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Quatuor Molinari: The Quartet According to Shostakovich

By Guillaume De Pauw on 4 April 2026 Strings

Quatuor Molinari marks the recent 50th anniversary of Shostakovich’s death with a series of Montreal concerts featuring his complete string quartets. “This is one of the most significant cycles in the repertoire, on par with those of Beethoven and Bartók,” says the group’s artistic director, Olga Ranzenhofer. For the occasion, the ensemble draws on its experience of presenting similar large-scale projects as well as its many previous concerts dedicated to Shostakovich. The quartets possess incredible richness: dramatic outbursts, waltzes, melodies of great beauty and a wide sonic palette. They will be performed in chronological order, allowing the audience to follow…

Photo: Geri Born

Jordi Savall: Tracing the History of the New World Through Music

By Justin Bernard on 3 April 2026 Baroque and Early, Strings

When Jordi Savall spoke with La Scena Musicale in 2022, he was on a North American tour that took him to Ottawa and Montreal with his ensemble Hespèrion XXI. At the time, his repertoire centred on the golden age of consort music, a period spanning the 16th and 17th centuries. This year marks the 85th birthday of this illustrious viola da gamba player and conductor, a specialist in early music and unearther of rare gems. Despite his years, Savall demonstrates a passion for research and the unknown that remains as strong as ever. Indeed, in addition to his specialist ensembles,…

Omar Sosa. Photo: Jon Razinger

Review | Vancouver, Get Up and Dance with SUBA Trio

By Kaitlyn Chan on 17 March 2026 Concert Reviews, Jazz, Piano, Strings, Vancouver, West, World Music

“There are three things you have to do as a professional performer,” said kora-player and singer Seckou Keita during SUBA Trio’s concert at the Chan Centre (March 13). “One, make the audience smile. … Two, make the audience dance. … Three, make the audience cry. Tears of joy!” While I may not have cried, I couldn’t help smiling and dancing throughout this dynamic and cross-cultural event. SUBA Trio—Seckou Keita, Omar Sosa and Gustavo Ovalles—delivered a memorable night that left the audience buzzing and eager for more. As the lights dimmed, one’s eyes were drawn to the various instruments on stage:…

The 66 selected candidates for the 2026 Queen Elisabeth Cello Competition. Photo: Queen Elisabeth Competition

Newswire | Four Canadians selected for 2026 Queen Elisabeth Competition

By Newswire on 3 March 2026 Classical Music, Newswire, Orchestral, Strings

Brussels – Applications for the third cello edition of the Queen Elisabeth Competition closed on Wednesday 26 November 2025. A total of 185 cellists, aged between 18 and 30, applied to take part in the 2026 session (nearly 20% more than the previous edition in 2022). Canadian Participants The following Canadian candidates are taking part in the Cello edition:Andrew Ilhoon Byun, Michael Song, Romain-Olivier Gray and Leland Ko. For the preselection stage, candidates were required to submit video recordings of a demanding programme including one of the Six Études for cello and piano, opus postumus by François Servais, Variations concertantes op. 17…

Photo: Misha Obradovic

Lebrecht Weekly | Sergei Prokofiev: 2nd violin concerto &c (Warner Classics)

By Norman Lebrecht on 27 February 2026 Lebrecht Weekly, Violin

The Serbian violinist Nemanja Radulovic is a maverick in the manner of Nigel Kennedy and David Garrett, a stage animal with a twist of difference. On his latest album, Radulovic wears a monk-like cassock down to the floor with hair down to his waist, as if he had spent the last forty days in a cave, communing with the eternal. The music he performs here is by Prokofiev, a composer whose eye was forever on the earthly and the existential. The surprise lies in the soloist’s approach. Radulovic plays the concerto softly and with introspection, requiring the Philharmonia Orchestra (conducted…

Newswire | Festival Classica Unveils a Banner 16th Edition

By Newswire on 25 February 2026 Chamber Music, Newswire, Piano, Quebec Music, Strings, Vocal

Montérégie, (February 25, 2026) – Festival Classica invites the public to experience classical music in all its variety during its 16th edition, which will run from May 22 to June 14, 2026. The 2026 program once again showcases exceptional artists and a compelling repertoire, with the majority of events taking place on Montreal’s South Shore. Classical works, operatic performances, symphonic rock productions, and concerts for young audiences form a wide-ranging program designed to open the doors of classical music to seasoned concertgoers and newcomers alike. “Since its inception, Festival Classica has positioned itself as a space for sharing and discovery,…

Newswire | BISQFest Announces 2026 Lineup

By Newswire on 17 February 2026 Arts Industry, Chamber Music, Classical Music, Newswire, Strings, West

BANFF, AB, FEBRUARY 13, 2026 — Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity is thrilled to announce the full lineup for the Banff International String Quartet Festival (BISQFest) 2026, taking place September 3–6, 2026, in Banff, Alberta. Occurring in the years between the triennial Banff International String Quartet Competition (BISQC), BISQFest has immersed chamber music lovers in a long weekend of intimate performances and picturesque mountain views on Banff Centre campus since 2017. Much like the world-renowned Competition, which named Cincinnati’s Poiesis Quartet as their reigning winners in 2025, the 2026 edition of BISQFest champions the best in chamber music by celebrating cherished contemporary performers,…

Júlia Pusker. Photo: Szilvia Csibi - Müpa

Lebrecht Weekly | Leó Weiner: Violin concerto (Naxos)

By Norman Lebrecht on 13 February 2026 Lebrecht Weekly, Orchestral, Strings, Violin

Leó Weiner was the lost soul of Hungarian music. A professor at the Franz Liszt Academy from 1908, alongside Bartok and Kodaly, he shared his colleagues’ fascination with folk music but not their modernism. Weiner’s world belonged to Brahms and Liszt, his orchestration to the 1890s. His first violin concerto is a delight – Bruch without the big tune but with an entwinement of soloist and orchestra and much letting down of hair in the gypsy dances. This is thought to be its first complete performance and none of its 25 minutes outstays its welcome. Júlia Pusker is the unflashy…

The Dover Quartet at the Celebrity Series of Boston. Photo: Robert Torres

Review | The Dover Quartet at LMMC: Classical & Romantic Combined

By Jan Krejcar on 10 February 2026 Classical, Classical Music, Concert Reviews, Montreal, Romantic, Strings

On Feb. 8, the temperature in Montreal plummeted to -16°C and a biting wind lowered it by some magnitudes more. The city was in need of some warmth and sun, and they got it. The Dover Quartet rolled into town to play for the Ladies’ Morning Musical Club and fortuitously gifted the audience in Oscar Peterson Concert Hall one of Joseph Haydn’s (1732-1809) “Sun” quartets–op. 20, no. 4. in D major. Note: there is nothing particularly sunny about the opus 20 quartets. The nickname comes from one of the early editions having a picture of a sun on its cover.…

Newswire | Concours musical international de Montréal Announces 24th Edition Violinists

By Newswire on 4 February 2026 Classical Music, Montreal, Music Competition, Newswire, Strings, Violin

Montreal, February 4, 2026 – The Concours musical international de Montréal announces the 24 violinists selected for its 24th edition, which will take place from May 27 to June 4, 2026, at Bourgie Hall and the Maison symphonique. Before a prestigious international jury, the selected artists will converge in Montreal to live an exceptional experience and the chance to distinguish themselves on the international stage. The 2026 edition brings together some of the most remarkable violinists of the new generation. This year, the Concours once again garnered considerable international interest, with 250 applications of outstanding quality received from 37 countries,…