(Montreal) The Quebec Music Council (CQM) presented Sunday afternoon its 25are Opus Prize during a pre-recorded ceremony at Bourgie Hall and webcast. Concert music artisans were honored there for the 2020-2021 season.
Updated at 12:19 a.m.
The Minister of Culture, Nathalie Roy, whose government has again banned the practice of performing arts in praesentia for more than a month this winter, unlike most Western states, declared from the outset that “the performing arts are not only fundamental to the cultural landscape of Quebec, but indispensable to our lives”.
The period covered by this version was also marked by a long closure of concert halls from 1er October 2020 to March 2021 (dates vary depending on the region), i.e. more than five months of eclipse for the performing arts. The CQM has consequently decided, like last year, not to award prizes for the concerts.
Ten mentions of excellence for webcasts nevertheless came to put a balm on the hearts of the performers.
The two great Montreal orchestras each received a mention, the Orchester symphonique de Montréal in the “Multiple repertoires” category for its concert with violinists James Ehnes and Andrew Wan in May 2021 and the Orchester Métropolitain in the “Classical music, romantic, post-romantic, impressionist” for Colors from here: from Boudreau to Sibeliusreleased two months later.
Collector of Opus prizes, the Quatuor Bozzini won two mentions in the “Modern, Contemporary Music” and “Creation” categories. They often work in the shadows, but their contribution deserves to be highlighted: out of the ten mentions, four relate to projects involving sound engineer François Goupil and three, director Benoît Guérin.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE QUEBEC MUSIC COUNCIL
Nineteen Opus prizes were awarded.
Nineteen “real” Opus prizes were nevertheless awarded, including seven for the albums of the year. The piano was well honored with, in the category “Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque music”, the New Baroque Moments by Luc Beauséjour, who thanked in a video with a break dance demonstration (!), the very acclaimed Preludes by Chopin by Charles Richard-Hamelin in “Classical, Romantic, Post-Romantic, Impressionist Music” (both at Analekta) and The impact of silence by François Bourassa at Effendi Records for the “Jazz” category.
Special prices
In terms of special prizes, some of which were accompanied by hard cash, the Société des arts en milieu de santé (SAMS) was awarded $10,000 by the Conseil des arts de Montréal for the Inclusion and Diversity prize . Keiko Devaux received the same sum from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec as composer of the year.
Cellist Stéphane Tétreault, who the pandemic has allowed to perform in abundance on Quebec stages, was named “Performer of the Year”, a prize accompanied by a $5,000 grant from the Canada Council for the Arts. . Julien Proulx, conductor of the Drummondville Symphony Orchestra, won both the “Artistic Director of the Year” award and the Opus Regions award for the project Insights into Beethoven.
If the baroque violinist Marie Nadeau-Tremblay, already crowned “Révélation Radio-Canada 2021-2022”, was able to add “Discovery of the year” of the Opus to her list, the baroque flautist Claire Guimond, described by the host of the Catherine Perrin gala as “a great lady” of music in Quebec, had the honor of being the winner of the Prix Hommage.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE QUEBEC MUSIC COUNCIL
A Malian piece was performed on the balafon by Adama Daou and two companions.
In addition to interviews with various winners, the event was enhanced by performances by cellist Stéphane Tétreault and harpist Valérie Milot, a world premiere by guitarist Tim Brady and a Malian piece performed on the balafon by Adama Daou and two companions.
The gala can be watched throughout the month of March on the Facebook page of the Conseil québécois de la musique.