MUSIC THIS WAY!

SPOTLIGHT ON KARINA GAUVIN, SOPRANO
— Recognized for her absolute mastery of the Baroque repertoire, Canadian soprano Karina Gauvin sings Bach, Mahler, Britten and the music of the 20th and 21st centuries with equal success.

Mrs Gauvin has sung with the world’s leading symphony orchestras, including the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, the San Francisco Symphony, the Chicago Symphony, the New York Philharmonic and the Rotterdam Philharmonic, as well as Baroque orchestras such as, the Venice Baroque Orchestra, Les Talens Lyriques, Accademia Bizantina, Il Complesso Barocco, the English Concert, Collegium 1704, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Les Violons du Roy.

She has performed under conductors, Michael Tilson Thomas, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Ivor Bolton, Michel Plasson, Mikko Frank, Teodor Currentzis, Charles Dutoit, Bernard Labadie, Christophe Rousset, Václav Luks, Jérémie Rhorer and the late Alan Curtis among others.

Her extensive discography – more than 50 titles – has won her numerous awards, including a “Chamber Music America Award” for her “Fête Galante” disc with pianist Marc-André Hamelin, 3 Grammy nominations for her recordings with the Boston Early Music Orchestra and several Juno and Opus Prizes. During the pandemic, Ms. Gauvin participated in an extensive recording project to record the complete songs of Jules Massenet, due out in the fall of 2022.

PROGRAM

TICKETS THIS WAY

OPENING OUR 2022-2023 SEASON WITH KARINA GAUVIN AND THE ILLUMINATIONS
— September 29, 2022, à 7:30 pm, at the Pierre-Mercure hall of the Pierre-Péladeau Centre

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.

Don’t miss the Britannia: Karina Gauvin and les Illuminations concert on September 29 at 7:30 pm at the Salle Pierre-Mercure!

For tickets with social distancing, call 514 987-6919

RESERVE YOUR SEATS

WHAT ARE LES ILLUMINATIONS BY BRITTEN?

Les Illuminations is a cycle of melodies for high voice (tenor or soprano) on prose poems from the eponymous collection of Arthur Rimbaud. Although English, Britten has already composed on French poetry: in 1928, he wrote Quatre Chansons françaises on poems by Victor Hugo and Paul Verlaine.

MORE INFORMATION

ABOUT I MUSICI
— Learn more about the people behind the orchestra as well as our conductor, Jean-François Rivest

Québec conductor Jean-François Rivest is renowned for his energy, his extremely precise technique, his style, which is passionate, moving and deeply involved, and his great communication skills. His discography serves as proof to the ease with which he masters a large variety of musical genres ranging from the baroque era up to today.

Regularly invited by orchestras in Montreal, in Canada and around the world (USA, Mexico, Peru, France, Switzerland, Spain, Russia, and South Korea), he has been Artistic Director of the Orchestre Symphonique de Laval, (10 years) and of Ottawa’s Thirteen Strings Ensemble, (5 years), as well as Conductor in Residence of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal (OSM) where his tenure has been particularly significant.

Since Spring 2021, he conducts the prestigious I Musici de Montréal Chamber Orchestra as Principal Guest Conductor. In the last months of 2021, while the Pandemic was widespread, he conducted at the Opéra de Lausanne and Opéra de Fribourg, in Switzerland, followed by 8 concerts with the Orchestre Symphonique du Pays Basque, in France.

Jean-François Rivest firmly believes that the next generation of musicians must rely on performers that are also active as pedagogues. He has worked for several institutions and has been teaching violin, orchestral conducting as well as a variety of advanced performance classes at Université de Montréal since 1992. He is the founder, Artistic Director and principal conductor of the Orchestre de l’Université de Montréal (OUM).

From 2009 to 2015, he has been Artistic Director of the Orford Arts Centre, (now Orford Music), nearby Montréal where he presided over the destiny of Orford’s prestigious International Academy and Festival. His period at the head of the Arts Center is unanimously seen as a time of tremendous artistic renewal and growth. In the 2012 Opus Prizes Awards ceremony, he was given the Opus Prize for the Artistic Director of the year (2011).

Mr. Rivest, who trained at the Conservatoire de Montréal and at the Juilliard School in New York, quickly established himself as one of the foremost Quebec violinists of his generation. His main teachers were Sonia Jelinkova, Ivan Galamian and Dorothy DeLay.

DISCOVER OUR MUSICIANS

DID YOU KNOW THAT CONCERT TICKETS ARE $35 FOR THOSE UNDER 35?

— Access discounts at all times to share music with your loved ones.

PRICES AND SUBSCRIPTIONS THIS WAY

Our success depends on your support.

MAKE A DONATION