Bourgie Hall presents

Les Rugissants – Marisol/Fragments

Like reassembled fragments of mirrors, this concert explores the life of Marisol Escobar as well as her social, political, and cultural environment. It traces her Catholic upbringing, Latin American background, the Cold War she lived through, and the feminism she championed.

In connection with the exhibition Marisol: A Retrospective

Artists
Les Rugissants

Founded by its conductor and artistic director Xavier Brossard-Ménard, the ensemble deploys projects that explore current themes and new formats for vocal and choral art. For Les Rugissants, music knows no limits and they rejoice to sing classical, folk, and popular works. All this to account for the world in which we live!

Les Rugissants love to incorporate other disciplines  (dance, theatre, architecture, culinary arts) and a variety of cultures (Spanish, Italian, Ukrainian, Jewish) in their performances. They also love to forge alliances and partnerships (FIFA, the Canadian International Organ Competition, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal Museum of the Hospitallers, Casa d’Italia, Italian Cultural Institute of Montreal).

Xavier Brossard-Ménard, conductor

Known for his fiery spirit, lively interpretations and innovative programming, Xavier Brossard-Ménard is the artistic director and conductor of the professional vocal ensemble Les Rugissants.

In 2018, he conducted the Orchestre symphonique de Longueuil in a Latin program for choir and orchestra, and again in 2019 for the 100th anniversary celebrations of the Saint-Lambert Choral Society in a flamboyant program featuring Vaughan Williams and Bernstein. In the 2020-21 season, he became Assistant Conductor of the Orchestre classique de Montréal and the Brott Music Festival, conducting more than 10 symphonic concerts. In 2022, he conducted the Moroccan Philharmonic Orchestra in a Vivaldi program, with the violinist Christophe Quatremer by his side.

Over the course of his career, he has directed several renowned ensembles including Les Muses Chorale, the Toronto Children’s Chorus, the McGill Conservatory Singers, the Youth Choir of the Faculty of Music of the Université de Montréal, the choirs of the École de musique Vincent-d’Indy and was artist-in-residence at F.A.C.E school.

Élisabeth Pion, piano

An inquiring and innovative artist, pianist Élisabeth Pion enjoys an active career internationally as a soloist, chamber musician, and artistic collaborator.

Highlights of the 2023/2024 season include an invitation to IMS Prussia Cove Open Chamber Music; a recital tour in China; performances with the Orchestre Métropolitain & Kensho Watanabe; Arion Orchestre Baroque & Mathieu Lussier; the Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières & Alain Trudel; and a second recording for ATMA Classique, this time with Arion Orchestre Baroque (Montgeroult & Mozart). She has also recently won the 3rd prize of the 2023 Rio Piano Festival – Tribute to Nelson Freire in Brazil, playing with the Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira & Maestro Tibiriçá.

In 2022/2023, Élisabeth made her concerto debut in the US with the Toledo Symphony Orchestra & Alain Trudel (Mozart’s Concerto no 24), her debut in Canada with both the Orchestre symphonique de Sherbrooke & Geneviève Leclair (Liszt’s Concerto no 1) and Brott Music Festival’s Orchestra (Ravel’s G major Concerto); she presented a solo recital at St-John’s Smith Square in London, and released her first solo recording under the label ATMA Classique. Highlights of the past 2021/2022 season include her Wigmore Hall recital debut, a solo & collaborative recital with mezzo-soprano Alexandra Achillea Pouta at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, and concerto performances with several Canadian orchestras: the Victoria Symphony (Clara Schumann’s Concerto), the Orchestre classique de Montréal & the Orchestre de l’Agora (Haydn’s Concerto no 11), the Orchestre symphonique de Laval (Rachmaninov’s Concerto no 4), the Orchestre du Festival Classica (Casella’s Partita), the Orchestre symphonique de Longueuil (Mozart’s Concerto no 24) and Arion Orchestre Baroque (Mozart’s Concerti no 13 & 24). She has also enjoyed a close collaboration with conductor Thomas Leduc-Moreau and the Ensemble Volte in the previous years, with whom she performed Schumann’s Concerto in 2019 and Mozart’s Concerto no 20 in 2018. She also notably made her BBC Radio 3 broadcast debut in 2019 in the BBC Total Immersion day celebrating Nadia and Lili Boulanger.

Program
L. BOULANGER Hymne au soleil
GINASTERA Lamentaciones de Jeremías, Op. 14
BARBER
Heaven-Haven (A Nun Takes the Veil), Op. 13, No. 1
Under the Willow Tree, from Vanessa
BERNSTEIN
America
Tonight
LEGRAND 
Cake d’amour, from the movie Peau d’Âne
Les enfants qui pleurent
Sofia GUBAIDULINA
Chaconne
Hommage à Marina Tsvetaïeva
THE BEATLES Blackbird (arr. Jonathan Wikeley)
Philip GLASS
Knee Play 3, tiré d’Einstein on the Beach
Three Songs for chorus a cappella

Musical Canvas
5 pm: talk and welcome drink
6 pm: guided tour of the exhibition
7:30 pm: concert

Wednesday, November 29, 2023 at 7:30pm
To purchase your tickets visit: www.mbam.qc.ca/en/bourgie-hall/