Yannick’s town loses an orchestra

Yannick’s town loses an orchestra

News

norman lebrecht

December 01, 2021

Ludwig 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

Comments

  • John Borstlap says:

    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

  • RW2013 says:

    Dreading the day that my home city will be called “KIRILL’S TOWN”.

  • Christopher says:

    There are other folks who live in Montreal other than Yannick, you know….

  • Jan Kaznowski says:

    A dramatic celebrity-obsessed title.
    Shouldn’t it be “Montreal loses an orchestra” ?

    These things matter you know

  • Emil says:

    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.

    • MacroV says:

      Indeed, Montreal is an incredibly rich city for music. The loss of this ensemble, while unfortunate, still leaves Montrealers with many live-music options.

    • Daniel Rose says:

      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.

  • Barry Guerrero says:

    Considering that Montreal has a population of over four million people, I’m not sure it should be considered “Yannick’s Town”.

    • Karl says:

      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.

  • msc says:

    Toronto’s Esprit Orchestra might disagree with the “premiere” bit.

  • Michael says:

    In other news: Norman’s Town Still Has No Decent Symphony Hall

  • music_montreal says:

    Conducting a half dozen shows a year in Montreal doesn’t make it YNS’s town. Come on.

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