The OSM is back for the summer

THE OSM IS BACK FOR THE SUMMER

beginning July 30

Mozart Plus Series: 4 rendezvous not to be missed

· July 30: Mozart and Bizet’s L’Arlésienne

· August 6: Pianist Stephen Kovacevich returns to the OSM

· August 13: Jean-Philippe Collard and the 23rd Concerto

· August 20: Sumi Jo sings Mozart and bel canto

OSM / Loto-Québec Concerts in the Parks: Tango gets pride of place

· August 7: Parc des Faubourgs, borough of Ville-Marie, Montreal

· August 9: Sportplexe George Springate, borough of Pierrefonds-Roxboro, Montreal

· August 12: Parc de l’Île des Moulins, Terrebonne

Festival Bel Canto in Knowlton: 2 weekends, 6 concerts

· August 15: Opening recital with Jennifer Larmore

· August 16: June Anderson and the OSM under the direction of Kent Nagano

· August 17: Bellini’s Norma, opera in concert version with the OSM and Kent Nagano

· August 22: Sumi Jo sings Mozart, Donizetti and Bellini with the OSM and Kent Nagano

· August 23: Gino Vannelli in concert

· August 24: Bellini’s Norma, opera in concert version with the OSM and Kent Nagano

Montreal, July 28, 2008 – The Orchestre symphonique de Montréal’s summer gets under way on July 30 with the Mozart Plus series at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier in Place des Arts, in the very heart of the entertainment district. The series, which has enjoyed great success for over 25 years, offers music lovers four concerts, two of them conducted by Maestro Kent Nagano, on Wednesday evenings at 7:30 from July 30 to August 20.

Coloratura soprano Sumi Jo, pianists Stephen Kovacevich and Jean-Philippe Collard, conductor Jean-François Rivest and violinist Andrew Wan, Grand Prize winner in the 2007 OSM Standard Life Competition, will be featured guests. On the program, some of Mozart’s best-loved works and great classics like Ravel’s La Valse, Bizet’s L’Arlésienne and Prokofiev’s First Symphony, the “Classical” – some of the highpoints in this edition of a series that has become an essential element of our cultural summer.

In its open-air summertime series, OSM / Loto-Québec Concerts in the Parks, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal is offering the public three free concerts: a concert at the Parc des Faubourgs in the borough of Ville-Marie in Montreal (corner of Ontario and De Lorimier), on August 7; another on August 9 at the Sportplexe George Springate in the borough of Pierrefonds-Roxboro in Montréal; and a third on August 12 at Parc de l’Île des Moulins in Terrebonne. For the second summer in a row, host and actor André Robitaille is the spokesman and host of these concerts, which are under the direction of Jean-François Rivest, the OSM’s conductor in residence.

Tango music performed by the group Quartango will have pride of place at these evenings, which will also present well-known works by Mozart, Mendelssohn and Johann Strauss. Quartango has conquered audiences all over Canada and in the United States, as well as in Tokyo, Taipei, Paris and São Paulo. The band also delighted spectators when they performed with the New York Pops at Carnegie Hall, as well as with the Orchestre symphonique de Québec and the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa. The series of four concerts they gave with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal attracted close to 60,000 people.

The Festival Bel Canto takes us to the banks of Brome Lake, in a rustic and cozy setting where six concerts spread out over two weekends will be presented under a tent accommodating 600 concert-goers. Two concert-version performances of the opera Norma, the masterpiece of Vincenzo Bellini, will be presented on Sunday, August 17 and 24, at 3 p.m. Mezzo-soprano Jennifer Larmore and pianist Antoine Palloc will launch the Festival on August 15 at 8 p.m., in a recital with piano. On August 16 at 8 p.m., soprano June Anderson and four young singers from the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia will take the stage with the OSM and Kent Nagano to perform some of the most beautiful arias and ensembles of Rossini and Donizetti.

The coloratura soprano Sumi Jo, meanwhile, will be the star of an evening devoted to Mozart, Rossini, Donizetti and Bellini under the direction of Kent Nagano on August 22 at 8 p.m. This concert will also be presented in Montreal on August 20 as part of the Mozart Plus series, again under Kent Nagano. On August 23, on a more popular note, well-known singer Gino Vannelli will do a show that includes excerpts from his most recent album, entitled “Canto,” with the Orchestre symphonique de Sherbrooke under the direction of Stéphane Laforest. Numerous free events will also be presented during the week in the framework of Festival Bel Canto.

Finally, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal will be performing as well on August 2 as part of the Festival de Lanaudière, in the Joliette amphitheatre. Kent Nagano will conduct the celebrated Verdi Requiem. In addition to the OSM Chorus, four soloists – Sondra Radvanovsky, soprano, Elena Maximova, mezzo-soprano, Arturo Chacón-Cruz, tenor, and John Relyea, bass – will take part in what is a legendary work in the vocal repertoire.

The Orchestre symphonique de Montréal is presented by Hydro-Québec

in association with National Bank