Important news in the music world: composer Ana Sokolovic will replace Walter Boudreau as artistic director of the Société de musique contemporaine du Québec.
Posted at 9:54 a.m.
Born in Belgrade in 1968 and based in Montreal since 1992, Ana Sokolovic is an important figure in contemporary music in Canada and around the world. She is the fourth most performed opera composer in the last decade according to Operabase. Created in 2011, his opera Swadba, an a cappella choir of six women’s voices has been performed more than fifty times.
Walter Boudreau, who had been in office since 1988, announced that he was retiring in the fall of 2021 after 33 years at the helm of the SMCQ. He was its third artistic director since its founding in 1966, after Serge Garant and Gilles Tremblay.
“Words fail me to express the joy and honor of succeeding such an emblematic figure as Walter Boudreau,” said Ana Sokolovic in a statement sent Wednesday morning. Since 1966, the SMCQ has animated and marked the musical landscape of Quebec by promoting our creators of each generation to both music lovers and young audiences. Today we have a beautiful and large community of talents, whether in terms of new technologies, diversity, interdisciplinarity and research… Like yesterday, but with today’s challenges and my vision of the future, I want to echo the plurality of knowledge, approaches and artistic expressions. »
For the president of the board of directors of the SMCQ, Anik Shooner, it is clear that Ana Sokolovic has everything it takes to take up this challenge brilliantly.
“Bringing an original and innovative vision, Mme Sokolovic has a diversified, interdisciplinary and quite unique experience to masterfully carry out the artistic mission of the SMCQ, declared Anik Shooner. I am very happy with this appointment and look forward to working alongside him to promote our institution. »
Ana Sokolovic will take office on 1er July, the time to make the transition with her predecessor, who is full of praise for her.
“It is with a smile on my face and a soul at peace that I leave the reins to Ana Sokolovic after 33 seasons, all magnificent!, writes Walter Boudreau. A very talented composer and a remarkable woman in every sense, I am convinced that she will be able to leave “her” mark on the SMCQ by taking up with panache and tact the many challenges that await her. »