The Contemporary Music Society of Quebec has a new face: Ana Sokolović, a 54-year-old composer born in Belgrade and active in Montreal for 30 years, succeeds Walter Boudreau at the head of the most important Canadian institution dedicated to contemporary music.
The choice of Ms. Sokolović comes just over seven months after the announcement of the departure of Mr. Boudreau, who had headed the SMCQ since 1988. The appointment is remarkable, since it enshrines the “ primus inter pares by Quebec composers, a composer whose fame extends well beyond our borders.
Thanks in particular to his opera Swadba (The wedding), the maestro ranks, according to the specialized site Operabase, as the fourth most performed composer of living operas in the world during the decade 2010-2019.
In other times, those of Jacques Hétu, being played or recognized aroused suspicion and jealousy. Times are changing, fortunately. They even change quickly, and conviviality is one of the priorities of the new director of the SMCQ, interviewed by The duty. “I’ve never been in an art direction position before. I have my vision of society, which I see holistically. My work is therefore based on collaboration with many people. »
In contact with the public
When Ana Sokolović is asked about the relationship between the SMCQ and the cultural space Le Vivier, the answer goes even further: “We are all collaborators on the same territory and we are all going to collaborate. Not just Le Vivier, there are other organizations, other arts, other branches. We will have this openness vis-à-vis dance, theatre, opera, of course, and with other production houses. »
Another priority: the audience. “What interests me is the contact with the public. The society [actuelle] is different from the society of even 10 years ago. You have to reclaim the connection with the audience, which has changed because of technology, because of what’s going on socially — the good and not so good things in life. »
While maintaining the tribute years (of which she was the object in 2011-2012), the portrait concerts, the Montreal/New Music Festival and the educational work of the SMCQ, Ana Sokolović wishes to multiply collaborations and open up “a little more internationally.
As such, Mr.me Sokolović emphasizes that “the SMCQ is not just a production house: it is a company”. A term which, in his eyes, implies “a crossroads of ideas, contacts between composers, performers and audiences”. “I would also like to include musicologists, establish a complete “artistico-general” connection, links with my teaching and my research chair in opera creation. We have to develop research, because we have to adapt — including to technology — to reflect society in a current way. »
The maestro cannot yet reveal her plans: “I have a lot of ideas, but in terms of implementation, nothing has been approved. I’m starting in July. Besides, next season and part of the next one were developed by Walter Boudreau. It will therefore be a slow appropriation. »
We can’t help but ask the new artistic director of the SMCQ what she thinks of the fact that the great symphonic tribute to Jean-Paul Riopelle’s centenary, in 2023, is entrusted to Serge Fiori. ” I have nothing to say. The decision rests with the OSM. I have great esteem for Serge Fiori”, replies Ana Sokolović. “It’s a way of seeing the tribute to Riopelle. We can pay homage to Riopelle in a thousand and one ways, and I hope that, in the future, we will pay homage to Riopelle in a thousand and one ways. »