The CEO of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Madeleine Careau, will leave her position at the end of June. She will have spent almost a quarter of a century in this position.
During the discussion with The duty, Madeleine Careau slips “When I arrived, Charles Dutoit had been in office for a while. People were thinking about his succession. He didn’t think about it. Charles was there for 24 years… Like me…” This comparison really allows us to realize the director’s imprint on the organization.
Mutation
Madeleine Careau will not participate in the selection of her successor: “We are not a good judge of our own succession. We tend to ramble and we need a fresh eye. » The director of the OSM also emphasizes that the job description will differ radically from the one that brought her to her position, in February 2000. “I arrived at the head of an organization of 35 employees and 15 million budget, with a lot of debt, no foundation and a very tense working climate between the orchestra and the administration, the administration and the council… The bulk of the work in the first year was to recreate a climate. All this to end up with a strike, the longest in North America. At the beginning it was necessary to reframe the OSM, reframe relationships, make a plan to repay debts and give the OSM the means to operate. »
The starting point in June 2024 is quite different: “Large organization of 70 employees in the administration, a new leader full of energy, 37 million budget, financial stability, foundation which supports international development, extraordinarily harmonious relations with the musicians, an administrative team completely changed. We must take all of this and bring the OSM further into the 21ste century, develop projects that will make us stand out. We make recordings, tours, webcasts; we give big concerts; we are in the community. What more are we going to do? »
In short, it is appropriate to create an “era” as we can consider that there was a “Nagano-Careau era”. “You need someone with a clear vision. I shared that of Kent Nagano: we wanted to have a room; we wanted to have an urban festival in the image of the major Montreal festivals so that the OSM fits into what makes Montreal’s national and international trademark; we wanted to give music back to children. We had ideas, projects. We put them in place. Rafael has it. You have to find funding, membership, donors, major contributors, the public. »
Deadlines
These challenges explain the moment chosen by Madeleine Careau to take “in all cordiality with the board of directors […] this decision that she has been thinking about for some time,” as the press release says. The summary is clear: “We have a new musical director who has his head full of projects and I know from experience that to get major projects off the ground, to finance them, to make them happen, there are deadlines of 3, 4 or 5 years. I don’t want to pretend to be here until I’m 80. I will be 74 years old soon. Now that Rafael is here, that he is well in the saddle, loved by the public, by his colleagues, that he has learned about Montreal, that he lives there, that the board of directors adores him and supports him, and will help it in its development, it’s time to pass the torch to someone who will support it for several more years. »
In the process there will be no period of transition or cohabitation of the two directors: “There is a team here which is perfectly seasoned and capable of welcoming a new general director. Arriving when the predecessor has already left gives us free rein. »
To those who criticized her for knowing very little about classical music, Madeleine Careau always maintained that she was there to bring money to the organization. “Unlike other cultural institutions, the OSM is a two-headed organization. Rafael is my equal, I am his equal. My role is to find the means for him to carry out his projects. These are often financial means. These are also human resources, but it all comes down to financial means. There, the special funds for the pandemic are over: organizations will have to find the means and it is difficult. It’s true that I’m not a musician, but I started my career at the Quebec Symphony Orchestra, then at the Grands ballets. I have spent my life close to musicians because I have a sensitivity for that. I have never worked on anything other than culture. Even when I went into politics, it was as chief of staff of the Minister of Culture to advance projects. We did Lanaudière, the expansion of the Museum of Fine Arts, the restoration of the TNM, the Théâtre de Quat’Sous…”
Above all, we feel, at Madeleine Careau, pride in the profession and the task accomplished: “I am always moved by the work of artists. I have always been touched by the musicians of the OSM. Human beings who decide to pursue a career as an artist are admirable. They need people like me to support them. So there is room for people like me! »