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Éditorial

Avec ce numéro, La Scena Musicale débute sa 9e année complète de travail en tant qu'organisme à but non-lucratif publiant un magazine et un site web consacrés à faire connaître les musiques classique et jazz. Le secret de notre longévité tient peut-être à notre capacité à répondre aux questions, si difficiles soient-elles, que se posent nos lecteurs et lectrices, fussent-ils novices, grands connaisseurs ou musiciens. Notre équipe de bénévoles et d'employés est toujours aussi motivée par la passion de partager avec vous, lecteurs et lectrices, les merveilles de la musique.

Dans ce numéro, nous répondons à des questions sur l'éducation musicale, la relation entre musique et santé à travers la musicothérapie et nous vous offrons un survol de la saison qui débute. La question de la motivation des musiciens débutants est abordée dans deux articles différents. S'il y a une bonne façon d'entretenir la motivation, c'est bien en assistant à des concerts offerts par des professionnels ! Pour vous aider à le faire, notre calendrier régional (p. 61), la liste la plus complète d'événements de nature musicale au Canada, vous offre chaque mois une foule de rendez-vous qui saurons vous divertir, vous émouvoir et vous inspirer. Vous trouverez des informations additionnelles sur la saison 2004-2005 telle qu'elle se déroulera à travers le Canada en visitant notre site internet à l'adresse www.scena.org.

Le financement de La Scena Musicale provient largement de nos revenus publicitaires, aussi le soutien important que démontrent nos annonceurs mois après mois doit-il être souligné à grands traits. Nous vous invitons à les soutenir à votre tour. Une autre façon de soutenir notre travail est de vous abonner, et vous trouverez à cet effet dans ces pages l'annonce d'une campagne d'abonnement qui pourra vous faire réaliser des économies appréciables. De plus, nous nous préparons à lancer notre troisième campagne annuelle de financement afin de maintenir l'accessibilité de La Scena Musicale.

Je vous souhaite une très belle année musicale.

Wah Keung Chan Éditeur co-fondateur / directeur

Editorial

With this issue, La Scena Musicale begins its 9th full year dedicated to promoting the classical music and jazz communities as a non-profit charitable magazine and Web site. The guiding philosophy behind LSM's endurance is our mission to ask and answer intriguing questions on classical music that resonate with our varied readership, from novice to expert, and musicians of all kinds. Our team of dedicated volunteers and staff is once again inspired to share with you, our readers, music's wonders.

In this issue, we answer questions on music education, how music relates to palliative care, and what to look out for in the upcoming fall season. The problem of how to motivate music students is dealt with in two articles. An important aspect of this type of motivation is attendance to concerts at the professional level; our regional calendar (see p. 61), the most comprehensive listing of music events in Canada, offers another monthly bounty of events that are designed to entertain, move, and inspire. Complete Canadian season planning information can be found at www.scena.org.

Funding for La Scena Musicale is derived predominantly through advertising sales revenues; our advertisers' ongoing support should be applauded. In addition, we are launching a subscription drive and our third annual fundraising campaign to help La Scena Musicale's continued accessibility.

Have a joyful musical year.

Wah Keung Chan Co-founding publisher/editor

La Scena Musicale - prochaines numéros / Next Issues

À ne pas manquer en octobre 2004: Dossier « Guitare »

* En couverture le compositeur et guitariste Tim Brady

* Coup d'oeil sur Chitarra 04, le festival de la Guitar Foundation of America, qui se tiendra à Montréal du 24 au 30 octobre

* Entrevue avec maestro Gilles Bellemare sur ses transcriptions symphoniques de la musique de Richard Desjardins... Et beaucoup plus!

À venir en novembre 2004 : Dossier « Éducation supérieure »

Not to be missed in October 2004: Focus on Guitar

* On the cover composer and guitarist Tim Brady

* A look at Chitarra 04, the Guitar Foundation of America festival, which will be held in Montreal, October 24-30

* Interview with maestro Gilles Bellemare on his symphonic arrangements of Richard Desjardins's music... And much more!

