On Saturday afternoon, Bourgie Hall will be the setting for a moving tribute concert to its first general and artistic director, Isolde Lagacé, on the occasion of her retirement. Organized by his relatives, the concert will bring together many Quebec artists who will come to say “goodbye and thank you” to music. The duty wanted to draw with the one who has just been named “general and artistic director emeritus” an assessment of her twelve years spent at the head of this room which has become essential in our musical landscape.
“I am convinced that we have done work to develop audiences and to ‘democratize’ so-called classical music and concert music. Democratizing music means making it accessible to as many people as possible. And that’s what we achieved”, sums up Isolde Lagacé.
“I received a handwritten letter from a regular in the room which summarizes this in two sentences: “We loved the music; Thanks to Bourgie Hall, we have become music lovers.” »
Megaphone
Isolde Lagacé’s concern did not only concern the development of the public. “The hall opened at the same time as the Maison symphonique,” she recalls, recalling that attention was then focused on this large hall that had been awaited for decades. “Major electrifying events are great, but I’ve always been convinced that we needed a good chamber music room. “Pollack Hall, which I actually directed, and Redpath Hall met those needs. But, over the years, the primary mission of these halls attached to McGill University has been geared towards students, and the place given to the musical community has diminished. This worried me and I said to myself: where are our musicians going to play? When I became director of the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal, being in the heart of higher musical education made me realize how much there was a lack of a place where our artists could perform regularly. »
The existence and artistic activity of Bourgie Hall first had an impact on local musicians. “We have exceptional musicians and, even if it is important to have international careers, it is important to perform at home and important for us, as a society, to have a room for our artists”, analyzes Isolde Lagacé.
The director of Salle Bourgie recalls that Radio-Canada was once a source of income thanks to regular recordings. “But the artists found themselves with nothing overnight. And there comes Bourgie Hall. Musicians tell me: “In the past, I received a T4 from Radio-Canada, now I receive the same amount from Bourgie Hall.” Isolde Lagacé laughs: “Don’t make me say that Salle Bourgie replaces Radio-Canada! On the one hand, we have a public company with a budget of one billion dollars and on the other, a private foundation which at the beginning made a lot with not even a million dollars. »
But Isolde Lagacé, who prides herself on being the Quebec broadcaster that hires the most Quebec musicians, defends this artistic line stubbornly: “Musicians must go on stage. They cannot be trained and stay in their corner. From this starting point, she will organize her artistic offer as a winemaker composes blends.
The range
“I tried to create a balance between local and international musicians. Between big names and lesser known names, discoveries, excellent and less famous artists. I’m not into stardom. You need a strong local scene and an international venue that is not in the stardom. There is also a balance between young and old. The first two times Charles Richard-Hamelin played with us, he was still a student at McGill and no one knew his name. There is also a balance in diversity, because I am a generalist. At Bourgie Hall, we do everything,” explains the director, who is delighted with the great success of her jazz series with local musicians.
Surprisingly, not everyone believed it at first. Before the creation of the room, Isolde Lagacé remembers having informed and consulted directors of ensembles and managers of the cultural and musical milieu. “And there I met this important manager that I respected and saw his jaw drop with question marks in his eyes. He said to me, “What are you talking about? Obviously, you are going to do a feasibility study before embarking on this project? »
After a night of insomnia, Isolde Lagacé went to see Pierre Bourgie, patron of the company. “Do we go for it or do we have a study done? Pierre Bourgie told me: “If we have a study done, we will never move forward. Leave it, go ahead!” Pierre Bourgie put the money, the Museum [des beaux-arts de Montréal] boarded and, in retrospect, everyone now says to me: “But what were we doing before Bourgie Hall?” »
Good dosage
By dint of wanting to offer forums to musicians, didn’t Isolde Lagacé think too big, didn’t she unbalance the offer of concerts in Montreal?
“When we look at our numbers, we see that our last normal season was 2018-2019; it’s a long way. We had an acceptable number of concerts, with an excellent gauge, and we were in a good line of growth. »
Isolde Lagacé judges that this “acceptable number of concerts” fluctuates “between 80 and 100 depending on the year” and considers the balance as follows in this 460-seat hall: “An absolute attendance rate means nothing . A harpsichord or lute concert with 242 people achieves its goal. “” It is necessary that 20% of the concerts are complete and that from 40 to 50% have a room half or two thirds full, that is to say around 350 people. »
Isolde Lagacé is aware of being in “oversupply” in 2022-2023, a “bottleneck” season, with many concerts which had been postponed in previous years. She thinks she was on the limit in 2018-2019, but looking back, she says to herself this: “What is striking is the rapid growth of the room. I never thought that we would reach the level we have reached so quickly. The demand was there, and people felt at home. The reputation of the room internationally also came quickly. »
In connection with the public, Bourgie Hall has a rare regular attendance: some visit it between 10 and 50 times per season! “People ordering 27 tickets, I don’t see that anywhere else. This is why we have done useful work. We have enabled this public to come more often to take advantage of a more diversified offer. »
Sometimes, the link with exhibitions at the Museum of Fine Arts has had an unexpected attraction effect. “In connection with the Chagall exhibition, I had programmed 10 concerts for which I expected an attendance of 200 to 300 spectators per concert. But the ten sold out, because the Chagall exhibition was very successful. “If we only did predictable things, it would be boring,” drops Isolde Lagacé.
The attraction was also through the prices. “I don’t want people to say, ‘I didn’t come to the concert because it was too expensive.’ For the first three years, the average ticket cost was $38, including taxes and service charges. The prices had to be raised, but even today, many people tell me: “For a concert as a couple at the Maison symphonique, we can come to Bourgie Hall three times.” »
Among the major projects that are a source of pride, Isolde Lagacé obviously retains the complete cantatas of Bach: “That had never been done. We started with Kent Nagano; we end with Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Every time I sit down at a concert of cantatas, I can’t believe the beauty of these ultimately little-known works. This happiness seems contagious: “A musician once said to me: ‘Today I sang my 55e cantata and, thanks to you, I have become a better singer.” »
Isolde Lagacé admits a weakness for integrals. “I like to dig. The integrals are a great way to approach and understand the universe of a composer of an era or a style. »
That’s how it all started, more than two years before the hall opened, with the big “Haydn at the Museum” weekend in March 2009, at McGill University’s Pollack Hall. The complete Haydn quartets in four days and 17 concerts, a trial run of this type of programming. “These Haydn quartets will remain one of my fondest memories for life. And Isolde Lagacé to remind us that The duty had written then: “If things continue in the image of the design of this weekend of immersion in the music of Haydn, it is an important player that the Montreal music scene will have won! »