SMCQ’s 38th season: Stubbornly Contemporary!
Following closely on the tremendous success of the first international Montreal/New Music Festival—or MNM—the SMCQ’s 38th season will soon be underway, freighted with new discoveries and partnerships that promise to be rich… in overtones!
One duo, a trio, two quartets, the many faces and shapes of the SMCQ instrumental ensemble, multiple combinations of all of the above, and a symphony orchestra are all part of the season’s offerings that will be hard to turn down. From the intimate recital to the large-scale concert, the whole will begin with the Trio Fibonacci and close with QUASAR, a saxophone quartet. In between, there will have been a chance to hear two exceptional soloists (Louise Bessette and Lise Daoust), and four (highly) gifted percussionists (QUAD). And by way of the MusiMarch Festival, in collaboration with the National Arts Center, we will have met the McGill Symphony Orchestra, the McGill Contemporary Music Ensemble and of course, the Ensemble de la SMCQ. At the center of it all, a spectacular and controversial “marathon” work by Georg Friedrich Haas on the theme of continual renewal.
The SMCQ Jeunesse will bring together young listeners for the premiere of a musical tale, inspired by Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book. Here TapaJungle! will tell the story of Mowgli, who will be accompanied in his rite of passage by the four percussionists of QUAD, as well as puppets and tom-toms, gongs, cymbals and colourful characters thrown together in an irresistible combination of sounds and rhythms.
Finally, the 2002 Québec-Flandre prizewinning composition will be performed during the Trio Fibonacci concert. The SMCQ will take advantage of the occasion to launch not one, but two compact discs produced in collaboration with ATMA classique at the party that will round out the evening.
For all the details on our activities, consult this brochure. You’re certain to find yourself filled with a singular desire: to (re)join the ranks of SMCQ members… stubbornly contemporary!
Walter Boudreau, September 33rd, 2003