The Orchestre Métropolitain and its artistic director and principal conductor, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, have announced the programming for the orchestra’s 2019-2020 season at the Maison symphonique de Montréal and in boroughs around the city. The orchestra, which continues to attract ever larger and more enthusiastic audiences, has unveiled a season that spotlights female soloists, composers and conductors.

Looking forward to his 20th season on the podium of the Orchestre Métropolitain, Yannick Nézet-Séguin is delighted at the spirit of collaboration he has developed with the musicians over the last two decades and also at the opportunities they have to share their passion for music through exciting projects.

Nézet-Séguin stated; “When offered the position of Orchestre Métropolitain’s Artistic Director and Principal Conductor, I accepted with great humility and with gratitude at being able to work in my hometown. Today, the pride I share with my extended family of musicians and friends of the OM is greater than ever. Dear concertgoers, how delightful it is to be in perfect harmony with you and for you.”

The orchestra will welcome many women from here and abroad during its 39th season. On the podium, conductors Alondra de la Parra, Han-Na Chang, Jane Glover and Elim Chan will add their colours to the concerts. Among guest soloists, violist Marina Thibeault and singers Karina Gauvin, Carolyn Sampson and Julie Boulianne will demonstrate the range of their virtuosity. From Clara Schumann to Karen Sunabacka and Violet Archer, works composed by women will resound in the Maison Symphonique and borough venues.

In November 2019, the Orchestre Métropolitain will tour the United States. Following the striking success of the ensemble’s recent European tour, the Montreal conductor will, for the first time, present his Quebec orchestra to audiences in the cities of Chicago, Ann Arbor and Philadelphia as well as at New York City’s legendary Carnegie Hall. Also joining the tour will be one of the world’s most acclaimed signers, mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato. In a unique presentation, Conductor Yanniack Nezet-Seguin will be the pianist accompanying the soloist in Mozart’s concert aria Ch’io mi scordi di te.

The new season will also feature a first coproduction with the Opéra de Montréal: Beethoven’s Fidelio, the composer’s only opera. Yannick Nézet-Séguin has assembled a prestigious international cast for the occasion, which will be presented in a concert version as a prelude to next year’s celebrations of the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth.

Proud of its artistic collaborations and long-term projects, the Orchestre Métropolitain will continue its cycles of Shostakovich and Sibelius symphonies and complete its Rachmaninoff piano concerto cycle with soloist in residence Nicholas Angelich; who was named instrumental soloist of the year at the 2019 Victoire’s de la Musique Classique awards. Next season will also provide an opportunity to hear the Montreal premiere of Stravinsky’s Funeral Song, a work lost a century ago and rediscovered only recently. Returning to the OM will be violinist Benjamin Beilman and conductors Nicholas Carter and Nicolas Ellis, the latter also serving as the OM’s artistic partner for a second season.

Subscription ticket packages are now on sale, and individual concert tickets go on sale June 3. For information about the 2019-2020 season, please visit: www.orchestremetropolitain.com

THE PROGRAMMING AT A GLANCE
Regular concerts Berlioz in Italy
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor
Marina Thibeault, viola
Berlioz: Le Carnaval Romain
Archer: Poem for Orchestra
Respighi: Fountains of Rome
Berlioz: Harold en Italie
Sunday, September 29, 3pm, Maison symphonique de Montréal

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The New World Symphony
Alondra de la Parra, conductor
Mélanie Harel, English horn
Copland Appalachian Spring, Suite
Sunabacka: English Horn Concerto (premiere)
Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 “From the New World”

Thursday, October 10, 7:30pm at Maison symphonique de Montréal
Friday, October 11, 8pm Pointe-Claire

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Joyce DiDonato and Yannick Nézet-Séguin
*Grand M Concert
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor
Joyce DiDonato, mezzo-soprano
Mozart: Ch’io mi scordi di te
Mozart: La Clemenza di Tito: Parto, parto
Bruckner: Symphony No. 4 “Romantic”

Sunday, November 17, 7:30pm, Maison symphonique de Montréal

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Karina Gauvin and Les Illuminations
Nicholas Carter, conductor
Karina Gauvin, soprano
Elgar: In the South (Alassio)
Britten: Les Illuminations
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5

Thursday, December 12, 7:30pm, Maison symphonique de Montréal
Tuesday, December 10, 7:30pm, Pierrefonds–Roxboro
Wednesday, December 11, 7:30pm, Verdun

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Mozart Larger-than-Life
*Concert Grand M
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor
Carolyn Sampson, soprano
Julie Boulianne, mezzo-soprano
Jonas Hacker, tenor
Philippe Sly, bass-baritone
Choeur Métropolitain, prepared by François A. Ouimet and Pierre Tourville
Hétu: Symphony No. 5
Mozart: Great Mass in C minor

Friday, February 7, 2020, 7:30pm, Maison symphonique de Montréal

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Han-Na Chang Conducts Shostakovich
Han-Na Chang, conductor
Benjamin Beilman, violin
BEETHOVEN: Violin Concerto
SHOSTAKOVICH: Symphony No. 10

Friday, February 28, 2020 7:30pm, Maison symphonique de Montréal
Wednesday, February 26, 7:30pm, LaSalle

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A Tale of Two Cities
Jane Glover, conductor
Louis-Philippe Marsolais, horn
Handel: Water Music, Suite No. 2
Mozart: Horn Concerto No. 1
Haydn: Symphony No. 85 “La Reine”
Bourget: Horn Concerto (premiere)
Mozart: Symphony No. 31 “Paris”

Saturday, March 21, 2020, 7:30pm, Maison symphonique de Montréal
Wednesday, March 18, 2020, 7:30 pm, Verdun
Friday, March 20, 8pm, Pointe-Claire

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Angelich and the Emperor
Elim Chan, conductor
Nicholas Angelich, piano (soloist in residence)
Connesson: Flammenschrift
Schumann: Symphony No. 4
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 “Emperor”

Friday, April 17, 2020, 7:30pm, Maison symphonique de Montréal
Thursday, April 16, 7:30pm, Ahuntsic–Cartierville

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Brahms, Nielsen, Rachmaninoff
Nicolas Ellis, conductor and artistic partner
Yukari Cousineau, violin
Brahms: Variations on a Theme by Haydn
Nielsen: Violin Concerto
Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 1

Friday, May 8, 7:30pm, Maison symphonique de Montréal
Tuesday, May 5, 7:30pm, Saint-Laurent
Wednesday, May 6, 2020, 7:30pm, Verdun
Thursday, May 7, 7:30pm, Pierrefonds–Roxboro
Saturday, May 9, 7:30pm, Saint-Léonard

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Sibelius and Rachmaninoff – Program 1
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor
Nicholas Angelich, piano (soloist in residence)
STRAVINSKY: Funeral Song
RACHMANINOFF: Piano Concerto No. 1
SIBELIUS: Symphony No. 3
RAVEL: La Valse

Friday, May 22, 2020, 7:30pm, Maison symphonique de Montréal

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Sibelius and Rachmaninoff – Program 2
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor
Nicholas Angelich, piano (soloist in residence)
STRAVINSKY: Funeral Song
RACHMANINOFF: Piano Concerto No. 2
SIBELIUS: Symphony No. 3
RAVEL: La Valse

Saturday, May 23, 2020, 3pm, Maison symphonique de Montréal

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The Orchestre Metropolitain will present and additional three special concerts.

Orchestre Métropolitain

Maestro and the Orchestre Metropolitain musicians acknowledging applause Photo: Francois Goupil