After putting an end to the Violons du Roy season this week, Nicolas Ellis will be at the head of a reinforced Agora Orchestra for the Alpine Symphony by Strauss, on June 12, during the Gala de la Terre at the Maison symphonique, before opening the Lanaudière Festival on July 6 with The planets by Holst. The new musical director of the Orchester national de Bretagne will take up his position in France in the fall and will conduct from his first season The Magic Flute of Mozart in several cities. Opportunity to take stock of your career.
The founding conductor of the Orchester de l’Agora in Montreal, who joined Les Violons du Roy as first guest conductor, alongside Jonathan Cohen, is taking his first steps on the international scene. “This summer I will be conducting the San Diego Symphony. Then I will go to Tampere, in Finland, and to the Luxembourg Philharmonic: these are the short-term projects as guest conductor,” tells us the new musical director of the Orchester national de Bretagne, now represented by Askonas Holt (the London agency of Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Rafael Payare) internationally and, for North America, by Dispeker Artists in New York.
New roots
A new organization is taking shape: “When I signed with my agents, the 2024-2025 season was already well underway. For 2025-2026, we are installing the weeks of musical direction in Brittany, then the weeks of my 3e season with Les Violons du Roy. Based on the weeks I am in Brittany, Askonas finds commitments for me in Europe that make sense in terms of travel. » In favor of this European career development, Nicolas Ellis notes “a psychological effect for the orchestras concerned to know that I have a base here, in Brittany; that I’m not very far away.” For the discerning palate, Rennes-Paris is 1 hour 45 minutes by high-speed train for a distance of 360 kilometers.
The musician has not yet established himself in Brittany, in Rennes, where he is appointed for four renewable years: “The Orchester national de Bretagne has an apartment where it accommodates visiting artists. “. However, he will have to find a solution when he is on site for three months to The Magic Flute which will be presented by the Rennes Opera twelve times in Rennes, Angers and Nantes, three houses which work together.
As surprising as it may seem, while the Rennes Opera, a distinct entity from the Orchester national de Bretagne, shines in Nantes, the city whose emblematic building is the Château des ducs de Bretagne is not “Breton » on a musical level. The orchestra now directed by Nicolas Ellis is in no way involved in the world-famous Folle Journee de Nantes, which more than strongly inspired the Montreal Classical Spree. “That falls a little outside our range of action,” says the chief.
This event seems to be the preserve of the Orchester national des Pays de la Loire, directed by the Austrian Sascha Goetzel since 2022. Goetzel who is, moreover, the musical director of the National Youth Orchestra of Canada. On paper, it sounds very “Nordic-Canadians, the return”. Even the question “Is Nantes a Breton city?” » is at least as conflicting as the validity of Alain Côté’s goal. But Nicolas Ellis will be busy with other priorities.
He will work in particular to shape the next seasons which will define his musical line. “This is my first position at the head of an orchestra which has a significant volume of activities. » As the chef was appointed in December 2023, the 2024-2025 programming was already very advanced: “It was the general administrator, Marc Feldman, who coordinated a season with which I fully identify. The composer Barbara Assiginaak is among the three associated artists and Julie Boulianne is the artist in residence: you would think it was me who decided! » Nicolas Ellis will begin his mandate in September with, in particular, the 5e Symphony by Beethoven.
The river in the room
In the coming week, the Quebec conductor will give, on Wednesday, with his Orchester de l’Agora, a major concert at the Maison symphonique in the wake of the 3e Symphony by Mahler who, on June 22, 2022, had us musically extricated from the pandemic in a collective catharsis.
“The Earth Gala is a benefit event for environmental organizations that work here in Quebec. We have the Marine Mammal Research and Education Group — GREMM — based in Tadoussac, which is dedicated to scientific research on St. Lawrence whales and education for the conservation and protection of marine environments. There is the Sierra Canada Club, which works a lot in the maritime sector. [le Club Sierra se penche sur le sort des rivières au Québec et celui des baleines dans le golfe du Saint-Laurent]and WWF Canada, whose objective is to slow the loss of biodiversity,” summarizes the chef.
“We want to create a unifying event to celebrate the beauty of the Quebec landscape and are trying to make it a fundraiser to support the action of these environmental organizations who do concrete work on the ground. »
Obviously, this required, beyond the grandeur of nature evoked by Richard Strauss through the landscapes of the Alps, musical works which connect the project to Quebec. “I wanted to commission a work from a young composer, Claudie Bertounesque, who works a lot with electroacoustics. We went to Tadoussac, met GREMM. » On the river, Claudie Bertounesque “captured the entire soundscape”, while the GREMM sent her recordings of belugas underwater. “They are trying to understand how beluga whales communicate underwater. Beluga songs will therefore be heard on the music that Claudie composed. »
In 1972, this process made the international reputation of the great Finn Einojuhani Rautavaara in his Cantus Arcticusa sort of avian concerto which incorporated into an orchestral composition recordings of bird songs close to the Arctic Circle and marshes of northern Finland, notably, and in the finale, whooper swans.
Renew the miracle
Innu poet Natasha Kanapé Fontaine will be associated with this creation of Beluga whale choir by Claudie Bertounesque, who will “bring the St. Lawrence River into the concert hall,” with poems specially written for the occasion. Innu soprano Elisabeth St-Gelais will sing the Wesendonck-Lieder by Wagner. “We grew up together in Chicoutimi,” says Nicolas Ellis, who is delighted that the soprano’s choice of work coincides so well with Strauss’s symphony.
“I am delighted and find it symbolic to have two Innu women on stage who carry the voice of the First Nations in an evening which celebrates the beauty of the landscape and the territory. There are no borders: for me, the planet is a big territory and it is a beautiful symbol to count on their voices in such a concert,” the conductor tells us.
Nicolas Ellis will attempt to renew the miracle of 3e Symphony by Mahler. It should be remembered that the Agora Orchestra is a group of 12 musicians which therefore sees its numbers multiplied by ten for the occasion. We will find almost the same musicians as two years ago. “The Quebec community is relatively small: everyone knows each other. The section leaders with me make a list of people with whom they want to work as a priority. »
Nicolas Ellis, who ended the Violons du Roy season on Friday, is linked to the ensemble for at least two more seasons. “I was named, I think, for my affinity with the legacy of Bernard Labadie in 18th century musice century. I enjoy playing Haydn, Mozart or Gluck with Les Violons du Roy. But they are also counting on me to bring creative music and music from the 19th centurye,XXe and XXIe centuries. In short, people are counting on me to touch on what they do best, expand the repertoire and bring about discoveries. »
It was in the summer of 2017 that we discovered, at the summit of Mount Royal, at the head of the Orchester Métropolitain, this freshly minted conductor, whose musical potential we then described in these terms: “He had the same lucky as Obelix. He fell into the Druid’s soup. » Things are moving quickly. And what’s more, he finds himself in Brittany!