Yannick’s town loses an orchestra
NewsLudwig Van reports that L’Ensemble contemporain de Montréal is to shut down in the new year.
Its founder Véronique Lacroix says she has taken it as far as she can go. ‘We have made 300 creations, several international tours, 11 Canadian tours.’
ECM+has been Canada’s premiere new music ensemble for 35 years.
photo (c) Marie-Andrée Lemire
Possibly the type of new music the ensemble created, feels less ‘relevant’ in the troubled times we now live in.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNoXcVAldfQ&t=6s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xu4TGKTZcTE&t=3s
Dreading the day that my home city will be called “KIRILL’S TOWN”.
There are other folks who live in Montreal other than Yannick, you know….
A dramatic celebrity-obsessed title.
Shouldn’t it be “Montreal loses an orchestra” ?
These things matter you know
It is not “Yannick’s town.” Montréal has two symphony orchestras, an opera company, and several baroque and chamber orchestras, among others. Yannick Nézet-Séguin, while a very important part of Montréal’s musical life, is nevertheless a small part of it.
As for ECM+, while it is sad to see an ensemble go, it’s only one part of Montréal’s contemporary music scene. Christophe Huss, for instance, recently reported on the change of leadership at the SMCQ: https://www.ledevoir.com/culture/musique/632268/musique-classique-walter-boudreau-passe-la-main.
Indeed, Montreal is an incredibly rich city for music. The loss of this ensemble, while unfortunate, still leaves Montrealers with many live-music options.
Ah, that may be so, but Yannick is a much bigger part of Philadelphia’s musical life and well beyond courtesy of Sirius XM Radio.
Considering that Montreal has a population of over four million people, I’m not sure it should be considered “Yannick’s Town”.
The population will be 4 million and one when they relax the testing requirement and I can go there again. I never saw this orchestra though. I wonder if some of the small ensembles I attend like Pronto Musica will survive.
Toronto’s Esprit Orchestra might disagree with the “premiere” bit.
In other news: Norman’s Town Still Has No Decent Symphony Hall
Conducting a half dozen shows a year in Montreal doesn’t make it YNS’s town. Come on.
I am sure Y N-S would agree with you. And I can’t think when I last heard Montreal referred to as a “town.”