Artistic director: Walter Boudreau
Composer and conductor Walter Boudreau has created over sixty works for various types of ensembles, as well as fifteen film scores and two ballets. His works have been performed in Canada, the United States, France, Belgium, Germany, Poland, and Finland. In 1998 he was awarded the prix Opus “Composer of the year” (Conseil québécois de la musique). Since 1988 Boudreau has been artistic director and principal conductor of the Ensemble de la Société de musique contemporaine du Québec (SMCQ). In 1990 he was appointed as the Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s first composer in residence for a period of three years. Boudreau has directed various contemporary music group. With Denys Bouliane, he assumed the artistic direction of the Millennium Symphony (2000) and the Montréal/New Music Festival (MNM) (2003-05-07). Jointly they received the prix Opus “Musical Event of the year.” Among other distinctions, in 2003 Boudreau was awarded the Molson Prize by the Canada Council for the Arts, quickly followed in 2004 by the Prix Denise-Pelletier for the performing arts (Prix du Québec). In 2013 he was appointed as a Chevalier de l’Ordre du Québec, named as a Member of the Order of Canada. He has received the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award in the classical music category in 2015.
Simon Bertrand
Stemming as much from the jazz as the classical genres, the music of Simon Bertrand simultaneously blends European and non-Western aesthetics. His works have been interpreted in numerous countries by Trio Maurice Duruflé (France), Pro Musica Nipponia (Japan), the Danish Saxophone Quartet, (Denmark), Ruse Philharmonic Orchestra and the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra (China) and broadcast on Radio France, Radio-Canada and NHK (Japan). Supported by the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec and the Japanese Government (Bunka-cho,) from 1998 till 2001, Bertrand was in Japan, creating numerous works for Japanese traditional instruments. Upon his return to Montréal in 2001, he became composer-in-residence at the Chapelle historique du Bon-Pasteur until 2003. In 2004 he won the 1st prize for composition with the Orchestre Symphonique de l’Université de Montréal, and since then has been a regular junior lecturer at the university, obtaining his doctorate in composition in 2008. In 2008-09, the SMCQ selected Bertrand for its La SMCQ dans l’empire du milieu project, within the framework of the Shanghai Spring Festival, in coproduction with Radio-France and Shanghai Media Group. In July 2011, he became composer-in-residence with the OSDL (Orchestre Symphonique de Longueuil). In 2012, Bertrand was awarded the Opus “Composer of the year” prize. He has also composed several film scores, one of them produced by Zentropa, the company run by Danish director Lars Von Trier.
Sandeep Bhagwati
Sandeep Bhagwati is a multiple awardwinning composer, theatre director and media artist. He studied at Mozarteum Salzburg (Austria), Institut de Coordination Acoustique/Musique IRCAM Paris (France) and graduated with a Diplom in Composition from Hochschule für Musik und Theater München (Germany) His compositions and comprovisations in all genres (including 6 operas) have been performed by leading performers at leading venues and festivals worldwide. He has directed international music festivals and intercultural exchange projects with Indian and Chinese musicians and leading new music ensembles. He was a Professor of Composition at Karlsruhe Music University, and Composer-in-Residence at the IRCAM Paris, ZKM Center for Arts and Media Karlsruhe, Beethoven Orchestra Bonn, Institute for Electronic Music Graz, CalArts Los Angeles, Heidelberg University and Tchaikovsky Conservatory Moscow. He also was a guest professor at Heidelberg University in 2009 and has been invited as a visiting research fellow to the University of Arts Berlin in 2013/14.
As Canada Research Chair for Inter-X Arts at Concordia University Montréal since 2006 he currently directs matralab, a research/creation center for intercultural and interdisciplinary arts. His current work centers on comprovisation, intertraditional aesthetics, the aesthetics of interdisciplinarity, gestural theatre, sonic theatre and interactive visual and nonvisual scores. From 2008 to 2011, he also was the director of Hexagram Concordia, a centre for research-creation in media arts with a faculty of 45 artist-researchers and extensive state-of-the-art facilities. Since 2013, he also is the artistic director and conductor of Ensemble Extrakte Berlin.