Coming in November 2004

Focus on Higher Education

Movers and Shakers

July and August have seen a great deal of movement within the ranks of prominent opera companies and orchestras this season. For starters, Tugan Sokhiev, appointed in 2001 as music director of the Welsh National Opera (WNO), has terminated his contract. Carlo Rizzi, the WNO's former music director (1992-2001), returns to the post.

As part of its astonishing recent rejuvenation, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra has recently announced that 32 year old French conductor Stéphane Denève will be its new principal conductor starting with the 2005-06 season. Denève will succeed Alexander Lazarev, making him one of the youngest directors in the orchestra's 113 year history.

In mid-August, conductor Nicholas McGegan announced that he will step down as music director of the Limerick-based Irish Chamber Orchestra following the 2004-05 season. The decision was the result of his increasing demand as an international guest conductor, which includes: New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, and St Paul Chamber Orchestra. McGegan is considered to be one of the world's leading authorities on baroque and classical music.

Angel Romero, brother of virtuoso Pepe Romero, has successfully made the leap from concert guitarist to music director and principal conductor of Tijuana's tumultuous Baja California Orchestra. Romero intends to increase the ensemble's size along with its budget, ultimately transforming it into a world class organization. He is already in the process of planning concerts for the chamber ensemble, which will make its New York debut in March at Manhattan's Lincoln Center.

After 20 seasons with the Cleveland Orchestra, Blossom festival director Jahja Ling will call it quits after the 2005 festival season. Ling has led the event over more than 400 concerts and says he will miss the listeners and people in the Blossom community dearly. Ling quoted a Chinese saying to reflect upon his decision to leave the festival: "There is no party without an end." The Cleveland Orchestra has decided it will not renew the position of Blossom festival director after Ling steps down.

In early August the London Symphony Orchestra announced the loss of its most forward-thinking leader. Clive Gillinson will be leaving his long held position as managing director of the LSO to begin a tenure running New York's famed Carnegie Hall.

In July, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra music director Bramwell Tovey announced Newfoundland's Mark Fewer, one of Canada's most promising violinists, to be the new concertmaster and to act as Tovey's right hand man effective September 2004. Michael Vincent

Concours de l'OSM

La 65e édition du Concours de l'Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (OSM), une tradition depuis les années quarante, aura lieu du 11 au 14 novembre 2004 à la Chapelle historique du Bon-Pasteur. Le Concours, dont le commanditaire en titre est maintenant le groupe Standard Life, est ouvert à l'échelle nationale aux jeunes musiciens canadiens et sera consacré aux cordes et au chant.

Les gagnants des premiers prix auront la chance de se produire en concert avec l'OSM, une chance qui n'a certes pas desservit les récipiendaires précédents, parmi lesquels on compte Denis Brott, Angela Cheng, James Ehnes, Janina Fialkowska, Lyne Fortin, Sandra Graham, Ofra Harnoy, Angela Hewitt, Chantal Juillet, André Laplante, Nicole Lorange, Louis Lortie, Marie-Danielle Parent ou Joseph Rouleau, qui agira par ailleurs cette année comme président d'honneur de l'événement.

Les règlements et le formulaire d'inscription sont disponibles en ligne (www.osm.ca). Les inscriptions doivent être envoyées à l'OSM au plus tard le vendredi 1er octobre 2004, le cachet de la poste en faisant foi. Réjean Beaucage

Composer Secures Canada's Presence at Olympic Podium

Canada has been assured a presence on the medal podium at the 2004 Olympic games in Athens this summer thanks to the efforts of a little-known Canadian composer named Peter Breiner. Over the past year, Breiner has been busily arranging, conducting, and recording 204 national anthems to be played at all the events throughout the summer games. "I have spent 90 hours in the studio with the 90-member symphonic orchestra," says Breiner. "We had to boost it up shortly before the Olympics because some anthems were changing as we were working on them, and final versions needed to be approved by national representations." Some national anthems were changed up to four times, while others needed to be shortened to fit into the allotted time constraints. Breiner landed the job based his past accomplishments, which include producing the six-CD Complete National Anthems of the World compilation album and the distinction of handling all anthems played during the 2002 World Cup of soccer. Michael Vincent

