Notes
July 31, 2007
New Direction for Chamberfest
Natasha Gauthier
Three months ago, most Ottawans
had never heard of Tristan Lauber. While the Montreal pianist has performed
here, most notably at a 2003 gala for the Ottawa International Chamber
Music Festival, he doesn’t have strong ties to the city. So on April
13, when the Chamber Festival announced that Lauber would be its interim
artistic director, it raised a few eyebrows. After all, this isn’t
just any summer job.
To recap: Julian Armour,
who founded the festival 14 years ago and grew it from a modest happening
to the world’s biggest celebration of chamber music, resigned in early
March over differences with the board. Organizers were scrambling to
fill Armour’s shoes while dealing with a public relations nightmare
and trying to finish planning this summer’s edition. Enter Lauber.
“Actually, I approached
the Festival,” Lauber says. “I had played there before. I had been
really impressed and I thought I could help out. It’s such an important
event. I called André [Laplante, one of Lauber’s teachers and a friend]
and suggested we do something together, because we both believe in the
festival.”
Laplante acted as artistic
advisor, along with Ottawa violinist Renée-Paule Gauthier and Montreal
conductor/violist Jean-Philippe Tremblay. Although Armour had already
booked most of this year’s headliners, the team completed the programming
in a few short weeks.
The transition hasn’t been
entirely smooth. The program has been criticized for the reduced number
of concerts, the heavy emphasis on solo piano, and the elimination of
the two-day new music marathon. After the lineup was announced, it took
several weeks for any information to be posted on the website. Benefit
concerts in June by Laplante, MSO principal trumpeter Paul Merkelo and
the Petits Chanteurs de Monaco were not vigorously promoted and attendance
suffered (the Laplante recital conflicted not only with Game 5 of the
Ottawa-Anaheim Stanley Cup playoffs, but also with a NAC Orchestra concert).
Once this year’s edition
wraps up, the board will start searching for a permanent artistic director
in earnest. Board Chair Colin Cooke has said he wouldn’t rule out
il ritorno di Julian, but only if both sides can reach an agreement,
although that appears less likely as the months pass. Cooke has also
indicated that the quest for a new director would include a review of
the board and its governing structure.
As for Lauber, he says that
while he’s enjoying his stint in the captain’s chair, he has no
plans to stay on permanently. “I’m having a blast, and everyone
has been great, but it’s a ton of work,” he says. “I really want
to concentrate on my performing career, and I can’t do both. This
was always intended to be a temporary thing.”
The 2007 Ottawa Chamber Music
Festival runs July 21-August 4. Visit
www.chamberfest.com for all the
details.
Nouvelles de Concours / Competition
News
• Un médecin de la ville de Birmingham,
en Alabama, a gagné le concours Van Cliburn Amateurs, qui se
déroulait cette année à Fort Worth, au Texas. Après des études
à la Manhattan School of Music et au Conservatoire de musique de Hanovre,
en Allemagne, Drew Mays avait cessé de jouer pendant quinze ans pour
pratiquer la médecine et ne s’est remis à la pratique du piano qu’en
2002. Il a livré une chaude lutte à 75 participants venus de sept
pays. Toutes nos félicitations!
• Durant le mois d’avril, 120 chanteurs
ont participé à la quatorzième séance d’auditions nationales des
Jeunes ambassadeurs lyriques, organisées par le Théâtre Lyrichorégra
20. Cette année, 21 chanteurs ont été retenus par le jury pour participer
à un gala de sélection finale, qui aura lieu le 17 novembre prochain
et au cours duquel des bourses et prix supplémentaires seront accordés.
Parmi les chanteurs en lice se trouvent les sopranos Marianne Lambert,
Émily Duncan-Brown, Caroline Bleau, Leticia Brewer, Marie-Ève Munger,
Amelia Watkins (toutes des Montréalaises), Laura Albino, Allison Cecilia
Arends, Farah Hack, Yannick Muriel Noah, Joslin Romphf, Whitney-Leah
Sloan, Sandra Tucker et Deanne Wells. Les mezzo-sopranos finalistes
sont Krista de Silva, Mireille Lebel, Erin Lawson, Lauren Phillips,
Liliana Piazza et Dionne Sellinger. Deux barytons ont été choisis
cette année: Clarence Logan et Marc-Antoine d’Aragon.
• 17-year-old Rozalyn Chok brought
home first prize ($4000) at last May’s Bösendorfer National Piano
Concerto Competition for Canadian pianists between the ages of 16
and 23. The event was organized by the Toronto Symphony Volunteer committee.
ANNIVERSAIRE DE MUSICIENS CÉLÈBRES
2 juillet 1714 Christoph W. Gluck
(d.1787)
7 juillet 1860 Gustav Mahler
(d.1911)
24 juillet 1880 Ernest Bloch (d.1959)
26 juillet 1791 F. X. Mozart (d.1844)
4 août 1901 Louis Armstrong (d.1971)
13 août 1948 Kathleen Battle
15 août 1925 Oscar Peterson
21 août 1904 Count Basie (d.1984)
22 août 1862 Claude Debussy (d.1918)
26 août 1960 Branford Marsalis
29 août 1920 Charlie Parker (d.1955) |