After getting back on track in 2023, on the occasion of a tribute for the 40th anniversary of the death of Claude Vivier, the Week of the New, a concept once imagined by Lorraine Vaillancourt, Claude Vivier, John Rea and José Evangelista, the The organization Le Vivier renews the experience with a second edition, “Video at the service of music”, from 1er to March 18.
“From the first edition, in 2023, we had the idea of creating an annual event. One edition will focus on the local community. Every two years, the Week will be focused internationally. It’s about creating resonance between our community and the world,” he told Duty Jeffrey Stonehouse, artistic director of Vivier, encouraged by “the public response in 2023”, during this event crowned by an Opus prize.
Music and video
This year, the creative organizations gathered in Le Vivier and their guests will explore many facets of the possible links between digital arts and creative music, through concerts, “performances”, sound installations and discussions, in situ and online.
The edition’s distinguished guest is the French composer Pierre Jodlowski, whose work Ghostland will be performed on March 9 and 10 by star performers, the Percussions de Strasbourg. “Digital arts, video, are the starting point of reflection for the articulation of this edition, and I personally have a fascination for the music of Pierre Jodlowski, an artist who deeply cultivates this interaction between gesture, video and music . I find it exciting for the public to participate in events at the intersection of these disciplines. The thinking about programming really started from there. I then turned to the Montreal community to see who was working with these tools,” Jeffrey Stonehouse summarizes.
Among the events, Video Phase will open this New Week, on 1er March at the Wilder Building – Dance Space, with Alt-Escape, combining music, video projection and technology. For the first time, Le Vivier will join forces with the Phi Center to present an immersive installation, Ice, which explores the silent formation of ice cubes. The music of Jimmie LeBlanc will be performed by Paramirabo (March 9). Quasar chooses to pay tribute to the composer Sandeep Bhagwati, in collaboration with the Société de musique contemporain du Québec (March 7), while the quartet between feathers will represent Austria with Sturm und Klang (March 16).
I personally have a fascination for the music of Pierre Jodlowski
The Semaine du Neuf will also have a crucial role for local ensembles: it will allow us to welcome to Montreal, between March 9 and 12, an international delegation of around fifteen presenters of new music. “They will be in direct contact with our artists, with the aim of encouraging cross-distribution, international co-productions or even promoting tours. This is an important aspect,” underlines Jeffrey Stonehouse.
At this stage, the Contemporary Music Society (SMCQ) having always organized, also in March, its biannual MusiMars event, the question of competition between organizations arises once again. However, the SMCQ’s discourse has always been that of complementarity. “IF the SMCQ says that we are complementary, I completely agree with that,” says Jeffrey Stonehouse. “Having two organizations in Quebec that are able to present quality proposals in new music demonstrates the excitement of the sector. I open the door to collaboration with the SMCQ. Together, we could do very large-scale projects,” the artistic director of Le Vivier tells us. “In addition, at its core, Le Vivier is a broadcaster which serves to encourage the sharing of resources, knowledge and the pooling of the new music world in the broad sense. It is therefore within our mandate to work with the SMCQ. »
Assessment of this observation in 2025, when the two events should be, a priori, exactly concomitant.