Charles-Antoine Fréchette
Canadian composer of chamber, choral and piano works that have been performed in Europe and North America. Charles-Antoine Fréchette studied choral singing with Gilbert Patenaude and piano with Marie Roby at the Maîtrise des Petits Chanteurs du Mont-Royal in Montréal from 1991—99 and piano with Claude Labelle at the École de musique Vincent-d’Indy in Montréal from 1999—2001. He later studied composition with Michel Gonneville at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal from 2001—07 and has studied composition at McGill University in Montréal since 2007. Among his honours are the Médaille du Gouverneur Général from the École de musique Vincent-d’Indy (2001), First Prize in the category Piano in the competition for young composers of the CBC (2003, for Trajectoire) and two prizes in the category Solo-Duo of the competition for young composers of SOCAN Foundation (First Prize, 2004, for Soledad Sonora; Third Prize, 2004, for Transfiguration). He is currently working on a doctorate in composition at McGill University under the supervision of Philippe Leroux. He has received grants and commissions from the CCA, CALQ and CIRMMT. His works have been performed by Toronto’s New Music Concerts, by trombonist/conductor Alain Trudel, Véronique Lacroix (ECM+), Lorraine Vaillancourt (NEM), Diotima string quartet, McGill Percussion Ensemble, Ensemble Chorum, Sylvio Gualda and many others.
Nicolas Gilbert
Nicolas Gilbert is a composer and novelist living and working in Montréal. He studied composition and analysis at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal with composers Michel Gonneville and Serge Provost, and at McGill University, with composer John Rea. His music is performed around the world by orchestras, ensembles and soloists such as the Montréal symphony orchestra, the Orchestre Métropolitain, the Edmonton Symphony, the Vancouver Symphony, the Polish Radio Orchestra, the Estonian National Symphony, the Ensemble Contemporain de Montréal, the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, SMCQ, the Molinari Quartet, the Bozzini Quartet, Quasar, Continuum, and cellist Matt Haimovitz. He is recipient of numerous grants and awards including the 2008 “Composer of the year” Opus prize awarded by the Quebec Music Council and ten SOCAN Awards for Young Composers. His three novels, Le récital (2008), Le joueur de triangle (2009) and La fille de l’imprimeur est triste (2011), are published by Leméac and have received positive reviews.
André Hamel
Born in 1955, André Hamel has been active as a composer since the mid-80’s. His music has been played in concerts in Montréal, Brussels, Toronto, Sofia, Bologna, Vienna, Miami and Lyon. André Hamel received a special mention from the International Composition Contest Goffredo Petrassi (Parma, Italy, 1997), the Opus prize for Creation of the year (CQM, 1998), the Joseph-S Stauffer Prize (CAC, 2000), and the second prize of the Concours collégien de musique contemporaine (CEGEP of Sherbrooke, 2009). In June 2007, his saxophone octet, À huit, was chosen among the pieces recommended by the UNESCO Rostrum of Composers. His CD, La Trilogie du presto, was nominated for the Opus Prizes 2006-07. From his residence in the Studio du Québec à New York (2003), André Hamel took part in different important events such as Urnos (La Nef—2004), the Symphonie des éléments (MNM—2005), Fanfares (FIMAV—2005) and Spatio lumino (MNM —2007). He presently teaches Music Composition and Ear Training at CEGEP Marie-Victorin.
Chantale Laplante
Chantale Laplante has studied composition at the Université de Montréal (M. Mus.) and pursued private advanced studies with Francis Dhomont and Jonathan Harvey. Her work explores instrumental, electroacoustic as well as mixed music, improvisation with computer and more recently a site specific approach. She had been in residency in many artists’ centers in Canada and Europe, including the Centre for Contemporary Arts of Glasgow, the Banff Centre for the Arts, the Internationale Künstlerhaus Villa Concordia, Germany. Since fall 2011, she is an FQRSC scholarship holder to pursue a doctorate in Études et pratiques des arts at the Université du Québec à Montréal under the direction of Joanne Lalonde and Sandeep Bhagwati, co-director (Concordia University). Her doctoral research focuses on her concept of hyperlistening and the experimentation of the genre concert-installation that has led to the Intra-muros event presented in June 2014 in the Cœur des Sciences Pavilion in Montréal. Fall 2013, she was in Japan to experiment a sound immersion in Japanese gardens. This October she will premiere a new radio- performance around the work CARNETs from the author Marie-Line Laplante with who she forms the artistic collective MLC. In 2015 she will be developing a new concert-installation project at the arts centre Sporobole (Sherbrooke).
Simon Martin
Simon Martin was born in Rouyn-Noranda in 1981. Graduate of Conservatoire de musique de Montréal (2006), he is finalist for the Jules Léger Prize (2008), his music has been performed throughout Canada, in the United States and many European countries and has been broadcast by CBC Radio 2 and Espace musique.
Pierre Michaud
Born in 1974 in New-Brunswick, Pierre Michaud is an assistant-professor of composition at the Université de Montréal Music Faculty. He holds a doctorate degree in composition from the Université de Montréal Music Faculty with complimentary studies at the Jan Levoslav Bella Conservatory in Slovakia, Université de Moncton, Mount Allison University and IRCAM in Paris. Heard in concert series and festivals across Canada, Central America, Asia and Europe, his works have been performed by: the Bozzini Quartet, SMCQ, Susan Narucki, the Shanghai Symphony, the Winnipeg Symphony, the CBC Radio Orchestra, the Bratislava Chamber Soloists amongst others. His music has been aired nationally on Slovak State Radio, CBC Radio Two and Espace musique.
