For its 27th season, the Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal and its artistic director, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, will present nine concert programs. Reaffirming his attachment and loyalty to “his” orchestra, the artistic director and regular conductor of the Métropolitain, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, will direct 22 of 25 concerts during the 2007-2008 season.

The Orchestra and its conductor look forward to a season marked by continuity and maturity. The Métropolitain will continue the three major cycles begun in recent years, with the Bruckner and Mahler symphonies and Haydn’s London symphonies. As well, it will celebrate the dual anniversary of Glenn Gould (born in 1932, died in 1982) and give prominent billing to works by French and Russian composers.

Russia and France will be honoured with programs devoted to Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov and Rachmaninov, and to French symphonists Franck and Fauré. The Glenn Gould memorial concert will feature works by Bach, Beethoven and Wagner, which Gould performed or conducted with great distinction.

The 2007-2008 season will also see high-profile guests join the Métropolitain: Anton Kuerti and Wonny Song will perform two of Glenn Gould’s favourite concertos, while soprano Suzie LeBlanc, baritone Marc Boucher and the Orchestre Métropolitain Choir will perform Fauré’s Requiem; violist Nicolò Eugelmi will give the Montreal premiere of the new Concerto for viola by Jacques Hétu under the direction of guest conductor Mario Bernardi; and graceful star dancer Anik Bissonnette will bring an original and personal touch to Scheherazade. True to its tradition, the Orchestra will continue to encourage musical creation by commissioning a work by a young Canadian composer and performing its world premiere.

With 18 concerts scheduled in outlying boroughs, the Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal will once again reach a vast audience, and guest soloists will have the chance to give several performances of their program. For over 20 years, the Conseil des Arts de Montréal has allowed the Métropolitain to pursue its outreach mission/mission of proximity by offering the downtown concerts in Montreal boroughs and suburbs as well. On top of the season’s concert programs, the Métropolitain will add a Christmas concert in response to requests from several boroughs. The Métropolitain is also pleased to be associated, again this year, with the Orgue et couleurs Fall Festival, a collaboration that dates back to the festival’s inception.

In May and June 2007, the Orchestre Métropolitain, under the direction of conductor Daniel Lipton, will accompany the finalists and winners of the Montreal International Music Competition’s 2007 Voice Edition, a prestigious competition geared this year toward young singers from all over the world who are destined for a professional career.

The Orchestre Métropolitain is also proud to offer schools an interesting and varied pedagogical program. Children and families will be delighted to know that Tableaux d’une exposition, presented for the first time in April 2007, will be given again in April 2008. The Orchestra will also present two workshops for elementary children, La musique et la nature and Autour du monde avec Tintin, in collaboration with a facilitator and a handful of musicians, and one workshop for high school students entitled Dans le vent! with the Métropolitain Brass Quintet.

The Orchestre Métropolitain is adopting a new slogan this year: “Express your classical side!” The slogan, meant as a rallying force, reflects the mission the Orchestra has given itself since its creation—to democratize classical music and develop new audiences for it. The Métropolitain has stepped up its efforts with initiatives meant to spark interest in classical music among younger audiences, in particular by working with cultural agents and with CEGEPS in the boroughs where the Orchestra gives concerts.

Thus, from September 17, 2007 to May 12, 2008, the Métropolitain invites music lovers of all ages to express their classical side!

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Source: Danielle Lachance, Director of Communications, 514-598-0870, extension 25

[7215] News posted Monday, March 19, 2007.

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