NEWS

With the theme ″Magnificent Baroque″ the Festival will be presented online to celebrate its 45th anniversary


Lamèque, N.B., Tuesday, June 1, 2021: Back after a one-year absence due to the pandemic, the Lamèque International Baroque Music Festival is proud to present its 45th season. This anniversary edition will be virtual and will feature three major concerts as well as a new series. Vincent Lauzer, the Festival's artistic director, unveiled this morning the details of the 2021 program. All the details are available on the Festival website: www.festivalbaroque.com

 ″MAGNIFICENT BAROQUE″

The 2021 season of the Festival will present Baroque music, so dear to its audience and musicians, in three virtual concerts featuring internationally renowned artists from Canada and France. New this year, the “New Alliances” series will feature the winners and finalists of the Mathieu Duguay Early Music Competition. After four editions, this unique competition in North America has allowed new talents to perform as soloists on the Canadian baroque scene. This series will combine baroque music with Acadian art and will present texts by poet Martin Roy, works by painter Louise LeBlanc as well as original works by composer Jérôme Blais written on texts by poets Herménégilde Chiasson and Georgette LeBlanc.

THREE MAJOR CONCERTS

The major concerts of the 2021 season will allow music lovers to enjoy the works of Johann Sebastian Bach, Jean-Philippe Rameau and Spanish and Portuguese composers who travelled and worked in Latin America during the Baroque period. These concerts will premiere on the DirXMedia website on July 22, 23 and 24. Each concert will be available for a period of two weeks for ticket holders. 

″Johann Sebastian Bach’s Sonatas with Obbligato Harpsichord″

Premiere on Thursday, July 22 at 7 p.m. Available until August 5th.

On the program for this concert: three sonatas for a melodic instrument and obbligato harpsichord by the great Johann Sebastian Bach, one of the greatest composers of the Baroque era. The music of the great Bach will be performed by many of the Festival's regular musicians, whom we are delighted to welcome back: violinist Tanya LaPerrière, violist Margaret Little, flutist Grégoire Jeay, and harpsichordists Mélisande McNabney, Christophe Gauthier and Luc Beauséjour. 

″A Persian Celebration″

Premiere on Friday, July 23 at 7 p.m. Available until August 6th.

This concert is the perfect opportunity to discover Jean-Philippe Rameau’s three "Persian tragedies" (Zaïs, Zoroastre and Les Boréades). The most striking passages of these works are performed by Loris Barrucan and Clément Geoffroy, two fantastic young French musicians who created their own arrangements for two harpsichords. 

″Baroque Salsa″
Premiere on Saturday, July 24 at 7 p.m. 
Available until August 7th.

This concert features the works of Spanish and Portuguese composers who lived and worked in South America during the 17th and 18th centuries, and who wrote in a very particular style: a fusion of European harmonies and counterpoint, African rhythms and Native American styles. To perform these works, the five musicians of Ensemble Caprice will be on stage with soprano Myriam Leblanc. 

A NEW SERIES: NEW ALLIANCES

This series will showcase the work of Acadian artists as well as the talent of the winners and finalists of the first four editions of the Mathieu Duguay Early Music Competition. All events in this series will be premiered on the Festival's YouTube channel and will be available for viewing for one year.

 

New Alliances I: Blais, Chiasson and LeBlanc

Premiere on Thursday, July 22 at 11 a.m.

This short concert will feature the premiere performance of new works by composer Jérôme Blais written on poems by Acadian authors Herménégilde Chiasson and Georgette LeBlanc: “Qu’est-ce que ça veut dire” and “Dehors”. This concert will also feature “Dremlen Feygl Oyf Di Tsvaygn” a Yiddish folk song arranged for soprano, recorder and harpsichord by Jérôme Blais. This concert is presented in collaboration with Les Plaisirs du clavecin (Gatineau, Quebec). 

New Alliances II: Monteverdi and Martin Roy

Premiere on Friday, July 23 at 11 a.m.

This concert features works for soprano and a small instrumental ensemble by Claudio Monteverdi and texts by Martin Roy. Roy’s short poems were inspired by the Festival's 2017 edition and are taken from his book Petite-Rivière-de-l’Île, where the Festival takes place every summer. 

New Alliances III: Telemann and Louise LeBlanc

Premiere on Saturday, July 24 at 11 a.m.

This virtual concert presents a selection of Fantasias written by German composer Georg Philipp Telemann for solo flute and violin. The video will also feature the works of Acadian painter Louise LeBlanc who created a series inspired by the music of Telemann for the Festival. 

DISCUSSIONS AND MEETINGS

Each year, the Festival favours exchanges and meetings between artists and members of the public. Each major concert of the 2021 edition will be followed by a virtual meeting with the artists. Each of these events will be an opportunity for music lovers to learn more about the repertoire presented and the musical and artistic practices in vogue during the Baroque period. The public will also be invited to ask questions and discuss with the musicians.

The entire Festival team is also working on the preparation of a series of talks recounting the highlights of the Festival since its inception by harpsichordist Mathieu Duguay in 1975. More details will be announced shortly.

The 45th season of the Lamèque International Baroque Music Festival will be presented online from July 22 to 24, 2021. For all the details about the program, visit the website at www.festivalbaroque.com. Tickets go on sale Tuesday, June 1.