The McGill Chamber Orchestra begins its 76th season

The McGill Chamber Orchestra begins its 76th season featuring violinist and Toronto Symphony Orchestra concertmaster, Jonathan Crow

The McGill Chamber Orchestra (MCO) under the baton of conductor Boris Brott, begins its 2015-2016 season on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2015, at 7:30pm, at the Bourgie Hall with a concert featuring works by Québec composers from the first half of the 20th century. This concert, in collaboration with the Fondation Arte Musica, is linked to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts’ exhibit 1920s Modernism in Montreal: the Beaver Hall Group, which opens to the public on October 24th, 2015. This partnership aims to introduce works by artists who played an important role in Montreal’s artistic, musical and pictorial life.

This exhibit will shed a new light on a group of artists whose production gave a particular flavour to Montreal and Canada’s artistic life during the 1920s: it constitutes one of the most original manifestations of pictorial modernity in Canada. In a sense, these artists have been to Montreal what the Group of Seven represented for Toronto.

The concert program includes Trois Préludes by Rodolphe Mathieu, Three Eskimos – “Weather Incantation” by Léo-Pol Morin, Danse villageoise and Berceuse pour petit orchestre by Claude Champagne, Fantaisie by Auguste Descarries, Ritual by Alexander Brott, Interlude in an Artist’s Life by John Weinzweig, the St. Paul’s Suite by Gustav Holst, The Lark Ascending by Ralph Vaughan Williams as well as Maurice Ravel’s beloved Tzigane.

The soloist for this concert will be the renowned violinist Jonathan Crow, concertmaster of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Born in British-Columbia, Mr. Crow was the former concertmaster of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra between 2002 and 2006, thus becoming the youngest concertmaster of a major North-American orchestra. As a soloist, Mr. Crow has appeared with numerous Canadian orchestras and has collaborated with reputed conductors such as Charles Dutoit, Kent Nagano and Sir Yehudi Menuhin. He taught at the Schulich School of Music (McGill University) and is currently Associate Professor of Violin at the University of Toronto. Strong defender of contemporary music, he premiered works by Canadian composers such as Ana Sokolović, Marjan Mozetich, Christos Hatzis and Ernest MacMillan.

The MCO is very pleased to welcome this season Mary-Elizabeth Brown as its recently appointed concertmaster. Praised for her “ability to unfold bittersweet magic” (Rhein Main Presse) and her “perfect command of her instrument” (Florsheim Zeitung), she enjoys a busy schedule as a chamber musician, recitalist and concertmaster. A graduate of the University of Toronto as well as the Université de Montréal, she was a concertmaster under renowned conductors such as Lorin Maazel, Krzysztof Penderecki, Helmuth Rilling and Placido Domingo. As a soloist, she has recently toured Europe, Asia as well as North and South America.

The McGill Chamber Orchestra

Celebrating 76 years of professional chamber music, the McGill Chamber Orchestra is one of Canada’s most renowned chamber groups. Since 2000, the MCO is under the Artistic Direction of conductor Boris Brott, Doctor of Music honoris causa. The orchestra is a vibrant ensemble consisting of the best professional musicians and presents concerts throughout the year in the best halls of Montreal. For more information about the 2015-2016 Season, please visit ocm-mco.org. For tickets please call: 514-285-2000, option #4.