CPO Posts Best Operating Surplus in over 10 years

After going into bankruptcy protection two years ago, the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra (CPO) has recently reported a positive operating surplus of $135,000, putting both orchestra organizers and Calgarians at ease. The orchestra had to suspend operations in October 2002 for 45 days following its filing of a court protection from its creditors before starting an aggressive $1.5m fundraising campaign to help it stay afloat. Over the 2003-04 season, the orchestra managed a reasonable $6.7m in expenses with a total revenue of $6.8m, leaving room for the modest surplus. CPO president Mike Bregazzi credits the surplus on the implementation of a streamlined business model that focused on restructuring operations, hiring new management, cutting musicians' pay by 20 per cent, lucrative sponsoring contracts, and support from Calgarians via donations and ticket sales. Larry Fichtner, Chairman of the Calgary Philharmonic Society Board of Directors, was thrilled with the results and expressed a genuine optimism for the future of the city's only symphony orchestra. The 2004-05 season offers an exciting and unique program of music that will hopefully help put an end to the CPO's financial difficulties. Lori Crawford, Director of Marketing and Sales, assures sales will remain brisk and expects sold-out concerts for the season ahead. Michael Vincent

St Lawrence String Quartet finds new cellist

Two years ago, Canada's foremost chamber ensemble was given the heartbreaking news that its long time cellist Marina Hoover was to leave the ensemble to live with her husband and son in Chicago. The task of finding a new cellist proved to be difficult for the quartet. They carefully selected 15 cellists to informally jam with them, thereby exploring the collective's interactive chemistry. One cellist immediately captured the imagination of the group, but although Italian cellist Alberto Parrini proved himself to be a fine performer, it soon became clear that the arrangement was not going to work out in the long term. The search continued until they found American cellist Chris Costanza, who, unlike Parrini, was a quartet veteran as well as a member of the Chicago String Quartet. Violinists Geoff Nuttall and Barry Schiffman, and violist Lesley Robertson, agreed that Chris was the most impressive cellist they had ever played with. The quartet acknowledged. After a spectacular recent morning concert at the Spoleto Festival in South Carolina, quartet acknowledged that Costanza will be joining the St Lawrence Quartet as its new principal cellist. Michael Vincent

Possible fraud prompts NJS to conduct internal review

The New Jersey Symphony is fearing the worst after having purchased a number of rare instruments from the notorious American Monmouth County philanthropist Herbert Axelrod in February of 2003. According to a published report, orchestra officials have officially launched an internal review of the $17m deal with Axelrod, who has since been indicted on two counts of tax fraud and arrested in Germany after first fleeing to Cuba and then Switzerland. Several experts have determined that four violins and a cello were almost certainly not made by the craftsmen originally believed to have made them. The experts also assert that the prices of three violins by Antonio Stradivari were inflated by as much as half their actual value, and that a $3.3m violin reputedly made by Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesu was probably the work of his father and was worth less than $1m. A US federal grand jury investigation is looking into this and another transaction in which Axelrod allegedly donated four instruments valued at $50m to the Smithsonian Institute in 1997. The probe will focus on whether Axelrod inflated the instruments' value in both deals to pad his tax deductions. It is not known if Axelrod will return to New Jersey voluntarily to face the tax charges. Michael Vincent

Lancement de Circuit

Le volume 14 numéro 3 de la revue Circuit – musiques contemporaines, publiée par les Presses de l'Université de Montréal, sera lancé dans le courant du mois de septembre. Le numéro, dirigé par notre collègue Réjean Beaucage, a pour thème Frank Zappa – 10 ans après. On trouve des contributions, en français, des musicologues Louise Morand et Nicolas Masino, de la spécialiste en didactique des langues Nathalie Gatti et du compositeur Michel F. Côté. Du côté anglais, on trouve des contributions du journaliste britannique Ben Watson et du compositeur montréalais John Rea. Le numéro compte aussi 11 illustrations originales de l'artiste américain Cal Schenkel, qui fut responsable du graphisme pour de nombreuses pochettes de disques de Zappa, plusieurs desquelles sont considérées comme de véritables chefs-d'oeuvre. Pour infos: (514) 343-6388, info@revuecircuit.ca