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Montreal articles, news, reviews

Newswire | Mécénat Musica Program Announces $125 Million of Permanent Capital for Québec Culture

By Newswire on 7 April 2026 Arts Industry, Montreal, Philanthropy, Quebec City

Montréal, March 30th, 2026 – The Mécénat Musica program announced today that it has reached $125,000,000 of permanent capital for Québec cultural organizations, plus $30,000,000 of distributions of investment income to 90 Québec cultural organizations since 2015. More than 800 large donations from individuals and families have created $125,000,000 of permanent capital, which will now generate $6,000,000 in revenue annually (5%) for Québec culture to ensure autonomy and financial security, both now and for generations to come. In celebration of these milestones, we invite you to join us at: Maison Symphonique, Sunday May 17th, 2026, at 15h00 for Beatles a capella! These Quebec cultural organizations employ…

Choral Calendar (April 2026)

By Marie-Claire Fafard-Blais on 4 April 2026 Choral, Montreal, Quebec City, Toronto

Montréal GERMAN WALTZES AND LATIN PSALMS April 11 at 7:30 p.m. – Maison symphonique For the 10th edition of Opus concerts, Chœur Métropolitain presents Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms and Brahms’s Liebeslieder-Walzer and Neue Liebeslieder. Pianists Pierre McLean and Louise Pelletier will accompany the choir. www.orchestremetropolitain.com ARCHES: ARMENIA April 26 at 4 p.m. ; May 1, 2 and 9 at 7 p.m. – Various venues in Montreal Vocal ensemble Les Rugissants continues its Arches series exploring the history, music and architecture of important communities in Montreal. This series of concerts looks at the culture of Armenia with choral works by Sharafyan, Mansourian…

Left: Denise Torre; Right: Dorothéa Ventura & Vincent Lauzer. Photo: Brenden Friesen

Les Idées heureuses: Chaconnes and the Taste of Chocolate

By Benjamin Goron on 3 April 2026 Baroque and Early, Chamber Music, Classical Music, Montreal, World Music

With Chaconne et chocolat : délectations espagnoles, Les Idées heureuses continues a musical adventure it began a few years ago. Its theme: the fascinating chaconne. Having explored France, Germany, Italy and England, this new program invites audiences on a trip to Spain with a few detours to South America, cradle of many artistic influences that have nourished this musical form. The heart of the project is the richness and diversity of the chaconne. “The chaconne as a dance and an instrumental form is rather a chameleon: you can enter into all sorts of emotions, choose any genre, discover music that’s very…

Left to right: Anoushka Shankar. Photo: Jag Gundu; Earl Lee. Photo: Lim Hak Hyun; Karen Cargill. Photo: Nadine Boyd

Upcoming Concerts

By La Scena Musicale Team on 3 April 2026 Classical Music, Montreal, Quebec City, Toronto

Toronto Koerner Hall Georgian-born violinist Lisa Batiashvili appears in recital on April 26 with pianist and countryman Giorgi Gigashvili, presenting works by Beethoven, Franck and Bartók as well as a new piece by Ioseb Bardanashvili. On May 1, Korean-Canadian cellist and conductor Earl Lee, music director of the Ann Arbor Symphony, leads the Royal Conservatory Orchestra. The ensemble of students from the undergraduate and graduate programs of The Glenn Gould School play Samy Moussa’s Elysium, Mahler’s “Titan” symphony and are joined by violinist Sabina Sandvoss, winner of The Robert W. and G. Ann Corcoran Concerto Competition, for Bloch’s Schelomo. Two…

Vincent Lauzer. Photo: Emmanuel Crombez

La Nef: How Imitation has Fuelled the Creative Imagination

By Benjamin Goron on 3 April 2026 Baroque and Early, Classical Music, Montreal

Guided by an idea as simple as it is inexhaustible—the art of imitation—La Nef’s latest program offers a fascinating musical journey through the centuries. From the Middle Ages to contemporary composition, Jeux d’imitation, jeux de miroirs will highlight the enduring nature and richness of the imitative process, which have never ceased to inspire composers. At the heart of the project lies an ancient—yet surprisingly modern—concept: the gymel (from the Latin cantus gemellus, or “twin song”). As Vincent Lauzer, the project’s musical director and flutist, explains: “The starting point was the medieval gymel, a form of composition and improvisation that seeks…

