Orchestre Classique de Montréal presents

Bach: Violin & Voice

This concert will feature some of J. S. Bach’s most virtuosic works for violin, voice, and orchestra.

Audience members will be treated to exhilarating performances by one of Canada’s most renowned young violinists, Kerson Leong, whose playing has been described by Le Monde as “a mixture of spontaneity and mastery, elegance, fantasy, and intensity”.

Internationally acclaimed soprano Dominique Labelle will charm listeners with the delightful “Wedding Cantata,” Weichet nur, betrübte Schatten, an ode to marriage and love.

Don’t miss this concert of one of the most famous baroque composers of all time, Johann Sebastian Bach featuring Canada’s top performers.

Artists
Kerson Leong, violin

Kerson Leong has been described as “not just one of Canada’s greatest violinists but one of the greatest violinists, period” (Toronto Star). Forging a unique path since his First Prize win at the International Yehudi Menuhin Violin Competition in 2010.

His 22/23 season includes solo performances with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Brussels Phiharmonic, Bilkent Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Tucson Symphony Orchestra, Toledo Symphony Orchestra, Quebec Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Métropolitain, Les Violons du Roy and Symphony Nova Scotia among others, as well as a tour of Sweden with the Camerata Nordica.

Dominique Labelle, soprano

Throughout her career, soprano Dominique Labelle has fearlessly plumbed the technical and emotional depths of music, turning in performances of “almost alarming ferocity” (San Francisco Chronicle), possessed of “conviction but without exhibitionism” (De Telegraf), that have “the audience hanging on every note” (Boston Globe).

Born in Montreal and trained at McGill and Boston Universities, Dominique enjoys sharing her technical and musical insights with young singers, and is Professor of Voice at the Schulich School of Music at McGill University. She has also taught master classes at The Classical Singers Convention in Boston, Harvard University, San Francisco Conservatory, Smith College, Vassar College, and the University of Massachusetts. In May of 2018, she was awarded the Schulich School of Music’s Outstanding Teacher Award, and in the fall of the same year, the prestigious Ruby Award by Opera Canada. During the previous year, she was honored at gala concerts by both Göttingen Handel Festival and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra for her extraordinary artistic contributions.

Geneviève Leclair, conductor

Geneviève Leclair is an active guest conductor with organizations across Canada, the United States and the U.K., Principal Guest Conductor with Orchestre Classique de Montréal and Associate Professor at Berklee College of Music, where she has been teaching since 2016. Highlights of her 2022-23 season include debuts with Orchestre Métropolitain, Orchestre Symphonique de Sherbrooke and Lowell Chamber Orchestra and return performances with Guelph Symphony,  Spartanburg Philharmonic and Ballet Spartanburg.

Geneviève holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Orchestral Conducting from Boston University under the tutelage of Maestro David Hoose. She had previously obtained Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in flute performance at Université de Montréal, the latter under the supervision of Mr. Denis Bluteau, former associate principal flutist of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. She also studied choral conducting with Dr. Ann Howard Jones and perfected her art through public and private master classes led by Boris Brott, Kenneth Kiesler, Carl Topilow, Susan Hoeppner, Camille Churchfield, André Papillon, Lise Daoust and Jeanne Baxtresser. In November 2010, she was invited by the National Arts Center Orchestra (Ottawa) to attend the first edition of their Canadian Conductors Workshop.

Repertoire
Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, BWV 1041
Violin Concerto No. 2 in E major, BWV 1042
Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, BWV 1048
Weichet nur, betrübte Schatten (Wedding Cantata), BWV 202

Salle Pierre-Mercure
To purchase your tickets visit: https://en.orchestre.ca

The Orchestre Classique de Montréal (OCM) was founded in 1939 by violinist, conductor, and composer Alexander Brott and cellist and manager Lotte Brott.

Previously named the McGill Chamber Orchestra, the OCM quickly became one of Canada’s most established chamber orchestras, touring five continents, recording extensively, and appearing regularly on radio and television.

Today, the OCM is a vibrant, innovative and flexible ensemble, made up of the best professional musicians in Montreal, which presents eclectic concert programs covering repertoire of all eras, from baroque to contemporary. Boris Brott, OC, OQ, the elder son and one of Canada’s most internationally renowned conductors, led the OCM from 2000 until his death in April 2022.