2022 at 7:30 p.m. (also available in webcast format)

Karina Gauvin, soprano
Jean-François Rivest, conductor 

G. Holst – Brook Green Suite – 8’
E. Elgar – Serenade op. 20 – 12’
B. Britten – Les Illuminations (for soprano and strings) – 22’30
W. Walton – Sonata for String Orchestra – 26’ 

Our journey will begin in the British Isles, a group of islands with so many myths and legends. The British Isles have always captured our imagination with stories of the Knights of the Round Table, Loch Ness, Robin Hood, and dragons and druids. We will discover these stories once again through magical works by Britten, Walton, Holst, and Elgar. In our rendition, the High Priestess is unquestionably the wonderful soprano Karina Gauvin. Her creativity will shine through Britten’s sublime Illuminations.

SPECIAL CONCERT
FIRST NATIONS: Caroline Monnet’s selections
A portion of the funds collected will go to the Kiuna Institution.
Thursday, October 20, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. followed by a VIP cocktail

Caroline Monnet, visual artist and filmmaker
Julie Triquet, violin
Raven Chacon, composer
Jean-François Rivest, conductor

J. Brahms – Quartet No. 1, 1st movement (arr. J.F. Rivest) – 10’
D. Shostakovich – Chamber Symphony, Op. 110a, 1st movement – 6’
D. Shostakovich – Chamber Symphony, Op. 110a, 2nd movement – 3’30’’
A. Pärt – Fratres for violin (Julie Triquet, violin) – 10’
B. Britten – Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge, var. 7, “Moto perpetuo” – 1’
B. Britten – Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge, var. 8, “Funeral March” – 3’30’’
B. Britten – Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge, var. 10, “Fugue and Finale” – 8’30’’
G. Walker – Lyric for Strings – 6’30’’
R. Chacon – premiere (commissioned by I Musici de Montréal) – 8’
G. Ligeti – Ramifications – 8’30’’

Caroline Monnet is an extremely sought-after visual artist and a renowned filmmaker with a sensitive and warm personality as well as a vibrant imagination. Influenced by a convergence of French and Anishinaabe backgrounds, Caroline truly embodies the humanity of modern culture. We have given her the opportunity to select works for this concert; through her musical selections and excerpts from her own movies, she will paint a captivating sonic and poetic landscape highly steeped in nature and seasons, two aspects that are part of Indigenous traditions. Throughout the evening, guided by Caroline Monnet, you will hear works by Britten, Brahms, Shostakovich, Walker, Pärt, and Ligeti. You will also delight in a premiere by Navajo composer Raven Chacon. Raven won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize, making him the first Indigenous winner of this prestigious award.

PARIS: Valérie Milot and the harp
Thursday, November 17, 2022 at 7:30 p.m.

Valérie Milot, harp
Amélie Benoit-Bastien and Hubert Brizard, violins
Tania Miller, guest conductor 

C. Debussy – Sacred and profane dances for harp and strings –  10’
M. Ravel  – Pavane pour une infante défunte (arr. .JFR) –  6’
F. Boieldieu – Concerto pour harpe en do majeur (in tre tempi) 1801 – 22’
P. Frehner (Canada) – Mojave Dreaming – 15’30
A. Pärt – Tabula Rasa pour 2 violons et piano préparé –  27’

Paris has long delighted everyone with its beautiful architecture, its top-notch food, and its buzzing night life. The wonderful harpist Valérie Milot and renowned Canadian conductor Tania Miller will share Paris’s musical splendour and sensitivity with us in a program combining the Impressionism of Debussy and Ravel with the Romanticism of Boieldieu. Without a doubt, the harp is best suited to unveil the entire colour palette of these magical works. You’ll have an opportunity to rediscover violinists Amélie Benoit-Bastien and Hubert Brizard in the second half of the concert—two professional musicians you’re familiar with by now. Both violinists are I Musici de Montréal members who will play in Arvo Pärt’s extremely trippy and meditative Tabula Rasa.

IN DREAMLAND with André Robitaille and Max Pollak
Thursday, December 8, 2022 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Max Pollak, percussive dancer and tap dancer
André Robitaille, narrator
Mélissa Lavergne, congas
Jean-François Rivest, conductor 

D. Shostakovich – Quartet No. 15 (arr. JFR) – 40’
—INTERMISSION—
S. Torres (Bolivia) – Lucid Dream (for Max Pollak, congas and strings) – 6’
A. Ichmouratov (Canada) – Shabarsha (Fairy tale for Max Pollak and strings) – 28’

You must take a plane or boat to visit London and Paris, but all you need to do is close your eyes to dive into dreamland. Each of us has a hidden reservoir of dreams, a vast land of imagination that enhances our reality with its dream-like power. The concert will begin with the venerable Shostakovich’s fantasies and hallucinations. At the time of writing his final quartet, Shostakovich was sick and lying in a hospital bed. Like a nightmare, Shostakovich’s deeply philosophical masterpiece, Quartet No. 15, will instill in you a deep terror and immense admiration for its timeless beauty. In vivid contrast to the dark first half of the concert, Max Pollak’s tremendous artistry will share the joy of music with his entire body. He will be dancing in Torres’s Lucid Dreams, featuring upbeat and passionate Latin-American rhythms, and in Ichmouratov’s Shabarsha, a fairy tale from peasant Old Russia. The exuberant André Robitaille will enthusiastically guide us throughout the evening’s poetic journey from darkness to light and joy.