Photo: Lena Kern

Arturo Chacón-Cruz: From “Cielito Lindo” To “Nessun Dorma”

By Adrian Rodriguez on 3 April 2026 Interviews, Montreal, Opera, Vocal

Francisco Araiza, Ramón Vargas, Rolando Villazón, Javier Camarena. For decades Mexico has produced an extraordinary lineage of lyric tenors who have conquered the world’s opera stages. And now, Arturo Chacón-Cruz. He has sung leading roles in more than 30 countries, appearing at major opera houses including the Metropolitan Opera, Teatro alla Scala and Vienna State Opera. Lately, he has been expanding into more dramatic repertoire with upcoming role debuts in Manon Lescaut and La fanciulla del West, two pinnacles of the verismo repertoire. His path to the international opera stage did not begin in a conservatory. It started with mariachi.…

Summer Camp Guide 2026

By La Scena Musicale on 3 April 2026 Classical Music, Education, Guides, Montreal, Multimedia, Ottawa, Quebec City, Toronto, Vancouver, West

Acadia Summer Music Academies Wolfville, July 5 to 11 Creative Music Workshop, TD Halifax Jazz Festival Halifax, July 4 to 12 Montreal Camp Livingstone Magog, June 28 to August 7 Camp musical d’été de Montréal (CMEM) Montreal, June 29 to August 21 Camps de jour en arts de la scène Nos Voix Nos Visages Longueuil, June 29 to August 14 Creative Video Day Camp Montreal, June 29 to August 21 École de théâtre du vieux St-Eustache, camp de théâtre et d’impro St-Eustache, June 22 to August 14 Institut Suzuki Montréal Montreal, July 18 to 26 KlezKanada Summer Retreat of Yiddish…

La Scena a tavola | Ravioli alla Toscana with Davide Bazzali

By Adrian Rodriguez on 3 April 2026 Art of Living, Interviews, Montreal, Opera, Recipes, Vocal

In this latest instalment of La Scena a tavola, we invite you to meet Montreal chef and opera enthusiast Davide Bazzali. As the owner of Restaurant Il Bazzali, in the heart of Little Italy, Bazzali embodies the Italian way of life, blending fine dining with a love of song. Born in northern Tuscany, he moved to Parma, the city of Giuseppe Verdi, at a very young age. Ironically, he didn’t discover opera in Italy, the home of opera, but in Montreal. For a while, Bazzali dreamed of joining Opéra de Montréal’s Atelier lyrique. Reality had other plans: having arrived in…

Summer Music Camps Across Canada: Inclusive Programming for Everyone

By Hal Kowalewski on 3 April 2026 Classical Music, Education, Montreal, Multimedia, Ottawa, Quebec City, Toronto, Vancouver, West

A typical image of summer music camps might involve visions of child prodigies travelling to scenic destinations to master their art. These sorts of camps certainly exist—and we’ll highlight some of the best. But they are far from all that is out there. Free and community-funded camps, adult education camps and multidisciplinary celebrations of art can also be found across Canada. The following is a small sampling of noteworthy Canadian summer music camps. Prominent musical organizations and local community centres alike are constantly working to expand access to music education. You can find a more complete list of recommendations in…

Samuel Lauzon Schnittka, recipient of the Prix d'Europe 2025. Photo: Robert Etcheverry

Prix d’Europe: Anchored in Quebec’s Musical Memory

By Heather Weinreb on 3 April 2026 Classical Music, Montreal

The Prix d’Europe has borne witness to more than a century of history. The music competition—which remains the oldest and one of the most prestigious in North America—will host its 114th edition in June 2026. For spokesperson Jean Marchand, the Prix d’Europe is not only an opportunity for musicians to perform and compete, but also a rare chance for audiences to watch history unfold before their eyes. With its prestigious grand prize—a $50,000 scholarship—Marchand explains that the Prix d’Europe has helped launch “some of the most prestigious musicians, not only in Quebec but on the world stage.” Recent winners—such as…