Orchestre classique de Montréal (OCM) presents

TALES AND MELODIES

Presented by Harriet & Marvin Corber

Enjoy an evening of intercultural musical storytelling, featuring works by Maurice Ravel and Régent Levasseur.

Discover the Indigenous sounds of Levasseur’s violin concerto Farewell to the Warriors featuring Mohawk violinist Tara-Louise Montour. Discover the exoticism of Ravel’s Scheherazade in a special arrangement by OCM’s resident arranger François Vallières and featuring Quebec’s star mezzo-soprano Julie Boulianne, as well as Ravel’s Petite symphonie à cordes. Additionally, Ms. Boulianne and pianist Jean-Philippe Sylvestre will perform Ravel’s famous Five Greek Folk Songs.

Each concert of the OCM’s 82nd season, entitled Women of Distinction, honours a great woman from outside the music world who has left her mark on the community. At the start of this concert, the OCM honours renowned Innu poet Joséphine Bacon.

Soloists
Julie Boulianne, mezzo-soprano

French-Canadian mezzo-soprano Julie Boulianne is acclaimed for the vocal agility and expressive power of her dark-hued tone, focusing on the works of Berlioz, Mozart, and Rossini. The Independent recently said, “Julie Boulianne’s Marguerite is gloriously sung, her sound replete with grace and power.”

​During the 2021-2022 season, Ms. Boulianne returns to the Metropolitan Opera as the title role in Massenet’s Cinderella, in a new production for family audiences, the Wiener Staatsoper as Charlotte in Werther, and both the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, and the Glyndebourne Festival as Dorabella in Così fan tutte. Additionally, in her native Québec, she joins Opéra de Montréal as Rose Valland in the world premiere of Julien Bilodeau’s La Beauté du Monde and Opéra de Québec as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni.

A graduate of McGill University’s Schulich School of Music, Juilliard, and Université de Montréal, Julie Boulianne won First Prize in both the Canadian Music Competition and the Joy of Singing Competition in New York. She has been awarded the International Vocal Arts Institute’s Silverman Prize, and in 2007, the Prix de la Chambre des Directeurs for Most Promising Career at the Concours International de Chant de Montréal.

Tara-Louise Montour, violin

Tara-Louise Montour, who was born in Kahnawake, is considered North America’s foremost Aboriginal classical violinist and she has carved a special niche for herself in the world of classical music through her commissions and exploration of music inspired by indigenous themes and melodies.

She has appeared as soloist with the Orchestre Metropolitain (Yannick Nezet Seguin conductor), Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra (Yannick Nezet Seguin, conductor) McGill Chamber Orchestra, (Boris Brott, conductor) Hamilton Philharmonic, (Michael Reason, conductor) and Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra, (Geoffrey Moull, conductor).

A member of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra (JoAnn Falletta, conductor), Ms. Montour has been invited on several occasions to give solo recitals at the Museum of the American Indian at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC.  Montour was laureate of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal String Competition, Canadian Music Competition, and Vanier College Interpretation Competition. She received a Licentiate of Music from McGill University and a Master of Music from Northern Illinois University.

Jean-Philippe Sylvestre, piano

In 2008, Jean-Philippe Sylvestre was awarded the prestigious Virginia Parker Prize, the highest distinction awarded by the Canada Council for the Arts. Recipient of the first prize and the people’s choice award at the Montreal Symphony Orchestra’s competition, he is also a laureate of the CBC’s National Competition for Young Performers, the people’s choice award and the Concertino Praga International Competition.

Boris Brott, conductor

Repertoire
Scheherazade – M. Ravel, arr. F. Vallières
Farewell to the Warriors – R. Levasseur
Five Greek Folk Songs – M. Ravel
Petite Symphonie à cordes – M. Ravel, orch. R. Barshai

In-person concert at Pierre-Mercure Hall
Tuesday, November 23, 2021 at 7:30pm

Web Broadcast is available from
November 23, 2021 at 7:30pm until December 7, 2021

To purchase tickets to the in-person concert or web broadcast visit: www.orchestre.ca