What’s new, what’s in progress… Find out the latest news about the artists taking part in the 2024 edition!
The orchestra conductors are off to a great start in their respective orchestras. Leonardo Garcia Alarcon is back at Geneva’s Cité Bleue, a 300-seat concert hall he took over in 2020 and which opened a few months ago in March 2024. So, after a summer packed with festivals in Europe, he takes over the helm of the concerts! Clemens Schuldt begins his second year as Music Director of the Orchestre symphonique de Québec. The opening concert takes place on September 18, with soloist Bruce Liu, and Jean-Guihen Queyras will be this season’s associate artist. A composer, Katia Makdissi-Warren, will also be in residence.
The various ensembles have been busy releasing albums in recent months.
The most recent dates from this summer, with François Lazarevitch and his Musicians from Saint-Julien offering two Mozart flute concertos and one for flute and harp. The ensemble has also had a busy year in terms of albums, with “Doux silence”, released by Alpha in April, featuring court airs and dances from the second half of the 17th century.
For its part, Solomon’s Knot seeks to highlight little-known works by Baroque composers with “Telemann: Late Church Music” (2024). The album has been praised for its musical quality and innovative interpretation.
Musica Sequenza‘s latest album was released in 2023, “Kassia”, in which Burak Ozdemir blends French Baroque music with Ottoman music. A reminder of his Turkish origins that creates a modern musical atmosphere around the Baroque. This summer, German audiences have heard them on several occasions, and they will be coming to Montreal for the first time for the Montreal Bach Festival.
Finally, it’s a first for Pavel Kolesnikov and Samson Tsoy, who have released their very first album on Harmonia Mundi, alternating works by Schubert and Desyatnikov. Critics rave about the quality of this recording, with Le Monde remarking that “the musicians give each note an ideal shape, between glass and velvet”.
The Les Eléments chamber choir celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2023! Their last season was a retrospective, and the choir had fun replaying works commissioned from numerous composers over the years. AKAMUS presents a series of concerts throughout the 2024/2025 season at Berlin’s Konzerthaus, featuring pieces from the repertoires of Mozart, Bach and Vivaldi. Finally, a year ago, Bruno Philippe made his debut with the Orchestre national de France. Since then, he has been invited to play with numerous orchestras in Europe, making for a 2023-2024 season rich in travel!
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