GERMANY: The Essence of I Musici
Thursday, February 2nd, 2023, 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. (also available in webcast format)

I Musici solo quartet
Jean-François Rivest, conductor 

J. Brahms – String Sextet No. 1 (arr. for string orchestra by JF Rivest) – 33’ –
—INTERMISSION—
L.V. Beethoven – Symphony No. 5  (arr. for quartet and string orchestra by JF Rivest) – 35’

This program is sure to leave you spellbound! We have amplified Brahms’s famous String Sextet in E-flat major for the entire string orchestra, dividing the orchestra into six sections with an additional double bass—as Mahler did in his arrangement of Schubert’s Death and the Maiden quartet and Schoenberg in Transfigured Night. Beethoven’s legendary Fifth Symphony was reduced to strings, whereas the front row quartet has taken on the place and role of the wind instruments. This concert embodies passion, lyricism, spirit, and energy—the founding I Musici de Montréal characteristics that will literally be amplified and multiplied through these new arrangements.

AUSTRIA: Maxim Rysanov and Mozart
Thursday, March 9, 2023, 19h30

Maxim Rysanov, viola and guest conductor
Julie Triquet, violin 

W.A. Mozart – Symphony No. 29 – 30’
M. Arnold – Variations on a Ukrainian Folksong, Op. 9a (arr. Steptoe) – 17’30”
—INTERMISSION—
W.A. Mozart – Sinfonia Concertante for Violin and Viola – 28’

Without a doubt, you would say “Mozart!” if I said “Austria.” Mozart will be front and centre in this approachable concert. This performance will mark the expected return of the magnificent, worldrenowned violist Maxim Rysanov who is a valued conductor among I Musici musicians and audience members alike. Mozart’s stunning Twenty-ninth Symphony in A major will supplement the poignant Sinfonia Concertante, an original double concerto for violin and viola in which our admirable violin soloist Julie Triquet will join Rysanov. Because Rysanov hails from Ukraine, it is only fitting for him to conduct Malcolm Arnold’s Variations on a Ukrainian Folksong as an addition to the concert. Arnold was a composer known for his film music, earning him an Oscar in 1957.

SYRINX Joins the Flute Festivities!
Thursday, April 13, 2023, 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. (also available in webcast format)

Vincent Lauzer, recorder
Caroline Tremblay, recorder
Ariane Brisson, flute
Julie Triquet, violin
Jean-François Rivest, conductor 

G.P. Telemann – Excerpt from Sonata for Two Recorders (TBD) – 3’
J.S. Bach – Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 – 15’
A. Vivaldi – Recorder Concerto in G major, RV 443 – 12’ 
—INTERMISSION— 
C. Debussy – Syrinx (for solo flute) – 3’
J.S. Bach – Orchestral Suite No. 2 for Flute and Orchestra – 20’
G.P. Telemann – Concerto for Traverso and Recorder in E minor, TWV:e1 – 15’

The syrinx is the vital organ that enables birds to sing and serenade us with their amazing melodies. It was also the name of a nymph in Greek mythology who was chased by Pan and helped by the river. She became the reed with which Pan made his famous flute. Join us for a great flute festivity featuring solo recorders, recorder duets, recorders with orchestra, solo flutes, flutes with orchestra, and flute and recorder duets. The greatest composers will highlight each festive iteration, whether through Vivaldi’s and Telemann’s stunning virtuosity, Debussy’s intoxicating smoothness, or Bach’s emotive and timeless intensity.

ITALY: Stéphane Tétreault and Boccherini
Thursday, May 11, 2023, 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. (also available in webcast format)

Stéphane Tétreault, cello and I Musici artist in residence
Jean-François Rivest, conductor 

L. Boccherini – Cello Concerto in B-flat major – 22’ 
—INTERMISSION—
L.V. Beethoven – Quartet Op. 127 (arr. JFR) – 39’

Here’s yet another chapter in Yuli’s Heritage, a project we started last year. Our artist in residence, the splendid cellist Stéphane Tétreault, will present Boccherini’s sensual Concerto in B-flat major. Stéphane will join our cello section after his solo performance to play my transcription of one of Beethoven’s key quartets, the majestic Quartet Op. 127, written at the same time as the Ninth Symphony.

More information

https://imusici.com/

I Musici de Montréal

Founded in 1983 by Yuli Turovsky, the I Musici de Montréal chamber orchestra is composed of 15 exceptional musicians, whose varied repertoire spans from the 17th century to the present day. Jean-François Rivest, renowned for his energy, his extremely precise technique and his passionate style, has been the conductor since January 2021. I Musici de Montréal interprets and promotes original programming based on discovery, tradition and innovation in classical music.

Relations médias
Alain Labonté Communications
alain@alainlabonte.ca
514 815 2128