Notes Par/by Hélène Boucher & Crystal Chan
/ July 8, 2009
Apéro à l’Opéra : stage de formation
de l’Opéra de Montréal
Le 30e anniversaire de l’Opéra de
Montréal se profile et en prélude aux célébrations, un atelier lyrique
complet destiné aux chanteurs en herbe est organisé. Depuis le 19
juin, et jusqu’au 12 juillet prochain, les chanteurs non professionnels
sont invités à s’inscrire pour bénéficier d’un stage de perfectionnement
intensif de six semaines. Un programme varié débutant à l’automne
2009, une combinaison de cours de chant, jeu scénique, mise en scène,
diction et langue. La formation est calquée sur celle que suivent les
chanteurs de l’Atelier lyrique. L’Opéra de Montréal poursuit ainsi
une démarche de démocratisation du chant lyrique. Les six chanteurs
pourront développer considérablement leur talent en côtoyant des
maîtres de l’art vocal reconnus au Canada. Au terme de cet atelier,
les deux chanteurs s’étant le plus démarqués accéderont à la
scène de la Place des Arts pour participer à deux prestations majeures
: le Gala en décembre et une place au sein de la production de Tosca
en janvier 2010. www.operademontreal.com HB
Le Centre d’arts d’Orford se modernise
en grand
C’est le 25 juin dernier que fut dévoilé
un projet majeur de modernisation du Centre d’arts d’Orford. Mme
Christine St-Pierre, ministre de la Culture, des Communications et de
la Condition féminine, a annoncé qu’un montant de 6,85 M $ serait
versé dans le cadre de ces travaux d’envergure. M. Pierre Reid, député
d’Orford, a évoqué lors de la conférence de presse « le potentiel
d’attraction exceptionnel du Centre d’arts d’Orford pour la région
et le renouveau bien mérité pour ce haut lieu des amoureux de la musique
au Québec ». Le directeur général du Centre d’arts d’Orford,
M. Davis Joachim, a quant à lui rappelé le bienfait d’un tel soutien
financier du gouvernement québécois dans le maintien constant de la
mission du lieu voué aux plus grands maîtres du monde en musique classique
et aux jeunes musiciens, aux « artistes d’ici et d’ailleurs et
aux stagiaires provenant de 35 pays ». Le Centre d’arts d’Orford
s’inscrit parmi les grands lieux patrimoniaux du Québec. Fondé en
1951 par Gilles Lefebvre, il est situé dans l’enceinte du parc national
du Mont Orford. HB
Virginia Parker Prize Goes to Saxophonist
The Canada Council for the Arts awarded
Toronto-based saxophonist Wallace Halladay the annual $25,000 Virginia
Parker Prize on June 17. Halladay follows in the footsteps of past winners
such as Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Alain Trudel. The prize was established
in 1982 to award talented artists and conductors under the age of 32,
in hopes of furthering the careers of young Canadian classical musicians.
Although usually
hailed as a champion of new music, Halladay is a musical Renaissance
man and outstanding whether playing classical repertoire, contemporary
music, or much in between. A doctoral graduate of the Eastman School
of Music, Halladay is currently a soloist with the Vancouver Symphony
and the Esprit Orchestra but has also performed with the Kitchener-Waterloo
Symphony and new music groups across North America. Today, he teaches
at the University of Toronto.
CC
New Edition of Canadian Artists’
Guide
The Cultural Human Resources Council’s
Canadian Artist and Self-Employed Cultural Workers’ employment guide,
The Art of Managing Your Career, has just been re-released. The
new second edition features updated examples, websites, financial and
technology sections, as well as province-specific examples.
The guide is created by artists for artists and first
hit stands in 2002. Since then it has become an invaluable resource
for craft, dance and choreography, film and television, music and sound
recording, new media, theatre, visual arts, and writing and publishing
professionals. The Art of Managing Your Career
includes sections on the culture industry, self promotion, project management,
finances, and legal matters. It provides artists with access to one-stop
manuals on such integral information as the art of grant finding. The
free guide is also available in French: www.culturalhrc.ca CC
New Bill Changes Work Conditions for
Quebec Musicians
Act S-32.1, which deals with the professional
status and conditions of performing and recording artists in Quebec,
will be amended by Bill 32 on July 6. The changes mean that not only
performing artists will be protected under the Act, but also “other
persons who contribute directly to the creation of the artistic work”
such as sound engineers. The Bill also abolishes the Commission de reconnaissance
des associations d’artistes et des associations de producteurs and
transfers its functions to the Commission des relations du travail.
The Bill, which
protects music, theatre, dance, film, multimedia, and other artists
and entertainers, was formally initiated by The Guild of Musicians in
Quebec and other artist guilds. The GMQ hopes the abolition of CRAAP
will mean faster processing for artists’ concerns and less bureaucracy.
However, the GMQ believes there’s room for improvement: they are still
pushing for a modification of the Act in which producers who retain
the services of artists must work with the corresponding artist guilds
to directly negotiate work conditions. CC
Placement Culture announces new funds
Quebec Minister of Culture Christine
St-Pierre announced last month $10 million in new funds for Placement
Culture, the Quebec government endowment and reserve fund matching program
for arts organizations. Also new is the ability for organizations to
borrow against the reserve fund, effectively making these funds available
instead a wait of two years. The new money is expected to support approximately
80 organizations. Apply early as the funds are allocated on a first
come first serve basis. calq.gouv.qc.ca
14-9 Errata
In the article “Understanding Bruckner,”
it was stated that Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Orchestre Métropolitain
had recorded three of Bruckner’s symphonies (4, 7 and 9) whereas they
have only recorded the 7th and 9th to date, with plans to record the
complete cycle. LSM apologizes to writer Paul Robinson for the editorial
error.
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