Serge Provost
Serge Provost was born in Québec in 1952 and studied at the Conservatoire de Musique du Québec in Montréal, primarily with Gilles Tremblay, earning a First Prize in composition and analysis in 1979. He continued his education in France, first at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris with Claude Ballif, then at the College de France with Pierre Boulez, and broadened his skills in electroacoustics at IRCAM in Paris from 1995 to 1996. Notable recent works by Serge Provost include: From the Lake to the Sky (2009) for guanzi, guzheng, and orchestra (Commission: SMCQ); Journal d’une enfant rêveuse… 1935 (2010) for violin, processing, and video; Les vertiges de S. (2001) for cello, and processing (Commission: ECM+, with support from the CCA).
Patrick Saint-Denis
Patrick Saint-Denis studied composition at the music conservatories in Québec, Montréal, and La Haye, mathematics at UQAM and at Université Laval, as well as computer science online. He obtained a Doctorate in Composition from University of Montréal in 2014. He conceives interactive installations designed primarily for concert settings. His audio-sensitive inventions take on various forms, ranging from video installation to large-scale robotized machinery. His performances integrate various musical formations which sonically drive the installations. At the edges of the concert format and digital art, his works are also shown in exhibitions. Among other instances, his work was showcased on the occasion of the International Digital Arts Biennial (BIAN/Elektra, 2014), at the Musée national des beaux arts du Québec (2013) and through Accès culture Montréal (2013). His music has been presented at festivals such as the International Gaudeamus Music Week (Netherlands, 2003, 2004), the Montréal Nouvelles Musiques Festival (Canada, 2005, 2009, 2015), the ISCM World Music Days (Croatia 2005, Slovakia 2013), the Mois Multi (Canada, 2008, 2014), the Cervantino Festival (Mexico, 2009) and at the ICMC (United Kingdom, 2011). His music has been performed by top ensembles such as the Trio Fibonacci, ECM+, the Continuum Ensemble and the Onix Ensemble. His work was also awarded several recognitions, including the Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music in 2004.
Ana Sokolović
Ana Sokolović was born in 1968 in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. She studied composition at the University of Novi Sad with Dusan Radic and at the University of Belgrade with Zoran Eric, prior to completing her master’s degree at the Université de Montréal with José Evangelista. Her repertoire includes orchestral and piano works and several chamber music compositions. She has also written numerous theatrical scores. Between 1995 and 1998, Ana Sokolović received three prizes from the SOCAN Foundation Awards for Young Composers. In 1999, she was awarded two prizes in the CBC National Young Composers’ Competition, first prize in the “Chamber music” category, and the major prize, in “All categories.” In 2005, Ana Sokolović received the Joseph S Stauffer Prize from the Canada Council for the Arts. In 2007, she was awarded the Opus Prize for “Composer of the year” and in 2008, the SOCAN Jan V Matejcek Prize for the “présence exceptionnelle de la musique de concert pour l’année écoulée“ (exceptional concert music presence during the past year). In December 2009, she received an award from the National Arts Center in Ottawa consisting of commissions, artist-in-residencies and teaching projects for the next five years. In 2005 she created her first opera, The Midnight Court, performed by the Queen of Puddings Music Theater Co. During the summer of 2006 the work had its European premiere at London’s Royal Opera House. Currently she teaches composition at the Université de Montréal. In 2011-12, Ana Sokolović was the Société de Musique Contemporaine du Québec (SMCQ) Homage Series composer, an event where her works were showcased at more than one hundred events and concerts.
Roxanne Turcotte
After piano studies at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal, Roxanne Turcotte focused on composition and music technology, earning a master’s degree in electroacoustic composition from the Université de Montréal, where she studied under Marcelle Deschênes, Francis Dhomont and Serge Garant. Active as a composer and sound designer, Turcotte has built her aesthetics around a cinema-like art of integration. She also creates and performs music for television, cinema, radio, the stage, the Internet, and circus arts, in addition to creating sound, music, and visual installations. She is asked to sit on composition juries, and she regularly performs composition training sessions and workshops. The music of Roxanne Turcotte has won numerous awards and distinctions: 6th “Villes manifestes” Radio Art Competition (La Muse en circuit, France, 2005), Bourges Electroacoustic and Sound Art International Competition (France, 2005, ’07, ’08), and Prix collégien de musique contemporaine (Sherbrooke, Québec, 2010). Roxanne Turcotte is currently working on the integration of sound installations and live performance.