Montreal’s I Musici ensemble announced Wednesday a reshuffle of its 2024-2025 season, now cut in half. This radical measure follows a major cut in funding from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ). The crisis now rocking this ensemble, which has contributed to the international musical aura of Montreal and Quebec, comes a few weeks after the summer saga that, for other reasons, upended the future of the Orchestre classique de Montréal (OCM).
“It’s humiliating, actually. This summer, I was listening to I Musici’s records on Chandos. There are over forty of them. They’re all very good. The intrinsic quality is there, the history, the culture of the chamber orchestra. It’s sad to see that swept aside administratively.” Jean-François Rivest, artistic director of I Musici, is tired, but not dejected: “With the whole team, we’re going to roll up our sleeves and look for the post-difficulty. I feel the musicians are very involved. We are as a team looking for solutions to move forward and create the next step,” adds the conductor.
The intrinsic quality is there, the history, the culture of the chamber orchestra. It is sad to see this swept away administratively.
Upheaval
Sometimes, you also have to dope yourself up with self-persuasion, because when it comes to teams, you’ll have to reform the battalions. If Jean François-Rivest emphasizes that “the quality of the musicians remains the same and the solidarity is very strong,” it’s not for nothing that no other face appears. It’s been weeks since there was a general director and the chairman of the board of directors (CA) resigned. “Do you think there’s trouble at the Orchestre classique de Montréal? Wait until you see I Musici!” could be heard backstage. But no one spoke. There was simply no one to talk to anymore and a “plan B” was being studied. After being approved by a headless CA, it was made public on Wednesday.
How to save an orchestra that sees its CALQ subsidy drop by almost 60%? Minimize costs. In what remains of the season, four concerts: Denis Kozhukhin and Mozart November 28, 2024, the Grand Christmas Concert December 22, 2024, Paintings at an exhibition March 6, 2025 and Carte blanche to Sarahmée April 3, 2025. Music lovers who, based on the program published in the spring, had already purchased tickets for one of the canceled concerts, including the two flagship concerts by Ryzanov and Gluzman, are, to simplify a little, asked to sing Jingle Bellsto go see Sarahmée, to get a refund or to make a donation.
“The community aspect, social involvement is not affected, it will continue and it is huge,” emphasizes Jean-François Rivest. “I Musici will continue to work with children and schools, seniors and linguistically integrated communities in Montreal. In addition, our concerts outside Montreal will be there,” it is stated in a press release.
Ecosystem
Nevertheless, the number of work weeks provided for in the collective agreement cannot be guaranteed to the musicians. The artistic director rules out the possibility that the latter, aware of the challenges, will turn against the institution. No motivation has, it seems, been provided to the institution to explain such a draconian cut: “There was no specific warning, such as ‘change this, or you will be cut off from that'”, Jean-François Rivest tells us. The relationship between public and private funds, however, plays an important role in the eyes of the funders.
The crisis is hitting all ensembles of this size. The Orchestre classique de Montréal has seen its subsidy renewed, but in practice, it is also a cut. “We receive $75,000 from the CALQ, like 12 years ago,” Taras Kulish tells us. The general director of the OCM, who had obtained a 50% increase in the last two years, thought he could build his next seasons on this basis. This will not be the case. A delicate situation after the loss of its artistic director, Jacques Lacombe, who had helped the OCM make so much progress. A problem there too, because it is necessary to rebuild, and how can you hire talented conductors without being able to pay them? This question is not only being asked at the OCM.
While Arion Orchestre baroque is cancelling its Friday concerts and will only be performing on Saturdays and Sundays, and Les Violons du Roy are targeting their concerts more at the Maison symphonique as they now represent financial risks, the ecosystem of non-symphonic orchestral music has been shaken and shaken in three months, without any apparent game plan or strategy emerging for the musicians or the artistic offering.