Lachine Music Festival from July 10 to 19

The festival will play host to many remarkable ensembles and artists from Quebec and Canada as well as featuring its two resident orchestras: the Philharmonique de l’île and the Sinfonietta de l’île in a ten-day program celebrated for its daring and its musical diversity.

As well as representing this new generation, the opening concert of the festival features two laureates of prestigious musical competitions. Sharing the stage with l’Orchestre philharmonique de l’île under the direction of the brilliant Québec conductor, Jean-Phillippe Tremblay will be the violinist, Jean-Sébastien Roy (Prix d’Europe 2006) as well as Marianne Fiset (Grand Prize, Montreal International Musical Competition, 2007). The program will include Beethoven’s Symphony No.1, Mozart’s Violin Concerto No.5 and several operatic arias by Mozart.

The Sinfonietta de l’île, under its chief conductor, Alain Trudel, will bring the curtain down on the festival with a concert entitled Nights of Vienna. The program will include Mozart justly-famous Eine kleine Nachtmusik, as well as the moving Adagietto from Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No.5 and Arnold Schöenberg’s haunting Verklärte Nacht.

The chamber music concerts seek to offer the public not only a wide variety of musical styles but also the possibility of making a number of musical discoveries. The festival is also notably for a series of intriguing debutants.

Among the most eagerly awaited is the debut of the electrifying tango ensemble, Quetango who blend traditional and more jazz-oriented tangos.

A new piano trio, the Renaissance (Antoine Bareil, Wonny Song and Amélie Fredette) will appear with the superb young soprano Kimy McLaren in an all-Russian program of Arensky and Shostakovich.

The dynamic Duo AVA (Véronique Mathieu and Andrée-Anne Perras-Fortin) will debut at the festival in a program that includes works by Mozart and Fauré.

Another debutant, the award-winning string quartet from Ontario, the Cecilia Quartet will for their part offer Beethoven and Shostakovich. The young Quebec pianist, Derek Yaple-Schobert will include music from such Scandinavian composers as Greig and Nielsen.

French chamber masterpieces will be featured in two concerts presented by several of Canada’s foremost chamber musicians.

Olivier Messaien’s Quatuor pour la fin des temps as well as works by Debussy and Ravel will be performed by Olivier Thouin (violin), Yegor Dyachkov (cello), Louise Bessette (piano) et Simon Aldrich (clarinet).

Meanwhile, the celebrated violinist Jonathan Crow together with pianist Philippe Chiu and the Roddick String Quartet will also perform Ravel and Debussy but will also collaborate in a performance of Chausson’s Concert.

A final chamber music concert presents soprano Chantal Lambert and pianist Martin Dubé in a evening of Cabaret with music by Weill, Britten, Bolcom and Gershwin in a mise en scène by Marie-Lou Dion.

The Lachine Music Festival is a presentation of Les Concerts Lachine inc. and uses the superb and acoustically welcoming Pavillon de l’Entrepôt in the Complexe Guy-Descary for its chamber music concerts. As tradition would have it, the Aréna Pierre ‘Pete’ Morin is the venue for the festival’s opening orchestral concert.

This edition of the festival also marks a return to the aesthetically beautiful and acoustically resplendent Chapelle du Sanctuaire des Sœurs de Sainte-Anne. The festival’s closing concert will be presented in this historically important venue.

The Concerts Lachine’s Board of Directors is happy to underline the presence and support of the borough of Lachine and the Conseil des Arts de Montréal in making the presentation of the festival possible. The festival also benefits from the participation of several important sponsors and donors who help ensure the festival’s financial viability.

Such a remarkably diverse and richly rewarding festival program doubtless offers something for everyone! Come and join the over 4 000 people who annually make the Lachine Music Festival, with its enchanting atmosphere and ambiance, a summer rendezvous that is simply not to be missed! All concerts are free!

Information: 514 637-7587