Editorial

Version française...

Beginning the 8th year of publication of La Scena Musicale is cause to celebrate. Over the course of seven full years of service to the promotion of classical music and jazz in Canada, we've published 2978 pages, over 2,229,000 copies and 33,400 print calendar listings, 556 articles, 118 interviews and 1174 CD reviews. The average number of pages has increased from only 10 in the first year to an anticipated 80-page magazine each month this year.

In the coming year, La Scena Musicale will endeavour to improve the quality of the magazine by having whiter internal paper. Our circulation will increase by 5% to 42,000 copies as we continue our mission to promote classical music by distributing copies to wherever there are classical music lovers. (By the way, don't hesitate to contact us if you want to distribute 25 copies or more of LSM at your office or business.)

La Scena Musicale prides itself in its attention to detail and excellence. Thanks to a dedicated team of staff and volunteers, each article is conceived with care. Our non-profit charitable organization, La Scène Musicale/The Music Scene, continues our mission to promote classical music through other activities: La Scena Musicale Online , one of the world's leading classical music websites, The Music Scene magazine which promotes classical music in Ontario and Western Canada, the Canadian Student Writing Contest, and the Bring a Teen! Program.

Seven years is a milestone for any company or organization, as it shows longevity. While there is good news, a few sombre notes. Budgets are tight and the classical recording industry has been in distress. LSM has been conscious of the need to derive larger portions of our revenues from non-musical sources.

This task has been made more difficult recently with the cut of $30,000 to the budget of our print magazine when the Canada Magazine Fund stopped funding free magazines (announced on July 8, 2003). Beginning April 2004, LSM will not receive any government grants for operating expenses. To put things in perspective, consider that in 2002, LSM only received $62 of funding per editorial page and $2200 per issue while some arts magazines with fewer copies and sold through the newsstand enjoy $700 per editorial page and $50,000 per issue. Moreover, unlike many Canadian magazines and newspapers, LSM has never benefited from any federal or provincial government advertising.

Our fundraising team has organized the following initiatives to help compensate for this lost of government funding.

• Our 2^nd Benefit Gala will be held on September 17th, featuring the vocal artistry of tenor John Mac Master, mezzo Annamaria Popescu and soprano Mirela Tafaj accompanied by Michael McMahon. All four artists have graciously donated their fees to help LSM.
• Thanks to the generosity of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, L'Opéra de Montréal, Société Pro Musica and Société André-Turp, we are pleased to introduce LSM Benefit Passport, two concert series designed to showcase the vocal arts and the piano. The vocal series includes an opera selected from the two Montreal premieres offered by the Opéra de Montréal (Thaïs and the twin bill Bluebeard's Castle/Erwartung), a vocal concert performance by Canadian contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux and the MSO, and a vocal piano recital by German baritone Dietrich Henschel, the André-Turp Musical Society's promising international discovery this year. The piano series offers concerts by two leading international rising stars: French virtuoso Claire-Marie Le Guay in solo recital with Pro Musica, and Chinese wunderkind Lang Lang playing Beethoven with the MSO. Tickets are limited and all the proceeds go towards LSM.
• LSM Membership Club. Thanks to a marketing grant from the City of Montreal, LSM will be launching a membership club in the coming months to allow our readers to become more involved in Canada's classical music scene. Stay tuned for details!
• LSM Opera Weekend in Toronto. In collaboration with the Canadian Opera Company, La Scena Musicale presents its second opera weekend in Toronto on April 17 and 18, 2004 for Wagner's Die Walküre (the jewel of the composer's Ring Cycle) and Verdi's masterpiece, Rigoletto.

And how can you help LSM? We make an appeal to businesses to take advantage of LSM's 80,000 discriminating readers by advertising in the magazine, or by making a donation. As an individual, you can recommending LSM to your company's marketing or sponsorship departments. And give a copy to a friend.

Studies show that between 10 to 15% of the population like classical music. Although you are a minority, be proud. We are.

Wah Keung Chan, President, The Music Scene/La Scène Musicale