Montreal Chamber Music Festival presents

Pour l’amour du violoncelle / For the love of the cello

Who doesn’t LOVE the cello? The astounding, award-winning Galvin Cello Quartet is presented in their Canadian premiere. Repertoire includes Bach’s compelling Chaconne in a unique arrangement for four cellos. The Quartet will be joined by four Canadian cellists of distinction and soprano Aline Kutan in two works by Brazilian Heitor Villa-Lobos. The lush resonance of eight cellos is intoxicating and unforgettable. Add to that South American rhythms, and you will dance in your seat!

Artists

Galvin Cello Quartet

The Galvin Cello Quartet explores the limitless range of a cello ensemble by bringing together new works from diverse cultural backgrounds while seeking to establish the cello quartet as a core part of the classical music world.

Comprised of members from China, Brazil, South Korea, and the United States, Galvin Cello Quartet​ burst onto the scene after capturing the silver medal at the 2021 Fischoff Competition, followed shortly by winning the 2022 Victor Elmaleh Competition and joining the Concert Artists Guild roster. Cellists Sihao He, Sydney Lee, Haddon Kay, and Luiz Fernando Venturelli met as students at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music in the studio of acclaimed pedagogue Hans Jørgen Jensen. Named after the Mary B. Galvin Recital Hall at Bienen, the Galvin Cello Quartet began during the height of the pandemic. Its story is a testament to the power of teamwork and exceeds all expectations of traditional chamber music. Through its music, the Galvin Cello Quartet hopes to celebrate and convey the values of friendship, creativity, and resilience in an ever-changing world.

Cameron Crozman, cello

“With a rich imagination and a keen mind” (Diapason Magazine), Canadian cellist Cameron Crozman leads an active performing career as a soloist and chamber musician in Canada, the USA, and Europe. He has appeared as a soloist with the Orchestre National d’Ile-de-France (Paris), Montreal, Winnipeg, Hamilton, and Vancouver Island Symphonies among others, and performances have taken him everywhere from the Philharmonie de Paris and the Shanghai Oriental Arts Centre, to the Qidi Vidi Brewery of St. John’s, Newfoundland. An avid collaborator and chamber musician, Cameron shares the stage with eminent artists such as James Ehnes, Augustin Hadelich, Louis Lortie, Gérard Caussé, James Campbell, and members of the Ébène, New Zealand, and Penderecki String Quartets.

Winner of the 2021 Canada Council for the Arts Virginia Parker Prize, the Council’s largest award for emerging classical musicians, Cameron was CBC/Radio-Canada’s 2019 Classical Revelation artist and a laureate of Gautier Capuçon’s Classe d’Excellence at the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris. He has released critically acclaimed recordings for the ATMA Classique and Printemps des Arts de Monaco labels.

Chloé Dominguez, cello

Chloé Dominguez maintains a very active life as cellist in the Montreal contemporary and chamber music community. Chloé completed in 2009 her Ph.D. in Performance under the guidance of Matt Haimovitz, at McGill University, where she won the largest privately funded music scholarship in Canada, the Schulich School of Music’s Golden Violin award.

Chloé Dominguez was a guest cello teacher at the Schulich School of Music of McGill University in 2014-2015. She currently teaches chamber music at McGill University and at the summer music academy of the Domaine Forget and cello, at the Université du Québec à Montréal.

Leland Ko, cello

A cellist of Chinese-Canadian descent, yet born and raised in the Boston area, Leland has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in venues across America’s east coast, such as Merkin Concert Hall and Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall in New York, and Symphony Hall, Jordan Hall, and Sanders Theatre in Boston, as well as internationally in Belgium, Italy, Sweden, Israel, and Spain, including Auditorio Manuel de Falla in Granada. Violinist Itzhak Perlman has described Leland as someone that “plays with the beauty of sound and subtlety that we don’t often encounter in a cellist of his age,” someone who is “a musician who willingly considers all aspects of music.”

Leland was named a recipient of the Presidential Scholar Award at New England Conservatory for 2022-2024 and the Spark Fund from The Joy of Music Inc., and was a Young Artist in Residence for American Public Media’s radio program Performance Today in 2023. He also holds claim to a second prize at the inaugural 2020 Bader and Overton Canadian Cello Competition, first prize at the 2021 Hudson Valley Philharmonic String Competition, third prize at the 2024 Windsor Festival International String Competition, and most recently won first prizes at the 2023 inaugural Boston Concert Artist Society auditions, the 2023 National Federation of Music Clubs Young Artist Competition, the 2023 Hong Kong Generation Next Arts International Music Competition, and the 2023 Concours OSM, and was named a winner of the 2023 Canada Council Musical Instrument Bank auditions as well as the 2024 Concert Artists Guild Louis and Susan Meisel Competition.

Bruno Tobon, cello

Bruno Tobon studied at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal with Denis Brott. He also is an alumnus of the acclaimed New York String Orchestra Seminar at the Mannes School of Music. From 2012 to 2016, he was a member of the Montreal Youth Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Louis Lavigueur, and has appeared as a soloist with several orchestras in Quebec including the Orchestre Symphonique de Longueuil. Recipient of prizes for chamber music concerts, emeritus scholarships, career development grants, and art recognition awards, Bruno has participated in prestigious music programs such as the Banff Centre Master Classes for Strings and Winds, the OSM Manulife Competition, and the National Arts Centre’s Summer Music Institute. In 2018, he was a guest artist in the renowned Montreal Chamber Music Festival, and played in the Virée Classique festival as a member of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. Bruno’s other accolades including the prize for the best interpretation of a Canadian-commissioned work at the 2017 Canadian Music Competition’s Stepping Stone event, and being named as a finalist at the Louis Vuitton Foundation’s 2019 “Classe d’Excellence de Violoncelle” event in Paris. He has collaborated with international artists as Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Carlos Miguel Prieto, Jacques Lacombe, Glen Montgomery, Timothy Chooi, and Carter Johnson.

Aline Kutan, soprano

Canadian Armenian soprano Aline Kutan has established herself as a versatile and refined artist in both opera and concert. She is consistently acclaimed for her crystalline voice, amazing vocal virtuosity and powerful scenic presence. Her musical training began with tenor David Meek shortly after immigrating from Istanbul to Vancouver at age 10.

Besides collaborating with chamber music ensembles and preparing recitals, Ms, Kutan also teaches at the Conservatory in Montreal and the McGill Schulich School of Music. She has several recordings of chamber music and opera under the Atma, Analekta and Sony BMG labels.

Salle Bourgie
Friday, June 14, 2024 at 7:30pm

To purchase your tickets visit: www.placedesarts.com